GASabresIUFAN Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 (edited) Forwards JJP TNT Tuch Benson Cozens Quinn ?(Savoie) Krebs(rfa) Greenway Malenstyn(rfa) ???? ???? (Rousek) Defense Dahlin Samuelsson Power Joki(rfa) Byram Clifton (Johnson - Clague) Goalies UPL(rfa) Levi Savoie is probably a favorite to make the roster at this point. Does that projected 3rd line makes you feel pretty good about next season? Bryson(rfa) also in contention to return. Edited June 30 by GASabresIUFAN Quote
Buffalonill Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 No playoffs and adams is fired could be a win for the fan base . But the possibility of players asking for a trade Quote
Huckleberry Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 I think either Johnson or Samuelsson will be gone in a trade. Quote
dudacek Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 (edited) Pending trades, I think these roster slots are set Five top 6 slots are taken: Tuch, Thompson, Cozens, Quinn, Peterka Four other forward slots are filled: Benson, Greenway, Krebs and Malenstyn Five defence slots are taken: Dahlin, Power, Byram, Samuelsson, Clifton Both goalie slots are taken: Luukkonen, Levi They still need to fill: Skinner's top 6 wing slot Mittelstadt's middle 6 centre slot Girgensons and Okposo's bottom six wing slots Comrie's #3 goalie slot They have decisions to make on Whether Jokiharju continues in the final defence slot How to handle the 14/15th forward slots and 7/8 D slots: are they prospects or veterans Edited June 30 by dudacek 1 3 Quote
Gatorman0519 Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 Not looking promising. At best a fringe playoff team. And a lot would have to go right. Quote
Buffalonill Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 2 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said: Not looking promising. At best a fringe playoff team. And a lot would have to go right. 1 1 Quote
GASabresIUFAN Posted June 30 Author Report Posted June 30 4 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said: Not looking promising. At best a fringe playoff team. And a lot would have to go right. Dude, it look awful. 2 Quote
Gatorman0519 Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 18 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said: Dude, it look awful. I’m trying my best brother to find some sort of positivity. 😝 Quote
#freejame Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 I think it’s a massive mistake if Cozens, JJP, and Quinn are all in the top 6. It just feels so unnecessary to me. They’re all fine players, but they aren’t carry a team fine. 1 Quote
Cheektorado Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 I don't care anymore. Shake this stuff up and do something big even if it ends up horrible. Been a fan since day 1 and this past decade plus stuff has got to stop. 1 Quote
dudacek Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 (edited) 35 minutes ago, #freejame said: I think it’s a massive mistake if Cozens, JJP, and Quinn are all in the top 6. It just feels so unnecessary to me. They’re all fine players, but they aren’t carry a team fine. This build was always about having a large collection of young talent emerging at roughly the same time. I know Tuch, Thompson, Cozens and (to a lesser extent) Dahlin have more to give than we saw last year. I believe the same is true of Quinn, Peterka, Krebs, Benson, Samuelsson, Power, Byram and Levi. Adams is right about one thing: youth is no longer an excuse for most of them. No matter who we add, it's time for these guys to step up. Edited June 30 by dudacek 2 Quote
GASabresIUFAN Posted June 30 Author Report Posted June 30 (edited) 45 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said: I’m trying my best brother to find some sort of positivity. 😝 I'll give you a couple positive thoughts 1) We have 6 good, but no great forwards. JJP and Quinn have another level which could take them from good to great. 2) Dahlin and Power are a good start to a very good D group. Clifton is a useful 3rd pair guy and Mule, if he can stay healthy, is the physical presence in the lineup we need. 3) Levi is a future franchise goalie and UPL proved he can be an NHL started. Goaltending, which has been wondering in the desert for 40 years, is now a strength. Now the issues! A) The forwards after the top 6 and Greenway are a complete void. We need to be rolling 4 lines and right now we can barely roll 2. We lack depth scoring, no good centers after the top 2 and not enough physical play even with Greenway and Beck. B) Byram is a mismatched piece. He is not a good pair with Power or Dahlin. Byram's xGF was 46% with Dahlin and 37% with Power. Our best way forward is probably Power & Dahlin (55%), Samuelson with Joki (56%) & Byram with Clifton (52%). My preference is to upgrade Joki, but I don't see that happening. Stats https://www.naturalstattrick.com/pairings.php?fromseason=20232024&thruseason=20232024&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=BUF&loc=B&toi=0&gpfilt=none&fd=&td=&tgp=410 Edited June 30 by GASabresIUFAN Quote
Berg Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 2 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said: Forwards JJP TNT Tuch Benson Cozens Quinn ?(Savoie) Krebs(rfa) Greenway Malenstyn(rfa) ???? ???? (Rousek) Defense Dahlin Samuelsson Power Joki(rfa) Byram Clifton (Johnson - Clague) Goalies UPL(rfa) Levi Savoie is probably a favorite to make the roster at this point. Does that projected 3rd line makes you feel pretty good about next season? Bryson(rfa) also in contention to return. The same roster as last year but even worst...Bye Bye Playoffs Quote
RochesterExpat Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 6 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said: B) Byram is a mismatched piece. He is not a good pair with Power or Dahlin. Byram's xGF was 46% with Dahlin and 37% with Power. Our best way forward is probably Power & Dahlin (55%), Samuelson with Joki (56%) & Byram with Clifton (52%). My preference is to upgrade Joki, but I don't see that happening. I agree with this except your conclusion. Joki had a good season and we know he can play with Dahlin in a pinch. I think you sign him to a long term contract reflective of his role as a third pairing guy (if he wants a contract as a 2nd pair guy we should move on). This leaves your defensive pairings as: Power - Dahlin Byram - ???? Sammy - Joki Clifton Putting Sammy on the third line will hopefully help keep him healthy while also limiting his 5v5 minutes so he can be fresh for the PK. I think the upgrade is Clifton. We need to find a more appropriate partner for Byram. We never saw him play with Ryan Johnson. Not that I want to hold off making a move to improve the roster on the hopes of Johnson making the team (also, Novikov should be considered), it's worth mentioning. Byram has more to give and I'd rather see us try and improve on Clifton than move on from Joki when Joki played pretty well last season. 1 Quote
B-U-F-F-A-L-O Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 2 hours ago, Gatorman0519 said: Not looking promising. At best a fringe playoff team. And a lot would have to go right. That’s not a fringe playoff team, not even close. But that’s not what we are going to suit up neither….. Weve got to be patient…. Quote
GASabresIUFAN Posted June 30 Author Report Posted June 30 (edited) 1 hour ago, RochesterExpat said: Joki had a good season and we know he can play with Dahlin in a pinch. The issue with Joki is that he doesn't do anything very well. He skates fine, can add a little offense and grew more willing to block shots this past season. He isn't very physical, doesn't clear great, still gives the puck away way more often then he takes it away and doesn't often kill penalties. He certainly isn't worth 2.5 mill a year (his Q offer amount). Edited June 30 by GASabresIUFAN Quote
Pimlach Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 3 hours ago, Huckleberry said: I think either Johnson or Samuelsson will be gone in a trade. Or Joki. Muel has a contract they like(d). Quote
Pimlach Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 1 hour ago, RochesterExpat said: I agree with this except your conclusion. Joki had a good season and we know he can play with Dahlin in a pinch. I think you sign him to a long term contract reflective of his role as a third pairing guy (if he wants a contract as a 2nd pair guy we should move on). This leaves your defensive pairings as: Power - Dahlin Byram - ???? Sammy - Joki Clifton Putting Sammy on the third line will hopefully help keep him healthy while also limiting his 5v5 minutes so he can be fresh for the PK. I think the upgrade is Clifton. We need to find a more appropriate partner for Byram. We never saw him play with Ryan Johnson. Not that I want to hold off making a move to improve the roster on the hopes of Johnson making the team (also, Novikov should be considered), it's worth mentioning. Byram has more to give and I'd rather see us try and improve on Clifton than move on from Joki when Joki played pretty well last season. Joki will get dominated in playoffs. Did you watch the play in front of the net in the SCF? Clifton is a better third pair guy and we need the physical play. Muel gets another year and hopefully he can be healthy on the 3rd pair Trade Joki would be my choice but bring on another Top 4 guy to play with Power or Bryam. Let’s get better and stop shuffling a losing hand. They need one more guy that is a top 4. 1 Quote
msw2112 Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 (edited) 4 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said: Forwards JJP TNT Tuch Benson Cozens Quinn ?(Savoie) Krebs(rfa) Greenway Malenstyn(rfa) ???? ???? (Rousek) Defense Dahlin Samuelsson Power Joki(rfa) Byram Clifton (Johnson - Clague) Goalies UPL(rfa) Levi Savoie is probably a favorite to make the roster at this point. Does that projected 3rd line makes you feel pretty good about next season? Bryson(rfa) also in contention to return. My biggest concerns about this projected roster are: 1) Krebs at 3C. Not saying he won't develop and get there, but to slot him in there at this point is a concern 2) Savoie at wing on the the third line. Savoie did not look ready last season and was passed up by Benson. I think that Savoie will develop into a top 6 winger, but I'm not sure that he's ready yet. He's still a small guy that needs to grow up physically and develop a NHL game. Rochester would be a better place for his development. I'd rather see Kulich or Rosen in the lineup than Savoie. Savoie has the higher celiing, but each of those guys has a couple of years of professional hockey under their belt. 3) The overall lack of grit. Malenstryn is a nice add (even if a 2nd was an overpay - but the success rate of NHL draft picks is low, so fine), but you need a little bit of grit in the top 6 and top 9. Not sure there's quite enough there. All this said, with Granato, the team was competitive, performing at near .500 level with what they had. They were 1 point behind the Panthers, who made the playoffs and finals two years ago (and won the Cup this year). Last year, they started slow and dropped off a little bit in the final standings, but they were not fighting for last place like in the past. If Ruff is truly a better coach than Granato, the team should be a 7th-8th seed type of team without any changes. Given Ruff's presence, a few more lineup changes that are going to happen (FA and/or trades), the natural maturity of UPL and Levi in net, plus the additional seasoning and maturity of some core players like JJP, Quinn, Power, Krebs, Byrum, Benson, etc. this should be a playoff team. Just because the team failed to meet expectations last season and have not been in the playoffs for 13 years doesn't mean that the team was terrible. It was a young team that was more or less in the middle of the pack. Some nights, they were terrific and others they were no-shows. They crapped the bed in 2 key games against Detroit that probably was the difference in making the playoffs or not. I attribute most of that to coaching (and prior to that, I was a Granato supporter). A lot of folks here allow the collective frustration that has built up over many years cloud the fact that the team is more in the middle (with upward potential) than at the bottom (with downward potential). Edited June 30 by msw2112 Quote
Pimlach Posted June 30 Report Posted June 30 4 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said: Forwards JJP TNT Tuch Benson Cozens Quinn ?(Savoie) Krebs(rfa) Greenway Malenstyn(rfa) ???? ???? (Rousek) Defense Dahlin Samuelsson Power Joki(rfa) Byram Clifton (Johnson - Clague) Goalies UPL(rfa) Levi Savoie is probably a favorite to make the roster at this point. Does that projected 3rd line makes you feel pretty good about next season? Bryson(rfa) also in contention to return. The forward group is weak. Needs a 2C. Pushes Cozens down to 3C for now until he shows he is ready for more. Needs a 4C and 2 more bottom 6 wingers. Handing a job to Savoie is not wise, he should start in Rochester. That makes Krebs a 13 until he shows more. 1 Quote
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