GDT: Buffalo Sabres vs Pittsburgh Penguins (Prospect Challenge) 9/16/24, 5:00 pm

[FrenchConnection44]

17 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Ya E-Rod was pretty amazing wasn't he? Where'd he start his career, I forget...........

Little guys can function when either they are tenacious and strong (Benson) or they are surrounded with a tough support system. You really want to argue that E-Rod would have been as effective on the Sabres as he was between Bennett and Tkachuk? 

Exactly. Well said.
 

This has been my point for about three years now. And I think this is everybody’s point who argues for trying to get a bigger power forward. The responses of those who don’t think it’s an issue are all straw man fallacies. Putting words into someone’s mouth with such utter nonsense as “If X is not 6’2, 220 some fans won’t want him.” 

No. It’s fine to have several smaller guys. But when all the taller guys are not really physical nor intimidating in some way, that’s not helpful. 

Many teams, including the Sabres, could use a Barkov or a Tkachuk. The Sabres perhaps more than anyone. Put one or both of those on this lineup and we are immediate contenders. You gotta draft that type or go all in with a player in free agency or trade. 

But those two - and others of varying abilities with that profile around the league -  are big enough and physically strong enough they can annoy and skate with anyone. And agitate. And be a physical presence on the ice so that other teams are less apt to rough up smaller players. All those traits have their use. 

[LGR4GM]

46 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Ya E-Rod was pretty amazing wasn't he? Where'd he start his career, I forget...........

Little guys can function when either they are tenacious and strong (Benson) or they are surrounded with a tough support system. You really want to argue that E-Rod would have been as effective on the Sabres as he was between Bennett and Tkachuk? 

You complained about small guys. I give you a small guy who won a cup. Considering Benson is buffalo's only small guy, idk why you're talking about a team Tyler Enni

[dudacek]

50 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

The one sentence I fully agree with is the last one. It's just a prospects tournament and ultimately doesn't mean that much. 

Still, certain guys can pop out for you and others just look like prospects, maybe yes, maybe no, needs work overall. Kulich obviously will press for an NHL spot and if he doesn't make it should be a star in Rochester. Nobody else jumped out for me as a guy even who has everything but one missing thing, in pother words close. The D was especially not impressive and I found Johnson to be disappointing. He's not ready. Will he ever be? No idea, but he's not ready now. 

The thing about having a prospect pool is it doesn't matter how large it is, what matters is if you can graduate 1 or 2 a year to keep the age of your team from getting too old. You don't need a lot of prospects, you just need the ones that can fill any holes you have on the roster. If we run into injury trouble we have 1 guy who might be NHL ready, Kulich. Everything else will be a drop off. 

Except right now the first injury replacement is probably Krebs, followed by Rousek.

Kulich then Rosen after them if you need a scorer. Dunne and Murray if you need a big body.

Johnson is the 9th or 10th D-man, along with Clague.

Wahlberg, Östlund, Helenius and Komarov are AHL rookies who will hopefully push past those guys, or follow in their footsteps in a year or 2 or 3.

[PerreaultForever]

8 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

You complained about small guys. I give you a small guy who won a cup. Considering Benson is buffalo's only small guy, idk why you're talking about a team Tyler Enni

Yes yes, you and your thumbs down, same old same old.

We've had this discussion numerous times and I've always had to explain that "big" and playing big are two different things and "big" doesn't necessarily mean tough and so on. You throw height stats out and claim they're a "big" team and yet they've always been seen as soft and even laughed at by opponents. Dylan Cozens is taller than Garnet Hathaway, Dylan is "big" for you. 

This gets really tiresome from you. Get back to me when Sabres play "big". 

[PerreaultForever]

8 hours ago, dudacek said:

Except right now the first injury replacement is probably Krebs, followed by Rousek.

Kulich then Rosen after them if you need a scorer. Dunne and Murray if you need a big body.

Johnson is the 9th or 10th D-man, along with Clague.

Wahlberg, Östlund, Helenius and Komarov are AHL rookies who will hopefully push past those guys, or follow in their footsteps in a year or 2 or 3.

If Krebs is 13th man Adams definitely just overpaid him. 

I'm not sure what you're arguing really. None of these guys has shown any NHL ability at all. If Kulich plays well in NHL preseason games and you keep him down so that you save a place for Rousek that's a dumb organization. If Kulich is ready he's ready and he looks better than Rousek did last year imo so he gets a shot if he keeps earning it. I couldn't care less if that hurts Rousek's feelings (not saying it would, but I see no reason to assume he's up next).

[dudacek]

8 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

If Krebs is 13th man Adams definitely just overpaid him. 

I'm not sure what you're arguing really. None of these guys has shown any NHL ability at all. If Kulich plays well in NHL preseason games and you keep him down so that you save a place for Rousek that's a dumb organization. If Kulich is ready he's ready and he looks better than Rousek did last year imo so he gets a shot if he keeps earning it. I couldn't care less if that hurts Rousek's feelings (not saying it would, but I see no reason to assume he's up next).

It's not about Rousek or Kulich making the team

You said there is one guy NHL-ready if there is injury trouble, implying there is no depth.

I said that guy, going in to training camp, would probably be the 3rd choice if a forward gets injured.

And I said the top defenceman from prospect camp would also be no better than the 3rd man up if there is an injury on D.

Meaning there is depth that you aren't considering.

Right now, most people have Krebs, Rousek, Kulich, Gilbert, Bryson, Clague and Reimer as the guys outside the starting 20 looking to get in.

To start the season, they are the next men up, not Östlund or Komarov.

Edited September 18 by dudacek

[Taro T]

10 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

If Krebs is 13th man Adams definitely just overpaid him. 

I'm not sure what you're arguing really. None of these guys has shown any NHL ability at all. If Kulich plays well in NHL preseason games and you keep him down so that you save a place for Rousek that's a dumb organization. If Kulich is ready he's ready and he looks better than Rousek did last year imo so he gets a shot if he keeps earning it. I couldn't care less if that hurts Rousek's feelings (not saying it would, but I see no reason to assume he's up next).

Well, at least on day 1, Krebs is 9th (7th?) and Kulich is the only AHLer skating w/ the NHLers.

So, it does appear that they aren't too worried about Rousek's feelings.

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, dudacek said:

It's not about Rousek or Kulich making the team

You said there is one guy NHL-ready if there is injury trouble, implying there is no depth.

I said that guy, going in to training camp, would probably be the 3rd choice if a forward gets injured.

And I said the top defenceman from prospect camp would also be no better than the 3rd man up if there is an injury on D.

Meaning there is depth that you aren't considering.

Right now, most people have Krebs, Rousek, Kulich, Gilbert, Bryson, Clague and Reimer as the guys outside the starting 20 looking to get in.

To start the season, they are the next men up, not Östlund or Komarov.

Okay, fair enough. I don't think very highly of that depth but that is what it is.