Re-sign, trade or keep? Which players on the Sabres would you put in the trade market and when?

[LGR4GM]

11 minutes ago, quill said:

You are correct. My bad on the percentage part. I got my info from the same source, only it was a page that only included the 25 players with the most FO wins, of which Cozens was the only Sabre on it:

https://www.foxsports.com/nhl/stats?category=faceoffs&sort=fow&season=2024&seasonType=reg&sortOrder=desc

Anyway, this team loses too many faceoffs of the crucial variety.  I think as a team we're not too far from the bottom of the list in FO's.

You're good. This place exists to bring this stuff up. Even as bombastic as I come across, I learn stuff from every counter point made. 

[mjd1001]

13 hours ago, quill said:

Where did I say Cozens was a faceoff specialist? I said he was one of the only decent faceoff men we have. According to Fox Sports Stats he's at 49.6% and 23rd in the league in FO wins. Can you name one player on the Sabres who's currently doing better than him in that department?

He's not decent. He's bad.  He was bad last year, the year before, and up until the last 2 weeks his numbers were very bad this year.  He had 2 good weeks of winning faceoffs, that doesn't elevate him to 'decent'. He's still bad, just he has had a 2 week stretch that make THIS YEARS number only below average (and yes, 50% is still below average for a center.  Centers should win slightly more than 50% because they are often takign draws against less experienced wingers when the opposing center gets thrown out.

He has been decent for the past few weeks, but for the rest of his career, including this years numbers... he is...bad.

[JohnC]

11 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

He's not decent. He's bad.  He was bad last year, the year before, and up until the last 2 weeks his numbers were very bad this year.  He had 2 good weeks of winning faceoffs, that doesn't elevate him to 'decent'. He's still bad, just he has had a 2 week stretch that make THIS YEARS number only below average (and yes, 50% is still below average for a center.  Centers should win slightly more than 50% because they are often takign draws against less experienced wingers when the opposing center gets thrown out.

He has been decent for the past few weeks, but for the rest of his career, including this years numbers... he is...bad.

Why single out Cozens for his inadequacy in winning faceoffs? In general, the team has been below par for years. This is a franchise that has had a number of long-term deficiencies without being able to improve on them. An intelligently run franchise addresses problems while this stolid franchise ignores them. That's why the cycle of mediocrity continues to repeat itself. 

[LGR4GM]

11 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Why single out Cozens for his inadequacy in winning faceoffs? In general, the team has been below par for years. This is a franchise that has had a number of long-term deficiencies without being able to improve on them. An intelligently run franchise addresses problems while this stolid franchise ignores them. That's why the cycle of mediocrity continues to repeat itself. 

Ryan McLeod is 53.2% and has won 297 faceoffs. I would say that they at the very least partially addressed this. 

We aren't bad because of faceoffs, we are bad because of effort and roster building. 

[mjd1001]

13 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Why single out Cozens for his inadequacy in winning faceoffs? In general, the team has been below par for years. This is a franchise that has had a number of long-term deficiencies without being able to improve on them. An intelligently run franchise addresses problems while this stolid franchise ignores them. That's why the cycle of mediocrity continues to repeat itself. 

I singled him out because the person I was replying to was saying him being 'decent' was a good point of his game.

 

[JohnC]

7 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Ryan McLeod is 53.2% and has won 297 faceoffs. I would say that they at the very least partially addressed this. 

We aren't bad because of faceoffs, we are bad because of effort and roster building. 

In general, our team faceoff stat is not impressive. And it should be noted that sometimes stats don't capture the fact that the Sabres lose a lot of draws at critical times and situations where it more significantly impacts the game. 

To say that we are bad of our effort and roster building is stating the obvious. It's like saying water is wet. Everyone is aware of it. 

[DarthEbriate]

Folks improve at face-offs with strength and experience. And, most importantly, by having wingers who are willing to fight for the possession.

Krebs has shown a dramatic improvement this season in his faceoffs now at age 24. Cozens (23) might just break 50% in a year or two.

5 minutes ago, JohnC said:

In general, our team faceoff stat is not impressive. And it should be noted that sometimes stats don't capture the fact that the Sabres lose a lot of draws at critical times and situations where it more significantly impacts the game. 

To say that we are bad of our effort and roster building is stating the obvious. It's like saying water is wet. Everyone is aware of it. 

This is the key on faceoffs. In late-game situations they've been eye-test terrible against the guys the opposing coaches put out to win.

[LGR4GM]

14 minutes ago, JohnC said:

In general, our team faceoff stat is not impressive. And it should be noted that sometimes stats don't capture the fact that the Sabres lose a lot of draws at critical times and situations where it more significantly impacts the game. 

To say that we are bad of our effort and roster building is stating the obvious. It's like saying water is wet. Everyone is aware of it. 

Stats also don't capture what happens after you win faceoff. If I win a draw and it goes between my defense and down the ice... good for me? If Buffalo wasn't so goddamn pathetic at winning puck battles, losing a faceoff would be less of a problem. You are focused on a tree while the forest is on fire. 

[K-9]

We can directly attribute lost face-offs to every loss incurred when the opponent pulled their goalie in favor of the extra attacker and then scored ensuing tying goals to force OT in games we then went on to lose. Latest example being last week vs. Colorado when we lost face-off after face-off in the D zone and couldn’t clear the puck. 

Like Marty always says, face-offs aren’t important except when they’re important.

Bring back Curtis Lazar, face-off specialist extraordinaire. 

[JohnC]

38 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Stats also don't capture what happens after you win faceoff. If I win a draw and it goes between my defense and down the ice... good for me? If Buffalo wasn't so goddamn pathetic at winning puck battles, losing a faceoff would be less of a problem. You are focused on a tree while the forest is on fire. 

You lack the self-awareness to recognize how obnoxious you can sometimes be. Have a good day and admire yourself in your self-aggrandizing mirror. 

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

You lack the self-awareness to recognize how obnoxious you can sometimes be. Have a good day and admire yourself in your self-aggrandizing mirror. 

Isn't about me. That's what you and PerreaultForever and others never get. I don't matter. The solution and the understanding matter.