Sabres call up Tyson Kozak

[Weave]

1 hour ago, LTS said:

He had surgery on something.  He's out for awhile.  It's weeks to weeks. 😉

I can’t even.

[Stoner]

37 minutes ago, Weave said:

I can’t even.

I can't with you.

The kid's lit and you gonna dip?

[Doohicksie]

Like, wow.

[EM88]

3 hours ago, xzy89c1 said:

thompson is not a center. never has been. there is reason we play better when he is on wing.

I do not think the above is true.

Tage is not a great set-up guy, but he is a great goal scorer. His goal scoring in most cases seems to be a result of him having options to go to his left or right, natively being in the center position on the ice. As a full time wing, the position necessitates spending more time with one of the walls next to you.

Point being, as a winger he potentially loses a lot of his scoring chances and ability. To me its not worth the gain of any increase in defensive ability another play may bring, in particular with this team where there really isn't anyone who would step in and be better than him in that regard anyway.

[Huckleberry]

4 hours ago, Taro T said:

 

Ruff said after the Caps game that the reason Thompson was on the wing was due to some injury he's playing through.  So not likely we see Tage at C until that's better.

I like tage, but this is the 3rd time they move im to wing over this ? Im starting to wonder what type of injury causes this.

[msw2112]

5 hours ago, LTS said:

He had surgery on something.  He's out for awhile.  It's weeks to weeks. 😉

I'm guessing sports hernia, as I've heard it was a MBI "middle body injury."  Those can take a couple of months to recover from and are common injures among athletes, particularly hockey players.

[pastajoe]

9 hours ago, Stoner said:

Who loves it, baby?

[SABRES 0311]

Kozak is a decent player. Can’t complain about his game.

[LTS]

29 minutes ago, SABRES 0311 said:

Kozak is a decent player. Can’t complain about his game.

BS. This is Sabrespace where anything can be complained about. 

[SABRES 0311]

39 minutes ago, LTS said:

BS. This is Sabrespace where anything can be complained about. 

I don’t have the strength anymore.

[Pimlach]

16 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

I like tage, but this is the 3rd time they move im to wing over this ? Im starting to wonder what type of injury causes this.

The first two moves to wing were because of his defensive play.  Lindy said publicly that if Thompson and Cozens cannot play center in his system then he will move then to wing.  

 

[GoPuckYourself]

I don’t mind Kozak but I’d really want to see what Anton Wahlberg could do for us, if anything.

Edited 2 hours ago by GoPuckYourself

[GASabresIUFAN]

The COVID 2021 draft was very interesting.  One thing I remember besides all the Russians were 3 CHL players drafted in the 3rd, 4th and 7th rds who had very similar D+1 seasons.  I was very interested to see how each guy developed.  

They were

3rd rd (pick 95) LW Josh Bloom - 32g 39a for 71 pts in 68 OHL games --- Now in the ECHL (traded to Van for Riley Stillman)

4th rd (pick 97) RW Oliver Nadeau - 35g 43a 78 pts in 65 QMJHL games - Now in the ECHL (plus 4 games in Rochester)

7th rd (pick 193) C/W Tyson Kozak - 32g 37a 69 pts in 66 WHL games - Now called up to the NHL after 2 plus season in the AHL)

This just illustrates how hard it is to make the NHL and how much the draft is a crapshoot with the COVID years being an even bigger crapshoot.

[inkman]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The COVID 2021 draft was very interesting.  One thing I remember besides all the Russians were 3 CHL players drafted in the 3rd, 4th and 7th rds who had very similar D+1 seasons.  I was very interested to see how each guy developed.  

They were

3rd rd (pick 95) LW Josh Bloom - 32g 39a for 71 pts in 68 OHL games --- Now in the ECHL (traded to Van for Riley Stillman)

4th rd (pick 97) RW Oliver Nadeau - 35g 43a 78 pts in 65 QMJHL games - Now in the ECHL (plus 4 games in Rochester)

7th rd (pick 193) C/W Tyson Kozak - 32g 37a 69 pts in 66 WHL games - Now called up to the NHL after 2 plus season in the AHL)

This just illustrates how hard it is to make the NHL and how much the draft is a crapshoot with the COVID years being an even bigger crapshoot.

These were the kind of hard nose big bodies (more so Bloom and Nadeau) the Sabres need a lot more of in the draft.  Instead of taking flyers on home run swings top end skill guys like Neuchev and Kisakov.  Get some grinders with skill in those later rounds.  I understand the first rounds picks will usually be high end skill guys, usually with limited physical play, but more picks need to be guys you can sprinkle in with those high end skill guys to provide a net front presence, work in the corners and play a 200 ft game.  Instead the Sabres have mostly chosen the softest players they can find with tons of skill but almost no shot of becoming an NHL player. 
 

The point is difficult to make with the struggles of the two aforementioned players.  I’d rather see hard nose grinders trying to work their way onto the Amerks and Sabres than the high end skill guys that just sit in the pressbox.  

[GASabresIUFAN]

9 minutes ago, inkman said:

These were the kind of hard nose big bodies (more so Bloom and Nadeau) the Sabres need a lot more of in the draft.  Instead of taking flyers on home run swings top end skill guys like Neuchev and Kisakov.  Get some grinders with skill in those later rounds.  I understand the first rounds picks will usually be high end skill guys, usually with limited physical play, but more picks need to be guys you can sprinkle in with those high end skill guys to provide a net front presence, work in the corners and play a 200 ft game.  Instead the Sabres have mostly chosen the softest players they can find with tons of skill but almost no shot of becoming an NHL player. 
 

The point is difficult to make with the struggles of the two aforementioned players.  I’d rather see hard nose grinders trying to work their way onto the Amerks and Sabres than the high end skill guys that just sit in the pressbox.  

This isn't the best example for your theory, but we do need more grinders to toughen up this lineup.  Have a tough player or two who can play in the top 6 forwards would be nice.