Old Navy Goat
Registered User
With UPL even the commentators were talking about how his glove hand was low and shooters could take advantage of that. Makes you wonder if the compressed schedule and lack of practice played a role in not addressing it
Player Discussion All Purpose Goaltending Thread
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sabremike
THE RED BULL
I am not going to lie: The fact that seemingly nobody in pro hockey thinks UPL is going to amount to anything at this point except our coaching staff and GM is pretty concerning.
Combine that with him seemingly not being trusted at all during our most important games - including playing Levi on a b2b in the NJ game said a ton.
I thought everything signaled he was going to be on the way out this offseason. So far it looks like I’m wrong.
Does KA survive if we miss the playoffs again. And the reason for us missing the playoffs is not bringing in a veteran goalie.
A decent one.
He might need to make a trade by the deadline if we have no number 1 goalie.
A decent one.
He might need to make a trade by the deadline if we have no number 1 goalie.
SundherDome
I'm tired, Boss.
Pretty easy here, no, he would not be fired
Might as well just merge this with the already existing goalie or GMKA threads
HOOats
born Ruffian
If two dead horses meet in the middle of the woods, does anyone hear it (or care)?
TommyDangles
Registered User
- Jun 18, 2021
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Swayman had 41 games at a .914 save % his second year after a brief NHL stint of 10 games like Levi.
He had a small stretch in the AHL before that with 9 games, but that's a such a small stretch of games that I'd consider that going from directly to college to the NHL.
SundherDome
I'm tired, Boss.
SundherDome
I'm tired, Boss.
I also wondered in-season how UPL handled the pressure of
"You're starting in the minors because we brought in a redemption guy".
"Ok, he is hurt, have a vet to guide you your time to shine and earn your spot".
"I dunno man, you showed glimpses but we need you to be better, enjoy this weird f***ing 3 goalie rotation".
I wonder if the "tread lightly" mindset crept in and he went back to old habits which really hurt him.
Worst thing is it seems that this year will be almost the same, sans Comrie will be in the minors.
If anyone points the gun at KA with the whole "could get fired" mantra. Built this culture of winning with the most win/point total last year since 2011 that has an absolute arsenal of prospect depth, who also turned Buffalo into a destination that is on the top of a lot of players lists now..
No, he's not going anywhere.
No, he's not going anywhere.
You forgot "coaching staff leaving him in for 7 goals against on 3 occasions during his poor stretch of the season".
That is a problem and not how you build confidence in young goalies.
Not saying UPL is going to be good, but his pattern of games in the NHL does remind me a lot of Kiprusoff with the Sharks. At the age of 24-25(about where UPL will be this season) he'd stand on his head and win a game, then his D would let him down and Sutter would leave him in when he should have been pulled, and he'd look super shaky, then he'd start again in a game or two and he'd give up a soft goal or two right away in the first period and get pulled. Coaching staff would sit him for a week and a half and he'd come back with another gem of a game.
You could see his talent in flashes, but his confidence seemed too fragile for the NHL. The Sharks chose to go with Toskala as Nabokov's back-up and Kiprusoff turned out to be the best of the three.
The one likely thing about goalies.... when you have three, Murphy's law says you will always trade away the best one
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
Swayman also had Rask and then Ullmark as his partner and a great defensive team in front of him. And even with that, you saw a .031 drop in Save% between his 10 game cameo in his rookie pro season during COVID and his 41 games in his second pro season.
I think comparing Swayman and his situation with Levi is comparing apples to oranges.
Fjordsen
Soul Dancing in the Dark
- Jun 20, 2018
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100%
Swayman had much better conditions, a better team, defense, an experienced mentor. Levy doesn't have any of that, he doesn't have a mentor or at least an experienced and stable partner, the team plays badly in defense, mostly uncertainty and risk await us.
- Jul 25, 2016
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Stop. They haven't made the playoffs much less won anything. This mindset that having a great prospect pool and we will win with all homegrown draft picks is fantasy. Never been done. And two of the top 6. Skinner and Tuch were traded for. Adams job is to win in the NHL not Roch or rhe HFboards prospect rankings. If he fails to win this year with all the tools at his disposal he should canned. Unless ownership has moved that "the business of the Buffalo Sabres is to win cups" banner to the shithouse. That is a real possibility and a more frightening topic for anothrr day.
All professional sports teams should be trying to win every year. He has no excuses. I do not think enough was done, but I will reserve judgment until the puck drops. If it goes south he better fix it. He has the assets. No excuses atoll.
If we add perspective, Adams' job is absolutely safe this season.
The team was the second youngest team in the league at the end of the season.
Adams got most of his core players to sign team friendly deals(no small feat)
Most of the players have not even hit their primes yet.
His drafting is showing early returns as being way above league average.
The team has a very healthy dressing room for the first time in years.
If the team plays terrible this year, ownership may ask for Granato's head, and might then put Adams on the hotseat in 24-25, but there is no way Adams is fired this year given the positive changes that the organization has seen under his watch the past two season while remaining cap frugal and savig Pegula as much cash as he has.
MarkusKetterer
Shoulda got one game in
Donny signed a 5 year extension that starts this year. He’s the coach for the next two years at minimum
TommyDangles
Registered User
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I don't think anybody was comparing situations? You're never gonna find a perfect comparison. Swayman pretty much went right from college to the NHL like McKenna was asking. I'd expect Levi to get a similar amount of games that Swayman played.
jd1970
Registered User
joshjull
Registered User
I'm not sure why UPL would think like that.
Prior to this past season UPL had 3 pro seasons under his belt. Year 1 was spent dealing with a double hip surgery recovery. Year 2 was spent dealing with covid chaos and playing in 3 leagues. None of which is conducive to a player's growth and development.
It wasn't until year 3 that he finally got the health and league stability needed to work on his development. He was solid, if unspectacular, in the AHL (35gms 3.28gaa/.900 sv%) and had a good call up with the Sabres (9gms 2.74gaa/.917 sv%). Then got injured before the AHL playoffs and unfortunately wasn't able to take advantage of that development opportunity.
There is nothing surprising about the player I describe above being sent to the AHL to continue their development. I would be shocked if UPL was surprised by it, even if he might be disappointed. Nor would I think he would view Comrie in the manner you described him as.
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
Swayman split his first rookie pro season roughly 50/50 between the NHL & the AHL.
He played 36% of the minutes the Baby B's played that season (540/1507) and 18% of the big club's minutes (602/3388).
So, to stay that Swayman went straight from college to the NHL and stuck the landing is not really being honest with how things went for him.
Swayman and Oettinger are probably the "quickest to NHL after college" guys of late. But, Swayman has never really been the #1 like Levi is being asked to be. And both Swayman and Oettinger got more AHL time than Levi is likely to get at this point.
TommyDangles
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He played 9 games...
Nobody would consider that enough time to develop in the AHL. Pretty much going straight from college to the NHL.
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
He played 9 games in a COVID year that was really messed up. It was not like a normal season where being sent to the AHL to start the season was even possible. With Ullmark and Rask on the Bruins, if it were a normal season, there was next to no chance that he wouldn't have started the year in Providence and split games with Vladar.
He also played 5 games in the AHL the following season, as well.
I find his shootout skills alarming. I know it's a minor part of game but he is beyond terrible
