Confirmed with Link: [BUF/MIN] Buffalo acquires Jordan Greenway for a 2023 2nd (from VGK) and 2024 5th

[valet]

Can Savoie or Kulich center him and Mitts next season?

savoie seems not ready to me despite torching juniors this year. i think he’s due for a year in the ahl before he makes the big club. kulich, maybe. i feel more strongly about him playing in the nhl sooner but i wouldn’t pencil it in.

open to surprises obviously, but that’s my take on that for now

why not mitts at center? i think he’s played really well this year and has been a tad bit under appreciated, maybe a bit of punishment for the injury riddled and inconsistent first few years?

kulich - mitts - greeny

it actually seems like it could be a nice combination of attributes. kulich with the great shot, and bonus easing him in on the wing while casey takes the center responsibilities. greenway on the other wing as the ‘go get the puck’ and net front presence guy. all 3 have great speed.

defensively i am not so sure, but it doesn’t scream horrible to me as a 3rd line

 

[Ace]

savoie seems not ready to me despite torching juniors this year. i think he’s due for a year in the ahl before he makes the big club. kulich, maybe. i feel more strongly about him playing in the nhl sooner but i wouldn’t pencil it in.

I’m going to promise you he will not play a year in the AHL. He’s not two years away from the NHL. And as Kulich’s biggest supporter…he’s closer than Kulich.

 

[Perry Tegula]

Mitts-Cozens-Greenway
Quinn-Krebs-Peterka

You could completely remake the 4th line, set it up as a Savoie incubator, maybe both.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I might think about something like this next season:

Greenway - Thompson - Cozens
Skinner - Mittelstadt - Tuch
Quinn - Krebs - Peterka
Kulich - Savoie - Jost

And just say screw line match ups and go play.

 

[Butt Ox]

I might think about something like this next season:

Greenway - Thompson - Cozens
Skinner - Mittelstadt - Tuch
Quinn - Krebs - Peterka
Kulich - Savoie - Jost

And just say screw line match ups and go play.

Tuchy and Mitts have this uncanny ability to want to occupy the same piece of ice simultaneously.

 

[Bendium]

savoie seems not ready to me despite torching juniors this year. i think he’s due for a year in the ahl before he makes the big club. kulich, maybe. i feel more strongly about him playing in the nhl sooner but i wouldn’t pencil it in.

open to surprises obviously, but that’s my take on that for now

why not mitts at center? i think he’s played really well this year and has been a tad bit under appreciated, maybe a bit of punishment for the injury riddled and inconsistent first few years?

kulich - mitts - greeny

it actually seems like it could be a nice combination of attributes. kulich with the great shot, and bonus easing him in on the wing while casey takes the center responsibilities. greenway on the other wing as the ‘go get the puck’ and net front presence guy. all 3 have great speed.

defensively i am not so sure, but it doesn’t scream horrible to me as a 3rd line

This has been posted on a bunch so I won't go to deep into it, but we have absolutely learned this year that we waited way to long to give up on Mitts at center and just have him play wing. The problem for Mitts is the mental processing speed portion of what goes into the trait of athletic quickness. In the middle, he has too much going on and to many responsibilities to process. It slows him down and so he ends up being a step behind the play, or he stops thinking and just goes for it, and his linemates can't read him. On the wing his role and responsibilities are much better smaller subset and easier to define, that speeds him up to an NHL quickness level and lets him just play.

DO NOT take him back to center for anything more than an injury fill in.

 

[Ace]

He’s literally had the best games of his career playing center the last couple weeks

 

[TheMistyStranger]

This has been posted on a bunch so I won't go to deep into it, but we have absolutely learned this year that we waited way to long to give up on Mitts at center and just have him play wing. The problem for Mitts is the mental processing speed portion of what goes into the trait of athletic quickness. In the middle, he has too much going on and to many responsibilities to process. It slows him down and so he ends up being a step behind the play, or he stops thinking and just goes for it, and his linemates can't read him. On the wing his role and responsibilities are much better smaller subset and easier to define, that speeds him up to an NHL quickness level and lets him just play.

DO NOT take him back to center for anything more than an injury fill in.

Don't check today's lineup, or the lineups for the past week+. You're not gonna like what you see.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

I think the idea of Mittelstadt being too slow to process the play at center, is really just a false diagnosis from being in a development stage, while returning from an injury, and playing with Olofsson and other random and mediocre wingers.

He could very well return to C with a reformed Greenway and Savoie, and ease my pipe dream thoughts of signing JT Compher. Compher and Mittelstatd are almost the same player.

 

[Bendium]

Don't check today's lineup, or the lineups for the past week+. You're not gonna like what you see.

I am very well aware that Mitts is playing center between Tuch and Skinner. I am also well aware he is playing very well right now. It doesn't change the fact that he should not be looked at as a fulltime center again.

 

[TheMistyStranger]

I am very well aware that Mitts is playing center between Tuch and Skinner. I am also well aware he is playing very well right now. It doesn't change the fact that he should not be looked at as a fulltime center again.

But why? He's showing up as the top line C and playing very well against quality opponents. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

 

[Dingo44]

But why? He's showing up as the top line C and playing very well against quality opponents. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Narrative and personal biases, Bro...

 

[Bendium]

But why? He's showing up as the top line C and playing very well against quality opponents. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Because I am not throwing away five years worth of data, including the first half of this year showing him mostly struggling to be effective at center, just because he is suddenly doing so between our top two wingers that can carry just about anybody. He goes thru brilliant spurts every year that make you think it has all come together, and by sometime in the not-so-distant future you are wondering what on earth you were thinking.

The same people calling on him to be anointed again now, were anointing UPL the unquestioned starter of the future when he came up in December and won 12 of 15 games through the end of January. THIS YEAR. Where is UPL now? Most have him as a future backup at best, and want to trade him for a real starter.

I am just not a flavor of the week guy. I acknowledge it tastes good at the moment, but give it some time.

 

[Ace]

Because I am not throwing away five years worth of data, including the first half of this year showing him mostly struggling to be effective at center, just because he is suddenly doing so between our top two wingers that can carry just about anybody. He goes thru brilliant spurts every year that make you think it has all come together, and by sometime in the not-so-distant future you are wondering what on earth you were thinking.

The same people calling on him to be anointed again now, were anointing UPL the unquestioned starter of the future when he came up in December and won 12 of 15 games through the end of January. THIS YEAR. Where is UPL now? Most have him as a future backup at best, and want to trade him for a real starter.

I am just not a flavor of the week guy. I acknowledge it tastes good at the moment, but give it some time.

I’m comfortably throwing away every shift skated with Olofsson and he didn’t even play center all the times you seem to think he did before that

 

[Bendium]

I’m comfortably throwing away every shift skated with Olofsson and he didn’t even play center all the times you seem to think he did before that

Well we can agree that Olofsson this year has been the worst version of himself for sure, so bad that it doesn't matter who you play him with the team is better off when he is injured. Yet, he was looking pretty damn good, like he really turned a corner on his 5v5 play the second half of last year. Very few people had him as a lineup problem going into the start of this season, now there is no one that doesn't want to fire him into the sun.

Be wary of the flavor of the week/month. When it becomes a consistent provider over time, then you can start considering it for the main menu. Mitts has been more like the McRib. Every now and then it makes a comeback and people love it, for a month, and then its off the menu for awhile again.

 

[Beerz]

Well we can agree that Olofsson this year has been the worst version of himself for sure, so bad that it doesn't matter who you play him with the team is better off when he is injured. Yet, he was looking pretty damn good, like he really turned a corner on his 5v5 play the second half of last year. Very few people had him as a lineup problem going into the start of this season, now there is no one that doesn't want to fire him into the sun.

Be wary of the flavor of the week/month. When it becomes a consistent provider over time, then you can start considering it for the main menu. Mitts has been more like the McRib. Every now and then it makes a comeback and people love it, for a month, and then its off the menu for awhile again.

Mitts is going on about month 3 of playing great tho

 

[allsilverdreams]

Mc Rib

 

[Bendium]

Mitts is going on about month 3 of playing great tho

Great. I hope it continues on through all of next year and I can get on the bandwagon with you. Until then.........

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Stud.

I posted this clip already but I love it a whole lot

Trippy af and makes me like the dude more. Thanks for posting.

 

[Grinder44]

Because I am not throwing away five years worth of data, including the first half of this year showing him mostly struggling to be effective at center, just because he is suddenly doing so between our top two wingers that can carry just about anybody. He goes thru brilliant spurts every year that make you think it has all come together, and by sometime in the not-so-distant future you are wondering what on earth you were thinking.

The same people calling on him to be anointed again now, were anointing UPL the unquestioned starter of the future when he came up in December and won 12 of 15 games through the end of January. THIS YEAR. Where is UPL now? Most have him as a future backup at best, and want to trade him for a real starter.

I am just not a flavor of the week guy. I acknowledge it tastes good at the moment, but give it some time.

I don't put much weight on any of his first few years of rushed, butchered development, and no one excelled under Krueger. So I've been paying attention to these past two seasons, and even through some misuse and being shackled to Olofsson for a lot of that time, it's clear to me that Mitts is becoming a very useful, versatile piece of the team. He has value now. He generally has seemed better on the wing (to me), but centering talented, productive, high-end players has seemed to unlock some more talent lately. I'm not prepared to make proclamations about where he should or should not be used. I'll leave that for the Sabres coaches and terrific analytics department.

 

[Bendium]

I don't put much weight on any of his first few years of rushed, butchered development, and no one excelled under Krueger. So I've been paying attention to these past two seasons, and even through some misuse and being shackled to Olofsson for a lot of that time, it's clear to me that Mitts is becoming a very useful, versatile piece of the team. He has value now. He generally has seemed better on the wing (to me), but centering talented, productive, high-end players has seemed to unlock some more talent lately. I'm not prepared to make proclamations about where he should or should not be used. I'll leave that for the Sabres coaches and terrific analytics department.

I take no issue with your thought process here. I think it is on the most positive end of the reasonable range, but you lay out your logic instead of just attacking the poster. I appreciate that.

Everyone thinks I hate Mitts and I don't. He works very hard and I always respect that. I just don't get personal about evaluation. I say what I see when I watch the games. We drafted him and put a lot of time into him. If he suddenly turns a real corner and becomes something he has not been the first 5 years of his NHL career, then great, its found money. Just remember, this board did the same thing with Ristoleinen, taking all of 7 years the get where people finally realized that the Risto we always saw, was the Risto we were going to always see. He always worked hard, and every year gave you periods of good play that made your hope soar, but in the end, Risto was Risto.

For Mitts to break the cycle, then something has to change. I believe the first key, is much like Thompson needed to move to the center of the ice, Mitts needed to move to the wing to simplify the mental processing pert of the game. I believe the second key to Mitts is his weight and conditioning. His good periods of play tend to come later in the year when his conditioning is highest and he has lost some weight. Look at his face right now. He is as lean as I have seen him. That improves his speed and endurance and you can see it on the ice. They need to shift his offseason conditioning program to help him keep it.

So keep him lean and on the wing and we may yet salvage a solid 3rd line winger that can move up the lineup for injuries. That would be great.

 

[Ace]

*watches a player excel at center*

FINALLY! The third line winger I’ve been waiting for!

That’s some Ralph Krueger thinking right there

 

[Dingo44]

All this Mittelstadt stuff should be moved to the Mittelstadt thread.

 

[CaliSabresfan24]

 

[Chainshot]

Listening to both Tuch and Thompson speak well of him and him playing through some things seems to point to the expectation that his late season play will be more the norm. Sounds like he's looking to put in the work this summer, can't wait to see how he comes to camp.