Embracing the Rebuild: Tank Nation, the Thread

[ZeroPT*]

Pysyk and McCabe are 6'1" on a good day. McCabe is built like a tank though.

He plays like one too. McCabe will be in the NHL a LONG time.

 

[Moskau]

He plays like one too. McCabe will be in the NHL a LONG time.

He's my favorite Sabres prospect. I've seen some people say that it's hard to emulate the Hawks rebuild because they got lucky and won a lottery and found guys like Keith in the 2nd round. I've felt since last year that McCabe could turn out to be our Keith.

 

[Jame]

I must say, Jame, I'm surprised you've supported Myers so much. I recall you knocking his hockey sense over the summer. Change of heart?

I think you can see flaws and see development

 

[Jame]

He's had a good 1/3rd of a season so far. I've been very impressed with his game this year. However i'm not so quick to jump back on the bandwagon as i've been burned before with Myers. He's still got that monster contract to live up to and he still looks tenative with the puck. I know at the very least with a guy like ROR I'm getting a defensive beast who'll anchor our second line while he scores 50+ points a year; and I think there's more there offensively. Think of how damn valuable Bergeron is to Boston. With all our depth in the pipeline on defense I'd make the move and pray Myers never reaches his ceiling. Probably a moot point as I doubt Colorado even entertains moving him.

I'm not on the bandwagon... I'm just patient in a rebuild

 

[is the answer jesus]

I'm not on the bandwagon... I'm just patient in a rebuild

Fair enough. Myers has certainly showed that he isn't the piece of garbage half of HF thinks he is with his play so far this year. Hope he can keep it up and continue to improve. He's certainly in a better situation to do so now that Rolston is gone.

 

[Team Cozens]

Fair enough. Myers has certainly showed that he isn't the piece of garbage half of HF thinks he is with his play so far this year. Hope he can keep it up and continue to improve. He's certainly in a better situation to do so now that Rolston is gone.

I was at the Sabres game yesterday and Myers was a beast. My season tickets are
2nd row behind Miller - Myers side. Nobody has a better view of his game..... He had been very good this season and close to great under Nolan. Alfredson was crushed by Myers twice, got to love it.

 

[Ron C.]

There is no way I am giving up on Myers yet. He has made significant progress this year in spite of the Sabres woes.

 

[dire wolf]

Agreed. Myers is looking good this year - especially since Nolan took over.

 

[1972]

we are now 8 points back of 28th overall in the NHL with Florida's win.

 

[haseoke39]

Dear pro-tankers:

We won. The tank is real, and it's as hard as we ever could've wished.

What else do we want? In spite of the tank, what goals do we have for our young players? What goals do we have for guys like Ennis, Hodgson, Grigorenko, Girgensons, Myers, Pysyk? What do we need to see out of these guys this year to convince us that this year of suck is tolerable in terms of them still having a place on our eventual cup winner?

 

[Gabrielor]

Dear pro-tankers:

We won. The tank is real, and it's as hard as we ever could've wished.

What else do we want? In spite of the tank, what goals do we have for our young players? What goals do we have for guys like Ennis, Hodgson, Grigorenko, Girgensons, Myers, Pysyk? What do we need to see out of these guys this year to convince us that this year of suck is tolerable in terms of them still having a place on our eventual cup winner?

Ennis: Prepare bags to get sent elsewhere

Hodgson: Develop faceoff % and defensive game; I like his 2C odds

Grigorenko: Put him somewhere already; Nolan seems to have forgotten his own words: "We want people where they're comfortable, so there's no excuses". Grigs is comfortable in top-6 with pp-time. If its too far-fetched to try him there in the NHL, its jr time.

Girgensons: Shutdown Center, which I guess the team thinks is actually Power Winger. Time will tell, hope they have a plan. Work on his scoring touch and passing.

Myers: Keep him going how he's going. He's always at his best when he's moving.

Pysyk: Experience will cure his ailments. Top-4 Right Stick. Sabres' Hjarlmarson, is what I'm hoping.

Wouldn't mind a win here-or-there now that we're solidified.

The biggest problem for non-tankers, is they should actually want this to happen more next year.

 

[Crazy Tasty]

Ennis: Prepare bags to get sent elsewhere

Hodgson: Develop faceoff % and defensive game; I like his 2C odds

Grigorenko: Put him somewhere already; Nolan seems to have forgotten his own words: "We want people where they're comfortable, so there's no excuses". Grigs is comfortable in top-6 with pp-time. If its too far-fetched to try him there in the NHL, its jr time.

Girgensons: Shutdown Center, which I guess the team thinks is actually Power Winger. Time will tell, hope they have a plan. Work on his scoring touch and passing.

Myers: Keep him going how he's going. He's always at his best when he's moving.

Pysyk: Experience will cure his ailments. Top-4 Right Stick. Sabres' Hjarlmarson, is what I'm hoping.

Wouldn't mind a win here-or-there now that we're solidified.

The biggest problem for non-tankers, is they should actually want this to happen more next year.

Grigorenko isn't strong or quick enough yet to go against top defensive units that he would face on top 6 duty.
It's funny how people imagine that more offensively talented wingers will mask his deficiencies, when more likely the opposite will happen.

Due to Reiger's asinine decision to keep him up last year he's in a spot where he can't succeed.
He's going to have to try to develop with bottom 6 minutes until they can ship him back to juniors.

 

[Chainshot]

Dear pro-tankers:

We won. The tank is real, and it's as hard as we ever could've wished.

What else do we want? In spite of the tank, what goals do we have for our young players? What goals do we have for guys like Ennis, Hodgson, Grigorenko, Girgensons, Myers, Pysyk? What do we need to see out of these guys this year to convince us that this year of suck is tolerable in terms of them still having a place on our eventual cup winner?

Outside of sowing up at worst the #2 overall pick in the upcoming draft and not making any silly quick-fix moves? Development of the young pros is the next vital area.

Myers - Condor-mode Tyler seems to be back. He's swooping all over the offensive zone, filling his lane and jumping up on the play. Those are his strengths: letting him play to them is a plus. His d-zone play has been solid and if it continues to be so, with the addition of the skating/offensive side again, he's going to help them out of the other side of the rebuild faster. Seeing him get his game in order so far and keep growing is a big thing for the remainder of the year.

Hodgson - Let's see his defensive zone coverage improve. The offensive output remains, even without Vanek, so rounding out his game and getting better in his own zone shift-to-shift is the next level of improvement. Gaining some consistency at the faceoff dot would also be an area to see him working on. Gaining possession immediately would benefit his line in both ends of the rink.

Ennis - Some signs of life under Nolan, I would like to see that level of fire continue over the course of the rest of the year. His toolset offensively is impressive and as a complimentary winger, I could see him being here in the future. That said, improvement and consistency have to happen.

Grigensons - Letting the kid be a kid, let him make his mistakes and still get back out on the ice to play by handling coaching after the play or behind closed doors.

Grigorenko - Letting the kid be a kid, let him make his mistakes and still get back out on the ice to play by handling coaching after the play or behind closed doors. And if it isn't in the NHL which it may not be given what we've seen overall, then find a way to get him playing like in the WJC's and then down to Quebec afterwards. His last couple games have been steps in the right direction but I'm still in "show me" mode and I prefer more minutes of quality time that he would get in junior to what he's getting here.

Pysyk - We've seen what he can do as evidenced by the start of the season. That said, he needs to adapt to how people are adjusting to him as we've seen in the recent rough patch. Using his stick and feet to defend bigger forwards who are getting physical with him is something he's shown the ability to do at other levels, just time to show that he can do that here.

Flynn - Settle in and continue to work as a glue guy.

 

[Gabrielor]

Grigorenko isn't strong or quick enough yet to go against top defensive units that he would face on top 6 duty.

Agreed, that's why its most likely jrs for him.

It's funny how people imagine that more offensively talented wingers will mask his deficiencies, when more likely the opposite will happen.

...Wrong number? I made no such assertion. A scoring role is simply where he's been most effective during his youth-career.

He's going to have to try to develop with bottom 6 minutes until they can ship him back to juniors.

That has proven not to work with him. Therefore, jrs.

 

[Crazy Tasty]

Agreed, that's why its most likely jrs for him.



...Wrong number? I made no such assertion. A scoring role is simply where he's been most effective during his youth-career.



That has proven not to work with him. Therefore, jrs.

I was basically agreeing with you, just quoted you to emphasize it.

I agree he needs top 6 minutes, just not in the NHL.

 

[Cirris]

The Islanders are falling apart now. That 1st rounder they're giving us might get pushed back to next year at this rate.


could be a second shot at McDavid. But part of me wishes they didn't have that top 10 stipulation.

 

[start winnin]

Dear pro-tankers:

We won. The tank is real, and it's as hard as we ever could've wished.

What else do we want? In spite of the tank, what goals do we have for our young players? What goals do we have for guys like Ennis, Hodgson, Grigorenko, Girgensons, Myers, Pysyk? What do we need to see out of these guys this year to convince us that this year of suck is tolerable in terms of them still having a place on our eventual cup winner?

I wanted the tank to be last year.

 

[couture23]

I wanted the tank to be last year.

Imagine if we have Nate or Drouin? Droooooool

 

[SabresFan26]

Imagine if we have Nate or Drouin? Droooooool

Or Barkov and still only watching half a season (48 games) of garbage to have them

 

[Chainshot]

Clearly all those March wins taught these guys so much that they could use this season, right? Right?

 

[haseoke39]

Clearly all those March wins taught these guys so much that they could use this season, right? Right?

But any real fan can never root for the team to lose because real fans have no sense of foresight or end goal.

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

Well we are now 7 points behind 29th place Edmonon. Since we are Buffalo I know we will lose the lottery so I have been resigning myself to the fact that we will end up with the #2 pick and then subsequently Aaron Ekblad instead of Sam Reinhart, and I am actually getting excited about it. Even though we have gone D heavy lately, we still have 3 2nds this year we can use all on forwards and then that potential High Isles pick either this year or next. If we do end up with Ekblad and all of our dmen reach their potential, the Sabres will have by far the best and deepest defense in the league ... A D core consisting of Aaron Ekblad,Tyler Myers,Mark Pysyk,Rasmus Ristolainen,Nikita Zadorov and Jake McCabe will be insane...that is 5 dmen drafted in the 1st and McCabe was an early 2nd. Thats not even counting Ehrhoff,McNabb, Weber etc.

Just thinking of 6 top 4 dmen who all Excel at both ends and are between the ages of 18-24 is salivating.

 

[gallagt01]

If the Sabres end up with one of Ekblad or Reinhart after the draft, do they stick them in the NHL right away? Or do you think LaFontaine's seemingly more traditional approach to development will leave even top picks in junior?

No need to rush either of them. Curious to hear your thoughts.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

If the Sabres end up with one of Ekblad or Reinhart after the draft, do they stick them in the NHL right away? Or do you think LaFontaine's seemingly more traditional approach to development will leave even top picks in junior?

No need to rush either of them. Curious to hear your thoughts.

No matter who the Sabres select, I'm betting they leave the guy in Junior Hockey for further development.

 

[joshjull]

Ennis: Prepare bags to get sent elsewhere

Hodgson: Develop faceoff % and defensive game; I like his 2C odds

Grigorenko: Put him somewhere already; Nolan seems to have forgotten his own words: "We want people where they're comfortable, so there's no excuses". Grigs is comfortable in top-6 with pp-time. If its too far-fetched to try him there in the NHL, its jr time.

Girgensons: Shutdown Center, which I guess the team thinks is actually Power Winger. Time will tell, hope they have a plan. Work on his scoring touch and passing.

Myers: Keep him going how he's going. He's always at his best when he's moving.

Pysyk: Experience will cure his ailments. Top-4 Right Stick. Sabres' Hjarlmarson, is what I'm hoping.

Wouldn't mind a win here-or-there now that we're solidified.

The biggest problem for non-tankers, is they should actually want this to happen more next year.

I don't follow.

Want us to lose more? Or want us to see these guys develop properly? Or both?

I ask because I would hope everyone would want the kids to develop properly.