Owen Power

[Nipsey]

He is horrendous defensively. Soft as butter and no IQ in the defensive zone.

 

[WarriorofTime]

-3 halfway through the game against the Bruins, just an off night?

 

[JediOrderPizza]

He will be alright, defense is tough.

 

[Panthaz89]

He is horrendous defensively. Soft as butter and no IQ in the defensive zone.

This is the truth in a lot of his games he makes up for it offensively, but I really hope he can improve quickly on D over the years. He plays defense when he is "forced" to play like a 2 on 1 he can defend really well but any time he has a choice between playing aggressive and passive he's almost always going to pick the passive choice even when he should be aggressive in the situation.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

This is the truth in a lot of his games he makes up for it offensively, but I really hope he can improve quickly on D over the years. He plays defense when he is "forced" to play like a 2 on 1 he can defend really well but any time he has a choice between playing aggressive and passive he's almost always going to pick the passive choice even when he should be aggressive in the situation.

Please, can we not make a young guy struggle with shit coaching like Mittlestadt did? Like- it’s clear we don’t really have a plan for Power, we’re just plugging him in and hoping he’s generational (pardon the overused term). I’m not saying send him down or anything, but like.. what are we doing to help? Because I see nothing, no adjustments, no bench coaching, no usage adjustments. Dude is clearly struggling, the coaches are just a bit less obvious about it.

 

[tarheelhockey]

There is a reason Defensemen don't go first overall that often. They're not unimportant but they aren't (on an individual basis) really gamebreakers the way forwards are. Goal suppression is more of a team effort and they can't really impact what goes on when they aren't on the ice sixty percent of the time, and offensively a lot of their points come from secondary assists and powerplay points. A D has to be like Top 10, Top 5 in the League to be a first overall pick in a vacuum worthy player (obviously if a Draft sucks then a good D is still the way to go).

Sabres have a 23 year old and 21 year old that both went first overall, and neither are busts or anything really close to it, and they still might not be a playoff team. That'd be pretty unfathomable if both were Forwards.

I like your posts, but I disagree with pretty much all of this one.

- Defensemen don’t usually go #1 because they’re almost never ready to step in and be a superstar from day one. Look at what Bedard’s doing, that is nearly impossible for a young D. GMs know that and avoid it.

- Of course defensemen can be gamebreakers. They dictate the PP, anchor the PK, tilt matchups at ES. There’s a pretty good argument that a great defenseman has more impact on the scoreboard than a great forward — and that goes double for the outcome of a 7-game playoff series.

- I don’t get the line about what happens when they’re not on the ice. Defensemen are on the ice ~30% more than forwards, and carry a proportionate influence on the game.

- Any player, not just a defenseman, has to be top 5-10 in the league to be a worthy 1st overall pick.

- It’s very fathomable that a team could miss the playoffs with multiple 21-23 year old forwards who were picked 1st overall.

- Defensemen are in their prime at 26-28, not 21-23. Dahlin and Power are going to be much better players in 5 years, and several years beyond. Buffalo is set on the blue line for 50 minutes a game for the foreseeable future. From a team building standpoint that’s a huge win.

 

[eojsmada]

I like your posts, but I disagree with pretty much all of this one.

- Defensemen don’t usually go #1 because they’re almost never ready to step in and be a superstar from day one. Look at what Bedard’s doing, that is nearly impossible for a young D. GMs know that and avoid it.

- Of course defensemen can be gamebreakers. They dictate the PP, anchor the PK, tilt matchups at ES. There’s a pretty good argument that a great defenseman has more impact on the scoreboard than a great forward — and that goes double for the outcome of a 7-game playoff series.

- I don’t get the line about what happens when they’re not on the ice. Defensemen are on the ice ~30% more than forwards, and carry a proportionate influence on the game.

- Any player, not just a defenseman, has to be top 5-10 in the league to be a worthy 1st overall pick.

- It’s very fathomable that a team could miss the playoffs with multiple 21-23 year old forwards who were picked 1st overall.

- Defensemen are in their prime at 26-28, not 21-23. Dahlin and Power are going to be much better players in 5 years, and several years beyond. Buffalo is set on the blue line for 50 minutes a game for the foreseeable future. From a team building standpoint that’s a huge win.

Edmonton says hello...and I'm just talking the Hall/RNH/Yakupov years

 

[gallagt01]

He's been really, really good overall. Phenomenal in transition. But he's a young D who does make mistakes and is prone to a game every handful that really leaves you scratching your head.

He's going to be an extremely well rounded D in his. His best defensive trait will always be that he's usually on the offensive, though.

 

[ORRFForever]

I like your posts, but I disagree with pretty much all of this one.

- Defensemen don’t usually go #1 because they’re almost never ready to step in and be a superstar from day one. Look at what Bedard’s doing, that is nearly impossible for a young D. GMs know that and avoid it.

- Of course defensemen can be gamebreakers. They dictate the PP, anchor the PK, tilt matchups at ES. There’s a pretty good argument that a great defenseman has more impact on the scoreboard than a great forward — and that goes double for the outcome of a 7-game playoff series.

- I don’t get the line about what happens when they’re not on the ice. Defensemen are on the ice ~30% more than forwards, and carry a proportionate influence on the game.

- Any player, not just a defenseman, has to be top 5-10 in the league to be a worthy 1st overall pick.

- It’s very fathomable that a team could miss the playoffs with multiple 21-23 year old forwards who were picked 1st overall.

- Defensemen are in their prime at 26-28, not 21-23. Dahlin and Power are going to be much better players in 5 years, and several years beyond. Buffalo is set on the blue line for 50 minutes a game for the foreseeable future. From a team building standpoint that’s a huge win.

Plus, my guess (not based on any stats I have) :

It's easier to predict how a forward will do in the NHL than a D-Man.

 

[Steddy33]

Very bad in his own end. I don't think that is surprising or unusual for his age. He has long way to go to being a #1 D man. I highly doubt he ever makes it to Dahlin level

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

He was particularly bad in the d-zone tonight. Brutal.

Reminder that you can legally buy him a beer in 25 more NHL cities starting next Wednesday.

Sabres fans would love to see him more developed, obviously, but it's going to take time. He's got loads of upside.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

He seems quite underwhelming a lot. Avoids contact. Good passer though.

 

[Drake1588]

You just get the feeling that one day he's going to put it all together and rise into that top tier, but there are plenty of warts right now. Young defensemen who are in training to take on top-pairing responsibilities have a lot of learning to do. That usually takes years.

It would help if Buffalo brought in one more solid veteran mentor to shoulder that load from the two kids. Erik Johnson is nice but he's a third pairing guy at this point, and he's on his way out (probably in a matter of weeks). Young players need sheltering as they learn. I have a lot of time for Power, though. He's going to be a really good one.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

It’s fine, our coaching staff is failing to address any repeated issue, nothing is changing, good look Owen, hope you figure it out yourself!

 

[Sting]

It’s fine, our coaching staff is failing to address any repeated issue, nothing is changing, good look Owen, hope you figure it out yourself!

This is the biggest detriment to a young player's career. As a Sens fan I believe coaching has negatively impacted the development of most of the team.

Thankfully Sanderson was a very defensively sound, polished player as a rookie and got great coaching in college. DJ Smith was unsuccessful in ruining him.

Power has the size/speed to be a good defender but he needs to be way more physically engaged.

 

[Dominance]

Power: 16 even strength points, 22:26 TOI, +4, 51.4 CF% (+0.1 relative), 53.2 OZS%.

L. Hughes: 14 even strength points, 20:50 TOI, -10, 51.7 CF% (+5.9 relative), 62 OZS%.

Power is straight up as good or better than his contemporary who walks on water around here despite being a real-time gaffe reel. Get real.

 

[Nicko999]

There is a reason Defensemen don't go first overall that often. They're not unimportant but they aren't (on an individual basis) really gamebreakers the way forwards are. Goal suppression is more of a team effort and they can't really impact what goes on when they aren't on the ice sixty percent of the time, and offensively a lot of their points come from secondary assists and powerplay points. A D has to be like Top 10, Top 5 in the League to be a first overall pick in a vacuum worthy player (obviously if a Draft sucks then a good D is still the way to go).

That is not true. True #1 D-men can actually have a bigger impact than top line forwards have.

Goal suppression is a team effort agreed, but without the quick transition of a D-man, you will see your offense dry up.

Look at the Sharks without Erik Karlsson, they went from bad to historically bad.

 

[WarriorofTime]

That is not true. True #1 D-men can actually have a bigger impact than top line forwards have.

Goal suppression is a team effort agreed, but without the quick transition of a D-man, you will see your offense dry up.

Look at the Sharks without Erik Karlsson, they went from bad to historically bad.

Think the other issue is that while you can look at top DMen in the draft and have confidence they can be good Top 4 Defensemen, predicting a top 10 defensemen is a bit more difficult and leaves little room for error. Transition O is important, but also keep in mind defensemen tend to peak older, and unlike forwards have a very good, if not likely, chance of having their best years come post UFA-eligibility. I think solid Top 4 DMen can be had for the right price generally, obviously you have to manage cap well and get the right bang for your buck there, but I don't think you need to draft your defensive core to the same degree as you would with your forward core.

Cale Makar - well worth a 1st overall in a vacuum (not taking into account draft year specifics, etc.)
Owen Power or Aaron Ekblad - I don't think so, not in a vacuum at least (could still be the right choice in a given year based on draft year specifics, etc.)

Last 20 drafts have seen 16 Forwards go first overall and 4 Defensemen. Of the DMen I'd probaly rank them Dahlin, Power, Ekblad, E. Johnson. Surprisingly (for me at least), it's the same ratio for second overall picks. 16 forwards and 4 defensemen. Those I'd rank Hedman, Doughty, Nemec, Murray.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Power: 16 even strength points, 22:26 TOI, +4, 51.4 CF% (+0.1 relative), 53.2 OZS%.

L. Hughes: 14 even strength points, 20:50 TOI, -10, 51.7 CF% (+5.9 relative), 62 OZS%.

Power is straight up as good or better than his contemporary who walks on water around here despite being a real-time gaffe reel. Get real.

Sorry, Power is not as good as Hughes. Also your CF numbers aren't correct, at least according to Natural Stat Trick.

Power
51.8 CF%
+0.77 rel CF

L. Hughes
56.5% CF%
+4.84 rel CF

Luke is tilting the ice as a rookie, and has been playing as the team's #1D with nearly 24 mins a night for the past month.

 

[Nicko999]

Think the other issue is that while you can look at top DMen in the draft and have confidence they can be good Top 4 Defensemen, predicting a top 10 defensemen is a bit more difficult and leaves little room for error. Transition O is important, but also keep in mind defensemen tend to peak older, and unlike forwards have a very good, if not likely, chance of having their best years come post UFA-eligibility. I think solid Top 4 DMen can be had for the right price generally, obviously you have to manage cap well and get the right bang for your buck there, but I don't think you need to draft your defensive core to the same degree as you would with your forward core.

Cale Makar - well worth a 1st overall in a vacuum (not taking into account draft year specifics, etc.)
Owen Power or Aaron Ekblad - I don't think so, not in a vacuum at least (could still be the right choice in a given year based on draft year specifics, etc.)

Last 20 drafts have seen 16 Forwards go first overall and 4 Defensemen. Of the DMen I'd probaly rank them Dahlin, Power, Ekblad, E. Johnson. Surprisingly (for me at least), it's the same ratio for second overall picks. 16 forwards and 4 defensemen. Those I'd rank Hedman, Doughty, Nemec, Murray.

That I agree with. It is much harder to evaluate D-men than forwards as the forwards are usually much closer to their peak (5-7 years) than D-men (10+ years)

 

[Bouboumaster]

Should be renamed Owen Superpower

 

[VaporTrail]

Should be renamed Owen Superpower

I was going to say Owen Powerless

 

[57special]

I like your posts, but I disagree with pretty much all of this one.

- Defensemen don’t usually go #1 because they’re almost never ready to step in and be a superstar from day one. Look at what Bedard’s doing, that is nearly impossible for a young D. GMs know that and avoid it.

- Of course defensemen can be gamebreakers. They dictate the PP, anchor the PK, tilt matchups at ES. There’s a pretty good argument that a great defenseman has more impact on the scoreboard than a great forward — and that goes double for the outcome of a 7-game playoff series.

- I don’t get the line about what happens when they’re not on the ice. Defensemen are on the ice ~30% more than forwards, and carry a proportionate influence on the game.

- Any player, not just a defenseman, has to be top 5-10 in the league to be a worthy 1st overall pick.

- It’s very fathomable that a team could miss the playoffs with multiple 21-23 year old forwards who were picked 1st overall.

- Defensemen are in their prime at 26-28, not 21-23. Dahlin and Power are going to be much better players in 5 years, and several years beyond. Buffalo is set on the blue line for 50 minutes a game for the foreseeable future. From a team building standpoint that’s a huge win.

Any somewhat rigorous study of hockey player's peaks finds it is between 22-25, if not a bit younger. In the past it was thought that Dmen peaked way later, but most studies have them peaking at 1/2-1 year later, at most, so 23-26.

Power is still young(won't turn 22yo till next Nov), and has been playing on a semi dysfunctional team, which gives him little support. Hopefully he can turn things around, but in retrospect, keeping him in college for another year would've been the best thing for him. Playing defense in the NHL is hard, especially for a guy who is still growing into this body.

 

[3074326]

You just peruse the Sabres board as a Leafs fan for entertainment?

I peruse a bunch of different boards for entertainment because I love hockey and seeing what other teams’ situations are. That ok?

 

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

I peruse a bunch of different boards for entertainment because I love hockey and seeing what other teams’ situations are. That ok?

No. Shit ain’t ok