Owen Power

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

Exactly, dont need to peruse other teams boards to figure out other teams situations when you can simply see it on tv.

I see “peruse” has been established as popular discourse on HF. It’s a fan favorite. But na ppl can read whatever. Just strikes me as kinda weird and one must have plenty of free time to do so

 

[Daz28]

Just do your own research. It's all out there.

Why are the youngest teams the worst teams if players peak from 22-25? For forwards, they typically do score less as they age, but there's factors that points alone don't take into account. There has to be a peak of the experience/physical combination, and it's higher than you're claiming.

 

[Satanphonehome]

Power is a gentle, cerebral, slow-the-game down type who was always bigger, smarter and more skilled than the opponent growing up.

He never had to learn assertiveness because he's kinda been a man playing against boys and never really needed that quality. Therefore, he still gets taken by surprise at times by the speed and strength of NHL players.

He's also just turned 21 and in a lot of ways is still a boy, mentally and physically.

Some Sabres fans have turned on him for 3 reasons: he's a 1st overall pick who is not ripping up the league; he's big, doesn't hit at all and gets overpowered at times down low; their team has been bad for a long time and they need whipping boys.

What they don't talk about is how good he is at passing the puck, on the breakout, defending the rush, joining the rush, and controlling the blueline. His reads in the offensive zone and both ways in transition are very good. He doesn't get beat to the outside and breaks up plays with his stick He is also a horse who soaks up ice time and plays in all situations.

Right now he gives you good offensive 2/3D vibes most of the time for most games, but with enough high-profile errors for the haters to glom onto. His calm style can yo-yo between poise and lack of assertiveness.

The Larry Murphy comp is actually a good one and is probably the most likely end product, but the raw material is there to be even more, and Murphy is a hall-of-famer. He's a smart kid and a hockey nerd. He has high expectations for himself and will work on his game.

Their aren't many (any?) players who combine his length and his brain; both attributes are elite. His skill level is also very, very good. Barring injury, he's going to play forever.

This website has a long history of calling kids stars 20 games into their careers, then busts 100 games later despite all the evidence suggesting that it's a 3- to 5-year process, with defencemen generally being on the longer end of the scale.

Power is good right now. But once this boy has 250 NHL games of learning and 230 pounds of muscle under his belt, he's going to be a stud.

 

[lakai17]

The Sabres should attempt to do something at the deadline. How long has this organization been mediocre and their fans just accept that.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

...

Dahlin was in his 5th season last year and really took off. Power is in his 3rd. It could take a bit longer, but 1-3 years from now both Dahlin and Power should be in peak form. I'd be surprised if Buffalo doesnt start dominating.

Just to clarify. This is only Power's 2nd full season. He played just 8 games in his D+1 year after finishing his season at Michigan.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

The Sabres should attempt to do something at the deadline. How long has this organization been mediocre and their fans just accept that.

Hang around at HF Sabres a bit to disabuse yourself of that incorrect assessment. Or check out home games and the swathes of empty seats and boos at the end of losing games.

The organization hasn't been mediocre, btw. It's been dreadful. And we're all well aware of that.

 

[abo9]

Just to clarify. This is only Power's 2nd full season. He played just 8 games in his D+1 year after finishing his season at Michigan.

Fair enough! Idk if years after draft or NHL seasons is more relevant, but could take a bit more in this case.

From my pov, Buffalo is set with two extremely talented defensemen for the next 10+ years if they dont screw it up.

The Sabres should attempt to do something at the deadline. How long has this organization been mediocre and their fans just accept that.

Lol I went to a Sabres game not long ago and I was quite surprise to hear the fans boo their own players for being not super engaged in the game.

I camt say I watch many Sabres games otherwise, but that stuck to me. I think their fans are kinda done

 

[blueandgoldguy]

It's pretty easy to google it. Conventional wisdom about peaks in baseball was similarly off, till Bill James came along and found otherwise.

The problem with that is that it accounts for ALL defensemen, not higher end defensemen...like say top-pairing d-men. It would be interesting to see a study on those specific type of d-men. I suspect a lot of bottom, middle pairing d-men have shorter peaks which could skew those numbers to a lower age for peak.

 

[Zman5778]

From my pov, Buffalo is set with two extremely talented defensemen for the next 10+ years if they dont screw it up.

We are well on our way to screwing it up.

 

[GrandmaCookie]

So what is the opinion on him after 10 season games. He seems to be doing fine on the score sheet. Has his overall level of play reached another level?

 

[BFLO]

So what is the opinion on him after 10 season games. He seems to be doing fine on the score sheet. Has his overall level of play reached another level?

He's driving offense. Has his good moments defensively, but more often than not it's an adventure, especially since he's paired with Byram who is even worse defensively.

From an advanced stats point of view his actual goals for/against are outpacing his xGF/GA by quite a bit. Awful corsi and shot share as well. All numbers @ 5v5 from NST

Player	Player 2	CF/60	CA/60	CF%	SF/60	SA/60	SF%	GF/60	GA/60	GF%	xGF/60	xGA/60	xGF%
Bowen Byram	Owen Power	54.05	62.72	46.29	21.42	35.18	37.84	4.59	3.57	56.25	2.01	3.03	39.81

 

[kerrabria]

So what is the opinion on him after 10 season games. He seems to be doing fine on the score sheet. Has his overall level of play reached another level?

Power isn't an NHL-level defenseman in his own zone, which means he shouldn't be considered more than a bottom pair guy at best.

I've always been baffled by Dahlin's stupidity and carelessness when it comes to defensive positioning, poorly timed pinches, and losing battles on the forecheck. But Dahlin's incompetence is clearly a decision-making thing. And there's no denying how great Dahlin's offense has become.

Power, on the other hand, just looks completely overwhelmed. He's a turnstile when opposing forwards enter the zone, and his gap control is atrocious. It looks so easy to blow by him in transition. He also seems constantly lost in the d-zone. His man always ends up behind him. It's either an absence of awareness or just an inability to keep up with the play. And he lacks the urgency to get back on defense when he (frequently) gets caught up ice.

Watch the Sabres. Every five minutes they give up an odd man rush. But what's remarkable is how half the time it'll be a forward who is left defending, and it'll take a second for a Buffalo dman to arrive on screen like Ovechkin on the backcheck. It isn't a coincidence that this happens so often when Dahlin or Power are on the ice for like 80% of EV TOI.