Putting the "Special" in Special Teams: Sabres Powerplay and Penalty-kill 2024-25 Edition

[Chainshot]

So thinking about the top 6 forward thread on the main trade board and @Gabrielor looking for a player who is good on entries on the PP while I have been mildly agitated by how crap their selection of defensemen have been on RD are for the PK had me thinking it might be time to just break out special teams talk to its own thread.

The PP entry is the first place to look at their issues. They invariably try to carry the puck in while most of the unit are stationary at the offensive blueline. Teams stack the blueline and then the Sabres almost invariably make no adjustment to shoot the puck in or dump it behind anyone. There is a level of work that they have not been willing to put in when they have additional manpower to take the man on the shoot in and have someone else support to take the puck. This was a feature of the Granato teams on the PP and remains so with largely the same personnel as we get 10% into the regular season with Ruff at the helm. It's reflective of the issues they had under Granato with regards to establishing a forecheck as well and at this point I'm wondering if this is something they can work out of some of these players. There is no other option but that silly drop-pass slingshot entry, rarely any attempt let alone success at dumping things in behind the defense and going hard enough to arrive disruptively. Teams don't have to adjust, they can simply stack the blueline and deny entries. With their continued horrendousness at the faceoff dot, that means it is unlikely for them to begin with possession in the offensive zone. We know the results, with a league worst 6.9% rate and having been outscored 2-1 while up a man thus far.

I'm not sure an entry guy is going to fix that. I do wonder if a retrieval guy would.

I did like that they are drifting Thompson into different spots to try to get unblocked looks. They are trying to get two men to the net front with Zucker and Cozens. Both of those are good things but the establishment of possession in the zone is the biggest hinderance to their PP success IMO. And if they can't carry it in with the personnel they have, finding a way to get two bodies on the puck on a dump in is the next way.

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Switching to the PK for a moment and I have liked the energy and stick positioning from the forwards more than in the recent past. They seem to have made some strides. Also, they are getting guys to block shots in ways that weren't part of the recent PK strategy, especially among the forwards. HOWEVER, there remains a pronounced issue with how their defensemen play on the PK, particularly whoever is tasked with being the RD.

Clifton gets eager to engage physically which can draw him out of position but seems like the best of the bunch, he is also tops in right shot TOI on the PK. Jokiharju, for his strides at ES, remains one of the most lost players in his own PK formation of any defenseman have watched with regularity. Putting him back in PK rotation after trading away EJ last year has not borne fruit. He's the easiest of their defensemen to attack because he drifts and moves his stick out of the cross-seam lane AND he rarely engages his man in close proximity to box out their stick. He's my biggest worry PKing right now as he's drawn the 3rd most PK minutes of all their defense. Power, Byram and Dahlin are all about the same level (around half of Jokiharju's TOI while shorthanded) though Dahlin is now last in SHTOI of their six regulars.

The other issue on the PK to me is how they are regularly slaughtered at the dot. Their "best" faceoff guy is Krebs (5 of 6) but he's 7th in SHTOI among their forwards. Cozens (4th in SHTOI) and McLeod (3rd) are both taking the majority of the draws and are markedly worse than Tuch who is a RW by trade. It's interesting that much like Dahlin, Thompson has been dropped almost completely from the PK rotation (he was 4th last season among forwards with even more than Girgensons). Cozens is actually down off his SH faceoff percentage from last year (43% down to 40%) but is their primary draw taker again. Ellis is supposedly working as their faceoff coaching specialist and right now there has been no improvement there among their high-use folks.

Anyway, thought this could be broken out since right now being 32nd on the PP and 25th on the PK is part of why they are yet again below .500.

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[Gabrielor]

The PP to me suffers 2 distinct issues:

1) They can't enter the zone with regularity, and that, imo, is a personnel issue. Peterka might get better, Ostlund/Rosen/Neuchev might one day in the far future solve it, but in the now, they have no elite speed/puck handler.

You're right, I struggle to find a guy I have in mind. Part of that post was for inspiration.


2) They have no right wall left shot playmaking/scoring threat, which trickles into multiple issues:

a) teams shadow the Tage-shot, eliminating it
b) zero middle-of-the-ice penetration; no one can make that pass
c) very low / zero success at a cross ice play
d) prone to easy destruction by any pk who plays tight man, which against us is all of them

This one should be more solvable, as even someone like Kadri can do it.

 

[Chainshot]

I'm not sure Kadri is the shining light for that given his heavy offensive zone use and limited productivity - the Flames are getting outshot, out expected and outscored with him on the ice. Seems like the guy they could use is someone they dealt last spring honestly. *sigh*

 

[TheMistyStranger]

I really hate the drop back pass for every zone entry attempt. Just go forward or dump and chase. Stop wasting 20 seconds on every power play by cycling it back like it's a goddamn reverse flying V

 

[TageGod]

I really hate the drop back pass for every zone entry attempt. Just go forward or dump and chase. Stop wasting 20 seconds on every power play by cycling it back like it's a goddamn reverse flying V

Sorry, everyone does it, gets them standing still for an easier dump in recovery.

 

[Chainshot]

I really hate the drop back pass for every zone entry attempt. Just go forward or dump and chase. Stop wasting 20 seconds on every power play by cycling it back like it's a goddamn reverse flying V

The guys at the Hockey PDO cast say that it is the most effective entry by percentage in the league. I’m simply not a fan of how they do it.

 

[TheMistyStranger]

The guys at the Hockey PDO cast say that it is the most effective entry by percentage in the league. I’m simply not a fan of how they do it.

The only time I liked it was Dahlin last game when he sold it and then went 1 on 4 and got a quality chance out of it. Stats might say it's effective in a vacuum, but not for these guys, clearly.

 

[Chainshot]

The only time I liked it was Dahlin last game when he sold it and then went 1 on 4 and got a quality chance out of it. Stats might say it's effective in a vacuum, but not for these guys, clearly.

Yeah, the nuance of it is something I'm curious about - the carry vs. the shoot-in vs. the chip. It seems like they don't do well with anything other than the carry and that is not particularly effective for them right now. As you say, there are a lot of 1-on-4 moments which are rarely successful.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

I don't think the PP is a personnel thing, at least not on ice.