Roster Thread (2023-2024 Season)

[Mattilaus]

That implies nothing was working. Not a fan of this analogy.

Back to reality- 2-4. Sky is intact. They have played quite a few good games collectively and are playin hockey that wins games. Be patient, sky will fall

It was your analogy?

Games don't happen in a vacuum. There are winners and there are losers. If a team "plays well" but never wins they don't get a trophy.

 

[Zman5778]

A loss should not impact what was a good performance and be called a bad one.

Just because it SHOULD not impact the narrative.....does not mean that it DOES not impact the narrative. It most certainly does.

Trying to say "in a vacuum" is largely a pointless discussion on a message board this big, as narratives are most certainly affected by wins and losses.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

It was your analogy?

Games don't happen in a vacuum. There are winners and there are losers. If a team "plays well" but never wins they don't get a trophy.

 

[Djp]

View attachment 756406

I think about this sometimes, and it's why I want the Sabres to actually make things happen in the trade market.

Apples to oranges

top 20 OA drafted players since 2011……Byfield(2), clarke(8), Turcoote(5), kupari (20), Villardi (11)

the last 2 got traded for PLD

thr other layers were acquire or traded latter.

if I was trading say Ostlund, Rosen, Benson picked in 10-20 range I better be getting a core player, not rental parts. Top 10 not traded.

you want to trade Peterka and other of the late 1st/ 2nd round picks or later …sure….have at it.

 

[Djp]

That implies nothing was working. Not a fan of this analogy.

Back to reality- 2-4. Sky is intact. They have played quite a few good games collectively and are playin hockey that wins games. Be patient, sky will fall at 2-6


Vaccum, no win or loss. Evaluating the offense. A loss should not impact what was a good performance and be called a bad one.

2003-04…finishes string thr last 25 or so games
2004-05…no season but if played they probably would be in thr hunt for the final spots in playoff
2005-06..they started around 9-9-2 then played a .750 or so clip.

 

[debaser66]

I loved that movie

 

[Der Jaeger]

I'd send Benson down after 9 games if he doesn't pick it up. Let him go dominate the WHL, and try again either at the end of the season or next season. That's the best developmental move for him.

From a team perspective, it also cleans things up a bit. Elevate Jost back to 4C, and it also allows for Savoie to remain with the team past his conditioning stint and possibly after the WJCs. That's also a good developmental move for Savoie.

And overall, it gives Adams time to make moves until Quinn is healthy and ready to play. With Savoie and Quinn, the Sabres are at 14-7-3. Quinn should be ready by December-January if I remember correctly. Adams could trade Olofsson, send Savoie back to the WHL, send Levi to Rochester, etc. And that's just unless there's not another injury (which is going to happen).

 

[Jim Bob]

I'd send Benson down after 9 games if he doesn't pick it up. Let him go dominate the WHL, and try again either at the end of the season or next season. That's the best developmental move for him.

From a team perspective, it also cleans things up a bit. Elevate Jost back to 4C, and it also allows for Savoie to remain with the team past his conditioning stint and possibly after the WJCs. That's also a good developmental move for Savoie.

And overall, it gives Adams time to make moves until Quinn is healthy and ready to play. With Savoie and Quinn, the Sabres are at 14-7-3. Quinn should be ready by December-January if I remember correctly. Adams could trade Olofsson, send Savoie back to the WHL, send Levi to Rochester, etc. And that's just unless there's not another injury (which is going to happen).

With Savoie playing RW in Rochester, I am really starting to think the plan is to send Benson back, give Savoie some games at RW before sending him back, and then it's waiting on Quinn and maybe PKane.

 

[TehDoak]

With Savoie playing RW in Rochester, I am really starting to think the plan is to send Benson back, give Savoie some games at RW before sending him back, and then it's waiting on Quinn and maybe PKane.

I don't quite get this.

I understand why Benson was given the 9 games. Excellent preseason, spot in the top 9 forwards available.

Zero issues sending him back at this point, he's been OK, but not quite NHL ready.

I really don't understand why we'd give Savoie 9 games, unless he absolutely lights it on fire in the AHL on the rehab assignment. Plenty of the AHL guys have paid a lot more dues at this point. I'd much rather Savoie be in the AHL than the CHL, but it's what we have at the moment.

If he does great for the Amerks, fine, give him a few game look. But, if he's just meh, I'd happily take one of Kulich/Rosen/Murray/Biro up here instead.

The NHL team needs to be about putting us in the best roster forward, not giving a prospect the warm fuzzies.

 

[Sabre the Win]

Does anyone have a site that streams AHL games? Inbox me, would like to catch some Rochester games.

 

[Jim Bob]

I don't quite get this.

I understand why Benson was given the 9 games. Excellent preseason, spot in the top 9 forwards available.

Zero issues sending him back at this point, he's been OK, but not quite NHL ready.

I really don't understand why we'd give Savoie 9 games, unless he absolutely lights it on fire in the AHL on the rehab assignment. Plenty of the AHL guys have paid a lot more dues at this point. I'd much rather Savoie be in the AHL than the CHL, but it's what we have at the moment.

If he does great for the Amerks, fine, give him a few game look. But, if he's just meh, I'd happily take one of Kulich/Rosen/Murray/Biro up here instead.

The NHL team needs to be about putting us in the best roster forward, not giving a prospect the warm fuzzies.

I would expect that Savoie would have to look markedly better than he did in the playoffs for the Amerks last season to get a look with the Sabres.

But, with all the "Savoie will get the Shane Wright treatment" talk, taking Benson's roster spot would seem to be the move that the Sabres are planning to make.

And when comparing Savoie to Kulich/Rosen/Murray/Biro, one big challenge is that none of them have been playing RW, I believe. Plus, Biro is day-to-day and Murray is not off to a great start.

 

[SabresFanNorthPortFL]

Benson needs to go back to juniors because he looks like a kid playing against grown ups. He is really small, physical stature speaking. He needs to put on at least 20lbs, the right way.

Which leads to something the Doak says all the time, roster building. Adams, it great that you accumulated all this talent but there is absolutely no place for 6 guys 5’8 to 5’11…and I’m sure those guys listed at 5’11 are being generous.

“Loose” a trade to start shaping this roster.

Not saying this is the guy we should try to get but Shane Pinto (6’3) is out there.

It’s time to tweak it and use some of these “smaller” assets….

 

[paulmm3]

I don't know if the issue with our forwards is size so much as the lack of sandpaper. We don't need 12 Radko Gudas' at forward, but Tage, Skinner, JJP, Olofsson (heh), Mitts, Cozens (usually), Tuch (usually, except last night) are not exactly bullies. They're good hockey players (Olofsson maybe less so) but generally seem to fall into the category of "gets pushed around" rather than "does the pushing". Not every team is gonna get a Getzlaf, Marchand, or Ovechkin "skill and sandpaper" type forward, but definitely feels like the top 9 could use more meanness and bite.

Someone that makes the other team think for a split second about how they hate you, and breaks their focus on the game.

 

[StrompTroller]

I don't know if the issue with our forwards is size so much as the lack of sandpaper. We don't need 12 Radko Gudas' at forward, but Tage, Skinner, JJP, Olofsson (heh), Mitts, Cozens (usually), Tuch (usually, except last night) are not exactly bullies. They're good hockey players (Olofsson maybe less so) but generally seem to fall into the category of "gets pushed around" rather than "does the pushing". Not every team is gonna get a Getzlaf, Marchand, or Ovechkin "skill and sandpaper" type forward, but definitely feels like the top 9 could use more meanness and bite.

Someone that makes the other team think for a split second about how they hate you, and breaks their focus on the game.

Every other team in the league wants that though. Thats the problem. You either draft and develop those types of player or you do as Der Jeager has suggested on multiple occasions and you take fliers on guys other teams have lost faith in or lost in a numbers crunch. Teams arent trading away the Tom Wilson's of the league because they are unicorns. Side note but related this is why trading away Macus Foligno for Scandella was abysmal.

 

[paulmm3]

Every other team in the league wants that though. Thats the problem. You either draft and develop those types of player or you do as Der Jeager has suggested on multiple occasions and you take fliers on guys other teams have lost faith in or lost in a numbers crunch. Teams arent trading away the Tom Wilson's of the league because they are unicorns. Side note but related this is why trading away Macus Foligno for Scandella was abysmal.

All true. I guess the Devils sort of make it work with a less bully-like forward group. And Greenway helps.

It's not so much that we need one real Marchand like rat. It's more if you were rating sandpaper/truculence/whatever you want to call it as an attribute on a scale of 0-100 we have a lot of players who would come in the 0-10 range. I just want some more in the 30-50 range - just a little Nathan MacKinnon level truculence, doesn't have to be Tom Wilson or Tkachuk level.

 

[StrompTroller]

All true. I guess the Devils sort of make it work with a less bully-like forward group. And Greenway helps.

It's not so much that we need one real Marchand like rat. It's more if you were rating sandpaper/truculence/whatever you want to call it as an attribute on a scale of 0-100 we have a lot of players who would come in the 0-10 range. I just want some more in the 30-50 range - just a little Nathan MacKinnon level truculence, doesn't have to be Tom Wilson or Tkachuk level.

I agree with your premise entirely.

That being said idk why people on here think Greenway is adding much truculence to this lineup lol. Just because he's big doesnt mean hes a big hitter/fighter etc. Its not really his game. Its like thinking Power is that because he's big too.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

To me, true grit and toughness is winning puck battles at key times. And holding firm in front of the net. I want guys with that kind of toughness, I don't need anyone to square-off with a Tkachuck on a regular basis.

We don't have either kind of toughness right now, but the kind I want probably relies more on the leg muscles and brain muscle than the biceps and shoulders.

 

[StrompTroller]

To me, true grit and toughness is winning puck battles at key times. And holding firm in front of the net. I want guys with that kind of toughness, I don't need anyone to square-off with a Tkachuck on a regular basis.

We don't have either kind of toughness right now, but the kind I want probably relies more on the leg muscles and brain muscle than the biceps and shoulders.

Not to sound selfish but I want both....???

 

[MOGlLNY]

I think this team has had plenty of push back this year and doesn't let teams throw them around. It's a really good sign. I would like if we started imposing our will on teams but that will come with time as we develop.

I have loved the bite our defense core has been playing with.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

I don't quite get this.

I understand why Benson was given the 9 games. Excellent preseason, spot in the top 9 forwards available.

Zero issues sending him back at this point, he's been OK, but not quite NHL ready.

I really don't understand why we'd give Savoie 9 games, unless he absolutely lights it on fire in the AHL on the rehab assignment. Plenty of the AHL guys have paid a lot more dues at this point. I'd much rather Savoie be in the AHL than the CHL, but it's what we have at the moment.

If he does great for the Amerks, fine, give him a few game look. But, if he's just meh, I'd happily take one of Kulich/Rosen/Murray/Biro up here instead.

The NHL team needs to be about putting us in the best roster forward, not giving a prospect the warm fuzzies.

Any of them would just be a placeholder while awaiting Quinn's return, unless one forces his way onto the Sabres with stellar play.

Maybe Plan A is give Savoie a shot, and see if he belongs. Plan B is recall someone from your list if he doesn't. I could picture Adams and Granato thinking Savoie is more ready. Only one way to find out.

I don't have a problem with that. We'll certainly see Kulich and Rosen play with the Sabres at some point this season, regardless of how Savoie is managed.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Side note but related this is why trading away Macus Foligno for Scandella was abysmal.

The game Marcus plays fairly consistently for the Wild is what we saw him play in 1 out of 4 games for the Sabres.

Conclusion: don't give up on players too early.

 

[Snippit]

What are the chances Mittelstadt gets signed mid-season, similar to Cozens last year? He has clearly arrived and is frankly one of the team's best 5v5 players.

 

[Mattilaus]

The game Marcus plays fairly consistently for the Wild is what we saw him play in 1 out of 4 games for the Sabres.

Conclusion: don't give up on players too early.

Didn't we have him for like 8 years? Is that really considered giving up early? I would think a plausible conclusion would also be that he would just never have turned into that type of player on the Sabres and that he was able to thrive in Minnesota due to their system and with those linemates.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Didn't we have him for like 8 years? Is that really considered giving up early? I would think a plausible conclusion would also be that he would just never have turned into that type of player on the Sabres and that he was able to thrive in Minnesota due to their system and with those linemates.

6 years, but same idea. But I was not in favor or the Foligno trade. It was re-shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

Buffalo has done a pretty good job of moving on from lower line, pairing players who bring sandpaper. McNabb, Carrier, Foligno, Borgen. Eventually, the Sabres will need those types of players.

 

[Mattilaus]

6 years, but same idea. But I was not in favor or the Foligno trade. It was re-shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

Buffalo has done a pretty good job of moving on from lower line, pairing players who bring sandpaper. McNabb, Carrier, Foligno, Borgen. Eventually, the Sabres will need those types of players.

For the record, I agree. I liked Foligno. Was more just commenting about us "giving up too early" on him.