The 2024-2025 Roster Thread

[Fezzy126]

Why are we breaking up Tage Benny and Tuch?

In the last game they put up one of the most impressive stat lines I've ever seen:

Player 1

Player 2

Player 3

CF

CA

CF%

CF% Rel

SF

SA

SF%

SF% Rel

GF

GA

GF%

GF% Rel

xGF

xGA

xGF%

xGF% Rel

SCF

SCA

SCF%

SCF% Rel

HDCF

HDCA

HDCF%

HDCF% Rel

Rush Attempts For

Rush Attempts Against

Rush Attempt %

Rush Attempt % Rel

Rebound Attempts For

Rebound Attempts Against

Rebound Attempt %

Zach Benson

Tage Thompson

Alex Tuch

25​

6​

80.65​

36.65​

5​

3​

62.5​

21.59​

0​

1​

0​

-

0.62​

0.27​

69.84​

7.69​

14​

3​

82.35​

40.42​

6​

0​

100​

40​

3​

0​

100​

66.67​

4​

0​

100​

The message should be simple - keep doing what you're doing, but hit the f***in net with your shots next game.

Juggle ice time and line mates for the other three lines all day, but that first line was fine.

 

[Djp]

It's not as hard as it sounds. Fitzgerald added Meier and Marino, then traded Marino. That's just one example. And as far as I remember, there was no trade protection.

Meier had no trade protections and was 1+ yrs from UFA

Marino likely understood that he may get traded once their prospects were ready. He was fine, just give me term/ $$$

 

[toddkaz]

I missed it last season too

You can always watch replays.he had 92 goals his last 3 years here.

He was 3rd on the team last year. Seems bizarre you missed them.

 

[TommyDangles]

You can always watch replays.he had 92 goals his last 3 years here.

He was 3rd on the team last year. Seems bizarre you missed them.

I don't care about what he did over a 3 year period. I care about what he can do now. He's declined. The team sucked last year. Nobody could score. That included him.

 

[Ravenking32]

I don't care about what he did over a 3 year period. I care about what he can do now. He's declined. The team sucked last year. Nobody could score. That included him.

Nobody seems to be able to score this year either.

 

[Matt Ress]

Doubt they will experiment with cozens on wing but those lines are closer to what I'd like to try

Benson - Thompson - Greenway
Jjp - cozens - Quinn
Zucker - mcloud - tuch
Beck - laff- kulich

Line one - reward a player that's arguably the best forward through three games in greenway

Line two - see if their chemistry is still there if not that's when you start experimenting

Line three - get tuch two guys who play a simple game with some speed and get him back going

Line four - put kulich here over Krebs as he could replace a forward easier in the top 9 if you wanted to bench someone mid game (looking at you Quinn)

Probably time to split up Thompson and Tuch

 

[MarkusKetterer]

Why are we breaking up Tage Benny and Tuch?

In the last game they put up one of the most impressive stat lines I've ever seen:

Player 1

Player 2

Player 3

CF

CA

CF%

CF% Rel

SF

SA

SF%

SF% Rel

GF

GA

GF%

GF% Rel

xGF

xGA

xGF%

xGF% Rel

SCF

SCA

SCF%

SCF% Rel

HDCF

HDCA

HDCF%

HDCF% Rel

Rush Attempts For

Rush Attempts Against

Rush Attempt %

Rush Attempt % Rel

Rebound Attempts For

Rebound Attempts Against

Rebound Attempt %

Zach Benson

Tage Thompson

Alex Tuch

25​

6​

80.65​

36.65​

5​

3​

62.5​

21.59​

0​

1​

0​

-

0.62​

0.27​

69.84​

7.69​

14​

3​

82.35​

40.42​

6​

0​

100​

40​

3​

0​

100​

66.67​

4​

0​

100​

The message should be simple - keep doing what you're doing, but hit the f***in net with your shots next game.

Juggle ice time and line mates for the other three lines all day, but that first line was fine.

That’s actually impressive. But missing the net seems to be a thing this team does.

 

[Matt Ress]

I know it's doom and gloom right now but they've had so many chances and just gripping the stick too tight

 

[toddkaz]

I don't care about what he did over a 3 year period. I care about what he can do now. He's declined. The team sucked last year. Nobody could score. That included him.

You were the one who said he missed his goals from last year and now you say you don't care about last year

Bizarre rant

 

[SundherDome]

You were the one who said he missed his goals from last year and now you say you don't care about last year

Bizarre rant

He was noting that Skinner dropped off last year while only scoring 24 with every imaginable opportunity, but you knew that.

For his standard as a first overall d-man, not good enough. I want more out of him. I want more out of our entire blue line.


I'll bite.

Peterka-Thompson-Cozens
Greenway-Kulich-Tuch
Benson-McLeod-Quinn
Malenstyn/Zucker-Krebs-Lafferty

First, move Cozens to Tage's wing. Gotta get both of them going and finding the net. Peterka might be our best sniper right now. Get the three together and get a spark.

Tell Greenway and Tuch to start banging some bodies and giving Kulich the puck more. Go to the net, get some greasy goals.

Get Benson & Quinn moving their feet with some speed and set up with easier minutes. And I know McLeod is capable of thinking the game better than he has. Put his speed with two high IQ players and tell him to go to the net (since Quinn is allergic to it lately).

Piss in Krebs Corn Flakes, shit in Lafferty's, tell Zucker you'll keep him here past the TDL unless he starts to show up.

Dahlin-Samuelsson - I believe we get the best version of each in this pairing.
Power-Jokiharju - Challenge em both.
Byram-Clifton - power & finesse.

Tell Adams to start shopping for goals. Or launch him into the sun. Then hire his replacement, and tell his replacement (someone with NHL front office pedigree) to start shopping for goals while assessing what we have for next off-season.

That's the point though, only the guys in the locker room can do it. Trade market is barren. Only thing Ruff can do is take ice time. Imo Quinn isn't seeing the ice against Florida. Bring up a guy like Dunne for a game or two.

 

[TommyDangles]

You were the one who said he missed his goals from last year and now you say you don't care about last year

Bizarre rant

Bizarre reading comprehension

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Watching Vegas a lot of late. Looks like it's now Victor Olofsson's turn to shine.

Just watched him deflect a puck while in front of the St Louis net. That's a place he would never go when with Buffalo.

Let's see now.... RoR, Eichel, Reinhart, Montour, ERod, Mittlestadt and now Olofsson. (Who else am I missing?)

Either Champs or playing like champs. What is different about Buffalo compared to these franchises?

I'd love to hear it from those who left and went onto success elsewhere. If I were part of Buffalo management, I'd sure like to know what's different. Is it the water? The taxes? The climate? The coaching? The playing style? The expectations (or lack of?)

It's got to be more than just the roster........

Is anybody on this story at all?

 

[MayDayMayDay]

He was noting that Skinner dropped off last year while only scoring 24 with every imaginable opportunity, but you knew that.


That's the point though, only the guys in the locker room can do it. Trade market is barren. Only thing Ruff can do is take ice time. Imo Quinn isn't seeing the ice against Florida. Bring up a guy like Dunne for a game or two.

Facts. And I'm not seeing enough give-a-shit from this group right now. Rant incoming.

I think back to those Ruff coached teams from the late 90s and 06-07. They refused -refused- to be f***ed with. Peca and Barnaby doing Peca and Barnaby shit. Then fast forward, and when that one dipshit (I refuse to say his name) hit Drury, Lindy said, "Run 'em." Those teams raised hell to win. Straight up demon time psychopaths. Sometimes scary, but always fearless.

Success was attributable to the back end driving the play. McKee, Woolley, Zhitnik, Warrener. Then Campbell, Tallinder, Lydman, Kalinin.

The forwards crashed the net and scored dirty goals. Then they started having fun. And then started scoring pretty ones too.

Those teams emptied the tank and never stopped moving their feet. Effort was never in doubt, much less ever in question.

For 15 years now, we've had to watch as that culture that our organization built -rooted in effort, heart, and give it all- ... everything that crest is supposed to represent... It's all eroded away. It's infuriating. It's exhausting.

And that's the thing - We have actual talent on this team. And while the game has evolved, the requirement of heart remains constant. This team needs that heart back. Because I don't want those Sabres back - I want these Sabres to raise that bar. I want to see that give a shit from them now, in 2024. The same kind that sent Curtis Brown dashing down the ice, that went bar down like Stu, that put Umberger on his ass, and that went right at Alfie, cut around Emery and f***in buried it.

I want this team to dig deep, find what makes them give a shit, then stand up and go remind everybody in the game just what the f*** Sabres hockey means. And I know y'all want it too.

 

[allsilverdreams]

Watching Vegas a lot of late. Looks like it's now Victor Olofsson's turn to shine.

Just watched him deflect a puck while in front of the St Louis net. That's a place he would never go when with Buffalo.

Let's see now.... RoR, Eichel, Reinhart, Montour, ERod, Mittlestadt and now Olofsson. (Who else am I missing?)

Either Champs or playing like champs. What is different about Buffalo compared to these franchises?

I'd love to hear it from those who left and went onto success elsewhere. If I were part of Buffalo management, I'd sure like to know what's different. Is it the water? The taxes? The climate? The coaching? The playing style? The expectations (or lack of?)

It's got to be more than just the roster........

Is anybody on this story at all?

Every one of those players left a loosing team to a team on the cusp of a championship. They were never bad players. In fact they were very good at what they did. And they helped their current team win a Cup.
Olofsson was one of my favorite players and we destroyed his career. Just like we did with the others .

 

[SundherDome]

Facts. And I'm not seeing enough give-a-shit from this group right now. Rant incoming.

I think back to those Ruff coached teams from the late 90s and 06-07. They refused -refused- to be f***ed with. Peca and Barnaby doing Peca and Barnaby shit. Then fast forward, and when that one dipshit (I refuse to say his name) hit Drury, Lindy said, "Run 'em." Those teams raised hell to win. Straight up demon time psychopaths. Sometimes scary, but always fearless.

Success was attributable to the back end driving the play. McKee, Woolley, Zhitnik, Warrener. Then Campbell, Tallinder, Lydman, Kalinin.

The forwards crashed the net and scored dirty goals. Then they started having fun. And then started scoring pretty ones too.

Those teams emptied the tank and never stopped moving their feet. Effort was never in doubt, much less ever in question.

For 15 years now, we've had to watch as that culture that our organization built -rooted in effort, heart, and give it all- ... everything that crest is supposed to represent... It's all eroded away. It's infuriating. It's exhausting.

And that's the thing - We have actual talent on this team. And while the game has evolved, the requirement of heart remains constant. This team needs that heart back. Because I don't want those Sabres back - I want these Sabres to raise that bar. I want to see that give a shit from them now, in 2024. The same kind that sent Curtis Brown dashing down the ice, that went bar down like Stu, that put Umberger on his ass, and that went right at Alfie, cut around Emery and f***in buried it.

I want this team to dig deep, find what makes them give a shit, then stand up and go remind everybody in the game just what the f*** Sabres hockey means. And I know y'all want it too.

There is progress in the short time frame. Pre-season both squads looked good and knew what needed to be done. Then they went to Europe, where NJ had a week to prep on them.and it showed. They had chances and hung in but couldn't get over the hump. I can live with that, you could see there was a structure even without success. You can see in the LA game, it was even more prominent, it just didn't come together for 60.

Each game is getting better and better, you can see it, they want it but they still need to master the system before the pretty goals come and even that they are flirting with as well. They need a few more games.

 

[VaporTrail]

Can anyone remember a time when a team completely blew up it's roster early in the season with trades ?

 

[GrierIsGod123]

I thought Malenstyn is suppopsed to be good at PK. Why isn't he even in the top 10 of penalty killers on the team? He sure has sucked so far.

He doesn't look like an NHL player to me, yet. I suppose let's give him some time. But giving up a 2nd round pick for a guy like this is truly laughable still.

 

[Fjordy]

Can anyone remember a time when a team completely blew up it's roster early in the season with trades ?

I'm not sure we need a big shake-up, 1-2 trades to shake up the team (if the result doesn't improve soon). Because Adams' tactic of waiting and doing nothing and relying on internal growth has not worked so far.

 

[DapperCam]

I really liked Thompson’s play the second half of the King’s game. He was aggressive and got a couple dangerous chances. If he can keep that up he’ll have a good year. Maybe it just took him a little while to warm up

 

[debaser66]

Can anyone remember a time when a team completely blew up it's roster early in the season with trades ?

The Canucks shuffled a lot last season altough not with their top guys.

 

[joshjull]

It's not as hard as it sounds. Fitzgerald added Meier and Marino, then traded Marino. That's just one example. And as far as I remember, there was no trade protection.

Neither was eligible yet for trade protection at the time of those trades. Both have it now.

I’m not sure I would describe acquiring Meiers as being “easy”. Not just because of the trade cost but his contract demands. He signed a 8x8.8mil deal with New Jersey.


As for Marino, I’m not surprised they didn’t try to acquire him either time he was available. Most recently because they had already acquired Bryan and werent looking for a top 4 dman. The first time because it was in the middle of the internal development years and heading into Powers rookie year. They still had a lot of confidence in Joker and wanted to start the season with a top 4 of Dahlin/Sammy + Power/Joker. Plus Marino had 5 years left on a 6yr extension at 4.4mil per.

I’m not saying I agree with any of that, just that I understand they weren’t looking to acuire someone like Marino either time he was available.

 

[joshjull]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1844774681527619728

https://x.com/i/web/status/1844773903412887607

Do we see Clifton with Dahlin? Why else would he put them together? Power getting a maintenance day doesn’t explain it. That would be Clifton with Byram.

 

[truthbluth]

Do we see Clifton with Dahlin? Why else would he put them together? Power getting a maintenance day doesn’t explain it. That would be Clifton with Byram.

Anything is better than joker

 

[Fjordy]

Neither was eligible yet for trade protection at the time of those trades. Both have it now.

I’m not sure I would describe acquiring Meiers as being “easy”. Not just because of the trade cost but his contract demands. He signed a 8x8.8mil deal with New Jersey.


As for Marino, I’m not surprised they didn’t try to acquire him either time he was available. Most recently because they had already acquired Bryan and werent looking for a top 4 dman. The first time because it was in the middle of the internal development years and heading into Powers rookie year. They still had a lot of confidence in Joker and wanted to start the season with a top 4 of Dahlin/Sammy + Power/Joker. Plus Marino had 5 years left on a 6yr extension at 4.4mil per.

I’m not saying I agree with any of that, just that I understand they weren’t looking to acuire someone like Marino either time he was available.

What was trade of Meier like? He had no trade protection, he's a good age, he has the style of play we want, the Devils didn't give up any premium assets for him, a lot of pieces, but they're all secondary pieces.

Well that's their mistake, we still need a top 4 RD and Marino was traded twice and the price wasn't astronomical. He's a decent defender who plays well one on one and is more physical in terms of pushing a player, Joker constantly loses such a fight.

The acquisition of Byram, as we can see, does not affect the acquisition of the top 4 RD. Bayram LD, Samuelsson is not in the top 4, Jokiharju should not be in the top 4 or in the team, as a result we only have three top 4 defenders.

 

[Chainshot]

Do we see Clifton with Dahlin? Why else would he put them together? Power getting a maintenance day doesn’t explain it. That would be Clifton with Byram.

I wonder if someone has come to a conclusion that Dahlin is better as the breakout guy rather than having to be the takeout guy on a pair? Perhaps?