The 2024-2025 Roster Thread

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At some point Krebs needs to be scratched. Guy gets so much ice time and provides nothing.. except maybe faceoffs.

A worse version of Cody Eakin.
 
At some point Krebs needs to be scratched. Guy gets so much ice time and provides nothing.. except maybe faceoffs.

A worse version of Cody Eakin.
I still think the effort is there, his play has been decent, and he's cut back on the more egregious turnovers. The lack of production seems to be the norm with Krebs, however.
 
I still think the effort is there, his play has been decent, and he's cut back on the more egregious turnovers. The lack of production seems to be the norm with Krebs, however.

I'm all for effort... but i need something out of said effort... at this point in his career all he had done is run around like a chicken with his head cut off.
 
Who is the last Sabre to break their hand fighting?

The guy took a two handed cross check to the neck by Matthews and was fine. He’s not some Sally.
Think you missed the point there. It would have increased his chance of getting injured, whether a hand or something else. He’s not go you want fighting.
 
At some point Krebs needs to be scratched. Guy gets so much ice time and provides nothing.. except maybe faceoffs.

A worse version of Cody Eakin.
So much ice time? He's averaging 13 minutes a night. He barely plays. As Slip pointed out he's one of the few guys who constantly brings it with his effort and forechecking. I get that the offensive results haven't been there and that's frustrating for me as well but he's been a bright spot far more often than not this season. It's really odd to me that you watch these games and your takeaway is: "Yeah Krebs is the problem, why cant he produce more playing in a 4th line role with Beck Malenstyn and Sam Lafferty?"
 
So much ice time? He's averaging 13 minutes a night. He barely plays. As Slip pointed out he's one of the few guys who constantly brings it with his effort and forechecking. I get that the offensive results haven't been there and that's frustrating for me as well but he's been a bright spot far more often than not this season. It's really odd to me that you watch these games and your takeaway is: "Yeah Krebs is the problem, why cant he produce more playing in a 4th line role with Beck Malenstyn and Sam Lafferty?"

He has gotten 3rd line minutes and even some 2nd line minutes with PP time.

I see no bright spots from him .. and it's a little frustrating that he hasn't been scratched this year and has reminded me how much Ruffs lineup decisions have annoyed me in the past
 
If Eichel was 100% we would have gotten more
It wasn't even the injury part as much as it was the very public argument over the surgery to treat the injury.

I mean, people think Rutherford talking about the Pettersson-Miller rift publicly tanked the Canucks leverage in trade talks. That did far less damage than the disc replacement surgery stuff that was all out in the open and affected trade talks.
 
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It wasn't even the injury part as much as it was the very public argument over the surgery to treat the injury.

I mean, people think Rutherford talking about the Pettersson-Miller rift publicly tanked the Canucks leverage in trade talks. That did far less damage than the disc replacement surgery stuff that was all out in the open and affected trade talks.
If all Eichrl was either a locker room riff or this team duvjd, trade me then buffalo would have gotten 2 or 3 more things in a trade
 
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It wasn't even the injury part as much as it was the very public argument over the surgery to treat the injury.

I mean, people think Rutherford talking about the Pettersson-Miller rift publicly tanked the Canucks leverage in trade talks. That did far less damage than the disc replacement surgery stuff that was all out in the open and affected trade talks.
yes

if sabres grow up , before Columbus and destroy the next two guys that F with us and one kid like Quinn steps out of character or cozens wakes from his coma and says f it Redemtion awaits .. if not ... WELL let's hope lindy and razor and those around the squad are juiced w whatever to take back a season not entirely lost I believe in lindy ruff., tuch dahlin Zucker , Makenstyn Gilbert Benson Tage and hopefully I'm offending many I missed , apologies
 
Samuelsson is way overrated on these boards, seriously. He seemed to show some good moments two years ago, then that's it, he gets injured a lot and doesn't show good games anymore. His metrics have been in decline for a few years now, he doesn't seem as physical as he used to be, his defense isn't perfect and he makes more mistakes.

We haven't really seen Johnson, he's not getting a chance, Novikov is in his third year of playing at the senior level (two years in the KHL and now a season in the AHL). I would also prefer to see a right vet for the locker room instead of Samuelsson, who can also play decently on the third pair.

Regarding Samuelsson being overrated, how do you come to this conclusion? Everyone hates him and wants to trade him for a bag of pucks.

I think the pendulum of opinion has swung way too far on him, he hasn't progressed as we hoped, but he is the the 2nd or 3rd best defenseman on the team according to the twins xWAR/xGAR metrics. He's made some mistakes (who hasn't?) and had a couple bad games (again who hasn't?), but he's been mostly solid since returning from injury.

Him and Power are such opposite sides of a coin... All of his worst attributes become glaring when we have the puck, alternatively, all of Power's worst attributes become glaring when we don't have the puck. I'd been hoping they'd be more complimentary when together, but so far it hasn't worked out well.
 
Regarding Samuelsson being overrated, how do you come to this conclusion? Everyone hates him and wants to trade him for a bag of pucks.

I think the pendulum of opinion has swung way too far on him, he hasn't progressed as we hoped, but he is the the 2nd or 3rd best defenseman on the team according to the twins xWAR/xGAR metrics. He's made some mistakes (who hasn't?) and had a couple bad games (again who hasn't?), but he's been mostly solid since returning from injury.

Him and Power are such opposite sides of a coin... All of his worst attributes become glaring when we have the puck, alternatively, all of Power's worst attributes become glaring when we don't have the puck. I'd been hoping they'd be more complimentary when together, but so far it hasn't worked out well.
Because some people think he's like a second Tanev, but they're not even similar to me. Samuelsson was playing decently in '22-'23, but injuries really took a toll on him and his play got worse after that. He was terrible before the injury this season, maybe he improved a little after the injury, but for me he's not a top 4 defenseman, and you can't rely on him in that role because of his injuries.

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Because some people think he's like a second Tanev, but they're not even similar to me. Samuelsson was playing decently in '22-'23, but injuries really took a toll on him and his play got worse after that. He was terrible before the injury this season, maybe he improved a little after the injury, but for me he's not a top 4 defenseman, and you can't rely on him in that role because of his injuries.

View attachment 972182
View attachment 972183

I agree that the injuries have impacted his play, he seems far less willing to inflict pain these days. But he's still very engaged in front of the net and along the boards, which is honestly way more important anyway.

As for his metrics, again the xGAR and xWAR stuff really paints him in a more positive light:

1738680350114.png


It also paints Power in a positive light, and I haven't been shy about my opinions of him though :laugh:
 
I agree that the injuries have impacted his play, he seems far less willing to inflict pain these days. But he's still very engaged in front of the net and along the boards, which is honestly way more important anyway.

As for his metrics, again the xGAR and xWAR stuff really paints him in a more positive light:

View attachment 972184

It also paints Power in a positive light, and I haven't been shy about my opinions of him though :laugh:
That's why I don't always trust the metrics completely, they're almost always different everywhere.

But what is Samuelsson's role in Buffalo in the near future and that's a serious question. Obviously we need 1-2 top 4 RDs, even Adams admitted it, obviously there's no place for him in the top 4. Johnson is getting less chances, Novikov, either next season or the season after that should be in Buffalo. Injuries are still plaguing Sammy and it's a sad because a full season could give a lot more answers on how good or bad he is and how he fits here.
 
I agree that the injuries have impacted his play, he seems far less willing to inflict pain these days. But he's still very engaged in front of the net and along the boards, which is honestly way more important anyway.

As for his metrics, again the xGAR and xWAR stuff really paints him in a more positive light:

View attachment 972184

It also paints Power in a positive light, and I haven't been shy about my opinions of him though :laugh:
1738681115027.png

Posting the actual GAR stats too, for comparison.

For those that aren't familiar, xGAR is expected games above replacement. And GAR is games above replacement. Essentially its' expected results versus actual results.

What does it mean for Samulesson? His xGAR stats say that in the aggregate, he's playing the game the right way and has a positive expected outcome. So why is his GAR stat worse? It's because the model doesn't really capture the severity of a mistake. Samulesson will play well 99% of a game, and then make a really boneheaded play or 2 and they end up in the back of our net.

On the flip side. Someone like Byram is doing poorly by xGar standards. But his Gar stat is good. Why? It means he's getting lucky, and/or he has some skill that the model doesn't capture. He allows more high danger chances against than Samuelsson, but the goalies have been making saves. He also tends to score at a higher rate than expected with long range shots through traffic. The model doesn't take into account that Byram is skilled at finding those shooting windows where the goalie is triple screened, or he gets some deflections. The model only sees that he attempted a shot from long range and gives a low expected goal rating to the shot attempt.


And then there's Joker. Bottom of the barrel in both. lol
 
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Because some people think he's like a second Tanev,
I'm the one that makes the comparison. And very obviously, they're not on the same level right now.

When I make that comparison, I am comparing their career paths -- Tanev struggled early in his career with injury and then struggled with his play to the point where he got run out of Vancouver. He found his game with his 2nd team and coincidentally the injuries stopped/slowed.

I very much see Samuelsson following the same path -- struggling with injury and his game early in his career and then finding his game with his 2nd team and becoming that defensive rock.
 
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I'm the one that makes the comparison. And very obviously, they're not on the same level right now.

When I make that comparison, I am comparing their career paths -- Tanev struggled early in his career with injury and then struggled with his play to the point where he got run out of Vancouver. He found his game with his 2nd team and coincidentally the injuries stopped/slowed.

I very much see Samuelsson following the same path -- struggling with injury and his game early in his career and then finding his game with his 2nd team and becoming that defensive rock.
Did Tanev struggle with his game? I think he was always good. He struggled with injuries, but not with his game. I don't see parallels here and I think they are different players. Tanev is not physical, but he is a smart defenseman. Sammy is kind of physical, often makes stupid mistakes that can be key, not as smart as Tanev.

But I don't really agree with this concept that "if we trade him, he will become very good somewhere else". What difference does it make if he becomes good or not, if he was not good with us, we have to wait forever for Sammy to become the second Tanev, and Cozens the second Carter? I don't like this approach.

Again, I have already expressed my opinion, I just want to give a chance to Johnson and Novikov.
 
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Anyone else mad Thompson is out and Noeson didn't get suspended.

I expect retribution or even more of me will die inside as a sabres fan.
 
View attachment 972186
Posting the actual GAR stats too, for comparison.

For those that aren't familiar, xGAR is expected games above replacement. And GAR is games above replacement. Essentially its' expected results versus actual results.

What does it mean for Samulesson? His xGAR stats say that in the aggregate, he's playing the game the right way and has a positive expected outcome. So why is his GAR stat worse? It's because the model doesn't really capture the severity of a mistake. Samulesson will play well 99% of a game, and then make a really boneheaded play or 2 and they end up in the back of our net.

Or like the Nashville game, where his partner is a complete and utter turd on all three goals against while he is doing the right things.

On the flip side. Someone like Byram is doing poorly by xGar standards. But his Gar stat is good. Why? It means he's getting lucky, and/or he has some skill that the model doesn't capture. He allows more high danger chances against than Samuelsson, but the goalies have been making saves. He also tends to score at a higher rate than expected with long range shots through traffic. The model doesn't take into account that Byram is skilled at finding those shooting windows where the goalie is triple screened, or he gets some deflections. The model only sees that he attempted a shot from long range and gives a low expected goal rating to the shot attempt.


And then there's Joker. Bottom of the barrel in both. lol

Amazing how much time Jokiharju has spent with Dahlin and Power and yet there he sits.
 
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It wasn't even the injury part as much as it was the very public argument over the surgery to treat the injury.

I mean, people think Rutherford talking about the Pettersson-Miller rift publicly tanked the Canucks leverage in trade talks. That did far less damage than the disc replacement surgery stuff that was all out in the open and affected trade talks.

How it was handled was the stupidest and shows how poorly run the team is.

The solution should have never been: "You can't get this surgery"

The solution was always "You can get the surgery you want, but our doctors won't clear you under the new procedure"

ESPECIALLY after he said he didn't want to be here.

You could have massaged the messaging of "well, our doctors weren't comfortable with the procedure, but we also recognize Jack has to do what is best for him" rather than "Jack Eichel doesn't want to play for our loser team"

You never needed to strip him of his captaincy. You never needed to drag him in the media over and over again.

The team spent 5 years building him up as the franchise and 6 months blaming everything wrong with the team on him.

Now he's one of the best two way centers in the league and quietly having a hart-trophy level season. He's 20 points clear of the nearest scorer in Vegas and they are tied for the lead in their division after he won a cup and was runner up for the conn smythe.

Weird what happens when you surround an elite talent with complementary pieces and good coaching.
 
Interesting how much Cozens/Calgary stuff has popped today.

Nothing that really fits. The only piece I'd really want is Andersson and he's a UFA after next season. He also has a six team no trade list.

Their other good vets all have much bigger NTCs/NMCs

What has popped? .. or I guess more specifically.. from who?
 

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