The 2024-2025 Roster Thread

[Doug Prishpreed]

The only top end talent is Tage the rest are just 2nd and 3rd line players. The team is lacking top end talent and too much bottom 6.

The talent isn’t top end, but most of them aren’t bottom 6 either.

The talent level is okay, though they do need more star players. I have a feeling this would be a really good group if everyone was 3 years older, with 3 more years of experience.

Kind of a bummer that most of our first round lottery tickets have all turned out to be middling…no great finds in the late rounds either.

I can’t bieleve we have had SO MANY top 15 picks and not a single one has turned into a true star player besides Dahlin.

 

[dortt]

We'll never get better by trading away our only good players. The rest of the league doesn't trade away their good players, and if they try and acquire our good players it will only be for picks, prospects, or damaged goods.

NHL teams don't trade away good players, they find a way to build around them.

yeah, teams do trade good players. It's a hockey trade

I seem to recall we did just that in 1995. Trade worked trading Mogilny for Peca, Wilson, and the draft pick that became McKee.

Now, I wish we had traded LaFontaine instead. That would have left us with Mogilny, which likely would have yielded us multiple Cups. But that being said, the trade absolutely worked wonderfully for us

 

[toddkaz]

The talent isn’t top end, but most of them aren’t bottom 6 either.

The talent level is okay, though they do need more star players. I have a feeling this would be a really good group if everyone was 3 years older, with 3 more years of experience.

Kind of a bummer that most of our first round lottery tickets have all turned out to be middling…no great finds in the late rounds either.

I can’t bieleve we have had SO MANY top 15 picks and not a single one has turned into a true star player besides Dahlin.

First off I said 2nd and 3rd line so you understand thats middle six with the players mentioned.

Benson, Zucker, Greenway, Quinn, Tuch, Kulich, Are middle six.

Peterka and Norris are 2nd line player playing 1st line roles

Tage 1st line player.

Like I said...2nd and 3rd line players. I said the team meaning NOT just the group of players mentioned are bottom 6.

The team has too much bottom 6 with Greenway, Quinn, Krebs, Melanstyn, Lafferty, Kozak, McLeod.

Most playoff teams guys like Zucker would be 3rd line players. The team is lacking talent.

Krebs would be lucky to have a roster spot on a playoff team or playing 10 minutes a game on the 4th line.

Kulich and Benson playing 1st line because the team is lacking talent.

Compare this team to other teams? Our 1st line players are 2nd line players and our 2nd line players are 3rd line players on good teams and so on.

 

[TageGod]

The talent isn’t top end, but most of them aren’t bottom 6 either.

The talent level is okay, though they do need more star players. I have a feeling this would be a really good group if everyone was 3 years older, with 3 more years of experience.

Kind of a bummer that most of our first round lottery tickets have all turned out to be middling…no great finds in the late rounds either.

I can’t bieleve we have had SO MANY top 15 picks and not a single one has turned into a true star player besides Dahlin.

Peterka is still potentially a 40 goal scorer. I am also not going to write off Power.

 

[toddkaz]

Peterka is still potentially a 40 goal scorer. I am also not going to write off Power.

Not to knock it because you are right he could score 40 but the issue with the team is we go into every season hoping young players reach their potential and its been a giant failure.

UPL has the potential to be a top 10 goalie
Quinn has the potential to be a 1st line player
Krebs has the potential to be a 2nd line player
Kulich has the potential to be a 1st line player
Benson has the potential to be a 1st line player
Samuelsson has the potential to be a top 4 defenceman
Power has the potential to be a top 1-2 defenceman
Byram has the potential to be a top 1-2 defenceman
(You can argue if thats their potential but thats how their ceiling was seen at one point)

Then you have Ryan Johnson, Ostlund, Rosen waiting in the wings and Helanius the year after next.

What happens when it fails? The roster is a giant mess with no strategy putting it together and when players don't reach their potential its a shitshow on the ice.

Its not giving up on players like Peterka its Adams failure to put together a roster where we aren't relying on potential to make the playoffs.

I really hope Adams doesn't ice the same team next year.

Adams needs to turn over some of the young players for players who are successful with experience.

 

[tsujimoto74]

The talent isn’t top end, but most of them aren’t bottom 6 either.

The talent level is okay, though they do need more star players. I have a feeling this would be a really good group if everyone was 3 years older, with 3 more years of experience.

Kind of a bummer that most of our first round lottery tickets have all turned out to be middling…no great finds in the late rounds either.

I can’t bieleve we have had SO MANY top 15 picks and not a single one has turned into a true star player besides Dahlin.

Well, not ones that are still here. Eichel and Reinhart are pretty, pretty good.

 

[Fezzy126]

yeah, teams do trade good players. It's a hockey trade

I seem to recall we did just that in 1995. Trade worked trading Mogilny for Peca, Wilson, and the draft pick that became McKee.

Now, I wish we had traded LaFontaine instead. That would have left us with Mogilny, which likely would have yielded us multiple Cups. But that being said, the trade absolutely worked wonderfully for us

The Mogilny trade was not a hockey trade

You might want to check old Buffalo News articles, and my memory about it is probably a little foggy, but I'm pretty sure Mike Wilson was even the higher regarded prospect in that trade at the time...

Point is, hockey trades are becoming more and more rare, and are usually caused by a contract/signability issue more than a "hey we need to shake up the core" issue.

 

[dickiedunnwrotethis]

The Mogilny trade was not a hockey trade

You might want to check old Buffalo News articles, and my memory about it is probably a little foggy, but I'm pretty sure Mike Wilson was even the higher regarded prospect in that trade at the time...

Point is, hockey trades are becoming more and more rare, and are usually caused by a contract/signability issue more than a "hey we need to shake up the core" issue.

Luckily for us we haven't achieved a core yet so we don't have to worry about any shake up issues.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

First off I said 2nd and 3rd line so you understand thats middle six with the players mentioned.

Benson, Zucker, Greenway, Quinn, Tuch, Kulich, Are middle six.

Peterka and Norris are 2nd line player playing 1st line roles

Tage 1st line player.

Like I said...2nd and 3rd line players. I said the team meaning NOT just the group of players mentioned are bottom 6.

The team has too much bottom 6 with Greenway, Quinn, Krebs, Melanstyn, Lafferty, Kozak, McLeod.

Most playoff teams guys like Zucker would be 3rd line players. The team is lacking talent.

Krebs would be lucky to have a roster spot on a playoff team or playing 10 minutes a game on the 4th line.

Kulich and Benson playing 1st line because the team is lacking talent.

Compare this team to other teams? Our 1st line players are 2nd line players and our 2nd line players are 3rd line players on good teams and so on.
View attachment 1003909

You said they have “too much bottom 6” and then only listed 7 players. Get rid of one of them (Quinn) and the “problem” is solved.

It’s the second time you said we have too much bottom 6, and I dont think it becomes more true if you keep repeating it.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Peterka is still potentially a 40 goal scorer. I am also not going to write off Power.

Having Peterka score ten more goals won’t make him a star, especially when he doesn’t bring much else. It makes him a legit 1st line player, which we arguably don’t have any of presently.

We need a few actual star players to have a chance at being a sustainably good team.

 

[sabremike]

You said they have “too much bottom 6” and then only listed 7 players. Get rid of one of them (Quinn) and the “problem” is solved.

It’s the second time you said we have too much bottom 6, and I dont think it becomes more true if you keep repeating it.

The problem with Quinn is that he's the perfect example of a player there is absolutely no upside in trading. The chance (however small) that he actually figures it out is worth more than the (at best) 3rd round pick you'd get back.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

The problem with Quinn is that he's the perfect example of a player there is absolutely no upside in trading. The chance (however small) that he actually figures it out is worth more than the (at best) 3rd round pick you'd get back.

I bet you could get a 2nd from a rebuilding team with assets to spare that they’d trade for change-of-scenery guys like Quinn. I know I’d have jumped at the chance to do likewise when we were earlier in our rebuild.

I don’t mind if we don’t get much…just please don’t make me watch him play again

 

[itwasaforwardpass]

it's really a shame but there's no to.for Rosen or Ostlund u less they ship somebody out from this list:
Not happening:
Tage
Kulich
Probably not happening:
McLeod
Norris
Tuch
Zucker
Greenway
Quinn
Might happen but shouldn't:
Peterka

That's a bad top 9 filled with players this FO doesn't have the balls to move.

We are reaching the predictable, inevitable moment where we have all these middling prospects that Adams has consolidated and not enough space for them all. We've needed quantity for quality trades to acquire players that will help us win now for the past few years and eventually we are going to miss the boat as most of their potential never comes to fruition because this team ruins them by not insulating them with veterans. The cycle just continues.

 

[Sabresbyswords104]

Why are we playing good now when the season is over ? And next season at the start we go back and play bad again

 

[Der Jaeger]

Why are we playing good now when the season is over ? And next season at the start we go back and play bad again

Pressure? Or lack thereof?

 

[Jim Bob]

Pressure? Or lack thereof?

I do wonder if it is some sort of blend of the pressure being off of the Sabres and other teams overlooking them a bit and thinking they won't play well because their season is all but over.

 

[Jim Bob]

Alex Tuch shows his value as Buffalo climbs out of last place: Sabres thoughts

For the first time in almost four months, the Sabres have moved up in the Eastern Conference standings.

www.nytimes.com

5. Two noteworthy performances on Buffalo’s blue line: Jacob Bernard-Docker led the Sabres with five blocked shots in this game, and Mattias Samuelsson had two assists and was plus-four. It helps to be paired with Dahlin, but Samuelsson’s game has been much steadier during this winning stretch for the Sabres.

Please, please, please, do NOT overpay for a Dahlin merchant.

I think Dahlin might be able to make me look like a competent NHL defenseman.

 

[Chainshot]

Alex Tuch shows his value as Buffalo climbs out of last place: Sabres thoughts

For the first time in almost four months, the Sabres have moved up in the Eastern Conference standings.

www.nytimes.com

Please, please, please, do NOT overpay for a Dahlin merchant.

I think Dahlin might be able to make me look like a competent NHL defenseman.

It's like Hal Gill with and without Ray Bourque - two very different players.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Alex Tuch shows his value as Buffalo climbs out of last place: Sabres thoughts

For the first time in almost four months, the Sabres have moved up in the Eastern Conference standings.

www.nytimes.com

Please, please, please, do NOT overpay for a Dahlin merchant.

I think Dahlin might be able to make me look like a competent NHL defenseman.

Part of the reason why I'd trade one of Byram/Power is due to the fact Dahlin can drag a corpse around as his d partner, and still be a net positive. Just give me a solid top-4 LD that plays a defensively sound game, and I'm happy. We don't need Byram at 8M and Power at 8M. Choose one, and they just need to be the driver on the second pair. Bring in two top-4 D men who are good two-way players to mesh with Dahlin and whoever is on the 2nd pairing.

I'd dangle Byram's and Power's names to see who can draw more interest, and use them as a major piece for a top-6C. Im sure Im not the only one thinking this way!

 

[brian_griffin]

Henri’s closest friend seemed like it was UPL - the best man at the wedding and vacationing together multiple times thing.

Wait for it...
.
.
.
.
.
..
.
.
.
.
Are you saying those Fin(n)s are inseparable...?

 

[Zman5778]

Why are we playing good now when the season is over ? And next season at the start we go back and play bad again

Part of it is Reimer playing like he's Hasek reincarnated. Part of it is us playing against goalies who have BAD nights.

Once Reimer remembers that he's James Reimer and once goalies play average against us...........we'll be back to our usual meh results.

 

[sabremike]

Part of the reason why I'd trade one of Byram/Power is due to the fact Dahlin can drag a corpse around as his d partner, and still be a net positive. Just give me a solid top-4 LD that plays a defensively sound game, and I'm happy. We don't need Byram at 8M and Power at 8M. Choose one, and they just need to be the driver on the second pair. Bring in two top-4 D men who are good two-way players to mesh with Dahlin and whoever is on the 2nd pairing.

I'd dangle Byram's and Power's names to see who can draw more interest, and use them as a major piece for a top-6C. Im sure Im not the only one thinking this way!

I'd feel much better about this if we had an actual qualified GM and not Kevyn Adams.

 

[Jim Bob]

Part of it is Reimer playing like he's Hasek reincarnated. Part of it is us playing against goalies who have BAD nights.

Once Reimer remembers that he's James Reimer and once goalies play average against us...........we'll be back to our usual meh results.

His .911 Save% over his 5 game winning streak isn't Hasek-level and just .011 better than his season .900.

His Save% is way more sustainable than the team scoring the 5.6 GF per game they have averaged over those same 5 games.

 

[Jim Bob]

I'd feel much better about this if we had an actual qualified GM and not Kevyn Adams.

Everyone not named Terry Pegula would prefer that.

 

[Zman5778]

His .911 Save% over his 5 game winning streak isn't Hasek-level and just .011 better than his season .900.

His Save% is way more sustainable than the team scoring the 5.6 GF per game they have averaged over those same 5 games.

I'm not strictly looking at save% as a number. The number of saves that he's making that he really has no business making is shockingly high right now.