Jauronimo Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Sabres played a solid 40 minutes but the panic was real in the 3rd period after the unfortunate bounce off Risto's skate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 10, 2020 Author Share Posted March 10, 2020 Good read if you have an athletic subscription. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 10, 2020 Author Share Posted March 10, 2020 (edited) So I wonder what this means exactly. Will they play in an empty arena? On the road? It’s getting late in the season to be able to make up the games if they’re just totally cancelled. edit - Edited March 10, 2020 by BillsFan4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 7 hours ago, JohnC said: The first star in this game belongs to Ullmark. Beyond his stops what made his performance outstanding is that he gave up few juicy rebounds. Ullmark was exceptional in the shootout. In this game he played as if he is a #1 goalie. Is he a #1 goalie? I'm not sure---that still needs to be determined. What is clearly evident is that for the remaining part of the season he is our primary goaltender and Hutton is the backup. I thought that our defensive corps played well in this game. The Kahun pickup is a good pickup. I thought the goalie interference call on Skinner although technically correct was a marginal and bad judgment call. All correct except for the Kahun thing. It is FAR to early to reach a conclusion on him. The good news is that we gave up nothing of value for him but I believe his contract is expiring and the rest of this season means nothing,. It can't be a bad pickup but it could be a nothing, or we could end up re-signing him and end up with another well below average Bots pickup leaving the Sabres right where they started. For it to be a "good pickup" we'd have to re-sign him and he'd have to play well for more than a five game stretch. Nice goal in the SO though, I'll give you that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Obviously, from a standing standpoint the season is lost. And based on the team's play there are issues that have to be answered in the offseason that determine how the GM handles the offseason. (Assuming he is retained. I want him to finish the last year of his contract. I'm aware most others don't.) Taking an overview of this disappointing season there are a couple of major needs. It is obvious that upgrading the goaltending and constructing a legitimate second-line are deficiencies that desperately need to be addressed. Is Ullmark the answer as our #1 goaltender? I'm not sure. His performance against the Capitals demonstrated in a game that he can play at that level. That doesn't mean that he can do it on a consistent basis. In yesterday's game he played a very composed game and came up with big stops. I couldn't fault him on either of the two goals Washington scored. The most impressive part of his performance was that he allowed few rebounds, a hallmark of Hutton. I don't want to get carried away with the play of Kahun but in the few games that I have watched him I've come away very impressed. He can skate, has good instincts and can shoot. He may be a better prospect than Mittelstadt! Can someone let me know whether Cozens is eligible to play in the AHL next year? I thought I read somewhere that because of his age he will have to either play in the NHL next year or be sent back to the juniors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 32 minutes ago, JohnC said: Can someone let me know whether Cozens is eligible to play in the AHL next year? I thought I read somewhere that because of his age he will have to either play in the NHL next year or be sent back to the juniors? Right, he's too young for the AHL. He would need to be 20 years old before 12/31/20 in order to go to the AHL. His 20th birthday is 2/9/21. The other option is that he's allowed to go if he has already played 4 seasons in the CHL. He only has 3. He does have one extra season where he played only 3 games plus 12 in the playoffs. That one doesn't seem to count since everything has already said he's not AHL eligible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 1 hour ago, shrader said: Right, he's too young for the AHL. He would need to be 20 years old before 12/31/20 in order to go to the AHL. His 20th birthday is 2/9/21. The other option is that he's allowed to go if he has already played 4 seasons in the CHL. He only has 3. He does have one extra season where he played only 3 games plus 12 in the playoffs. That one doesn't seem to count since everything has already said he's not AHL eligible. Thank you for the information. Based on what you stated I believe that he will be on the Sabres next year. I'm not sure another year in the juniors will enhance his development while if he could go to the AHL it would enhance is development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 5 minutes ago, JohnC said: Thank you for the information. Based on what you stated I believe that he will be on the Sabres next year. I'm not sure another year in the juniors will enhance his development while if he could go to the AHL it would enhance is development. Completely agree that another year in the CHL won't do anything for his game but if he isn't a sure thing to be our 2C or 3C in camp then I don't think we will see him with the Sabres next year. Having him be a healthy scratch also won't help his game much either. The option to assign him to the AHL would be clutch. I think its 50/50 at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 That is the issue with some CHL high-end players, and it hurts their development. Cozens absolutely needs to be in the AHL next year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 (edited) 58 minutes ago, Jauronimo said: Completely agree that another year in the CHL won't do anything for his game but if he isn't a sure thing to be our 2C or 3C in camp then I don't think we will see him with the Sabres next year. Having him be a healthy scratch also won't help his game much either. The option to assign him to the AHL would be clutch. I think its 50/50 at this point. I agree with your comments. I'm not sure that he is going to be ready to play the center position on whatever lines. Maybe another alternative if he shows enough ability is to temporarily play him as a winger as a prelude until he is ready for the more challenging center position. Kahun is currently playing as a winger although he has played the center position. Ultimately, it is going to be up to him to demonstrate what he is capable of. While you give odds of 50/50 my odds are more favorable at 75/25 that he will be in the NHL next year. 48 minutes ago, May Day 10 said: That is the issue with some CHL high-end players, and it hurts their development. Cozens absolutely needs to be in the AHL next year. I wish that the league and those involved in the CHL could come up with an agreement that allows exempting one or two high end players to the AHL per parent club. Maybe mandating a fee to the clubs for losing those top shelf players? Edited March 10, 2020 by JohnC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 8 minutes ago, JohnC said: I wish that the league and those involved in the CHL could come up with an agreement that allows exempting one or two high end players to the AHL per parent club. Maybe mandating a fee to the clubs for losing those top shelf players? I can't picture them ever agreeing to it. They get watered down so quickly if they allow players to go. And just imagine the case where one team is loaded up but then they get raided repetitively due to this rule. They're going to be incredibly pissed. And you can't just setup a rule where a team can only lose X number of players because there's no way to decide which of the NHL teams gets their guy and which doesn't. And there are already fees for the NHL teams if they keep and 18-19 year old player. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 The attached link is a column on Kahun by Jourdan LaBarber writing for Sabres.com. The column indicates that he is happy playing with the Sabres and that he fits in well on a line with Johansson and Olofsson. It's very early to make a judgment on his play but his early play has been very good. This was a terrific deal by the GM who shed players that this organization was not committed to and in addition he gained some cap relief. Botterill made a terrific deal in trading Nylander for Joki. And to a lesser extent if you factor in the cap benefit realized in the Kahun deal for the two departed players this is also an excellent deal. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-dominik-kahun-practice-report/c-316083514 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Just now, JohnC said: The attached link is a column on Kahun by Jourdan LaBarber writing for Sabres.com. The column indicates that he is happy playing with the Sabres and that he fits in well on a line with Johansson and Olofsson. It's very early to make a judgment on his play but his early play has been very good. This was a terrific deal by the GM who shed players that this organization was not committed to and in addition he gained some cap relief. Botterill made a terrific deal in trading Nylander for Joki. And to a lesser extent if you factor in the cap benefit realized in the Kahun deal for the two departed players this is also an excellent deal. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-dominik-kahun-practice-report/c-316083514 So far, so good with regards to Kahun. But Johansson has no business playing center. None. At. All. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 2 hours ago, K-9 said: So far, so good with regards to Kahun. But Johansson has no business playing center. None. At. All. I agree with you that Johansson is more suited to be a winger than a center. Krueger did point out that Kahun has played the center position and has the right makeup (instincts) to play the position. However, he explained that he didn't want to overload him with that responsibility right away. It wouldn't be surprising that if that line is kept in tact that sometime this season or most likely next season Kahun will get an opportunity to demonstrate whether he can handle that pivot responsibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 On 3/10/2020 at 6:25 AM, 4merper4mer said: All correct except for the Kahun thing. It is FAR to early to reach a conclusion on him. The good news is that we gave up nothing of value for him but I believe his contract is expiring and the rest of this season means nothing,. It can't be a bad pickup but it could be a nothing, or we could end up re-signing him and end up with another well below average Bots pickup leaving the Sabres right where they started. For it to be a "good pickup" we'd have to re-sign him and he'd have to play well for more than a five game stretch. Nice goal in the SO though, I'll give you that. 3 hours ago, JohnC said: The attached link is a column on Kahun by Jourdan LaBarber writing for Sabres.com. The column indicates that he is happy playing with the Sabres and that he fits in well on a line with Johansson and Olofsson. It's very early to make a judgment on his play but his early play has been very good. This was a terrific deal by the GM who shed players that this organization was not committed to and in addition he gained some cap relief. Botterill made a terrific deal in trading Nylander for Joki. And to a lesser extent if you factor in the cap benefit realized in the Kahun deal for the two departed players this is also an excellent deal. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-dominik-kahun-practice-report/c-316083514 Is Kahun really a free agent after this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 6 minutes ago, bbb said: Is Kahun really a free agent after this year? RFA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 18 minutes ago, bbb said: Is Kahun really a free agent after this year? As BillsFan4 noted he will be a restricted free agent in July. I'm not very worried about him leaving because it is a good situation for him here. And he is a good fit with his current line mates assuming that the line stays in tact. His style of play enhances Johansson, and Johansson's style of play enhances his style of play. https://www.nhl.com/news/conor-sheary-evan-rodrigues-traded-to-pittsburgh-by-buffalo-for-dominik-kahun/c-315487244 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 17 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said: RFA In the past season or so our GM has added Joki, Skinner, Miller, Kahun and Johansson without giving up much. He understandably gets a lot of criticism from the frustrated fan base. I'm one of the few people here not singing from that discordant chorus. It takes time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 (edited) 4 minutes ago, JohnC said: In the past season or so our GM has added Joki, Skinner, Miller, Kahun and Johansson without giving up much. He understandably gets a lot of criticism from the frustrated fan base. I'm one of the few people here not singing from that discordant chorus. It takes time. Yes, it takes time. But it’s frustrating for fans to hear that when it’s nine years since playoffs and other teams that started rebuilds have already surpassed us. I know Botterill wasn’t here for the entire drought, but other teams have done more in the same amount of time. And the Pegulas have been here for all of it. I would also add that in addition to time it requires competence. I give JBotts points for a couple deals as well as major demerits for others. He’s been mediocre at best, imo. Edited March 11, 2020 by K-9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 4 minutes ago, K-9 said: Yes, it takes time. But it’s frustrating for fans to hear that when it’s nine years since playoffs and other teams that started rebuilds have already surpassed us. I know Botterill wasn’t here for the entire drought, but other teams have done more in the same amount of time. And the Pegulas have been here for all of it. I would also add that in addition to time it requires competence. I give JBotts points for a couple deals as well as major demerits for others. He’s been mediocre at best, imo. I have a respectful disagreement on your assessment of the current GM. Where I agree with you is that the Pegulas made some big hiring mistakes when they bought the team. And they made some big mistakes in their approach to quickly turning things around by throwing a lot of stupid money for ineffective players. In my opinion Botts had to deal with some of the mistakes of the past that set this franchise back. I'm well aware that my opinion is a minority opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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