Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-4-2018
Every team, no matter what sport, no matter where they are on the totem pole, starts out with the same equation that will dictate where they end up in the season--if ______ can...
For instance, in a team sense it might be something like, if the Washington Capitals could ever get by the Pittsburgh Penguins, they might have a good shot of winning the Stanley Cup. Or, if the Philadelphia Flyers could get solid goaltending, they'd be a serious threat.
Within those broader team if/cans, there are a lot of individual question marks and for a Buffalo Sabres team that finished dead last in the NHL last season, that certainly is the case heading into 2018-19. It's not just the fact that the Sabres finished with only 62 points in the league last season, this is a franchise that has finished in last place three of the past five seasons and they've been pretty bad in a playoff drought that has lasted seven years. The changes have been many, the bright spots few and despite having some pretty good individual talent to work with, it's been an overall disaster.
G. Thomas Scott, in a piece for Buffalo Business First, laid out some the Sabres low points during that seven-year stretch:
--Buffalo was one of only two teams to finish with less than 70 points last season (OTT, 67)
--Their record of 197-273-70 the last seven seasons was far and away the worst in the league
--Their 464 points in that span was by far the worst as every other team picked up at least 499 points
--The Sabres also finished last in the seven-season rankings of goals scored (1,262) and goal differential (minus-372)
It wasn't all bad as the Sabres finished 27th in the league in goals against, but it just goes to show just how bad the hockey has been in Buffalo.
Most wouldn't have thought that the Sabres were going to be a 62-point, last place team in 2017-18. They were expected to have more growing pains and with a new coach and a GM that added some players, most expected they'd finish in the general area of where they did the prior season, around 78 points with optimists (like me) thinking they could be in the 90-point area.
It didn't happen. Not by a long shot.
The Sabres got steam-rolled early in the season and by the time it all ended, one of their leaders had said he checked out at numerous times during the season while implying that the team as whole just didn't seem to care. Among the others low points for the team, Buffalo's top winger was eventually traded, a top-six forward had a long, hard road recovering from a difficult medical issue and their No. 1 goalie had bipolar and addiction issues that lead to thoughts of suicide.
This was on top of a roster that had little top-six talent, a shaky (at best) defense-corps, suffered from poor goaltending and also lacked depth
If Jason Botterill can...
For the Sabres, putting last season (and the previous seven seasons) as far in the rear-view as they could mirror began with GM Jason Botterill and his work this off season. Buffalo's forward group was barren of talent on the left side after the trade of Evander Kane and lacked quality depth on the lower lines. If the second year general manger could shore that up, it would go a long way towards having success this season and into the future.
Botterill started by landing left wing Conor Sheary in a trade with his old club, the Penguins. Sheary was a good get for Buffalo despite having a poor 2017-18 campaign and immediately was pegged for top-six left wing duty on the club. It was a good, but not great, move by Botterill however he did manage to trump that by landing a bona fide top-line left winger in Carolina's Jeff Skinner.
Skinner and the Hurricanes, the only team he'd ever played for, were parting ways and Botterill pulled off a trade for three-time 30-goal scorer. The Sabres went from having no scoring left wingers to having two, albeit for only one season as Skinner is a pending unrestricted free agent.
As mentioned earlier, the Sabres had trouble in net. They moved on from troubled No. 1 goalie Robin Lehner and based upon his locker cleanout interview, backup Chad Johnson seemed as if he couldn't get out of Buffalo fast enough. Faced with no NHL goalies to start the off season, Botterill brought on late-bloomer Carter Hutton (St. Louis) by signing him to a free agent deal after promising that young goalie Linus Ullmark would be with the club.
Buffalo also had dreams of upgrading the blueline through the draft. If they could win the NHL lottery, something that they hadn't done the previous two times, they could select Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who's expected to be a franchise defensemen. It happened. Buffalo won the rights and selected Dahlin who so far has looked every bit as projected.
With some crafty trades and a some luck, Botterill certainly did his part filling some pretty big holes on the team and this is what they'll be moving forward with.
The Forwards
It all begins up front with Jack Eichel and an emphasis on that point was made yesterday as the 21 yr. old was named captain of the Buffalo Sabres. Eichel's last two seasons have been marred by injury and inconsistency but when he's on the ice and when he gets hot, we see the franchise center he was drafted for.
Buffalo will start the season with Eichel being flanked by Skinner and Sam Reinhart providing the Sabres with the most complete and formidable top line in a decade if not longer. In the past they've had pieces that made up a good top line, but this trio has much more going for it.
The Sabres scoring woes over the past seven seasons reached near historic levels for incompetence. Lack of talent was a huge issue during the tank years and lack of chemistry and depth marred the last few. Although this is no where near '06-07 when Buffalo was rolling three scoring lines on their way to a league-leading 308 goals-for, they're trending in the right direction.
Veteran Patrik Berglund will start out centering the second line. The 30 yr. old who was acquired from St. Louis as part of the O'Reilly trade is more of a third line, two-way center than scorer but should be able to hold his own in this role for the Sabres. Berglund will be flanked by Sheary on the left and Tage Thompson on the right to start the season. Thompson also came from St. Louis in the O'Reilly trade and has an envious skill-package within a 6'6" 205 lb. frame. He played 41 games for the Blues last season as a rookie (3 goals, 6 assists, -12) and has a golden top-six opportunity in front of him.
The bottom-six should see plenty of flux this season and a lot of that will based upon the progress rookie center Casey Mittelstadt makes. Mittelstadt had an impressive six-game cup of coffee with the club after the 19 yr. old signed out of college. Top-six expectations might have been a bit high for him coming into camp, but he got off to a slow start and the Sabres look to be easing him into his first full NHL season by starting him in a third-line role.
A big part of the bottom-six flux will involve Mittelstadt's probable left winger tonight. Vladimir Sobotka also came over in the O'Reilly trade and can play any position up front. If he ends up on the fourth line sometime this year, it means that the Sabres top-nine is looking pretty good. Kyle Okposo is slated to be on Mittelstadt's right to start the season. Okposo had survived dire medical conditions in Spring, 2017 and spent a good chunk of last year getting up to speed and gaining confidence. The 30 yr. old is a three-time 20-goal scorer looking to rebound from possibly his worst season in the league.
As Botterill added to the top-nine, players dropped down the depth chart and the fourth line looks to be a capable checking line that should be able to chip in offensively. Forward Evan Rodrigues is an example of that as he's more than capable of holding down a third-line role but numbers pushed him down to the fourth line. Rodrigues right-winger is another example as 35 yr. old veteran Jason Pominville finds himself in the same situation. Just last year he was skating top-six minutes that included stints on Eichel's line.
The left side of the fourth line has three players battling for a spot. Scott Wilson may have been the front-runner to start there but he suffered an ankle injury and is out 8-10 weeks. Zemgus Girgensons is the longest continuously tenured Sabre and has been used literally all over the place during his five seasons in the league. He may find a home on the fourth line in Buffalo. The Sabres claimed Remi Elie off waivers from the Dallas Stars on Tuesday and he'll add even more depth in a checking line role.
The Defense
Dahlin wasn't drafted as a second-pairing defenseman but he'll start out there adjusts to an NHL game that's played on a smaller rink but perhaps his biggest adjustment will be knowing the players he'll be up against.
Heading up Buffalo's d-corps to start this season will be Rasmus Ristolainen and Marco Scandella. It's no secret that the Sabres defense has been below average at best and a train-wreck at worst while Ristolainen has been the No. 1 d-man on the team. This will be a good season to see whether or not the 22 yr. old and his less than stellar numbers are a product of him being over used and overrated. Ristolainen has averaged 26:04 of ice-time over the past three seasons, fourth most in the league, on Sabres teams that have not finished higher than seventh in the Atlantic Division.
Scandella was traded for in 2017 to help stabilize the defense and has been pretty solid for Buffalo. Although a first-pairing role is above his skill-level, he can hold his own but the mark of a Sabres defense on the rise would see him as more of a second-pairing player.
Buffalo head coach Phil Housley has had a long relationship with defenseman Jake McCabe dating back to their gold medal win for Team USA in the 2013 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. The trust factor that began back then continues as Housley has McCabe on the second pairing with Dahlin as Buffalo's future No. 1 defenseman learns the ropes.
The third pairing for Buffalo might give fans the heebie-jeebies on any given night. For the opener college free agent defenseman Casey Nelson looks to get the start alongside Nathan Beaulieu. Nelson has some high-quality traits which includes a high hockey IQ and getting his shot through from the point while Beaulieu has the high-end skating skills that Housley wants from the back-end. However, Nelson still has his moments while Beaulieu is prone to egregious turnovers that often lead to goals against.
The Goalies
Hutton had a career season for the Blues last year. The free agent signee willingly came to Buffalo on a modest three-year deal as he saw an opportunity to win the starters role. Although his 2.09 goals-against average and .931 save percentage look awfully good, we're left to wonder just how much those number were a product of the strong group of skaters, including a upper-level defense-corps, in front of him. That said, one thing that really stands out is Hutton's puck-handling abilities and for a team that has had all kinds of trouble moving the puck up ice, he'll add a dimension conducive to kick-starting the offense from the back-end.
Ullmark has been a workhorse for the Rochester Americans the last two seasons while seeing a ton of rubber in the process. Like most goalies it's been a long learning curve and at times he looks unbeatable. Then there was the Calder Cup playoffs where he looked anything but. Backing up Hutton while getting plenty of games in will be a nice step in his development.
Special teams
The worst thing that could have happened to the Sabres last year happened as they began the season in a hole so deep that they couldn't climb out of it. A contributing factor to their early season implosion was the powerplay. Buffalo came into the season having had the league's best powerplay (24.5% conversion rate) in 2016-17 but it started off as a train wreck and they were dead last for a big chunk to start the season while also giving up an inordinate amount of shorthanded goals.
The addition of Skinner and his sniping ability should give the powerplay a huge boost as will Dahlin who will be in the mix somewhere. After their slow start, Buffalo's powerplay came to life and finished 20th in the league at 19.1%.
Buffalo's penalty kill units ran roughly at the same pace over the prior two seasons--77.6% in 2016-17 and 77.9% last season.
Coaching
To put it plainly, Housley looked to be in way over his head last season. As a Hall of Fame defenseman who was an assistant on the 2016-17 western conference champion Nashville Predators, Housley had the background to make the jump to NHL head coach. It was a rough ride and not all of it was his fault as he came to a team that was in the midst of a front office transition. And while the group of players he had at his disposal had some talent they lacked the overall speed he needed to get his system rolling.
That said, what happened with the powerplay using the same top unit was inexcusable.
Also to be questioned was his choice of a rookie assistant in Chris Hajt, who was in charge of the defense. In what might be one of the most crucial off seasons move by Botterill, the Sabres hired former NHL defenseman and three-time Stanley Cup winner Steve Smith to take over for Hajt behind the bench.
There's a lot to be said for credentials and commanding respect as a coach and Smith's got that as he was in charge of the Carolina Hurricanes defense and penalty kill that last four seasons. Although you won't see him flashing those Cup rings, Smith can boast a 'Canes defense that allowed the second-fewest shots per game (28) over that span and the fifth-best penalty kill (82.7) while molding Carolina's defense into one of the best young groups in the league.
The Prediction
It's no reach to see the Sabres making big strides this season as they've added talent, speed and competent coaching. However, just how big those strides are will be dependent upon a number of factors. This edition of the Buffalo Sabres might have a range of points anywhere from the upper-70's to lower-90's as there are a lot of "if _____ can's" that could get them to the upper level of that range.
Like:
--if Eichel can stay healthy and score at or near a point/game while bearing the burden of being the captain
--if Skinner can have another 30-goal (or more) season
--if Reinhart can have a breakout season on Eichel's right wing
--if they can beat a hot goalie or even a backup
--if Okposo can return to his 20-goal/55-pont self
--if the Sabres can get secondary scoring down to the third line
--if Mittelstadt can make the jump up to second-line center
--if the fourth line can lock down the opposition and meaningfully contribute offensively
--if they can get a surprise or two offensively and/or defensively
--if the powerplay can reach top-five status
--if the defense can become tighter
--if the defense can contribute offensively as a group
--if Ristolainen can continue to score but play better defensively
--if Dahlin can eventually become that driving offensive force from the back end
--if Zach Bogosian can stay on the ice and be the big, all-around defenseman he was drafted to be
--if the defense in general and Beaulieu in particular can limit their brain farts
--if Hutton can hold his own in a starters role
--if Ullmark can provide quality back-up minutes
--if Smith can turn the PK into a top-10 unit
--if Buffalo can get off to a fast start
--if they can go on a couple of runs
--if they can avoid prolonged slumps
--if they can win in overtime and the shootout
--if the Sabres can turn around the 21, one-goal losses they had last season...
And if they can play with speed, gumption and finish their chances than were possibly looking at one of those worst-to-playoff type seasons.
It's a lot to ask. Yet for a fan base that's coming off one of the worst seasons in the history of the franchise, methinks something as small as a watchable product, especially on home ice, with a Sabres team decidedly pointed in the right direction would constitute a huge leap for the club.
There' are many reasons to believe they'll make great strides this season, however it probably won't include the playoffs as they look to be a team that will end up in the 84 point range, give or take a few. Anything more than that would be a bonus.
*****
The Sabres open up the 2018-19 season at home tonight vs. the Boston Bruins (who lost 7-2 last night in Washington.) The projected lineup from Sabres twitter:
53 Jeff Skinner - 9 Jack Eichel - 23 Sam Reinhart
43 Conor Sheary - 10 Patrik Berglund - 72 Tage Thompson
17 Vladimir Sobotka - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 21 Kyle Okposo
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 71 Evan Rodrigues - 29 Jason Pominville
6 Marco Scandella - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
19 Jake McCabe - 26 Rasmus Dahlin
82 Nathan Beaulieu - 8 Casey Nelson
40 Carter Hutton
35 Linus Ullmark
Showing posts with label 2018-19 season preview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2018-19 season preview. Show all posts
Friday, October 5, 2018
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Some 2018-19 NHL predictions for the Buffalo Sabres
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-3-2018
Scott Burnside, The Athletic NHL Power Rankings
Buffalo, 25th
"Buffalo has a bonafide top line with Jack Eichel centering for Jeff Skinner and Sam Reinhart. For the first time in a long time, there’s skill on the other lines, too. Conor Sheary (second), Casey Mittelstadt (third) and Jason Pominville (fourth) bring balance. The Sabres could surprise people early with four straight home games, but that’s followed by five in a row on the West Coast. They’ll learn a lot about each other in the opening month." — John Vogl
*****
The Hockey News
6th in the Atlantic
"Buoyed by an injection of youth and new players, the Sabres are hoping to fulfill their potential and take a step towards becoming a playoff contender. (However) The Sabres accomplished the rare feat of scoring the fewest goals and being one of the worst defensive teams in the league last season, and those aren’t the kind of warts that disappear overnight. If there’s no progress made in both of those areas, it promises to be another miserable year in Buffalo.
"Buffalo is on its way to a brighter future, but the Sabres aren’t quite there yet. Look for great seasons out of Eichel and some real promise from Mittelstadt. And don’t count out the possibility that Buffalo battles for a wild-card berth.
*****
Greg Wyshynski, ESPN Power Rankings, Sabres--25th
"The Sabres are everybody's favorite sleeper team after losing Ryan O'Reilly but acquiring so much depth. 'I think things are really heading in the right direction,' Jack Eichel told ESPN this summer. 'I can confidently say that now.' Oh, and they also have the early favorite for the Calder Trophy in No. 1 overall pick Rasmus Dahlin."
*****
Brandon Schlager, The Sporting News
Atlantic Prediction--Buffalo, 5th (81.6 points)
"Sabres GM Jason Botterill entered the summer with a plan to rid the roster of predecessor Tim Murray's remaining influence. Mission accomplished, as perhaps no team in the NHL saw a greater volume of change up and down the roster after another dead-last finish.
Buffalo is another popular pick to make major gains in 2018-19. Time will tell if it all works out, but this is decidedly Botterill's vision now. At least, that's something to believe in."
*****
Dom Luszczyszyn, The Athletic: 22nd in the league, 87 projected points
"The playoffs are still very unlikely, but at 27 per cent the team their chances can’t be dismissed. They’re a step ahead of the other bottom feeders in the Atlantic, but still lag way behind the other four teams."
Luszczyszyn projection model is the most optimistic of the three he posted in his Sabres preview:
Emmanuel Perry, Corsica: 73.9 points, 31st
Rob Pizzola, Semi-Professional Sports Bettor: 81.2 points, 27th
Andy MacNeil, Vegas Stats & Information Network: 85.9 points, 24th
Over/Under Point Total, Bodog: 79.5 points, 27th
*****
Down Goes Brown, The Athletic: The bottom-feeder division (These teams are all sure-things to be terrible next year. You know, like the Avalanche, Devils and Golden Knights last year.) Buffalo--27th.
"Of all the teams in this section, the Sabres are the one that makes me nervous. I mean, they have to break through at some point, right?
"It’s also not hard to imagine a scenario where I am once again kicking myself for thinking the Sabres would ever stop being the Sabres. So I’m sticking them down here with the bottom feeders, if only as a motivating bit of reverse psychology. Prove me wrong, gentlemen."
*****
Larry Fischer, The Hockey Writers
5th in the Atlantic Division
" I was bullish on Buffalo last season, predicting the Sabres to make the playoffs. Instead, they finished last overall and won the Rasmus Dahlin lottery. I was wrong, but I’m still on Buffalo’s bandwagon as a future contender...I do think the Sabres will take a significant step in 2018-19,
Realistically, the Sabres are probably still a bottom-10 team, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they exceeded those expectations and made a little noise by hanging around in the playoff race."
*****
Griffin Youngs, Projecting every NHL team’s chances of hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2019
Buffalo, 27th on the list
Why they could win--The youth movement of the Buffalo Sabres is starting to seriously come together, and this could be the year that they finally break out of the basement and become a team worth notice. Jack Eichel will take another step in his development this season [and] If first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin can live up to the hype of a generational two-way defenseman and produce in his first year, the Sabres will have two of the best young players in the league on offense and defense.
Why they won't win--This team still needs time to gestate and finish their development before serious playoff contention can be considered.
Conclusion--The Sabres don’t really need to tank anymore with how much elite talent they’ve acquired through the draft, so expect a massive improvement from finishing in last. But making the playoffs this season is a bit ambitious.
Scott Burnside, The Athletic NHL Power Rankings
Buffalo, 25th
"Buffalo has a bonafide top line with Jack Eichel centering for Jeff Skinner and Sam Reinhart. For the first time in a long time, there’s skill on the other lines, too. Conor Sheary (second), Casey Mittelstadt (third) and Jason Pominville (fourth) bring balance. The Sabres could surprise people early with four straight home games, but that’s followed by five in a row on the West Coast. They’ll learn a lot about each other in the opening month." — John Vogl
*****
The Hockey News
6th in the Atlantic
"Buoyed by an injection of youth and new players, the Sabres are hoping to fulfill their potential and take a step towards becoming a playoff contender. (However) The Sabres accomplished the rare feat of scoring the fewest goals and being one of the worst defensive teams in the league last season, and those aren’t the kind of warts that disappear overnight. If there’s no progress made in both of those areas, it promises to be another miserable year in Buffalo.
"Buffalo is on its way to a brighter future, but the Sabres aren’t quite there yet. Look for great seasons out of Eichel and some real promise from Mittelstadt. And don’t count out the possibility that Buffalo battles for a wild-card berth.
*****
Greg Wyshynski, ESPN Power Rankings, Sabres--25th
"The Sabres are everybody's favorite sleeper team after losing Ryan O'Reilly but acquiring so much depth. 'I think things are really heading in the right direction,' Jack Eichel told ESPN this summer. 'I can confidently say that now.' Oh, and they also have the early favorite for the Calder Trophy in No. 1 overall pick Rasmus Dahlin."
*****
Brandon Schlager, The Sporting News
Atlantic Prediction--Buffalo, 5th (81.6 points)
"Sabres GM Jason Botterill entered the summer with a plan to rid the roster of predecessor Tim Murray's remaining influence. Mission accomplished, as perhaps no team in the NHL saw a greater volume of change up and down the roster after another dead-last finish.
Buffalo is another popular pick to make major gains in 2018-19. Time will tell if it all works out, but this is decidedly Botterill's vision now. At least, that's something to believe in."
*****
Dom Luszczyszyn, The Athletic: 22nd in the league, 87 projected points
"The playoffs are still very unlikely, but at 27 per cent the team their chances can’t be dismissed. They’re a step ahead of the other bottom feeders in the Atlantic, but still lag way behind the other four teams."
Luszczyszyn projection model is the most optimistic of the three he posted in his Sabres preview:
Emmanuel Perry, Corsica: 73.9 points, 31st
Rob Pizzola, Semi-Professional Sports Bettor: 81.2 points, 27th
Andy MacNeil, Vegas Stats & Information Network: 85.9 points, 24th
Over/Under Point Total, Bodog: 79.5 points, 27th
*****
Down Goes Brown, The Athletic: The bottom-feeder division (These teams are all sure-things to be terrible next year. You know, like the Avalanche, Devils and Golden Knights last year.) Buffalo--27th.
"Of all the teams in this section, the Sabres are the one that makes me nervous. I mean, they have to break through at some point, right?
"It’s also not hard to imagine a scenario where I am once again kicking myself for thinking the Sabres would ever stop being the Sabres. So I’m sticking them down here with the bottom feeders, if only as a motivating bit of reverse psychology. Prove me wrong, gentlemen."
*****
Larry Fischer, The Hockey Writers
5th in the Atlantic Division
" I was bullish on Buffalo last season, predicting the Sabres to make the playoffs. Instead, they finished last overall and won the Rasmus Dahlin lottery. I was wrong, but I’m still on Buffalo’s bandwagon as a future contender...I do think the Sabres will take a significant step in 2018-19,
Realistically, the Sabres are probably still a bottom-10 team, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they exceeded those expectations and made a little noise by hanging around in the playoff race."
*****
Griffin Youngs, Projecting every NHL team’s chances of hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2019
Buffalo, 27th on the list
Why they could win--The youth movement of the Buffalo Sabres is starting to seriously come together, and this could be the year that they finally break out of the basement and become a team worth notice. Jack Eichel will take another step in his development this season [and] If first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin can live up to the hype of a generational two-way defenseman and produce in his first year, the Sabres will have two of the best young players in the league on offense and defense.
Why they won't win--This team still needs time to gestate and finish their development before serious playoff contention can be considered.
Conclusion--The Sabres don’t really need to tank anymore with how much elite talent they’ve acquired through the draft, so expect a massive improvement from finishing in last. But making the playoffs this season is a bit ambitious.
Saturday, September 22, 2018
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster--G, Linus Ullmark
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-20-2018
G--Linus Ullmark
25 yrs. old
6'4" 213 lbs.
2012, sixth round (163rd overall)
Career stats: 26 games | 9-13-2 | 2.52 GAA | .917 Sv% | 0 shutouts
At 6'4" 213 lbs., Buffalo Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark definitely has the size and with 127 AHL games with the Rochester Americans, he's definitely gained a lot of experience since first coming over from his native Sweden in 2015. Add in that he faced over 3,000 shots the last two seasons, by far the most in the AHL over that span, and you might say he more than paid his dues for his NHL shot.
It's been a good, long development curve for Ullmark beginning in Sweden as a teenager and playing his first games in Sweden's top pro league (SHL) as a 19 yr. old for MODO Hockey. He would work his way into a starting role in MODO for two seasons, eventually saving them from relegation in 2014-15 with a stellar four-game performance that featured a 0.50 GAA and .980 Sv% (the next season MODO was demoted.)
From there it was pretty simple, right? Leave the SHL on that high note, come over to North America, play in the AHL and learn the game with the focus upon making it to the NHL. However there were some twists and turns along the way.
In April 2015, at the end of the SHL season and his career over there, Ullmark elected to have double-hip surgery that would keep him out 4-6 months. Which was fine. The organization expected him to be ready for full time duty somewhere in late November and didn't have him dress for opening night.
That changed pretty quick.
Buffalo starter Robin Lehner went down with a knee injury in the very first game of the 2015-16 season and were forced to do some goaltender juggling. Ullmark started Rochester's second game of the season and less than two weeks later he was in Buffalo as Chad Johnson's backup and made his NHL debut on October 24. He played 20 games for the Sabres that season and returned to Rochester in January to tack on 25 more Amerks games.
Ullmark did not have the best Amerks team in front of him in 2016-17 and lead the league in shots-against with 1,678 yet he still managed a decent .909 Sv% on a Rochester team that finished with the sixth-worst record. Last year he clipped his GAA to 2.44 and upped his Sv% to .922 and helped the Amerks reach the playoffs for the first time in three years. But the were swept in the first round with Ullmark sporting a 5.50 GAA and .880 Sv%.
Earlier at training camp Ullmark, ever the thoughtful and level-headed one, was asked about the finish to last season and he told the press that he "was going to go out there and try his very best and hope that works."
As of now it looks as if he'll be a 1B to Carter Hutton's 1A for the Sabres and at worst he'll be considered a backup getting a good amount of starts. Ullmark started Buffalo's first preseason game at Columbus allowing one goal on 21 shots in two periods of hockey. He looked positionally strong, as he always does, and flashed some leather as he's been know to do as well. He'll need to work out some kinks, like over-committing, but hopefully he'll pare that back with more ice-time.
The Sabres will need some solid goaltending if they want to entertain thoughts of going on a playoff run this season. There will a lot of new faces amongst the skaters on the ice opening night while Ullmark will join Hutton the new faces of Buffalo's goalie tandem.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Patrik Berglund / C, Rasmus Asplund / RW, Jason Pominville
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
LHD, Jake McCabe / RHD, Casey Nelson
G, Carter Hutton
G, Linus Ullmark
G--Linus Ullmark
25 yrs. old
6'4" 213 lbs.
2012, sixth round (163rd overall)
Career stats: 26 games | 9-13-2 | 2.52 GAA | .917 Sv% | 0 shutouts
At 6'4" 213 lbs., Buffalo Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark definitely has the size and with 127 AHL games with the Rochester Americans, he's definitely gained a lot of experience since first coming over from his native Sweden in 2015. Add in that he faced over 3,000 shots the last two seasons, by far the most in the AHL over that span, and you might say he more than paid his dues for his NHL shot.
It's been a good, long development curve for Ullmark beginning in Sweden as a teenager and playing his first games in Sweden's top pro league (SHL) as a 19 yr. old for MODO Hockey. He would work his way into a starting role in MODO for two seasons, eventually saving them from relegation in 2014-15 with a stellar four-game performance that featured a 0.50 GAA and .980 Sv% (the next season MODO was demoted.)
From there it was pretty simple, right? Leave the SHL on that high note, come over to North America, play in the AHL and learn the game with the focus upon making it to the NHL. However there were some twists and turns along the way.
In April 2015, at the end of the SHL season and his career over there, Ullmark elected to have double-hip surgery that would keep him out 4-6 months. Which was fine. The organization expected him to be ready for full time duty somewhere in late November and didn't have him dress for opening night.
That changed pretty quick.
Buffalo starter Robin Lehner went down with a knee injury in the very first game of the 2015-16 season and were forced to do some goaltender juggling. Ullmark started Rochester's second game of the season and less than two weeks later he was in Buffalo as Chad Johnson's backup and made his NHL debut on October 24. He played 20 games for the Sabres that season and returned to Rochester in January to tack on 25 more Amerks games.
Ullmark did not have the best Amerks team in front of him in 2016-17 and lead the league in shots-against with 1,678 yet he still managed a decent .909 Sv% on a Rochester team that finished with the sixth-worst record. Last year he clipped his GAA to 2.44 and upped his Sv% to .922 and helped the Amerks reach the playoffs for the first time in three years. But the were swept in the first round with Ullmark sporting a 5.50 GAA and .880 Sv%.
Earlier at training camp Ullmark, ever the thoughtful and level-headed one, was asked about the finish to last season and he told the press that he "was going to go out there and try his very best and hope that works."
As of now it looks as if he'll be a 1B to Carter Hutton's 1A for the Sabres and at worst he'll be considered a backup getting a good amount of starts. Ullmark started Buffalo's first preseason game at Columbus allowing one goal on 21 shots in two periods of hockey. He looked positionally strong, as he always does, and flashed some leather as he's been know to do as well. He'll need to work out some kinks, like over-committing, but hopefully he'll pare that back with more ice-time.
The Sabres will need some solid goaltending if they want to entertain thoughts of going on a playoff run this season. There will a lot of new faces amongst the skaters on the ice opening night while Ullmark will join Hutton the new faces of Buffalo's goalie tandem.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Patrik Berglund / C, Rasmus Asplund / RW, Jason Pominville
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
LHD, Jake McCabe / RHD, Casey Nelson
G, Carter Hutton
G, Linus Ullmark
Monday, September 17, 2018
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster--RHD, Casey Nelson
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-16-2018
RHD--Casey Nelson
26 yrs. old
6'1" 185 lbs.
2016 undrafted free agent
Career stats: 55 games | 3 goals | 9 assists | 12 points | -16
At 26 yrs. old Buffalo Sabres defenseman Casey Nelson is far from being a wide-eyed rookie in the NHL. Yet with only 55 games played he still has a lot to learn at the NHL-level. The cool part about Nelson is the middle ground where his long development curve has allowed for definitive progress while still allowing for upside to his game.
Nelson was an under-the-radar signing by Buffalo in 2016 out of Minnesota State University (Mankato) but caught the attention of Sabreland with four assists in his first three pro games. The smooth skating, offensive defenseman showed well on NHL ice to the point where a good camp would mean a knocking on the door of a spot on the opening night roster for 2016-17. Because of injuries Nelson was on the blueline in the opener and was a minus-1 in 1:47 of ice-time. He would have a rough go of it in the NHL, was sent down and spent most of his first full pro season in Rochester.
Last season went much better for Nelson as he started out in Rochester playing 37 games for the Amerks (2 goals, 9 assists, +11 rating) before getting the call to Buffalo where he showed much year-over-year improvement. In 37 games for the Sabres he scored three goals and added five assists in averaging 18:47 of ice-time before rejoining the Amerks just prior to the Calder Cup playoffs. What might have stood out most for him in Buffalo was how he and defenseman Marco Scandella clicked as a second-pairing duo for a short stint.
Nelson's journey to full-time NHL duty, should it play out that way, was marked by smack-downs and revivals from college onward. He was benched as a freshman at Minnesota but, according to coach Mike Hastings, used that as motivation. "I think you learn the most about people once they get knocked down, once you face that adversity," the coach told me a couple years ago. "He could have thrown a pity-party and I didn't see it. He just went back to work." He also had a rude awakening two years ago when the NHL smacked him down and he was sent to Rochester. After gathering his senses Nelson was, according to long-time Amerks broadcaster Don Stevens, probably Rochester's most improved player that year.
A numbers game kept Nelson in Rochester for most of last season and from a development standpoint it worked out rather well. He will face a similar situation this year. Buffalo GM Jason Botterill signed Nelson to a two-year contract extension in May and without waiver eligibility for the defenseman, one would expect he and coach Phil Housley expect Nelson to be in the lineup for the opener on October 4.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Patrik Berglund / C, Rasmus Asplund / RW, Jason Pominville
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
LHD, Jake McCabe /
G, Carter Hutton
RHD--Casey Nelson
26 yrs. old
6'1" 185 lbs.
2016 undrafted free agent
Career stats: 55 games | 3 goals | 9 assists | 12 points | -16
At 26 yrs. old Buffalo Sabres defenseman Casey Nelson is far from being a wide-eyed rookie in the NHL. Yet with only 55 games played he still has a lot to learn at the NHL-level. The cool part about Nelson is the middle ground where his long development curve has allowed for definitive progress while still allowing for upside to his game.
Nelson was an under-the-radar signing by Buffalo in 2016 out of Minnesota State University (Mankato) but caught the attention of Sabreland with four assists in his first three pro games. The smooth skating, offensive defenseman showed well on NHL ice to the point where a good camp would mean a knocking on the door of a spot on the opening night roster for 2016-17. Because of injuries Nelson was on the blueline in the opener and was a minus-1 in 1:47 of ice-time. He would have a rough go of it in the NHL, was sent down and spent most of his first full pro season in Rochester.
Last season went much better for Nelson as he started out in Rochester playing 37 games for the Amerks (2 goals, 9 assists, +11 rating) before getting the call to Buffalo where he showed much year-over-year improvement. In 37 games for the Sabres he scored three goals and added five assists in averaging 18:47 of ice-time before rejoining the Amerks just prior to the Calder Cup playoffs. What might have stood out most for him in Buffalo was how he and defenseman Marco Scandella clicked as a second-pairing duo for a short stint.
Nelson's journey to full-time NHL duty, should it play out that way, was marked by smack-downs and revivals from college onward. He was benched as a freshman at Minnesota but, according to coach Mike Hastings, used that as motivation. "I think you learn the most about people once they get knocked down, once you face that adversity," the coach told me a couple years ago. "He could have thrown a pity-party and I didn't see it. He just went back to work." He also had a rude awakening two years ago when the NHL smacked him down and he was sent to Rochester. After gathering his senses Nelson was, according to long-time Amerks broadcaster Don Stevens, probably Rochester's most improved player that year.
A numbers game kept Nelson in Rochester for most of last season and from a development standpoint it worked out rather well. He will face a similar situation this year. Buffalo GM Jason Botterill signed Nelson to a two-year contract extension in May and without waiver eligibility for the defenseman, one would expect he and coach Phil Housley expect Nelson to be in the lineup for the opener on October 4.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Patrik Berglund / C, Rasmus Asplund / RW, Jason Pominville
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
LHD, Jake McCabe /
G, Carter Hutton
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster--LHD, Jake McCabe
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-15-2018
LHD--Jake McCabe
24 yrs. old
6'1" 210 lbs.
2012, 44th-overall
Career stats: 215 games | 10 goals | 37 assists | 47 points | -15
There's a lot to be said for Jake McCabe that won't show up on the scoresheet. The very fact that head coach Phil Housley has him next to first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin to start camp says a lot about the type of leadership McCabe exudes and the trust Housley has in him to start Dahlin's career off on the right foot.
Housley and McCabe's hockey relationship date back to 2012 when the coach tabbed McCabe to be captain of Team USA at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championships. It was Housley's first head coaching job outside of Stillwater (MN) high school and he was impressed with the 19 yr. old Wisconsin Badger's demeanor and named him captain of the team. "I really liked what he brought in Lake Placid in August [at evaluation camp]," he said of McCabe at the time. "He's just a very calm demeanor in the locker room, on the ice. He says the right things at the right time; I think he can control the locker room.
"He's very mature, probably mature beyond his years."
Since he first hit the ice for a seven-game stint late in the 2013-14 season McCabe has made his mark as a player that isn't heard from very much outside the rink or after games but he's managed to make some noise on the ice. At Boston he leveled Bruins forward Daniel Paille with a clean check in the second to last game of the season and in January, 2017 he walloped Winnipeg's Patrick Laine with a fierce open-ice check in the neutral zone that's worth another looks (thx, Sportsnet):
McCabe is a fierce defender who's made (and still makes) his mistakes although he's always had a penchant for bouncing back nicely from them. He's also paid his dues and has gotten a good handle on the speed of the NHL while focusing on the defensive aspects of his game since he turned pro. When you put it all together, pairing a defensive-minded young vet like McCabe with an offensive-minded rookie like Dahlin seems like a good way to start things off at camp.
"I just felt it was a good combination," Housley told the gathered media after their first practice of the season yesterday. "I just felt it was a good mix. You have a veteran guy trying to mentor a young guy and Jake is a good player for that."
Housley also mentioned the obvious in that Dahlin will have a lot of different d-partners leading up to the season. When all's said and done Dahlin will be in the top-half of the d-corps while McCabe will probably be in the bottom half but with McCabe's ability to play either side (and Dahlin's as well,) if the pairing shows promise right now, Housley could go back to them at some point during the season.
Right now there are 15 defensemen at camp and by the end of it only eight or so will by vying for spots in the lineup. McCabe will be in the d-corps somewhere and as of right now he looks to be starting out the season on the bottom-pairing, which is a good sign for Buffalo. The 24 yr. old has shown that he can be a solid second-pairing defenseman so having him here means there are some quality defensemen in front of him.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Patrik Berglund / C, Rasmus Asplund/ RW, Jason Pominville
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
LHD, Jake McCabe /
G, Carter Hutton
LHD--Jake McCabe
24 yrs. old
6'1" 210 lbs.
2012, 44th-overall
Career stats: 215 games | 10 goals | 37 assists | 47 points | -15
There's a lot to be said for Jake McCabe that won't show up on the scoresheet. The very fact that head coach Phil Housley has him next to first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin to start camp says a lot about the type of leadership McCabe exudes and the trust Housley has in him to start Dahlin's career off on the right foot.
Housley and McCabe's hockey relationship date back to 2012 when the coach tabbed McCabe to be captain of Team USA at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championships. It was Housley's first head coaching job outside of Stillwater (MN) high school and he was impressed with the 19 yr. old Wisconsin Badger's demeanor and named him captain of the team. "I really liked what he brought in Lake Placid in August [at evaluation camp]," he said of McCabe at the time. "He's just a very calm demeanor in the locker room, on the ice. He says the right things at the right time; I think he can control the locker room.
"He's very mature, probably mature beyond his years."
Since he first hit the ice for a seven-game stint late in the 2013-14 season McCabe has made his mark as a player that isn't heard from very much outside the rink or after games but he's managed to make some noise on the ice. At Boston he leveled Bruins forward Daniel Paille with a clean check in the second to last game of the season and in January, 2017 he walloped Winnipeg's Patrick Laine with a fierce open-ice check in the neutral zone that's worth another looks (thx, Sportsnet):
McCabe is a fierce defender who's made (and still makes) his mistakes although he's always had a penchant for bouncing back nicely from them. He's also paid his dues and has gotten a good handle on the speed of the NHL while focusing on the defensive aspects of his game since he turned pro. When you put it all together, pairing a defensive-minded young vet like McCabe with an offensive-minded rookie like Dahlin seems like a good way to start things off at camp.
"I just felt it was a good combination," Housley told the gathered media after their first practice of the season yesterday. "I just felt it was a good mix. You have a veteran guy trying to mentor a young guy and Jake is a good player for that."
Housley also mentioned the obvious in that Dahlin will have a lot of different d-partners leading up to the season. When all's said and done Dahlin will be in the top-half of the d-corps while McCabe will probably be in the bottom half but with McCabe's ability to play either side (and Dahlin's as well,) if the pairing shows promise right now, Housley could go back to them at some point during the season.
Right now there are 15 defensemen at camp and by the end of it only eight or so will by vying for spots in the lineup. McCabe will be in the d-corps somewhere and as of right now he looks to be starting out the season on the bottom-pairing, which is a good sign for Buffalo. The 24 yr. old has shown that he can be a solid second-pairing defenseman so having him here means there are some quality defensemen in front of him.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Patrik Berglund / C, Rasmus Asplund/ RW, Jason Pominville
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
LHD, Jake McCabe /
G, Carter Hutton
Saturday, September 15, 2018
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster--RW, Jason Pominville
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-14-2018
RW--Jason Pominville
35 yrs. old
6'0" 180 lbs.
2001, 2nd round (55th-overall)
Re-acquired by Buffalo from the Minnesota Wild on June 30, 2017
Career stats: 987 games | 277 goals | 419 assists | 696 points | +48
If you need vets to cover for, and help guide the youngins, there are plenty of them in Buffalo for training camp right now and at 35 yrs. old, right wing Jason Pominville is the senior member of this group. At least for now.
Pominville has been in the league 13 seasons now and is approaching 1,000 NHL games played. If you don't know him by now you will never, never, never know him. The Repentigny, Quebec is about as solid as they come and has had the skill, skating, smarts and maneuverability to produce consistently throughout his career while also avoid serious injury. In his 13 full seasons he's played all 82 games in eight of them, 73 or more games three times and was one game shy of a full 48-game schedule during the 2012-13 lockout shortened season. He played in only 57 games during his rookie campaign in 2005-06 but that was due to his time in Rochester after clearing waivers.
To think, that a player with nearly 1,000 games played and nearly 700 career points could have been had by any team in the league that season.
However, the years have begun taking their toll, albeit slowly and with his production dipping well below his career averages the last three years, Pominville is slated for bottom-six duty from here on in. With nearly 14 goals and 41 points per 82 games, he's still producing, but far from his 23 goals and 58 points/82 game career average.
Buffalo has a lot players at training camp this year vying for spots on the roster. Young wingers Tage Thompson, Justin Bailey, Nicholas Baptiste and Alexander Nylander along with forwards C.J. Smith, Evan Rodrigues and Andrew Oglevie plus younger vets like Zemgus Girgensons and Johan Larsson as well as vets Scott Wilson and Vladimir Sobotka are all shooting for spots in the bottom six. Of that group Thompson, Nylander, Smith and Oglevie are waivers exempt this year while rest will have question marks surrounding their future should they not land in the remaining spots.
That's the cool part about camp this year--there are a lot of different scenarios all dependent upon the individual players, the type of chemistry they have with their linemates and how much they'll be able to produce during camp. No need to worry about Pominville in any of those areas as he's played with a number of linemates and always developed enough chemistry to continue to produce well into his 30's.
And that's what might make him attractive to a contender.
Although it's not a sure thing that he'll be traded at some point, should the Sabres be out of contention and/or should Pominville be in a second-half slump like he was last season, odds are that he'll be moved by the end of trade deadline day. Which isn't such a bad thing for either him or the team. With most of his $5.6 million cap-hit paid by then, a contender might be interested in his services giving him a shot at the Stanley Cup and the Sabres could get themselves a mid-upper round pick in return.
Unless he's traded this preseason, which seems unlikely at this point, Pominville will probably be in the opening night lineup on October 4 and he'll be in the bottom-six somewhere. In the scenario laid out here, he and fellow vet Patrik Berglund can cover for and/or mentor a rookie center like Rasmus Asplund. Should Asplund head to Rochester and Berglund move to center, Pominville might be shifted to fourth-line duties with PP time while a younger player like Thompson, Bailey, Baptiste or Nylander takes on third-line duty.
Regardless of where he is in the lineup, GM Jason Botterill and coach Phil Housley love the professionalism he brings to the table so a spot on the roster is almost a sure thing. Where he ends up is the question mark at this point.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Patrik Berglund / C, Rasmus Asplund / RW, Jason Pominville
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
G, Carter Hutton
RW--Jason Pominville
35 yrs. old
6'0" 180 lbs.
2001, 2nd round (55th-overall)
Re-acquired by Buffalo from the Minnesota Wild on June 30, 2017
Career stats: 987 games | 277 goals | 419 assists | 696 points | +48
If you need vets to cover for, and help guide the youngins, there are plenty of them in Buffalo for training camp right now and at 35 yrs. old, right wing Jason Pominville is the senior member of this group. At least for now.
Pominville has been in the league 13 seasons now and is approaching 1,000 NHL games played. If you don't know him by now you will never, never, never know him. The Repentigny, Quebec is about as solid as they come and has had the skill, skating, smarts and maneuverability to produce consistently throughout his career while also avoid serious injury. In his 13 full seasons he's played all 82 games in eight of them, 73 or more games three times and was one game shy of a full 48-game schedule during the 2012-13 lockout shortened season. He played in only 57 games during his rookie campaign in 2005-06 but that was due to his time in Rochester after clearing waivers.
To think, that a player with nearly 1,000 games played and nearly 700 career points could have been had by any team in the league that season.
However, the years have begun taking their toll, albeit slowly and with his production dipping well below his career averages the last three years, Pominville is slated for bottom-six duty from here on in. With nearly 14 goals and 41 points per 82 games, he's still producing, but far from his 23 goals and 58 points/82 game career average.
Buffalo has a lot players at training camp this year vying for spots on the roster. Young wingers Tage Thompson, Justin Bailey, Nicholas Baptiste and Alexander Nylander along with forwards C.J. Smith, Evan Rodrigues and Andrew Oglevie plus younger vets like Zemgus Girgensons and Johan Larsson as well as vets Scott Wilson and Vladimir Sobotka are all shooting for spots in the bottom six. Of that group Thompson, Nylander, Smith and Oglevie are waivers exempt this year while rest will have question marks surrounding their future should they not land in the remaining spots.
That's the cool part about camp this year--there are a lot of different scenarios all dependent upon the individual players, the type of chemistry they have with their linemates and how much they'll be able to produce during camp. No need to worry about Pominville in any of those areas as he's played with a number of linemates and always developed enough chemistry to continue to produce well into his 30's.
And that's what might make him attractive to a contender.
Although it's not a sure thing that he'll be traded at some point, should the Sabres be out of contention and/or should Pominville be in a second-half slump like he was last season, odds are that he'll be moved by the end of trade deadline day. Which isn't such a bad thing for either him or the team. With most of his $5.6 million cap-hit paid by then, a contender might be interested in his services giving him a shot at the Stanley Cup and the Sabres could get themselves a mid-upper round pick in return.
Unless he's traded this preseason, which seems unlikely at this point, Pominville will probably be in the opening night lineup on October 4 and he'll be in the bottom-six somewhere. In the scenario laid out here, he and fellow vet Patrik Berglund can cover for and/or mentor a rookie center like Rasmus Asplund. Should Asplund head to Rochester and Berglund move to center, Pominville might be shifted to fourth-line duties with PP time while a younger player like Thompson, Bailey, Baptiste or Nylander takes on third-line duty.
Regardless of where he is in the lineup, GM Jason Botterill and coach Phil Housley love the professionalism he brings to the table so a spot on the roster is almost a sure thing. Where he ends up is the question mark at this point.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Patrik Berglund / C, Rasmus Asplund / RW, Jason Pominville
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
G, Carter Hutton
Friday, September 14, 2018
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster--LW, Patrik Berglund
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-13-2018
F--Patrik Berglund
30 yrs. old
6'4" 219 lbs.
2006, 25th-overall (STL)
Acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues, July 1, 2018
Career stats: 694 games | 168 goals | 154 assists | 332 points | +10
Yesterday, in what might be considered a reach, we put rookie Rasmus Asplund at third-line center in this roster-building exercise. Asplund has the two-way acumen, skating and stick skills, as well as the mental makeup and on-ice vision to do the job and do it well. However, at only 20 yrs. old and with a projected one-two center punch of 21 yr. old Jack Eichel and 19 yr. old Casey Mittelstadt, the concern wasn't so much about Asplund's attributes as it was about his age and inexperience in North America as well as the overall youth down the middle.
The obvious option for this edition of the Buffalo Sabres would have been to put 30 yr. old Patrik Berglund and his 10 years of NHL experience in the three-hole. With his two-way game and solid faceoff skills, a grey beard like Berglund could add veteran stability to the lineup and carry much of the two-way load that was lost when Ryan O'Reilly went the other way in the trade with the St. Louis Blues. Berglund might also be looked at to take some pressure off of Mittelstadt in the top-six for brief stints.
It's a sound logic that could very well come to fruition. However, there are a number of factors that could/should lead Berglund to a winger role on a line with fellow Swede, Asplund.
Buffalo GM Jason Botterill has touted the versatility of the forwards he has and Berglund certainly fits that description. He was drafted out of Sweden as a big center with a solid all-around skill set who could score, set up and be a two-way No. 2 or No. 3 center for the Blues. But by the end of the 2013-14 season, St. Louis had loaded up at center pushing Berglund to the wing. Couple that with consistency issues and it was a formula that eventually put his name into the rumor mill.
As his career progressed expectations were lowered and as he moved down the depth chart his production was near career lows but he did, however, score a career-high of 23 goals in a 2016-17 contract year and signed a five-year extension just before the 2017 trade deadline. Yet the rumors still persisted and when he was injured to start the 2017-18 season, the natives were getting restless.
"Patrik Berglund should have been traded during the offseason," wrote Dan Buffa in a scathing piece for SB Nation, St. Louis titled, 'The disappearance of Patrik Berglund should baffle no one." Buffa rips Berglund as "ordinary" and "a decent yet unremarkable talent" that could use a change of scenery in his February 11, 2018 piece and his thoughts were echoed when Berglund was given a C-rating by Todd Panula of fansided's Bleeding Blue.
"The fact that St. Louis Blues fans are still wondering what the real Patrik Berglund is and can accomplish," wrote Panula at the end of last season, "is quite astounding. He is 29 and just played his 10th NHL season.
"He gives you just enough to think there is more in there. He disappoints you just enough to figure there is no way he will reach his full potential. Then the juicy middle ground is normally where he falls."
All of this is not to bag on Berglund for who he is or the path his career has taken. Bloggers (myself included) have a tendency to get overzealous and may or may not have the proper insight at to why a player may or may not be performing up to expectations which might differentiate from what others see. What it intended to highlight is that Berglund might not be the best choice as the third line center. When you factor in that his set-up skills may have been overrated, that he never was the fastest skater to begin with and add in that he's offensively streaky while his defensive game might be a little more suspect than originally thought, perhaps having him on the wing might not be that bad of an idea.
In his 23-goal season Berglund played in all 82 games for St. Louis and scored on at a 15% shot-rate. The year prior his shooting percentage was 12.5% and last year it was a career-high 15.2%. In all three of those seasons Berglund's goal to assist ration was roughly 2:1. The guy can still shoot the puck but as his assists and plus/minus might indicate (minus-12 the past two seasons,) he and the Sabres might be better off having a player like Asplund dishing to him as opposed to Berglund trying to set someone up.
Berglund seems as if he'd be a great mentor for Asplund and his versatility could give Asplund the requisite time down the middle to develop as a center. Conversely, Asplund's hockey IQ and on-ice vision could be very helpful in getting Berglund to another 20-goal season.
How it all plays out is up in the air as there's a lot of competition in the bottom six and we're really not sure how far Asplund can take it during training camp. He has all the tools and if he continues to impress, or impress even more, then he could crack the lineup and do so as their third-line center. If that's the case, Berglund would be forced to move to Asplund's wing. Which isn't such a bad proposition.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Patrik Berglund / C, Rasmus Asplund /
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
G, Carter Hutton
F--Patrik Berglund
30 yrs. old
6'4" 219 lbs.
2006, 25th-overall (STL)
Acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues, July 1, 2018
Career stats: 694 games | 168 goals | 154 assists | 332 points | +10
Yesterday, in what might be considered a reach, we put rookie Rasmus Asplund at third-line center in this roster-building exercise. Asplund has the two-way acumen, skating and stick skills, as well as the mental makeup and on-ice vision to do the job and do it well. However, at only 20 yrs. old and with a projected one-two center punch of 21 yr. old Jack Eichel and 19 yr. old Casey Mittelstadt, the concern wasn't so much about Asplund's attributes as it was about his age and inexperience in North America as well as the overall youth down the middle.
The obvious option for this edition of the Buffalo Sabres would have been to put 30 yr. old Patrik Berglund and his 10 years of NHL experience in the three-hole. With his two-way game and solid faceoff skills, a grey beard like Berglund could add veteran stability to the lineup and carry much of the two-way load that was lost when Ryan O'Reilly went the other way in the trade with the St. Louis Blues. Berglund might also be looked at to take some pressure off of Mittelstadt in the top-six for brief stints.
It's a sound logic that could very well come to fruition. However, there are a number of factors that could/should lead Berglund to a winger role on a line with fellow Swede, Asplund.
Buffalo GM Jason Botterill has touted the versatility of the forwards he has and Berglund certainly fits that description. He was drafted out of Sweden as a big center with a solid all-around skill set who could score, set up and be a two-way No. 2 or No. 3 center for the Blues. But by the end of the 2013-14 season, St. Louis had loaded up at center pushing Berglund to the wing. Couple that with consistency issues and it was a formula that eventually put his name into the rumor mill.
As his career progressed expectations were lowered and as he moved down the depth chart his production was near career lows but he did, however, score a career-high of 23 goals in a 2016-17 contract year and signed a five-year extension just before the 2017 trade deadline. Yet the rumors still persisted and when he was injured to start the 2017-18 season, the natives were getting restless.
"Patrik Berglund should have been traded during the offseason," wrote Dan Buffa in a scathing piece for SB Nation, St. Louis titled, 'The disappearance of Patrik Berglund should baffle no one." Buffa rips Berglund as "ordinary" and "a decent yet unremarkable talent" that could use a change of scenery in his February 11, 2018 piece and his thoughts were echoed when Berglund was given a C-rating by Todd Panula of fansided's Bleeding Blue.
"The fact that St. Louis Blues fans are still wondering what the real Patrik Berglund is and can accomplish," wrote Panula at the end of last season, "is quite astounding. He is 29 and just played his 10th NHL season.
"He gives you just enough to think there is more in there. He disappoints you just enough to figure there is no way he will reach his full potential. Then the juicy middle ground is normally where he falls."
All of this is not to bag on Berglund for who he is or the path his career has taken. Bloggers (myself included) have a tendency to get overzealous and may or may not have the proper insight at to why a player may or may not be performing up to expectations which might differentiate from what others see. What it intended to highlight is that Berglund might not be the best choice as the third line center. When you factor in that his set-up skills may have been overrated, that he never was the fastest skater to begin with and add in that he's offensively streaky while his defensive game might be a little more suspect than originally thought, perhaps having him on the wing might not be that bad of an idea.
In his 23-goal season Berglund played in all 82 games for St. Louis and scored on at a 15% shot-rate. The year prior his shooting percentage was 12.5% and last year it was a career-high 15.2%. In all three of those seasons Berglund's goal to assist ration was roughly 2:1. The guy can still shoot the puck but as his assists and plus/minus might indicate (minus-12 the past two seasons,) he and the Sabres might be better off having a player like Asplund dishing to him as opposed to Berglund trying to set someone up.
Berglund seems as if he'd be a great mentor for Asplund and his versatility could give Asplund the requisite time down the middle to develop as a center. Conversely, Asplund's hockey IQ and on-ice vision could be very helpful in getting Berglund to another 20-goal season.
How it all plays out is up in the air as there's a lot of competition in the bottom six and we're really not sure how far Asplund can take it during training camp. He has all the tools and if he continues to impress, or impress even more, then he could crack the lineup and do so as their third-line center. If that's the case, Berglund would be forced to move to Asplund's wing. Which isn't such a bad proposition.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Patrik Berglund / C, Rasmus Asplund /
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
G, Carter Hutton
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster--C, Rasmus Asplund
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-12-2018
C--Rasmus Asplund
20 yrs. old
5'11" 189 lbs.
2016, second round (33rd overall)
Rasmus Asplund had himself a helluva Prospects Challenge tournament and the traits he displayed while arguably being the best player on the ice for Buffalo, and possibly the entire tournament, won't all of a sudden disappear. Asplund led the tournament with six points and his lone goal was a beauty as he undressed four Pittsburgh Penguins at the blueline. The attributes that had the two-way center as a first round pick before dropping to the early second round are what have been constants throughout his professional career which includes competing against men for almost four full seasons in the Swedish Hockey League.
At 5'11" 189 lbs. Asplund doesn't have the ideal size for an NHL'er, but he isn't small and actually looks bigger on the ice. And at 20 yrs. old, with 170 SHL games under his belt, he's not a kid anymore either. The Sabres decided that it was best for him to spend one more season in the SHL last year, a decision that Asplund initially didn't agree with, but by the end of the season had warmed to. "I was a little mad that I didn't get over," he told the gathered media at the rookie showcase in Toronto last month, "but after the season, I'm happy that I stayed another year. I feel more ready than ever now to get over here and play."
That wasn't the first good move the Sabres organization made concerning Asplund. The first one was trading up to get him.
Asplund was widely considered a mid-lower first round talent but at the end of Day-1 at the 2016 NHL Draft, he was still on the board. Buffalo had the 38th pick and prior to the second round they consummated a trade with the Florida Panthers of defenseman Mark Pysyk for Dmitry Kulikov with Sabres GM Tim Murray insisting that they swap second-rounders. Buffalo had to throw in the 86th pick to get the deal done but in the end, much to the delight of their scouting department, they were able to move up to No. 33 and select Asplund.
Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com who had him ranked as the 21st best prospect in the 2016 draft. "Slippery and competitive," wrote Baker, "Asplund’s ability to hound the puck, force turnovers and quickly transition into offense with a smooth playmaking sense makes him an attractive candidate to mature into a quality NHL forward. Asplund may tote around an average frame and not appear to be the most physical player on the ice, but he’s very detail oriented with an ability to do the little things like winning faceoffs, jamming shooting lanes with his stick, and making short passes from deep in his zone to spark the transition game.
"Teams looking for a sneaky playmaker who will comfortably slot into a workmanlike role will likely have Asplund on their radar."
All of that was on display at the Prospects Challenge last weekend and what also really stood out for those in attendance was Asplund's vision and hockey sense. The Athletic's Corey Pronman noted in his 'Standout Performances at rookie camps' recap yesterday that Asplund, "showed his standard high-end hockey sense in how he can see the ice, slow the game down and make plays." His colleague at The Athletic, Joe Yerdon, said that if there was an MVP of the tournament, Asplund "would probably be a unanimous selection" while noting he was "a tenacious forechecker with speed, and a dynamite penalty killer.
"He showed aggressiveness with the puck and without it," continued Yerdon, and "his hockey IQ was also on display all weekend."
There is some danger slotting Asplund as a rookie No. 3 center for the team overall. Twenty-one year old Jack Eichel will continue as the team's top center while 19 yr. old rookie Casey Mittelstadt looks like he'll be No. 2. Having another rookie centering the third line could make for a precarious situation but that's why your have seasoned vets on the team.
Jeff Skinner and Kyle Okposo are two veteran wingers slotted for the top-six and while 26 yr. old winger Conor Sheary may not have the vast experience of those two, he's played on two Stanley Cup winning teams for Pittsburgh and was a strong contributor to the first one. Botterill traded a way veteran second line center Ryan O'Reilly who had taken many of the tough assignments for the Sabres but received two vet forwards in return--Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka--who have combined to play in over 1,100 regular season games and 111 playoff games. Plus there's 35 yr. old Jason Pominville who has nearly 1,000 regular season games and 81 playoff games.
You want experience, there it is.
The cool part about this year's roster building exercise is that there will be a lot of difficult decisions to make in the bottom-six forward group and that it probably won't be sorted out until the final game of the preseason. Slotting Asplund here as third line center might be a reach at this point when you base it upon a three-game tournament against a group of players that had many low-end prospects, AHL'ers and undrafted players. However, of the remaining centers on Buffalo, Asplund is more of a complete package than any of them, he's hungry and has a high compete-level and seems to have the smarts to be able to play and adapt as he goes along.
The SHL is no slouch league and some would argue that with the way the NHL is played today, it might be a better development league than the AHL. Asplund will be fighting against bigger, stronger, meaner opponents in North America and will be doing so on a smaller rink. Yet he seems to have the skating ability, the faculties and the mental toughness to make it work, not to mention the drive. "I've been working for the NHL," Asplund said at the showcase, "and that's the goal I'm going to go for, and we'll see how far it goes."
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
_____________ / C, Rasmus Asplund / ______________
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
G, Carter Hutton
C--Rasmus Asplund
20 yrs. old
5'11" 189 lbs.
2016, second round (33rd overall)
Rasmus Asplund had himself a helluva Prospects Challenge tournament and the traits he displayed while arguably being the best player on the ice for Buffalo, and possibly the entire tournament, won't all of a sudden disappear. Asplund led the tournament with six points and his lone goal was a beauty as he undressed four Pittsburgh Penguins at the blueline. The attributes that had the two-way center as a first round pick before dropping to the early second round are what have been constants throughout his professional career which includes competing against men for almost four full seasons in the Swedish Hockey League.
At 5'11" 189 lbs. Asplund doesn't have the ideal size for an NHL'er, but he isn't small and actually looks bigger on the ice. And at 20 yrs. old, with 170 SHL games under his belt, he's not a kid anymore either. The Sabres decided that it was best for him to spend one more season in the SHL last year, a decision that Asplund initially didn't agree with, but by the end of the season had warmed to. "I was a little mad that I didn't get over," he told the gathered media at the rookie showcase in Toronto last month, "but after the season, I'm happy that I stayed another year. I feel more ready than ever now to get over here and play."
That wasn't the first good move the Sabres organization made concerning Asplund. The first one was trading up to get him.
Asplund was widely considered a mid-lower first round talent but at the end of Day-1 at the 2016 NHL Draft, he was still on the board. Buffalo had the 38th pick and prior to the second round they consummated a trade with the Florida Panthers of defenseman Mark Pysyk for Dmitry Kulikov with Sabres GM Tim Murray insisting that they swap second-rounders. Buffalo had to throw in the 86th pick to get the deal done but in the end, much to the delight of their scouting department, they were able to move up to No. 33 and select Asplund.
Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com who had him ranked as the 21st best prospect in the 2016 draft. "Slippery and competitive," wrote Baker, "Asplund’s ability to hound the puck, force turnovers and quickly transition into offense with a smooth playmaking sense makes him an attractive candidate to mature into a quality NHL forward. Asplund may tote around an average frame and not appear to be the most physical player on the ice, but he’s very detail oriented with an ability to do the little things like winning faceoffs, jamming shooting lanes with his stick, and making short passes from deep in his zone to spark the transition game.
"Teams looking for a sneaky playmaker who will comfortably slot into a workmanlike role will likely have Asplund on their radar."
All of that was on display at the Prospects Challenge last weekend and what also really stood out for those in attendance was Asplund's vision and hockey sense. The Athletic's Corey Pronman noted in his 'Standout Performances at rookie camps' recap yesterday that Asplund, "showed his standard high-end hockey sense in how he can see the ice, slow the game down and make plays." His colleague at The Athletic, Joe Yerdon, said that if there was an MVP of the tournament, Asplund "would probably be a unanimous selection" while noting he was "a tenacious forechecker with speed, and a dynamite penalty killer.
"He showed aggressiveness with the puck and without it," continued Yerdon, and "his hockey IQ was also on display all weekend."
There is some danger slotting Asplund as a rookie No. 3 center for the team overall. Twenty-one year old Jack Eichel will continue as the team's top center while 19 yr. old rookie Casey Mittelstadt looks like he'll be No. 2. Having another rookie centering the third line could make for a precarious situation but that's why your have seasoned vets on the team.
Jeff Skinner and Kyle Okposo are two veteran wingers slotted for the top-six and while 26 yr. old winger Conor Sheary may not have the vast experience of those two, he's played on two Stanley Cup winning teams for Pittsburgh and was a strong contributor to the first one. Botterill traded a way veteran second line center Ryan O'Reilly who had taken many of the tough assignments for the Sabres but received two vet forwards in return--Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka--who have combined to play in over 1,100 regular season games and 111 playoff games. Plus there's 35 yr. old Jason Pominville who has nearly 1,000 regular season games and 81 playoff games.
You want experience, there it is.
The cool part about this year's roster building exercise is that there will be a lot of difficult decisions to make in the bottom-six forward group and that it probably won't be sorted out until the final game of the preseason. Slotting Asplund here as third line center might be a reach at this point when you base it upon a three-game tournament against a group of players that had many low-end prospects, AHL'ers and undrafted players. However, of the remaining centers on Buffalo, Asplund is more of a complete package than any of them, he's hungry and has a high compete-level and seems to have the smarts to be able to play and adapt as he goes along.
The SHL is no slouch league and some would argue that with the way the NHL is played today, it might be a better development league than the AHL. Asplund will be fighting against bigger, stronger, meaner opponents in North America and will be doing so on a smaller rink. Yet he seems to have the skating ability, the faculties and the mental toughness to make it work, not to mention the drive. "I've been working for the NHL," Asplund said at the showcase, "and that's the goal I'm going to go for, and we'll see how far it goes."
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
_____________ / C, Rasmus Asplund / ______________
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
G, Carter Hutton
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster--RHD, Zach Bogosian
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-9-2018
Zach Bogosian
28 yrs. old
6'3" 221 lbs.
2008, 3rd-overall (ATL)
Acquired in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets, February 11, 2015
Career stats: 552 games | 49 goals | 121 assists | 170 points | -82
Dependent upon how things shake out at camp, 28 yr. old veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian will probably be the first one to hit the ice as a d-partner for Buffalo Sabres rookie phenom Rasmus Dahlin. That is, of course, if nothing happens to Bogosian along the way, which unfortunately is always a possibility.
Bogosian, a third-overall pick in 2008, was drafted for his size, skating ability and skill and was thrown right into the fray in Atlanta as one of the Thrashers top defensemen for the 2008-09 season. However, in what would become a harbinger of things to come, Bogosian left a game vs. the Philadelphia Flyers on October 28, 2008 with a broken leg and would miss a big chunk of his rookie campaign. Outside of the 2009-10 season where he would miss only one game, Bogosian was injured for huge chunks for most of the ensuing eight seasons playing in only 424 of a possible 622 games.
Last year because of injury Bogosian's season didn't start until December 1 and it ended 18 games later as he and the rest of his season was done in by a hip injury. Bogosian underwent hip surgery in early February and with a 4-6 month recovery time now past, he's ready to go for the upcoming season.
Other than the 21 games he played for Buffalo in 2015 after being acquired as part of the Evander Kane trade, Bogosian has been the butt of jokes concerning his injury problems and/or his play. However, people tend to forget that he had a good first full (for him) season for Buffalo in 2015-16. Bogosian and the Sabres seemed to be on the rise and that season he took rookie Jake McCabe under his wing with the duo forming a very solid second-pairing. McCabe scored four goals and 14 points in his first full season and lead the team with a plus-6 rating.
Much has been said about the hiring of Phil Housley as coach of the Sabres and what he'll be able to do for mobile defensemen like Bogosian. Housley likes active defensemen who can join the rush and at last year's training camp he said (via Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times,) "[Bogosian] can be part of the rush. I can definitely see him pinching down walls and keeping pucks in, and when you say that, it means you have to get up ice.” Housley also noted that the veteran defenseman was "doing all the right things out there" while helping the young players.
The young player Bogosian might be helping this season is Dahlin, at least until the 18 yr. old Swede gets acclimated enough to take on a top-pairing role.
Dahlin can do everything that Housley wants without a hitch and can do so at top speed but what he and the team might need is a player that can hold the fort while he's getting up ice. During the first Prospects Challenge game that guy was Will Borgen who was said to be punishing players throughout the 6-4 win while Dahlin was busy scoring two goals and adding an assist. Bogosian can play that role. It's something he did for Dan Bylsma when he was the Sabres coach for two seasons, but it's not something he was thrilled with.
As a veteran who's never made the playoffs in his 10-year career, and as a player who's missed a lot of time due to injury, one would think that any role, especially alongside a franchise defenseman would suit him moving forward. Bogosian's spent a lot of time either injured or playing for bad teams but this Buffalo team offers a lot of upside and a reduced role may actually keep him on the ice more.
Sure, Bogosian has the skill set to be the one jumping up into the play and he should have enough veteran experience to pick his spots more judiciously, but at least to start, he may be the one watching Dahlin take control of the ice on offense. It's not to say that he won't be activated, but moreso Bogosian will be expected to cover for the rookie as he gets a feel for the North American game at the NHL level.
One should have every reason to believe that Bogosian will take on that role and relish helping Dahlin, just as he did with McCabe. And who knows, if they click real well and he stays healthy, Bogosian has enough skill and skating to ride shotgun with Dahlin in a top-pairing role.
However, maybe it's best to entertain more modest goals for Bogosian like a 70-game season in a second-pairing role for a team that's a playoff contender for at least a good portion of the season. And even that might be asking too much.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
G, Carter Hutton
Zach Bogosian
28 yrs. old
6'3" 221 lbs.
2008, 3rd-overall (ATL)
Acquired in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets, February 11, 2015
Career stats: 552 games | 49 goals | 121 assists | 170 points | -82
Dependent upon how things shake out at camp, 28 yr. old veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian will probably be the first one to hit the ice as a d-partner for Buffalo Sabres rookie phenom Rasmus Dahlin. That is, of course, if nothing happens to Bogosian along the way, which unfortunately is always a possibility.
Bogosian, a third-overall pick in 2008, was drafted for his size, skating ability and skill and was thrown right into the fray in Atlanta as one of the Thrashers top defensemen for the 2008-09 season. However, in what would become a harbinger of things to come, Bogosian left a game vs. the Philadelphia Flyers on October 28, 2008 with a broken leg and would miss a big chunk of his rookie campaign. Outside of the 2009-10 season where he would miss only one game, Bogosian was injured for huge chunks for most of the ensuing eight seasons playing in only 424 of a possible 622 games.
Last year because of injury Bogosian's season didn't start until December 1 and it ended 18 games later as he and the rest of his season was done in by a hip injury. Bogosian underwent hip surgery in early February and with a 4-6 month recovery time now past, he's ready to go for the upcoming season.
Other than the 21 games he played for Buffalo in 2015 after being acquired as part of the Evander Kane trade, Bogosian has been the butt of jokes concerning his injury problems and/or his play. However, people tend to forget that he had a good first full (for him) season for Buffalo in 2015-16. Bogosian and the Sabres seemed to be on the rise and that season he took rookie Jake McCabe under his wing with the duo forming a very solid second-pairing. McCabe scored four goals and 14 points in his first full season and lead the team with a plus-6 rating.
Much has been said about the hiring of Phil Housley as coach of the Sabres and what he'll be able to do for mobile defensemen like Bogosian. Housley likes active defensemen who can join the rush and at last year's training camp he said (via Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times,) "[Bogosian] can be part of the rush. I can definitely see him pinching down walls and keeping pucks in, and when you say that, it means you have to get up ice.” Housley also noted that the veteran defenseman was "doing all the right things out there" while helping the young players.
The young player Bogosian might be helping this season is Dahlin, at least until the 18 yr. old Swede gets acclimated enough to take on a top-pairing role.
Dahlin can do everything that Housley wants without a hitch and can do so at top speed but what he and the team might need is a player that can hold the fort while he's getting up ice. During the first Prospects Challenge game that guy was Will Borgen who was said to be punishing players throughout the 6-4 win while Dahlin was busy scoring two goals and adding an assist. Bogosian can play that role. It's something he did for Dan Bylsma when he was the Sabres coach for two seasons, but it's not something he was thrilled with.
As a veteran who's never made the playoffs in his 10-year career, and as a player who's missed a lot of time due to injury, one would think that any role, especially alongside a franchise defenseman would suit him moving forward. Bogosian's spent a lot of time either injured or playing for bad teams but this Buffalo team offers a lot of upside and a reduced role may actually keep him on the ice more.
Sure, Bogosian has the skill set to be the one jumping up into the play and he should have enough veteran experience to pick his spots more judiciously, but at least to start, he may be the one watching Dahlin take control of the ice on offense. It's not to say that he won't be activated, but moreso Bogosian will be expected to cover for the rookie as he gets a feel for the North American game at the NHL level.
One should have every reason to believe that Bogosian will take on that role and relish helping Dahlin, just as he did with McCabe. And who knows, if they click real well and he stays healthy, Bogosian has enough skill and skating to ride shotgun with Dahlin in a top-pairing role.
However, maybe it's best to entertain more modest goals for Bogosian like a 70-game season in a second-pairing role for a team that's a playoff contender for at least a good portion of the season. And even that might be asking too much.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
G, Carter Hutton
Saturday, September 8, 2018
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster--LHD, Rasmus Dahlin
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-7-2018
LHD--Rasmus Dahlin
18 yrs. old
6'2" 181 lbs.
2018 first-overall
This should be the one and only time that Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin will be placed this low in the lineup heading into a season. Dahlin, the first-overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, is a defenseman the likes of which Buffalo hasn't seen in decades and beginning sometime this season, we'll see him on the top-pairing logging big minutes for the Sabres.
The only comparable defense prospect to Dahlin in Buffalo would be Phil Housley, drafted out of St. Paul High School, Minnesota. The 18 yr. old Housley was a pure offensive dynamo from the blueline who's 338 goals and 1232 points helped punch his ticket to the Hockey Hall of Fame. However, his offensive prowess was directly proportionate to his defensive liabilities to the point where early in his career he was so bad on defense that Hall of Fame head coach Scotty Bowman moved him to wing where he scored a chunk of his points during his eight-year playing career in Buffalo.
Other than that, some of the Sabres top defensemen throughout their history include Jim Schoenfeld, Mike Ramsey, Jerry "King Kong" Korab and Brain Campbell all of whom played very well for Buffalo, but none of whom were considered close to elite.
Buffalo got lucky when the ping pong balls fell their way at the 2018 draft lottery. With Sabres logo in hand, Buffalo GM Jason Botterill stood on stage while Sabreland had visions of Dahlin dancing in their heads. Sure, none had seen him live, but the highlights were full of jaw-dropping moments see below) with some saying that Dahlin could be the best defenseman to hit the NHL since Hall of Famer Denis Potvin who lead the NY Islanders to four straight Stanley Cups (1980-83.) Potvin's Legends of Hockey bio at the Hockey Hall of Fame website noted that he was the first defenseman to score over 1,000 points and is considered "one of the most complete bluliners ever to step on the ice."
When Dahlin hit the ice in Buffalo for development camp the skills he displayed were that of a forward with skating that was fluid and fast. For those who were seeing him for the first time live, it was a wonder to behold his hip movement, stickwork and angles on defense showing that he's not just a pure offensive-defenseman.
As an 18 yr. old rookie, Dahlin will have a lot to work on and will go through a lot of growing pains but his skating alone will ease the workload and dull some of the pains. Tonight he begins his career in the Blue and Gold skating on Buffalo's top-pairing in the annual Sabres Prospect Challenge. This will be an opportunity for him to show where he stands along side his peers as prospects from three other NHL teams--the Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins--battle in a round-robin event at HarborCenter in downtown Buffalo.
Dahlin has been playing against men in Sweden's top professional league for the last two seasons and finished his SHL career with a seven-goal, 20-point season prior to Buffalo drafting him. He has a poised demeanor on the ice (and off the ice as well,) projecting a confidence in himself and his skill-level. There's no reason to think that all of his traits won't be on display beginning 7 pm tonight when the Sabres prospects take on their counterparts from New Jersey.
It's the type of tournament that he should dominate. Even if he doesn't today or at any point in the tournament, it's only a matter of time. Hockey, unlike other North American pro sports, is usually spot on when they dub draft prospects as franchise-changers. They don't come along that often but when they do if you're lucky you'll be in the position to land one.
And Buffalo certainly was lucky to land Dahlin.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin /
G, Carter Hutton
For those who have missed Dahlin's highlights here's some of them from on YouTube from Krypts:
*****
Rochester Americans head coach Chris Taylor is in charge of the prospects for The Challenge and according to sabres.com, here were his lines and pairings from practice yesterday:
Forwards
41 Victor Olofsson - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 72 Tage Thompson
92 Alex Nylander - 74 Rasmus Asplund - 52 Andrew Oglevie
83 Shane Eiserman - 77 Vasily Glotov - 75 Judd Peterson
73 Matej Pekar - 86 Kevin Hancock - 79 Cole Coskey
76 Pascal Aquin - 78 Myles Powell - 46 Eric Cornel
Defensemen
26 Rasmus Dahlin - 33 William Borgen
45 Brendan Guhle - 67 Arvin Atwal
44 Brandon Hickey - 58 Oskari Laaksonen
24 Lawrence Pilut - 84 Nicholas Welsh
61 Devante Stephens - 70 Tobie Bisson
Goalies
34 Jonas Johansson
1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
LHD--Rasmus Dahlin
18 yrs. old
6'2" 181 lbs.
2018 first-overall
This should be the one and only time that Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin will be placed this low in the lineup heading into a season. Dahlin, the first-overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, is a defenseman the likes of which Buffalo hasn't seen in decades and beginning sometime this season, we'll see him on the top-pairing logging big minutes for the Sabres.
The only comparable defense prospect to Dahlin in Buffalo would be Phil Housley, drafted out of St. Paul High School, Minnesota. The 18 yr. old Housley was a pure offensive dynamo from the blueline who's 338 goals and 1232 points helped punch his ticket to the Hockey Hall of Fame. However, his offensive prowess was directly proportionate to his defensive liabilities to the point where early in his career he was so bad on defense that Hall of Fame head coach Scotty Bowman moved him to wing where he scored a chunk of his points during his eight-year playing career in Buffalo.
Other than that, some of the Sabres top defensemen throughout their history include Jim Schoenfeld, Mike Ramsey, Jerry "King Kong" Korab and Brain Campbell all of whom played very well for Buffalo, but none of whom were considered close to elite.
Buffalo got lucky when the ping pong balls fell their way at the 2018 draft lottery. With Sabres logo in hand, Buffalo GM Jason Botterill stood on stage while Sabreland had visions of Dahlin dancing in their heads. Sure, none had seen him live, but the highlights were full of jaw-dropping moments see below) with some saying that Dahlin could be the best defenseman to hit the NHL since Hall of Famer Denis Potvin who lead the NY Islanders to four straight Stanley Cups (1980-83.) Potvin's Legends of Hockey bio at the Hockey Hall of Fame website noted that he was the first defenseman to score over 1,000 points and is considered "one of the most complete bluliners ever to step on the ice."
When Dahlin hit the ice in Buffalo for development camp the skills he displayed were that of a forward with skating that was fluid and fast. For those who were seeing him for the first time live, it was a wonder to behold his hip movement, stickwork and angles on defense showing that he's not just a pure offensive-defenseman.
As an 18 yr. old rookie, Dahlin will have a lot to work on and will go through a lot of growing pains but his skating alone will ease the workload and dull some of the pains. Tonight he begins his career in the Blue and Gold skating on Buffalo's top-pairing in the annual Sabres Prospect Challenge. This will be an opportunity for him to show where he stands along side his peers as prospects from three other NHL teams--the Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins--battle in a round-robin event at HarborCenter in downtown Buffalo.
Dahlin has been playing against men in Sweden's top professional league for the last two seasons and finished his SHL career with a seven-goal, 20-point season prior to Buffalo drafting him. He has a poised demeanor on the ice (and off the ice as well,) projecting a confidence in himself and his skill-level. There's no reason to think that all of his traits won't be on display beginning 7 pm tonight when the Sabres prospects take on their counterparts from New Jersey.
It's the type of tournament that he should dominate. Even if he doesn't today or at any point in the tournament, it's only a matter of time. Hockey, unlike other North American pro sports, is usually spot on when they dub draft prospects as franchise-changers. They don't come along that often but when they do if you're lucky you'll be in the position to land one.
And Buffalo certainly was lucky to land Dahlin.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin /
G, Carter Hutton
For those who have missed Dahlin's highlights here's some of them from on YouTube from Krypts:
*****
Rochester Americans head coach Chris Taylor is in charge of the prospects for The Challenge and according to sabres.com, here were his lines and pairings from practice yesterday:
Forwards
41 Victor Olofsson - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 72 Tage Thompson
92 Alex Nylander - 74 Rasmus Asplund - 52 Andrew Oglevie
83 Shane Eiserman - 77 Vasily Glotov - 75 Judd Peterson
73 Matej Pekar - 86 Kevin Hancock - 79 Cole Coskey
76 Pascal Aquin - 78 Myles Powell - 46 Eric Cornel
Defensemen
26 Rasmus Dahlin - 33 William Borgen
45 Brendan Guhle - 67 Arvin Atwal
44 Brandon Hickey - 58 Oskari Laaksonen
24 Lawrence Pilut - 84 Nicholas Welsh
61 Devante Stephens - 70 Tobie Bisson
Goalies
34 Jonas Johansson
1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster--RW, Kyle Okposo
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-4-2018
Kyle Okposo
30 yrs. old
6'0" 220 lbs.
2006, 7th-overall (NYI)
Signed as a free agent July 1, 2016
Career stats: 670 games | 173 goals | 285 assists | 458 points | -101
The 2017-18 NHL season for Buffalo Sabres right winger Kyle Okposo is being widely regarded as a mulligan for the 30 yr. old. Okposo's health issues, stemming from treatment for a concussion, landed him in the intensive care unit in April, 2017 and as the off season hit, for him it wasn't about gearing up for the following season it was more about whether or not he'd ever be able to play the game again.
Okposo did recover and when he was seen skating in Da Beauty League, an annual charity tournament in his home state of Minnesota, there was a strong sense that everything would be OK with him. But in addition to losing the last chunk of the 2016-17 regular season, Okposo missed a lot of off-season workouts geared towards being ready for the upcoming season. And it affected him immensely.
"Last summer was just a lot about working on my mind and making sure I could play the game again," he told the gathered media after a recent informal workout with some team mates. "Now it's like, OK, I can play, let's get back to trying to be an elite player. That's something that I just didn't have the base last year and excited that I put the work in this summer to get it back.
"It was a big relief to where I could just train the way I want to and do the things that I know make me a successful hockey player."
The successes that Okposo had on the ice translated into career averages of 21 goals and 56 points per 82 games but last season he had only 15 goals and 44 points in 76 games. It took him six games to register his first point and 11 games to register his first goal and during the 2017 portion of the season, Okposo had scored only six goals and 16 points in 36 games.
After finishing the season strong, a pensive Okposo said at locker cleanout that the 2017-18 campaign for him was more about being able to play the NHL game again. "Looking back on this year, " he told the gathered media, "and looking back to where I was a year ago, all things considered I'm pretty happy that I played a full season.
"I didn't know if I was going to be able to at this time last year and honestly I wasn't even thinking about hockey at that time."
Considering that he did play a full season (minus a handful of games) and managed to produce nine goals and 28 points through the final 40 games while looking like old self in the process, a mulligan for the season is certainly warranted.
However, Okposo is now facing another hurdle--Father Time. The 30 yr. old is at a point where, generally speaking, players begin to decline. "I’ve been around this game awhile now," he said, "and you get on the other side of 30 and a lot of guys say, ‘Oh he’s past his prime’ and 'If he has a couple of bad years, he’s on the way down' and I’m very aware of that and seen it happen to many guys.
“I’m not going to be happy just riding off into the sunset."
Buffalo hopes he doesn't do that either as the contract he has with the Sabres still has five more years left on it (all with a modified no-trade clause,) at a $6 million cap-hit, which is second on the team only to Jack Eichel and his $10 million cap-hit that begins this year. GM Jason Botterill was left with a lot of dead weight by his predecessor and he doesn't need another anvil weighing his franchise down.
The good news is that Okposo started out his first year in Buffalo leading the team in scoring through 63 games with 43 points (19+24.) The bad new is that it all went downhill with his health issues. This year things are looking up and if he can hit his career averages it will be a pretty strong accomplishment for him.
Unless there is some problem with Sam Reinhart and his contract negotiations Okposo will probably be Buffalo's No. 2 right winger with rookie Casey Mittelstadt or veteran Patrick Berglund at center. In either instance he expects, and is expected, to succeed.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
G, Carter Hutton
Kyle Okposo 2017 locker cleanout via Sabres.com:
Kyle Okposo
30 yrs. old
6'0" 220 lbs.
2006, 7th-overall (NYI)
Signed as a free agent July 1, 2016
Career stats: 670 games | 173 goals | 285 assists | 458 points | -101
The 2017-18 NHL season for Buffalo Sabres right winger Kyle Okposo is being widely regarded as a mulligan for the 30 yr. old. Okposo's health issues, stemming from treatment for a concussion, landed him in the intensive care unit in April, 2017 and as the off season hit, for him it wasn't about gearing up for the following season it was more about whether or not he'd ever be able to play the game again.
Okposo did recover and when he was seen skating in Da Beauty League, an annual charity tournament in his home state of Minnesota, there was a strong sense that everything would be OK with him. But in addition to losing the last chunk of the 2016-17 regular season, Okposo missed a lot of off-season workouts geared towards being ready for the upcoming season. And it affected him immensely.
"Last summer was just a lot about working on my mind and making sure I could play the game again," he told the gathered media after a recent informal workout with some team mates. "Now it's like, OK, I can play, let's get back to trying to be an elite player. That's something that I just didn't have the base last year and excited that I put the work in this summer to get it back.
"It was a big relief to where I could just train the way I want to and do the things that I know make me a successful hockey player."
The successes that Okposo had on the ice translated into career averages of 21 goals and 56 points per 82 games but last season he had only 15 goals and 44 points in 76 games. It took him six games to register his first point and 11 games to register his first goal and during the 2017 portion of the season, Okposo had scored only six goals and 16 points in 36 games.
After finishing the season strong, a pensive Okposo said at locker cleanout that the 2017-18 campaign for him was more about being able to play the NHL game again. "Looking back on this year, " he told the gathered media, "and looking back to where I was a year ago, all things considered I'm pretty happy that I played a full season.
"I didn't know if I was going to be able to at this time last year and honestly I wasn't even thinking about hockey at that time."
Considering that he did play a full season (minus a handful of games) and managed to produce nine goals and 28 points through the final 40 games while looking like old self in the process, a mulligan for the season is certainly warranted.
However, Okposo is now facing another hurdle--Father Time. The 30 yr. old is at a point where, generally speaking, players begin to decline. "I’ve been around this game awhile now," he said, "and you get on the other side of 30 and a lot of guys say, ‘Oh he’s past his prime’ and 'If he has a couple of bad years, he’s on the way down' and I’m very aware of that and seen it happen to many guys.
“I’m not going to be happy just riding off into the sunset."
Buffalo hopes he doesn't do that either as the contract he has with the Sabres still has five more years left on it (all with a modified no-trade clause,) at a $6 million cap-hit, which is second on the team only to Jack Eichel and his $10 million cap-hit that begins this year. GM Jason Botterill was left with a lot of dead weight by his predecessor and he doesn't need another anvil weighing his franchise down.
The good news is that Okposo started out his first year in Buffalo leading the team in scoring through 63 games with 43 points (19+24.) The bad new is that it all went downhill with his health issues. This year things are looking up and if he can hit his career averages it will be a pretty strong accomplishment for him.
Unless there is some problem with Sam Reinhart and his contract negotiations Okposo will probably be Buffalo's No. 2 right winger with rookie Casey Mittelstadt or veteran Patrick Berglund at center. In either instance he expects, and is expected, to succeed.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
G, Carter Hutton
Kyle Okposo 2017 locker cleanout via Sabres.com:
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster--LW, Jeff Skinner
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-3-2018
LW--Jeff Skinner
26 yrs. old
5'11" 200 lbs.
2010, seventh-overall (CAR)
Career stats: 579 games | 204 goals | 175 assists | 379 points | -96
Jeff Skinner had somewhat of an off season in Carolina last year. The 5'11" 200 lb. left winger scored 24 goals for the Hurricanes in 2017-18 which was 13 less than his career high of 37 goals the previous season. While some in Carolina may have been wondering what went wrong for the three-time 30-goal scorer, the Buffalo Sabres were saying, "We'll take that."
After taking the NHL, and Carolina, by storm as an 18 year old scoring 31 goals and 63 points while on his way to 2011 Rookie of the Year honors, Skinner continued make his mark as a goal-scorer posting a total 204 goals in 579 games over his eight seasons playing for the 'Canes. However, despite his individual successes Carolina hasn't made the playoff in nine seasons, which is the NHL's longest current playoff drought, and their new owner with a new front office decided change was needed. That included Skinner, a fan favorite, who will be entering the final year of a 6yr/$34.350 million contract he signed at the end of his entry-level deal. The seventh-overall pick in 2010 was put on the block this summer after it was clear that he wouldn't be signing a contract extension with the team.
Rumors had of a potential Skinner trade dated back to last off season and really picked up this past June. Although the number of teams and the intensity with which they were said to be interested in Skinner varied, Carolina felt that the Sabres offered up the best package which included a 2019 second round pick, a third and a sixth round pick in 2020 and forward prospect Cliff Pu. Buffalo was also intriguing enough for the Markham, Ontario native to waive his no-movement clause to go there.
It's no secret that the Buffalo has been the worst scoring team in the NHL for quite a while. In the last five years the three-time last place finishers averaged a league-worst 2.19 goals/game which included being the only team to finish a season under two goals per game. And they did so twice (2013-15.) It was also no secret that heading into the off season the Sabres had a gaping hole at left wing. Buffalo GM Jason Botterill filled it partially when he traded for Pittsburgh Penguins left winger Conor Sheary, a player he'd watched up close as a part of the Penguins front office, but the trade for Skinner was on another level.
Skinner brings a lot of the same attributes Sheary does like playing with pace, being highly competitive and the ability to score at even strength but he was able to produce much more consistently over a longer period of time. His last three goal totals beginning in 2015-16 would have ranked him first, first and tied for third, respectively, on a Sabres team that needed more scoring.
Ironically, the Sabres have the league's second-longest playoff drought at seven years and while Buffalo was last in scoring over the past five seasons, Carolina wasn't much better as they were fifth from the bottom averaging 2.49 goals per game. So why would Skinner allow a trade to a worse team than the one he played for in Carolina?
Apparently he likes what he sees in Buffalo.
"First and foremost the young group of players they have, the young core, is exciting," he told the media via conference call after the trade. And of the possibility of playing with top center Jack Eichel? "He's obviously one of the top centermen in the game right now," Skinner said of Eichel. "Any time you get to play on a team with a guy that has that much talent -- and he's part of that young core, that exciting core -- I'm so happy to be on his team, instead of playing against him."
Where Skinner plays in the lineup will be dependent upon training camp and what kind of chemistry is built within the top six leading up to the regular season. The book on Skinner is that he likes the puck on his stick, has the speed, wicked maneuverability and stickwork to get into prime scoring areas and, obviously, has the skill-level to finish. Whether that meshes better with Eichel or Casey Mittelstadt is yet to be determined but for at least this year, no matter which line he's on, the Sabres have themselves a true goal-scorer on the left side.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt /
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
G, Carter Hutton
For your viewing pleasure, some Jeff Skinner highlights via NHL Goals on YouTube:
LW--Jeff Skinner
26 yrs. old
5'11" 200 lbs.
2010, seventh-overall (CAR)
Career stats: 579 games | 204 goals | 175 assists | 379 points | -96
Jeff Skinner had somewhat of an off season in Carolina last year. The 5'11" 200 lb. left winger scored 24 goals for the Hurricanes in 2017-18 which was 13 less than his career high of 37 goals the previous season. While some in Carolina may have been wondering what went wrong for the three-time 30-goal scorer, the Buffalo Sabres were saying, "We'll take that."
After taking the NHL, and Carolina, by storm as an 18 year old scoring 31 goals and 63 points while on his way to 2011 Rookie of the Year honors, Skinner continued make his mark as a goal-scorer posting a total 204 goals in 579 games over his eight seasons playing for the 'Canes. However, despite his individual successes Carolina hasn't made the playoff in nine seasons, which is the NHL's longest current playoff drought, and their new owner with a new front office decided change was needed. That included Skinner, a fan favorite, who will be entering the final year of a 6yr/$34.350 million contract he signed at the end of his entry-level deal. The seventh-overall pick in 2010 was put on the block this summer after it was clear that he wouldn't be signing a contract extension with the team.
Rumors had of a potential Skinner trade dated back to last off season and really picked up this past June. Although the number of teams and the intensity with which they were said to be interested in Skinner varied, Carolina felt that the Sabres offered up the best package which included a 2019 second round pick, a third and a sixth round pick in 2020 and forward prospect Cliff Pu. Buffalo was also intriguing enough for the Markham, Ontario native to waive his no-movement clause to go there.
It's no secret that the Buffalo has been the worst scoring team in the NHL for quite a while. In the last five years the three-time last place finishers averaged a league-worst 2.19 goals/game which included being the only team to finish a season under two goals per game. And they did so twice (2013-15.) It was also no secret that heading into the off season the Sabres had a gaping hole at left wing. Buffalo GM Jason Botterill filled it partially when he traded for Pittsburgh Penguins left winger Conor Sheary, a player he'd watched up close as a part of the Penguins front office, but the trade for Skinner was on another level.
Skinner brings a lot of the same attributes Sheary does like playing with pace, being highly competitive and the ability to score at even strength but he was able to produce much more consistently over a longer period of time. His last three goal totals beginning in 2015-16 would have ranked him first, first and tied for third, respectively, on a Sabres team that needed more scoring.
Ironically, the Sabres have the league's second-longest playoff drought at seven years and while Buffalo was last in scoring over the past five seasons, Carolina wasn't much better as they were fifth from the bottom averaging 2.49 goals per game. So why would Skinner allow a trade to a worse team than the one he played for in Carolina?
Apparently he likes what he sees in Buffalo.
"First and foremost the young group of players they have, the young core, is exciting," he told the media via conference call after the trade. And of the possibility of playing with top center Jack Eichel? "He's obviously one of the top centermen in the game right now," Skinner said of Eichel. "Any time you get to play on a team with a guy that has that much talent -- and he's part of that young core, that exciting core -- I'm so happy to be on his team, instead of playing against him."
Where Skinner plays in the lineup will be dependent upon training camp and what kind of chemistry is built within the top six leading up to the regular season. The book on Skinner is that he likes the puck on his stick, has the speed, wicked maneuverability and stickwork to get into prime scoring areas and, obviously, has the skill-level to finish. Whether that meshes better with Eichel or Casey Mittelstadt is yet to be determined but for at least this year, no matter which line he's on, the Sabres have themselves a true goal-scorer on the left side.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt /
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
G, Carter Hutton
For your viewing pleasure, some Jeff Skinner highlights via NHL Goals on YouTube:
Monday, September 3, 2018
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster--C, Casey Mittelstadt
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-1-2018
C--Casey Mittelstadt
19 yrs. old
6'1" 201 lbs.
2017, eighth-overall
Career stats: 6 games | 1 goal | 4 assists | 5 points | +1
Buffalo Sabres rookie center Casey Mittelstadt has rated very high in a number of prospect rankings and is considered one of the top NHL prospects for 2018-19. Just a few examples of who placed him where:
--NHL Network ranked him fifth amongst the top 50 prospects of 25-and-under
--Steve Kournianos of @TheDraftAnalyst has him rank fourth on his list for the Sporting News
--Scott Wheeler of The Athletic has Mittelstadt ranked fourth
--TSN has him fifth
and so on and so on.
Mittlestadt was selected by the Sabres with the eighth-overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft and they were thrilled he dropped to them there. Buffalo general manager Jason Botterill, overseeing his first ever draft as a GM, told the media after the first round that they were ecstatic to get [Mittelstadt]" and when asked if he thought Mittelstadt would be there at eight, a big, cat-that-just-ate-the-canary, ear to ear smile came across his face. "Isn't that the cliché?" he asked with an internal chuckle in response. "You've got to say, 'Oh I couldn't believe that he was there."
Botterill knew exactly what he was getting in Mittelstadt and was thrilled he dropped to the Sabres at No. 8. The prevailing theme he and his scouts saw with Mittelstadt may have been summed up nicely (albeit maybe just a tad overzealously) by Wheeler when he wrote last weekend that the Eden Prarie, Minnesota high school graduate has a "rare mix of [being] already-incredibly-talented and yet still super, super raw."
Mittelstadt's talents were laid out by Wheeler as part of a 10-part series he did for The Athletic called, "The Gifted," where he analyzed top young prospects "that [are] so uniquely different from everyone else in approach or in ability, that you can’t help but notice [them]."
As he dove into his detailed analysis, complete with videos, Wheeler points out that Mittelstadt's hands are high on his stick giving him maximum maneuverability and that he makes very difficult plays look easy. Some other traits that Mittelstadt displayed were his composure and anticipation and how the plays he's a part of are "dictated by [his] contribution." He's "always the biggest factor in the plays that happen when he’s on the ice," wrote Wheeler.
Wheeler noted one of Mittelstadt's most important attributes when he documented how the teenager always pushes things to the center of the ice using a number of video as examples including Mittelstadt's first NHL goal seen here via sabres.com:
"In that situation," wrote Wheeler, "a lot of young players probably stop up. They look for the cross-ice pass or put the puck back down low when their net-front option releases from the defensemen to open up. But Mittlestadt isn’t a lot of young players. He’s thinking: 'attack the middle' and as soon as the puck touches his stick he turns and takes two strides to do that."
The raw part of Wheeler's assessment is obvious for most teenagers--the need to add strength to play at the NHL level. The 5'11" 199 lb. Mittelstadt was infamously shown being unable to do a pull-up at the NHL combine, which isn't a big deal when you have the talent an hockey IQ he has, but it was fodder for a while.
However he landed in a good program a the University of Minnesota and played in a rugged Big-10 conference on a Golden Gophers team where the opposition's focus was almost solely on him every game. He figured it out against bigger, stronger, older opponents and excelled in the process with 11 goals and 30 points in 34 NCAA games. He furthered the notion that he can hang with the big boys scoring with five points (1+4) in six NHL games for the Sabres last season.
This off season was dedicated to getting stronger. “For me it was getting in the weight room, obviously; everyone knew that,” he said to the media at at the NHL Players’ Association’s rookie showcase event last weekend. “Skate as much I can and work on a lot of little things, but my main goal was definitely getting stronger.”
The strength will eventually come as he fills out his frame and adds muscle leaving lack of experience as the only real drawback to his game right now. And apparently Botterill doesn't think it will be too much of a problem as he traded away top-six center Ryan O'Reilly and has Mittelstadt slated at the No. 2 center on the team. Botterill won't throw the rookie completely to the wolves as he acquired veteran center Patrick Berglund in the O'Reilly trade with the St. Louis Blues but the fact that they traded O'Reilly, whom some look at as a No. 1 center, shows the confidence they have in Mittelstadt.
Maybe the most important aspect of Mittelstadt is found in his character and composure he displays on and off the ice. Botterill talked of Mittelstadt's conviction when the youngster decided to finish his high school career at Eden Prairie before heading back to the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers prior to the draft. Playing for the Golden Gophers, Team USA at the World Juniors and the Sabres made for five teams in a year but it didn't phase Mittelstadt.“I completely enjoyed it,” Mittelstadt said of his journey (via Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times.) “It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind, I think, moving and going back and forth places. But I’ve loved it, so I won’t complain too much.”
At the 2015 NHL Draft the Buffalo Sabres selected center Jack Eichel second overall to be the future No. 1 center on the club and traded for O'Reilly to be No. 2. Three years later Eichel is the franchise center and O'Reilly has been replaced by Mittelstadt. Both of those are very good one-two punches but in a few years, that Eichel/Mittelstadt duo may be amongst some of the best in the league. It all starts this season with Mittelstadt cutting his teeth in a full time No. 2 center role.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
_______________/ C, Casey Mittelstadt / __________
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
G, Carter Hutton
C--Casey Mittelstadt
19 yrs. old
6'1" 201 lbs.
2017, eighth-overall
Career stats: 6 games | 1 goal | 4 assists | 5 points | +1
Buffalo Sabres rookie center Casey Mittelstadt has rated very high in a number of prospect rankings and is considered one of the top NHL prospects for 2018-19. Just a few examples of who placed him where:
--NHL Network ranked him fifth amongst the top 50 prospects of 25-and-under
--Steve Kournianos of @TheDraftAnalyst has him rank fourth on his list for the Sporting News
--Scott Wheeler of The Athletic has Mittelstadt ranked fourth
--TSN has him fifth
and so on and so on.
Mittlestadt was selected by the Sabres with the eighth-overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft and they were thrilled he dropped to them there. Buffalo general manager Jason Botterill, overseeing his first ever draft as a GM, told the media after the first round that they were ecstatic to get [Mittelstadt]" and when asked if he thought Mittelstadt would be there at eight, a big, cat-that-just-ate-the-canary, ear to ear smile came across his face. "Isn't that the cliché?" he asked with an internal chuckle in response. "You've got to say, 'Oh I couldn't believe that he was there."
Botterill knew exactly what he was getting in Mittelstadt and was thrilled he dropped to the Sabres at No. 8. The prevailing theme he and his scouts saw with Mittelstadt may have been summed up nicely (albeit maybe just a tad overzealously) by Wheeler when he wrote last weekend that the Eden Prarie, Minnesota high school graduate has a "rare mix of [being] already-incredibly-talented and yet still super, super raw."
Mittelstadt's talents were laid out by Wheeler as part of a 10-part series he did for The Athletic called, "The Gifted," where he analyzed top young prospects "that [are] so uniquely different from everyone else in approach or in ability, that you can’t help but notice [them]."
As he dove into his detailed analysis, complete with videos, Wheeler points out that Mittelstadt's hands are high on his stick giving him maximum maneuverability and that he makes very difficult plays look easy. Some other traits that Mittelstadt displayed were his composure and anticipation and how the plays he's a part of are "dictated by [his] contribution." He's "always the biggest factor in the plays that happen when he’s on the ice," wrote Wheeler.
Wheeler noted one of Mittelstadt's most important attributes when he documented how the teenager always pushes things to the center of the ice using a number of video as examples including Mittelstadt's first NHL goal seen here via sabres.com:
"In that situation," wrote Wheeler, "a lot of young players probably stop up. They look for the cross-ice pass or put the puck back down low when their net-front option releases from the defensemen to open up. But Mittlestadt isn’t a lot of young players. He’s thinking: 'attack the middle' and as soon as the puck touches his stick he turns and takes two strides to do that."
The raw part of Wheeler's assessment is obvious for most teenagers--the need to add strength to play at the NHL level. The 5'11" 199 lb. Mittelstadt was infamously shown being unable to do a pull-up at the NHL combine, which isn't a big deal when you have the talent an hockey IQ he has, but it was fodder for a while.
However he landed in a good program a the University of Minnesota and played in a rugged Big-10 conference on a Golden Gophers team where the opposition's focus was almost solely on him every game. He figured it out against bigger, stronger, older opponents and excelled in the process with 11 goals and 30 points in 34 NCAA games. He furthered the notion that he can hang with the big boys scoring with five points (1+4) in six NHL games for the Sabres last season.
This off season was dedicated to getting stronger. “For me it was getting in the weight room, obviously; everyone knew that,” he said to the media at at the NHL Players’ Association’s rookie showcase event last weekend. “Skate as much I can and work on a lot of little things, but my main goal was definitely getting stronger.”
The strength will eventually come as he fills out his frame and adds muscle leaving lack of experience as the only real drawback to his game right now. And apparently Botterill doesn't think it will be too much of a problem as he traded away top-six center Ryan O'Reilly and has Mittelstadt slated at the No. 2 center on the team. Botterill won't throw the rookie completely to the wolves as he acquired veteran center Patrick Berglund in the O'Reilly trade with the St. Louis Blues but the fact that they traded O'Reilly, whom some look at as a No. 1 center, shows the confidence they have in Mittelstadt.
Maybe the most important aspect of Mittelstadt is found in his character and composure he displays on and off the ice. Botterill talked of Mittelstadt's conviction when the youngster decided to finish his high school career at Eden Prairie before heading back to the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers prior to the draft. Playing for the Golden Gophers, Team USA at the World Juniors and the Sabres made for five teams in a year but it didn't phase Mittelstadt.“I completely enjoyed it,” Mittelstadt said of his journey (via Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times.) “It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind, I think, moving and going back and forth places. But I’ve loved it, so I won’t complain too much.”
At the 2015 NHL Draft the Buffalo Sabres selected center Jack Eichel second overall to be the future No. 1 center on the club and traded for O'Reilly to be No. 2. Three years later Eichel is the franchise center and O'Reilly has been replaced by Mittelstadt. Both of those are very good one-two punches but in a few years, that Eichel/Mittelstadt duo may be amongst some of the best in the league. It all starts this season with Mittelstadt cutting his teeth in a full time No. 2 center role.
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
_______________/ C, Casey Mittelstadt / __________
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
G, Carter Hutton
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