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Fragus

Member Since
Aug. 15, 2019
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Buffalo Sabres
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Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 12, 2020 at 3:43 a.m.
Thread: BOTTERILL IS ASS
I'm slowly starting to not like Botts now, too. I used to be super high on him and would support him every step of the way. At best now, he's an average, meh GM. The promise of letting things develop and being patient is just about out. Almost 3 years now and all that's been shown is.. nothing. Out of Botterill's major developing players that should be playing a huge role right now, Mittelstadt and Thompson, they've got nothing to show. I know Tage is injured but... yikes. And there's really nothing in the pipeline aside from Cozens, maybe Pekar, going into next year that makes me confident he'll develop anyone into a significant role with the team.

If he doesn't completely gut the team this offseason, I will be calling for him to be fired. Eichel, Olofsson, Skinner, Cozens, Johansson, Reinhart, Asplund, (Maybe Thompson), Dahlin, Jokiharju, Montour, and Pilut (Maybe Risto) should be the only players from this season going into the next. Everyone else can be upgraded in some way to better fit the style of the team. 6-7 forwards to fit that need. 1-2 defenseman to fit that need. $36-ish million in cap space. This current roster cannot compete consistently.
Forum: Armchair-GMSep. 11, 2019 at 10:02 a.m.
Thread: When Everyone is Healthy
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>sabres89</b></div><div>If mittelstadt takes a step, we should have 2 competent scoring lines. Not crazy about the 3rd line, but unless you switch vesey and okposo, theres gonna be limits to what you can do. I read that veseys defensive metrics are near the bottom of the league for forwards, which is not great if hes playing on a line that wont chip in much offense. Botterill brought in vesey so it doesnt seem likely he would want him buried on the 4th line. My only thoughts on the d is that ristolainen seemed to play his best hockey with pilut. Hopefully theres some guys in rochester knocking at the door- jokiharju, asplund, maybe even thompson. Wouldnt hate seeing cozens get 9 games, but there is gonna have to be roster movement or injuries if we are gonna see them.</div></div>

I don't quite agree with your assessment on the 3rd line. I know some fellow fans will bend over backwards and praise E-Rod to ungodly levels but to me, he is an ideal 3C. He is great defensively and can really make plays. Then you bring in Vesey, who is capable of scoring a 5v5 very well. That's the missing element that E-Rod needed in a linemate, when compared to Sobotka or Thompson or Pominville (I now he's not that terrible.. but Pommers really excelled in the top 6 for us and that's about it). E-Rod can make up all the leg work for Vesey. Sheary is a question mark in a 3rd line setting but it could be interesting. He also knows how to score, and I don't believe I've seen any serious defense lapses from him.. he can't be worse than Vesey in that regard. Overall, I'm not saying our 3rd line is top 5.. hell not even top 10. But it's a lot better than last year and it won't be our detriment, it will help the team out.
Forum: Armchair-GMSep. 4, 2019 at 12:48 a.m.
Thread: line combos no more moves
Not a bad lineup. There's certainly way worse out there. I for one do not like the idea of Olof/Skinner/Jack on the same line. That scoring desperately needs to be spread out or else we will have no one on the 2nd line who can score. I'm sorry but I can't see Johansson/Mitts/Sammy scoring very effectively. They just aren't natural 30 goal scorers (You could argue Sam but eh, I don't think he will be that type of player), which I expect out of at least one 2nd line player. And the very idea of Sammy setting up Olof is just making me froth at the mouth tbh.

That's the only complaint I got on the top 6, I love the 3rd and 4th lines. E-Rod is a phenomenal 3C and can make plays out of thin air for Vesey/Sheary to capitalize on. That = secondary scoring, something we didn't have last year. 4th line is a bit of a hodgepodge, if Smith can be a better at offense Girgensons (Same/better defensively), he has no doubt that LW spot. If Ruotsalainen proves himself and makes a serious case at camp, he'll take Okposo's spot. I wouldn't count on either player to fill those though and Larsson/Girgs were the lifeblood of our PK last year (Along with E-Rod but yep).

EDIT: Thinking back on Olof, he's probably not going to do much at 5v5 this year honestly. He'll more than likely take PP duties. You could anchor him on the 1st line for that or, and I might get slaughtered, he takes Sheary's spot on line 3. So you have a Olof - E-Rod - Vesey line. Same potential scoring from Sheary, but you just shelter Olof and let him naturally develop into the top 6. Honestly it's too hard to predict where he'll play. Just a wait and see game I suppose.
Forum: Armchair-GMAug. 31, 2019 at 1:47 a.m.
Thread: GMJB needed a good Summer and didnt have one
Eh. I liked how little he did to be honest. Of course, glaring issues are in fact lack of secondary scoring, 1 more piece of top 6 help, lack of a solid top 4 LD option for now and lack of a better goalie situation. I think all positions though are attainable simply through personal growth at each issue I mentioned. Vesey/Sheary might find decent roles as a 3rd line scoring option. Olofsson/Reinhart/Mittelstadt/Eichel could all prove themselves further in the league and fill out that "One top 6 player" hole we have. Lots of uncapped potential between all those players. McCabe might find his top 4 role, though that seems unlikely to me at least. And our new goalie coach may very well help out Hutton/Ullmark a bunch. Just look at what he did for Carolina's goalies last year.
Forum: Armchair-GMAug. 28, 2019 at 5:17 p.m.
Thread: Sabres Opening - Opinions please
This is pretty bang-on on how I'd like the forwards to be. One minor thing is Mitts is more than likely still going to be the 2C. It's just the way it has to work out IMO. He's not going to progress much in a 3C role, nor as a winger. That spot is exclusively Rodrigues' to lose. He's the ideal play-making/defensive 3C for us. I'd argue this:

Skinner - Eichel - Johansson
Olofsson - Mittelstadt - Reinhart
Sheary - Rodrigues - Vesey
4th as you have it.

I personally really like the 3rd line of Sheary - Rodrigues - Vesey. Rodrigues is very good defensively and can help out making plays for both Sheary and Vesey to score 5v5. It's overall just a better 3rd line than we've had in the past. Lot's of secondary scoring potential we haven't had.

I guess you could make the argument of swapping Olof/Johansson but I'd rather not. The 2nd line won't score at all without him IMO. Johansson, Mitts and Reinhart just don't strike me as the type of players that could score on a whim. You could potentially have Johansson/Sheary swap though.

Quick note on D, pls no Dahlin/Risto. It was absolutely pitiful last year. McCabe/Risto though, sure why not, he'll make up for Risto's defensive lapses.