OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post

TEHLUDDITE · 06-21-2014, 09:53 AM

Post-Season Analysis

To say that the 2014-15 Sabres weren't very good is understating the situation. The coaches made an effort to promote a more offensive approach to their tactical systems and even though that resulted in improved offensive output compared to the previous year, the club still finished last in goals for. The tactical decision also affected the defensive performance, as the goals against total was much higher than the year before and the club's standing was also last in that category. Neither goaltender thrived in the new system and, with a host of inexpienced young players (6 rookies) in the lineup, the team suffered from inconsistency as well, playing well for very short stretches before falling once again into the abyss. The club was really hurt by the defections of Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno to the KHL, although that brought the silver lining of opening up roster space for two rookies to play. If there was a bright spot in the Sabres season, it would have been the play of the rookies. Three were excellent (Armia, Scherbak and Larsson), two held their own (Zadorov, Ristolainen) and only Girgensons was a disappointment, perhaps because we held such high hopes for him.

In goal, Michal Neuvirth handled the bulk of the starts, winning a third of them, but his stats ballooned (3.60 GAA, .896 SA%) and his tenure as the #1 goalie may already be at its end. Backup Jonas Enroth was better statistically (3.41, .902) but couldn't win and the decision has been taken to let him leave as a free agent to make roster space for Finnish teenager Ville Husso. In fact, Husso may emerge from next year's training camp as the Sabre starter after an excellent debut in North America with Rochester (AHL). The Sabres are also expected to take a run at signing Linus Ullmark, their other top goalie prospect, with the hope that a year of development in the AHL will enable him to join Husso as the Sabres goaltending tandem of the future.

The defence corps got a new look last season with the introduction of Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov as regulars. Veteran Christian Erhoff was the leader on D once again, providing a solid partner for Tyler Myers on the top pariring. Myers enjoyed a better season than in 2013-14 but we are still waiting for him to take the next step and fill his enormous potential. He needs to demonstrate the ability to play effectively without Erhoff at his side. Jamie McBain had almost an indentical season to 2013-14 and seems to have settled in as a powerplay pointman and 3rd or 4th defenceman. Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov both made significant progress as rookies and were much better in the 2nd half of the season, so we're looking forward to seeing what they can do with increased icetime next year. The sixth defenceman this year was hard-nosed Mike Weber, a shut-down type, but his season was so bad that he might yield his spot next year to the younger and more offensively-inclined Mark Pysyk. The club had hoped that #1 pick Aaron Ekblad would be ready for 2015-16 but he will still be recovering from his terrible knee injury until around Christmas. A decision on how to proceed with his development will have to wait until he is healthy, although it is extremely unlikely that he'll be a Sabre next year. The other blueline hopeful is Jake McCabe who played in Rochester and made slow but steady progress, He may be ready sometime in the coming season, but we are projecting another full year in the minors before he makes a bid for a roster spot with the Sabres. Defence will be a position we will look at very seriously in the June draft, where there are some very promising prospects.

The Sabres forwards were generally a deeper group than in the previous season, even after the loss of Ennis and Foligno to KHL teams. Cody Hodgson has emerged as the offensive leader, posting another decent season and the play of the rookies is also a reason for some optimism moving forward. Stalwart two-way winger Drew Stafford will not be back as the club has determined that his contract demands exceed his declining value at age 29. Chris Stewart, fresh off signing a 3-year extension will likely be the other top 6 forward joining Hodgson, Armia, Scherbak, Larsson and Girgensons). Like Girgensons, though, Stewart will need to be better to justify his icetime and for the club to improve. The bottom two lines will see some shakeups following the decision to let Ville Leino, Torrey Mitchell, Brian Flynn and Matt Ellis go. Riley Sheahan and Cory Conacher will be back and are likely to be joined by Mikhail Girgorenko and William Carrier who played in Rochester this year. Other possibilities up front are Rochester centers Daniel Catenacci and Travis Ewanyk and graduating juniors Leon Draisaitl and Brendan Lemieux. The long-term hope is that we can draft and develop legitimate top line forwards to bump everyone else down a line, at which point we expect to be competitive for a playoff berth. The Sabres are holding their breath prior to this year's draft lottery since the best player available is center Connor McDavid, a generational talent, who will likely step in immediately as a #1 center with whoever drafts him. Obviously the addition of such a player would be a huge boost to the Sabres' rebuilding plan.

June 1, 2015
Kevin Dineen produced his Top 25 list for the 2015 NHL Draft today and to no one's surprise the top rated player is Connor McDavid. There's a big drop-off after McDavid, but Dineen is rating 3 defenceman and a center so highly that in another year any of them could have been the #1 pick. US-born Jack Eichel is an offensively-gifted center playing college hockey. He is thought to be a few years away from being ready. Swedish defenceman Rasmus Andersson may be ready to play a prominent role immediately and has the look of a bonafide future All-Star. Countryman Oscar Kylington may also be ready for an NHL job and projects as a stud two-way defender. Noah Hanifin has size, strength and skill but is very raw and his draft value will be high for a team willing to be patient with his development. The rest of the list indicates that this will be a deep draft with the only possible weakness once again being goaltending.

June 15, 2015
Ville Leino was bought out today. The club is on the hook for $1.667 million over the next six years, but with plenty of cap room, that is a minor consideration balanced against opening up roster space for younger more promising forwards.

June 21, 2015
The draft lottery was held today and, as the Sabres management held it breath, the league announced that Carolina had won it. The Hurricanes move up four spots to pick 8th but more importantly the Sabres will retain the 1st overall selection. Its a great day.

06-21-2014, 09:53 AM	#20
TEHLUDDITE Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 42	Post-Season Analysis To say that the 2014-15 Sabres weren't very good is understating the situation. The coaches made an effort to promote a more offensive approach to their tactical systems and even though that resulted in improved offensive output compared to the previous year, the club still finished last in goals for. The tactical decision also affected the defensive performance, as the goals against total was much higher than the year before and the club's standing was also last in that category. Neither goaltender thrived in the new system and, with a host of inexpienced young players (6 rookies) in the lineup, the team suffered from inconsistency as well, playing well for very short stretches before falling once again into the abyss. The club was really hurt by the defections of Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno to the KHL, although that brought the silver lining of opening up roster space for two rookies to play. If there was a bright spot in the Sabres season, it would have been the play of the rookies. Three were excellent (Armia, Scherbak and Larsson), two held their own (Zadorov, Ristolainen) and only Girgensons was a disappointment, perhaps because we held such high hopes for him. In goal, Michal Neuvirth handled the bulk of the starts, winning a third of them, but his stats ballooned (3.60 GAA, .896 SA%) and his tenure as the #1 goalie may already be at its end. Backup Jonas Enroth was better statistically (3.41, .902) but couldn't win and the decision has been taken to let him leave as a free agent to make roster space for Finnish teenager Ville Husso. In fact, Husso may emerge from next year's training camp as the Sabre starter after an excellent debut in North America with Rochester (AHL). The Sabres are also expected to take a run at signing Linus Ullmark, their other top goalie prospect, with the hope that a year of development in the AHL will enable him to join Husso as the Sabres goaltending tandem of the future. The defence corps got a new look last season with the introduction of Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov as regulars. Veteran Christian Erhoff was the leader on D once again, providing a solid partner for Tyler Myers on the top pariring. Myers enjoyed a better season than in 2013-14 but we are still waiting for him to take the next step and fill his enormous potential. He needs to demonstrate the ability to play effectively without Erhoff at his side. Jamie McBain had almost an indentical season to 2013-14 and seems to have settled in as a powerplay pointman and 3rd or 4th defenceman. Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov both made significant progress as rookies and were much better in the 2nd half of the season, so we're looking forward to seeing what they can do with increased icetime next year. The sixth defenceman this year was hard-nosed Mike Weber, a shut-down type, but his season was so bad that he might yield his spot next year to the younger and more offensively-inclined Mark Pysyk. The club had hoped that #1 pick Aaron Ekblad would be ready for 2015-16 but he will still be recovering from his terrible knee injury until around Christmas. A decision on how to proceed with his development will have to wait until he is healthy, although it is extremely unlikely that he'll be a Sabre next year. The other blueline hopeful is Jake McCabe who played in Rochester and made slow but steady progress, He may be ready sometime in the coming season, but we are projecting another full year in the minors before he makes a bid for a roster spot with the Sabres. Defence will be a position we will look at very seriously in the June draft, where there are some very promising prospects. The Sabres forwards were generally a deeper group than in the previous season, even after the loss of Ennis and Foligno to KHL teams. Cody Hodgson has emerged as the offensive leader, posting another decent season and the play of the rookies is also a reason for some optimism moving forward. Stalwart two-way winger Drew Stafford will not be back as the club has determined that his contract demands exceed his declining value at age 29. Chris Stewart, fresh off signing a 3-year extension will likely be the other top 6 forward joining Hodgson, Armia, Scherbak, Larsson and Girgensons). Like Girgensons, though, Stewart will need to be better to justify his icetime and for the club to improve. The bottom two lines will see some shakeups following the decision to let Ville Leino, Torrey Mitchell, Brian Flynn and Matt Ellis go. Riley Sheahan and Cory Conacher will be back and are likely to be joined by Mikhail Girgorenko and William Carrier who played in Rochester this year. Other possibilities up front are Rochester centers Daniel Catenacci and Travis Ewanyk and graduating juniors Leon Draisaitl and Brendan Lemieux. The long-term hope is that we can draft and develop legitimate top line forwards to bump everyone else down a line, at which point we expect to be competitive for a playoff berth. The Sabres are holding their breath prior to this year's draft lottery since the best player available is center Connor McDavid, a generational talent, who will likely step in immediately as a #1 center with whoever drafts him. Obviously the addition of such a player would be a huge boost to the Sabres' rebuilding plan. June 1, 2015 Kevin Dineen produced his Top 25 list for the 2015 NHL Draft today and to no one's surprise the top rated player is Connor McDavid. There's a big drop-off after McDavid, but Dineen is rating 3 defenceman and a center so highly that in another year any of them could have been the #1 pick. US-born Jack Eichel is an offensively-gifted center playing college hockey. He is thought to be a few years away from being ready. Swedish defenceman Rasmus Andersson may be ready to play a prominent role immediately and has the look of a bonafide future All-Star. Countryman Oscar Kylington may also be ready for an NHL job and projects as a stud two-way defender. Noah Hanifin has size, strength and skill but is very raw and his draft value will be high for a team willing to be patient with his development. The rest of the list indicates that this will be a deep draft with the only possible weakness once again being goaltending. June 15, 2015 Ville Leino was bought out today. The club is on the hook for $1.667 million over the next six years, but with plenty of cap room, that is a minor consideration balanced against opening up roster space for younger more promising forwards. June 21, 2015 The draft lottery was held today and, as the Sabres management held it breath, the league announced that Carolina had won it. The Hurricanes move up four spots to pick 8th but more importantly the Sabres will retain the 1st overall selection. Its a great day.