I’m assuming u mean O’Reilly & not Tavares

Anyone know how Mittelstadt is on faceoffs?
That’s an area Jack REALLY needs to work at

It would be nice if ROR didn’t have to take every damn faceoff for us

Or at least if Larsson or Girgensons or Asplund, etc could become our “Gaustad” to relieve “Drury” (ROR) from some defensive responsibility
- jdfitz77

JESUS CHRIST no!..
LOL, I reference two areas of improvement for Jack, that being the 2nd (the 1st was backcheck) and holy Christopher I was mocked worse than Hilary Clinton trying to blamr Trump and the Russians for the election.
(Ok maybe, just maybe I took that too far)

HATS OFF TO YOU for being among the first to recognize he can, and will improve.

ROR

Next year, year after: 2C

Years 3 and 4: hopefully Mittelstadt usurped him as a 70-point producing 2C with ROR riding shotgun for Casey's draws.

Year 5: 3C shutdown center

Haven't really paid much attention.
- cabin

O qua tangin wann

6-2 Sabres
- GERBE!!!75PTS

AKEEM AHLAGEEWANN!

That circles us back to the question of whether it's wise to keep a 7.5 million dollar faceoff and PP specialist on the payroll?
- Sabresfan-365

But he’s much more than just a faceoff specialist

Categorizing him as that is a gross underestimation

That circles us back to the question of whether it's wise to keep a 7.5 million dollar faceoff and PP specialist on the payroll?
- Sabresfan-365

Qua-anza La' Agie Wan

Bellows-Mittelstadt-Tkachuk
could be a really nice line for USA

Bellows is the sniper
Mittelstadt is great overall talent
Tkachuk is a b!tch to play against
- jdfitz77

The roster is out, none of them are on it.

It is as simple as this: O'Reilly is a supporting player to a team, and not a core player.

Unfortunately, supporting players frequently (often) get paid like core players, and it is not easy to avoid all of those players. The key is doing your best to avoid most of those players.
- kingcong39

Agreed, good take

The roster is out, none of them are on it.
- Wetbandit1

Uhhhhhhhhh, huh

ROR

Next year, year after: 2C

Years 3 and 4: hopefully Mittelstadt usurped him as a 70-point producing 2C with ROR riding shotgun for Casey's draws.

Year 5: 3C shutdown center
- jcragcrumple

Something like that makes sense to me

The roster is out, none of them are on it.
- Wetbandit1

Boooooooo

stadt is playing wing on jack's line

stadt is playing wing on jack's line
- homiedclown

Nylander-Eichel-Okposo
Mittlestadt-ROR-Zadina/Svechnikov

......Wakes up from dream

It is as simple as this: O'Reilly is a supporting player to a team, and not a core player.

Unfortunately, supporting players frequently (often) get paid like core players, and it is not easy to avoid all of those players. The key is doing your best to avoid most of those players.
- kingcong39

But if u don’t pay those secondary players then what do we end up with?

Eichel, we think Mittelstadt, and who else?
It leaves us desperately thin up front

Just bc Kane & ROR would be a million or so overpaid, doesn’t mean they’re bad players

It doesn’t even mean they’re bad signings
These guys aren’t Ville Leino or Moulson

If we have the option to use that $$$ on Kucherov... well then ok
But that’s just not happening

O qua tangin wann
- homiedclown

alien music videos?

Sweet

Nylander-Eichel-Okposo
Mittlestadt-ROR-Zadina/Svechnikov

......Wakes up from dream
- Pegullaville

Then we’d just need Asplund to turn into a legit defensive center so we don’t have to stick RORs line in those situations

alien music videos?

Sweet
- cabin

https://d1o0agh0cxj49r.cl...rip-riley2-1452080443.jpg

alien music videos?

Sweet
- cabin

stadt is playing wing on jack's line
- homiedclown

The Minny vs Notre Dame game is on NBCsports tomorrow night at 8pm

I’m DVRing it

Excited to see how he looks

The Minny vs Notre Dame game is on NBCsports tomorrow night at 8pm

I’m DVRing it

Excited to see how he looks
- jdfitz77

he was playing wing both games I saw


clearly the most dominant player on the ice

But he’s much more than just a faceoff specialist

Categorizing him as that is a gross underestimation
- jdfitz77

He’s really not though. At least not on this team

He’s really not though. At least not on this team
- sbroads24

Well it’s a crappy team

Who else do u trust to take a defensive zone faceoff?

What defensemen do we have that help move the puck up the ice?

What wingers does he play with that are good offensively?

Basically...
when he gets more help, you’ll see his “team stat numbers” u guys judged him on get better

Would i prefer that 7.5mil was spent on a guy like “Kucherov” ?
Sure, but that’s not an option

Just don’t try & tell me we can replace ROR with someone like Perrault

Give me an option that’s actually better,
and I’m with ya
Until then, ROR is a good player

A couple of thoughts...

-Based on reasearch over the past couple of months; ROR is producing at an average 2C rate historically. The issue with him is his contract, which decreases his Value. I.e. Theortically one could replace his production at a lower cost...around $5M. Value should be the central discussion point, not production.

-we have seen, albeit in a small sample size, the impact on the Sabres without having ROR in the faceoff circle. It ain’t pretty, in fact it is rather pathetic.

- the fact our Centers, sans ROR, can’t win a faceoff should be an issue the team needs to focus on in future development. I envision this as the next frontier for Jack. Having two studs in the FO circle would help drive possession numbers.

-Mitts will likely be eased into the league on the wing. However, as he develops, he needs to displace ROR as the 2C, and we have seen what force he can be there from the WJ20’s. Having him do so, enables the Sabres to leverage a ROR in a trade in 2-3 years. That is invaluable.

-Kane’s trade value has not decreased based on playing on the 3rd line with players who would struggle to stay in the AHL on most other teams...especially with a) his style of play is perfect for the playoffs, b) 8 years of history versus the last 4weeks
I ask, if he scores a hat trick tonight, does that mean ‘Couver Unloads the cupboards for him? Lol, if so they should center the entire gameplane on feeding him the puck 270 times tonight.

Im still of the opinion that the "ROR conundrum" could be solved internally.

Move him to Jack's wing and try Reinhart between Benoit and Okposo.


I know the last Reinhart at centre experiment didn't work out but his line generated a lot of zone time and was on most nights our best puck possession line. They didn't produce, but a good amount of that can be blamed on the fact that he played with Girgensons and Griffith.

They're not going anywhere, it's worth a shot. It may not make ROR a 7.5 mil guy, but he produced his best on the wing some few years back in Colorado and it means you don't have to go out and spend assets to find a LW to replace Kanes truculence.
- Sabresfan-365

I’d be fine with doing this but the bottom line is we need to get faster, not slower.

One of ROR or Reinhart IMO need to be replaced with speed

Well it’s a crappy team

Who else do u trust to take a defensive zone faceoff?

What defensemen do we have that help move the puck up the ice?

What wingers does he play with that are good offensively?

Basically...
when he gets more help, you’ll see his “team stat numbers” u guys judged him on get better

Would i prefer that 7.5mil was spent on a guy like “Kucherov” ?
Sure, but that’s not an option

Just don’t try & tell me we can replace ROR with someone like Perrault

Give me an option that’s actually better,
and I’m with ya
Until then, ROR is a good player
- jdfitz77

Why not? Perrault is excellent

Better option - A good defensemen that O’Reilly can fetch (because he is a good player, just not worth his cap hit