Ristolainen is easily a top 2 defender.

Dahlin is the next Lidstrom/Karlsson

Those two are better than the entire defense corps of the Red Wings.

Nelson is coming into his own

McCabe is actually pretty good. Played with a bad shoulder last season.

Scandella is very underrated.

We also have Guhle who is going to be Jacob Trouba in a couple seasons.

We also have Borgen and Samuelsson waiting in the wings
- Jammerz04

Jack Eichel > Draisaitl

Also Mittelstadt is in the same neck of the woods, probably a calder candidate this year.
- RhinoFan

Awww that's cute that you think that band aid with an attitude problem is better than Leon.

Ristolainen is easily a top 2 defender.

Dahlin is the next Lidstrom(spelling)/Karlsson

Those two are better than the entire defense corps of the Red Wings.

- Jammerz04

Ok Garth, first of all, Lindstrom and Karlsson are not comparable. Lindstrom is one of the best defensemen in NHL history and was very solid in both ends of the ice. Karlsson is definitely very good offensively (probably the best in the league at the moment, in that respect) but defensively is not very sound.

Also, when you say "Those two are" you are using the present tense. So you are saying that at this exact moment, without having ever even played in the NHL, Dahlin is already better than all six proven NHL defensemen of a team. Keep in mind that the Red Wings beat the Penguins twice last season (granted, the Pens were playing some of their worst hockey of the season at the time but still...). Now if you had used future tense then yes, you are probably (but not definitely) right.

So you are saying that at this exact moment, without having ever even played in the NHL, Dahlin is already better than all six proven NHL defensemen of a team.
- PghPens668771

This is just normal with higher draft picks... when he scores the first goal within his first 10 games, HOF-talks will begin...

I argee with most of what you said but that post was mostly full of wishful thinking and excuses much like what Garf will be posting in December because of the way he builds up every player on the roster to be something they aren't and might never be.
- Mino42

I hear ya, the Trouba/Guhle comparison was a bit much, just pointing out that there was more reality than fiction in that post I think.

Awww that's cute that you think that band aid with an attitude problem is better than Leon.
- Reveen.

I don't think it is a huge gap, but Jack is the more dominant player. NHL.com just ranked top20 centers and put Jack ahead of him. I've seen that in a couple other places as well. Can you point to any center ranking where Leon is higher?

MIttlestadt has played 5 games actually and recorded 4 points, so there's that. I don't think Samuelsson and Borgen are not as far off as some would think they are, Either one of them could be riding shotgun for Dahlin as soon as next year.

I don't think it is a huge gap, but Jack is the more dominant player. NHL.com just ranked top20 centers and put Jack ahead of him. I've seen that in a couple other places as well. Can you point to any center ranking where Leon is higher?
- RhinoFan

I'm not saying Leon is way better or Jack is hot garbage. I think I'd give the edge to Leon at this point.

Ristolainen is easily a top 2 defender.

Dahlin is the next Lidstrom/Karlsson

Those two are better than the entire defense corps of the Red Wings.

Nelson is coming into his own

McCabe is actually pretty good. Played with a bad shoulder last season.

Scandella is very underrated.

We also have Guhle who is going to be Jacob Trouba in a couple seasons.

We also have Borgen and Samuelsson waiting in the wings
- Jammerz04

If Bogo can play 65-75 games

If
If
If

That is like a FA signing for the Sabres. It would help a lot

The Sabres were 31st last year. D was a mess all year long. The D in Rochester had Guhle and a bunch of rejects from other teams.
Can anyone explain why the Buffalo Sabres be a trading partner for any team needing NHL caliber D help ? The Sabres don’t even have six NHL caliber D men.
Pretty sure the Oilers will wait to sign a free agent. Better option the clowns Garth mentions as trade bait. Beaulieu? Really?

And Yet, they are still better than Toronto's defensemen, nice group of forwards though.

And Yet, they are still better than Toronto's defensemen, nice group of forwards though.
- macman9

Really? How can you say that for certain?
The real issue is nobody from Toronto is suggesting the Leafs trade their scrubs to Edmonton for assets.

The Sabres were 31st last year. D was a mess all year long. The D in Rochester had Guhle and a bunch of rejects from other teams.
Can anyone explain why the Buffalo Sabres be a trading partner for any team needing NHL caliber D help ? The Sabres don’t even have six NHL caliber D men.
Pretty sure the Oilers will wait to sign a free agent. Better option the clowns Garth mentions as trade bait. Beaulieu? Really?
- EugenesAxe

Well, to be clear, we don't WANT Beaulieu, so thats probably why Barf made that up.
But last year, Bogosian played 18 games, Josh (Fvcking) Georges played 34. His last game in Buffalo was the last of his career. The experiment known as Victor Antipin played 47. Sabres didn't qualify him and no other team wanted him. Ghule played 18 games. McCabe got shut down for surgery after 53. Scandella and Ristolainen carried a LOT of the weight with the other 4 slots being a rotating cast of injured/old/unqualified players. This is part of the reason they have 9 defenseman competing for 6-7 spots, because that sh!t cant happen again. Sabres had some bad luck mixed with a few guys in that 7th/scratch/support role that just flat out sucked. If the sabres have 7 healthy, decent defencemen and then a couple more in the minors who can play in the bottom par if necessary, they're going to look different than last year. Now, I hate garth as a sabre fan probably more than the rest of the 30 teams fans, so im not defending his lunacy. But the sabres hoped that at least a few guys would at least play 82 games on defense, and the only guy who did it was Marco Scandella.

If Chiarelli truly has intensions of trading for a top pair, minute-munching D the ilk of Ristolainen, he better be prepared to part with a top six scoring forward not named Connor McDavid.

Yes. That definitely means Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would have to be part of a deal with Buffalo.

AND? As in both for Ristolainen?
*intentions

As in both for Ristolainen?
- aaron12

In Garth's thinking both are just a first part of the whole treasure trove... then, it's Chiarelli...

And Yet, they are still better than Toronto's defensemen, nice group of forwards though.
- macman9

Based on last year that is debatable. Toronto's goaltending was a hell of alot better than ours.

And Yet, they are still better than Toronto's defensemen, nice group of forwards though.
- macman9

Do you actually think that?

Based on last year that is debatable. Toronto's goaltending was a hell of alot better than ours.
- sabreadvocate1

Really? Based on last year, it's really not even close.

Really? Based on last year, it's really not even close.
- GreatGigInTheSky

Did you read about goaltending. Can make a big difference.

If Chiarelli truly has intensions of trading for a top pair, minute-munching D the ilk of Ristolainen, he better be prepared to part with a top six scoring forward not named Connor McDavid.

Yes. That definitely means Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would have to be part of a deal with Buffalo.

AND? As in both for Ristolainen?
*intentions
- aaron12

Yes, this dummy actually thinks a number 3 D-man is worth 2 top 6 centers. He is the kind of a$$hat that edits every player on the Sabres to a 99 overall in NHL18 cuz he thinks the game has something against the team.

You don’t think Benning is a top 4 D man on the Oilers with his modest 21 points yet we need to target Beaulieu (9 points), Scandella (22 points), Bogosian (1point ), or McCabe (12points) to slot in ahead of him.

Now I know Benning is not a sexy name because he plays in Edmonton and they aren’t very good, but just because you know nothing about him doesn’t mean he isn’t very good.
I’ll tell you what, he is much, much better than Mc Cabe, and slots ahead of him on your depth chart. McCabe isn’t a bad player, I would take him on my team, but when everyone is healthy he slots in well behind Klefbom, Larsson, Nurse, Benning, Sekeras and Russel. If not for Sekeras hurt he wouldn’t make our team. Those other chumps Beaulieu and Bogosian I wouldn’t take for free.

And Yet, they are still better than Toronto's defensemen, nice group of forwards though.
- macman9

Not really.

Rielly > Risto
Gardiner > Scandella
Hainsey > McCabe
Zaitsev, Carrick, Bergman and Dermot are all better than each of Guhle, Bogo and Beaulieu and the rest of the bums you guys have signed.

Dahlin will greatly change things in the next 2-3 seasons but until then, you guys have one of the worst D cores in the league. Yes, much worse than Edmonton and Toronto’s.

Enstrom would be the right choice in my mind. However, this is GMPC at the helm. He's likely to give away Nugent Hopkins for someone like Alex Gologoski.

Not really.

Rielly > Risto
Gardiner > Scandella
Hainsey > McCabe
Zaitsev, Carrick, Bergman and Dermot are all better than each of Guhle, Bogo and Beaulieu and the rest of the bums you guys have signed.

Dahlin will greatly change things in the next 2-3 seasons but until then, you guys have one of the worst D cores in the league. Yes, much worse than Edmonton and Toronto’s.
- HonkyTonkMan

You forgot Hunwick ya silly goose. Garf thinks he is a top 4 kinda guy (All the Sabres D-men are according to him) and the Pens just misused him.

Hunwick
- Mino42

This mistake of GMJR cost us Sheary (and can you remember that the Leafs all thought he is speedysolid )... but come playoff-time, this may be even a win by subtracting...