Phil Varone

[bills]

Hey new here!! I have been a Sabres fan for years but currently have not been in the Buffalo area all year. I only get to watch some games as i do not have access to all of them. My question for you guys is what has happened to Varone? I know he is young and lead the Americans the past few seasos but he seemed to be a legit NHLer his first few games and created a lot of chances but has fallen off and now seems like Nolan is putting him on the fourth line.. Just want some input on the guy for those of you that watch all the games

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[bills]

I should add in I wasn't able to watch last nights game and saw he had the least amount of minutes out of all the forwards. So I am assuming he was on the fourth line

 

[CatsforReinhart]

No future. He is a tweener. A floater. He can excel in the AHL but in the NHL he is over his head. Good for callups I think and fill in but not a regular.

EDIT: When I say tweener(maybe I am using it wrong). Someone who goes between AHL and NHL. Good in the AHL but does not translate to NHL.

Linus Omark, Luke Adam, Jerry D'Amigo....

 

[BakedBuffalo]

No future. He is a tweener. A floater. He can excel in the AHL but in the NHL he is over his head. Good for callups I think and fill in but not a regular.

I agree with this sentiment

 

[Moskau]

No not really. He should be looking to sign a contract someplace like Switzerland next and live the life.

 

[Ron C.]

He doesn't have the talent to be a top 6 forward and he doesn't have the jam/intangibles to be an energy bottom 6 forward. There is no shame in excelling in the AHL.

 

[bills]

Thanks for some input. I just felt he would be different and not a tweener (you are using right) but Larsson and Grigs i guess have the more future/potential and thats the direction they will go with at center to end the season. I just feel Buffalo always seems to have forwards who excel in the minors but do nothing in the majors and was hoping it would be different with Varone.

 

[Sabreality]

he might be able to bounce around the league and collect some NHL pay here and there for a couple of years on bad teams, similar to the Dalpes of the league.

 

[brian_griffin]

Varone could (could) be up on BUF next year if the Sabres trade a few of their forwards (Grigorenko, Hodgson, etc.) to bring in a young talent on an ELC like Ryan O'Reilly. The plus with Varone is that he can slot up and down lines and won't be stellar at anything, but his deficiencies can be covered well enough by others on his line. As the Sabres collectively improve, he'd be squeezed back to the 'tweener role.

I am neither advocating that strategy, nor do I believe it will play out that way, but, it could.

OTOH, he could easily play another half-dozen years in the AHL with occasional call-ups, no matter what NHL club he is with, BUF included.

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I haven't seen a lot of Dalpe's skill set, but I'd put Varone ahead of him currently, at least in terms of completeness of tool kit. Varone just doesn't do anything super special.

 

[mgeise]

I'd like to see them keep him around here as a veteran presence and one of the top callups in the AHL. It's going to be almost impossible for him to make this team next year, though, and it should become progressively harder as this team continues to get better and add more pieces.

Next year, we're looking at: Kane, Ennis, Girgensons, Moulson, Foligno, Gionta, McDavid/Eichel, Reinhart, Hodgson, Grigorenko, Deslauriers, Larsson, and McCormick from this year's team alone. You have to think they'll bring in at least one forward via free agency, plus it's possible that Hodgson is bought out or Grigorenko is gone by trade. However, it's really difficult to see any place for Varone here. Maybe he could be perennial filler for bottom feeder teams a la Mark Arcobello?

 

[My Cozen Dylan]

Varone could (could) be up on BUF next year if the Sabres trade a few of their forwards (Grigorenko, Hodgson, etc.) to bring in a young talent on an ELC like Ryan O'Reilly. The plus with Varone is that he can slot up and down lines and won't be stellar at anything, but his deficiencies can be covered well enough by others on his line. As the Sabres collectively improve, he'd be squeezed back to the 'tweener role.

I am neither advocating that strategy, nor do I believe it will play out that way, but, it could.

OTOH, he could easily play another half-dozen years in the AHL with occasional call-ups, no matter what NHL club he is with, BUF included.

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I haven't seen a lot of Dalpe's skill set, but I'd put Varone ahead of him currently, at least in terms of completeness of tool kit. Varone just doesn't do anything super special.

Uhh...O'Reilly's definitely not on his ELC.