WGR: Sabres' Skinner is happy with his place in the lineup

[Buffaloed]

Sabres' Skinner is happy with his place in the lineup

Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) - Recently, Ralph Krueger put Johan Larsson between Jeff Skinner and Conor Sheary. Of course, all the amateur coaches on Twitter howled that the Sabres coach had no clue what he was doing just like they did with Phil Housley, Dan Bylsma, Ted Nolan and Lindy Ruff.

Might have been a few on HFBoards too.

It’s interesting that in three games, Larsson has four points, Skinner has three points and Sheary had a pair goals against New Jersey, scoring for the first time in 20 games.

Of course the smug writer of this article didn't think "Cap Mess" Larsson should have been given a qualifying offer. Touché

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[Tatre]

Should we really include our games vs NJ? They've been skewing our stats since game one, such an outlier in a 3-game sample size is a little misleading. I'm all for giving Larry offensive partners, anyway.

 

[Buffaloed]

In this article Howard & Jeremy talk about the Sabres finishing the month strong.
Krueger: It's about playing within our principles and desired structure

While the month of November ended up not going so well for the Buffalo Sabres with a 3-8-3 record in 14 games, the team started to put things together with a strong six-game stretch to close out the month. Buffalo ended up going 2-2-2 in that stretch with wins over the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs in convincing fashion.

Bogosian's name doesn't get mentioned in the article. Those 6 games are the only ones he's played this season. Seems to me he deserves some credit. I think he's been solid. Even if you don't like his play, the boys are playing with a little more grit with Zach having their backs.

 

[FloridaSabresFan]

Skinner is the only other sabre that can generate offense consistently

I am happy with him. I was nervous about the big contract but I think its paying off.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

In this article Howard & Jeremy talk about the Sabres finishing the month strong.
Krueger: It's about playing within our principles and desired structure


Bogosian's name doesn't get mentioned in the article. Those 6 games are the only ones he's played this season. Seems to me he deserves some credit. I think he's been solid. Even if you don't like his play, the boys are playing with a little more grit with Zach having their backs.

We always start off praising bogosian's impact on the roster, but he'll inevitably let us down.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

In this article Howard & Jeremy talk about the Sabres finishing the month strong.
Krueger: It's about playing within our principles and desired structure


Bogosian's name doesn't get mentioned in the article. Those 6 games are the only ones he's played this season. Seems to me he deserves some credit. I think he's been solid. Even if you don't like his play, the boys are playing with a little more grit with Zach having their backs.

Bogo always looks good when he comes back. Going by the last five years, I'm assuming he'll start to play horribly after another half dozen games, then get hurt a dozen games after that.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

We always start of praising bogosian's impact on the roster, but he'll inevitably let us down.

You can set your watch to it.

 

[Icicle]

FLG line was the main reason for marginal team success years ago, it's not like Larsson being a compliment to offense isn't known. He just doesn't do the finishing himself, and has been stuck with Stone Hands Girgensons 2.0 ever since. Sheary can't forecheck and Skinner is... Skinner, and Larsson creates situations that Skinner flourishes on and does the forechecking Sheary doesn't.


My big concern is that if this is the line that gets benched down the stretch of a game, Skinner needs to be replacing Oloffson with Eichel. Haven't seen Krueger do enough of this yet.

 

[Royal Thunder]

FLG line was the main reason for marginal team success years ago, it's not like Larsson being a compliment to offense isn't known. He just doesn't do the finishing himself, and has been stuck with Stone Hands Girgensons 2.0 ever since. Sheary can't forecheck and Skinner is... Skinner, and Larsson creates situations that Skinner flourishes on and does the forechecking Sheary doesn't.


My big concern is that if this is the line that gets benched down the stretch of a game, Skinner needs to be replacing Oloffson with Eichel. Haven't seen Krueger do enough of this yet.

Skinner's goal the other day was entirely because of Larry pressuring the puck carrier and forcing the turnover. They compliment each other well.

I gotta disagree with saying Sheary doesn't forecheck. For his size he is very good at pressuring the puck carrier and stripping pucks. I would argue his forechecking ability is one of his most useful assets.

 

[Der Jaeger]

You can set your watch to it.

I like Bogosian's intangible effect on the line up. I'd like it a lot better on a one year deal worth $1M, and he was slotted as the 8th defenseman. Can't get hurt in practice now that Kane is gone.

 

[Chainshot]

Skinner's goal the other day was entirely because of Larry pressuring the puck carrier and forcing the turnover. They compliment each other well.

I gotta disagree with saying Sheary doesn't forecheck. For his size he is very good at pressuring the puck carrier and stripping pucks. I would argue his forechecking ability is one of his most useful assets.

Agreed. Larry's game is about pursuit and creating cycle. Sheary's primary ability is to use his speed to disrupt play on the forecheck. If they continue to work the puck low and attempt to funnel pucks to the front of the net, that unit should be fine. It's the ability to work it up the ice that may be in question.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

He has 10 million reasons to be happy with his place in the line up this year.

 

[Icicle]

Skinner's goal the other day was entirely because of Larry pressuring the puck carrier and forcing the turnover. They compliment each other well.

I gotta disagree with saying Sheary doesn't forecheck. For his size he is very good at pressuring the puck carrier and stripping pucks. I would argue his forechecking ability is one of his most useful assets.

I think Sheary is best on the breakout and on finishing high slot chances. He is 'streaky' because I see him play with guys who he doesn't trust to ever get the puck to the high slot for time periods, and then gets rewarded when he stops worrying so much about cheating on his backcheck and is looking for chances again. I'm not saying he doesn't compliment a good forecheck, but he doesn't make chaos happen much all on his own. Larry does, and not because of his speed.

 

[Beerz]

Skinner is gonna do Skinner things no matter who he with.

 

[valet]

Skinner is gonna do Skinner things no matter who he with.

This is true, but I'd argue that Larry's game complements Skinner's in a way that maximizes both of their value(s) to the team. And I bet having Larry out there with him gives Skinner a bit more confidence to get up in there and cause chaos, cause he knows that Larry is money on the neutral and defensive zone coverage.

Sheary, meh. I don't really care about him. I wanna see Tage on that line, if he gets another shot this season.