In line with putting the first half behind them and trying to build for the future, Vogl did an article putting his thoughts on what to look for going into the 2nd half of this season.
What does Sabres' second half of season hold? 5 things to watch
Obviously he touches on the kids who are here (Quinn, Krebs, even Samuelsson and Luukkonen) and mentions the ones who will (Power) or might (Peterka, Ruotsalainen, even Weissbach) be along by the end of the season. He also talks up Mittelstadt and oddly enough, Skinner.
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Some thoughts I've kicked around are seeing them move to being at .500 for the last 40 games in terms of points percentage as an overall step forward.
Individually - Dahlin's growth and consistency. We're starting to see him put up the scoring numbers from the blueline (4-9-13 in his last 15 games) and make plays that lead to dangerous chances for himself and his teammates but don't wind up in the net basically every night.
Cozens development. In Vogl's article, Dylan isn't mentioned once. We've seen some very good play that teases at what is there, what he might be. But figuring him out and getting him going down the stretch is as important as trying to integrate Krebs or Quinn into the lineup.
Thompson's sustainability. We had a very good opening quarter to a third of the season from Tage. We're seeing old habits creep back in - over-reliance on stickhandling in areas that lead to dangerous chances against, simple plays being missed and instead attempts at more complex, less-successful offensive plays.
Jokiharju's overall game. We pencil him in as Dahlin's partner a lot, almost as though they are conjoined. Is he starting to come into his own as well? Or should they break them up and let them do similar things on different pairs? Some of the numbers are not flattering.
This falls in line with the coaching and also individual performance: but where have the Swedish 70's gone? If Olofsson is nursing something that needs surgery, shut it down. He's still putting up assists (12 in the 26 games since he drew back in) but hasn't found the twine for a goal that's counted in that span either (hello, Ranger GTG apology from the league!). Similarly, Asplund started off complimenting Thompson well and since Olofsson got hurt and they moved Asplund to RW, then down the lineup as a winger, then to C, then back to wing... he has only 1 goal and 5 assists in 31 games. We know from both eyeball and data points that they work with Thompson and Thompson works with them - especially the defense that Asplund brings to Thompson as a dyad. Granato has almost stubbornly not put these guys back together and it's just bizarre to see on-ice success ignored for not that results.
Coaching and performance, Part Deux - FIX THE PK. Their are some serious flaws to how they penalty kill that are mostly on forward positioning. They have some guys with wingspan they are working into their top 2 PK pairs (Thompson and Tuch) that can be disruptive, but we see the lower forward blowing his positioning or the higher forward being way, way too high and allowing a short-area 4-on-3 far too often. Yes, injuries are an issue, yet players who should be viewed as long-term regulars are not doing the right things here and it's hurting them on the scoreboard. Dependable PKing... let's see it.
What does Sabres' second half of season hold? 5 things to watch
Obviously he touches on the kids who are here (Quinn, Krebs, even Samuelsson and Luukkonen) and mentions the ones who will (Power) or might (Peterka, Ruotsalainen, even Weissbach) be along by the end of the season. He also talks up Mittelstadt and oddly enough, Skinner.
-------------------------
Some thoughts I've kicked around are seeing them move to being at .500 for the last 40 games in terms of points percentage as an overall step forward.
Individually - Dahlin's growth and consistency. We're starting to see him put up the scoring numbers from the blueline (4-9-13 in his last 15 games) and make plays that lead to dangerous chances for himself and his teammates but don't wind up in the net basically every night.
Cozens development. In Vogl's article, Dylan isn't mentioned once. We've seen some very good play that teases at what is there, what he might be. But figuring him out and getting him going down the stretch is as important as trying to integrate Krebs or Quinn into the lineup.
Thompson's sustainability. We had a very good opening quarter to a third of the season from Tage. We're seeing old habits creep back in - over-reliance on stickhandling in areas that lead to dangerous chances against, simple plays being missed and instead attempts at more complex, less-successful offensive plays.
Jokiharju's overall game. We pencil him in as Dahlin's partner a lot, almost as though they are conjoined. Is he starting to come into his own as well? Or should they break them up and let them do similar things on different pairs? Some of the numbers are not flattering.
This falls in line with the coaching and also individual performance: but where have the Swedish 70's gone? If Olofsson is nursing something that needs surgery, shut it down. He's still putting up assists (12 in the 26 games since he drew back in) but hasn't found the twine for a goal that's counted in that span either (hello, Ranger GTG apology from the league!). Similarly, Asplund started off complimenting Thompson well and since Olofsson got hurt and they moved Asplund to RW, then down the lineup as a winger, then to C, then back to wing... he has only 1 goal and 5 assists in 31 games. We know from both eyeball and data points that they work with Thompson and Thompson works with them - especially the defense that Asplund brings to Thompson as a dyad. Granato has almost stubbornly not put these guys back together and it's just bizarre to see on-ice success ignored for not that results.
Coaching and performance, Part Deux - FIX THE PK. Their are some serious flaws to how they penalty kill that are mostly on forward positioning. They have some guys with wingspan they are working into their top 2 PK pairs (Thompson and Tuch) that can be disruptive, but we see the lower forward blowing his positioning or the higher forward being way, way too high and allowing a short-area 4-on-3 far too often. Yes, injuries are an issue, yet players who should be viewed as long-term regulars are not doing the right things here and it's hurting them on the scoreboard. Dependable PKing... let's see it.
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