What on earth happened to this team's offense?

[Snippit]

Feel free to merge this with an existing thread if it doesn't warrant its own post.

I cannot fathom how the style of play transformed so drastically from last year to this. We went from a high-flying offensive team, top 3 in scoring and generated tons of chances at 5v5. We had a visually appealing style of play that was obvious even at the end of 20-21 and 21-22 seasons, but really took off last year. It was a logical continuation of what we were building and not only was it fun, it was good for 90+ points.

This season I don't need to tell any of you we have been anemic offensively. In the last 9 games we have not scored more than 3, and we are bottom 5 on the year. Our 5v5 chance generation is in the mud and the eye test matches. The vast majority of our offensive players have taken major steps back.

So what the heck happened?

- Is this the result of injures?? Probably not. Quinn's loss hurts but he was only a sub-40 point guy last year. Thompson played a bunch of games and our offense still sucked with him in the lineup.
- Many have alluded to Granato implementing a new defensive scheme. If this is the case, he's an idiot and ruined a great thing and replaced it with a Krueger-like product that is awful to watch
- Complacency over the summer? Seems unlikely that this happened to so many different guys
- Teams adjusted to our style? Probably this one sadly...and if there's no answer any time soon it might be lights out.

The record is one thing. 9-10-2 is bad but not insurmountable. My problem is the hockey itself. Through 21 games we are just an absolute bore to watch. I would give anything to get something resembling last year's product back. It's not like you can reasonably call this a slump either, this has just been the norm all season. Even in pre-season many of us were worried at how bad the product was.

Click to read more...

 

[Beerz]

Last year offense is why we got so many Narional games this year... bet the networks are kicking themselves now.

This team is excruciatingly boring now.

 

[Vito_81]

At this point Im hiring Babcock and having him go through all their phones. Theres no way that could be worse than this.

 

[pigpen65]

How many goals has Clifton scored for the other team this year? Maybe it's time to move him to forward.

 

[Chainshot]

Part of it is a carryover from the issues last year - they do not do a good job of creating off the cycle. They don't cycle much and didn't, but they were a very good team off the rush last year. This year, their chances aren't falling on rush plays at the same rate and I would assert their issues with cycle/settled offense have been even worse.

 

[toddkaz]

What I see.

Transition game is just awful. When Buffalo gets the puck in the defensive zone they are way to slow going the other way. Its giving the opposing team time to set up their system. The defensemen are constantly hesitating in their own zone instead of moving the puck up the ice and making the other team pay off the turnover. Even Dahlin is guilty of this and last year it was his best asset. Getting the puck and slinging in up the ice quickly while the forward is in motion.

I will say this, give Ryan Johnson credit he will try to make a quick play and pass it up the ice to catch the other team. I am worried the other guys will wear off on him.

The wingers are standing still at the blue line because they are ahead of the play which is just bad. Its next to impossible to beat a defencemen when you are standing still at the blue line. This is happening because the defencemen are hesitating and going backwards with the puck instead of forward.

Many times the center tries a 1 on 3 and loses the puck two feet over the blue line while the wingers are standing still at the blueline and the other team goes back the other way in full speed while the Buffalo forwards try to catch up.

Feel free to watch this tonight. I am sure it will happen.

They are definitely not playing as a team at the moment. Its almost like they partied all off season and are out of shape.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Me watching Sabres this year

 

[Chainshot]

Nearly to a man, there is no drive to get to the inside lane and stay there. There is no effort to get the puck and oneself to the middle. That's gotten worse since last year. There is no price paid to play winning hockey and that is one of the examples of it as is their inability to engage to win puck battles at either end of the rink and being consistently on the wrong side of their check defensively. It requires effort. It often requires being in pain. They don't do either.

 

[old kummelweck]

Copy-cat league.

 

[Caroline Says ll]

Coaching staffs typically spend much of the offseason watching film and gaming what their opponents had done the season prior to them, and how to counteract and how to play defensively and offensively against a team.

Last season we excelled offensively. We were deadly. Teams have adjusted and you can honestly tell in the way that almost every opponent has played us the exact same way. Our players are being pressured and forechecked heavily which is killing us, as we have not adapted to have a support open to counter the heavy forecheck. Our transition offense cannot thrive as there has been no change in our breakout schemes.

You can ever look at how our powerplay was being neutered to start the season. Teams focused on clogging up the blue line as last season out entries we largely formulaic yet successful. NHL coaching should prep these players on what to expect, where to expect it and how to exploit tendencies and how to overcome what the opponent attempts. This season has shown a glaring lack of gameplan, adapting and evolution.

 

[KeyserSoze81]

The team is unable to cycle the puck in the offensive zone and cannot orchestrate a power play. They only create off the rush, where individual players can utilize their creativity and individual skillsets. Even going back to last year, when they face a team that can clog up the neutral zone (Islanders, Kraken), things get very ugly, very quickly.

As much as I like Granato, these problems point to coaching.

 

[BFLO]

Feel free to merge this with an existing thread if it doesn't warrant its own post.

I cannot fathom how the style of play transformed so drastically from last year to this. We went from a high-flying offensive team, top 3 in scoring and generated tons of chances at 5v5. We had a visually appealing style of play that was obvious even at the end of 20-21 and 21-22 seasons, but really took off last year. It was a logical continuation of what we were building and not only was it fun, it was good for 90+ points.

This season I don't need to tell any of you we have been anemic offensively. In the last 9 games we have not scored more than 3, and we are bottom 5 on the year. Our 5v5 chance generation is in the mud and the eye test matches. The vast majority of our offensive players have taken major steps back.

So what the heck happened?

- Is this the result of injures?? Probably not. Quinn's loss hurts but he was only a sub-40 point guy last year. Thompson played a bunch of games and our offense still sucked with him in the lineup.
- Many have alluded to Granato implementing a new defensive scheme. If this is the case, he's an idiot and ruined a great thing and replaced it with a Krueger-like product that is awful to watch
- Complacency over the summer? Seems unlikely that this happened to so many different guys
- Teams adjusted to our style? Probably this one sadly...and if there's no answer any time soon it might be lights out.

The record is one thing. 9-10-2 is bad but not insurmountable. My problem is the hockey itself. Through 21 games we are just an absolute bore to watch. I would give anything to get something resembling last year's product back. It's not like you can reasonably call this a slump either, this has just been the norm all season. Even in pre-season many of us were worried at how bad the product was.

Re: the bolded. Big agree.

The 9-10-2 record isn't that bad, but we've been pretty lucky to get there by getting wins in games we didn't deserve. We've been playing terrible hockey in all but like ~6 games this season. This isn't a slump, it's just who they are now.

I posted back around game 10 that I was worried we'd go from saying:
It's just pre-season, nothing to worry about, they'll get it together
It's just game 1, nothing to worry about, they'll get it together
It's just game 5, it's so early, there's nothing to worry about, plenty of time left, they'll get it together

Now it's game 21 and we're saying the same thing we said in pre-season and every game in between.

 

[Mattilaus]

Re: the bolded. Big agree.

The 9-10-2 record isn't that bad, but we've been pretty lucky to get there by getting wins in games we didn't deserve. We've been playing terrible hockey in all but like ~6 games this season. This isn't a slump, it's just who they are now.

I posted back around game 10 that I was worried we'd go from saying:
It's just pre-season, nothing to worry about, they'll get it together
It's just game 1, nothing to worry about, they'll get it together
It's just game 5, it's so early, there's nothing to worry about, plenty of time left, they'll get it together

Now it's game 21 and we're saying the same thing we said in pre-season and every game in between.

I mean, we aren't. Everyone seems pretty concerned. This thread being created is a testament to that. Even the most optimistic of posters have expressed a large amount of concern over the last weeks.

 

[sabremike]

Nearly to a man, there is no drive to get to the inside lane and stay there. There is no effort to get the puck and oneself to the middle. That's gotten worse since last year. There is no price paid to play winning hockey and that is one of the examples of it as is their inability to engage to win puck battles at either end of the rink and being consistently on the wrong side of their check defensively. It requires effort. It often requires being in pain. They don't do either.

Spot on. To add insult to injury is that most of the roster has ended up in pain with injuries anyways.

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

I had an opportunity once to be at a table with Brian Murray. Amongst the topics he chatted about was how much harder it is to generate offense while learning to play a better defensive game. One of the things he said was that a good offensive team takes 40-60 games to relearn how to generate offense when you change their defensive system. Pound sign copium.

 

[toddkaz]

It would be nice to see some stats of odd man rushes for and against. I could be wrong but it feels lopsided against which to me is a sign they aren't playing as a team and are constantly caught out of position.

 

[DJN21]

guys we have locker-room vibes...we are fine

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

guys we have locker-room vibes...we are fine

I love the room. Please don't mock it.

 

[toddkaz]

guys we have locker-room vibes...we are fine

Our locker room cancers go on to win Stanley Cups.......With other teams.

 

[Gras]

Our locker room cancers go on to win Stanley Cups.......With other teams.

You think we would be better off and have a better chance of winning the cup if the "cancers" were still here

 

[Chainshot]

It would be nice to see some stats of odd man rushes for and against. I could be wrong but it feels lopsided against which to me is a sign they aren't playing as a team and are constantly caught out of position.

They were among the worst in the league at that last year and cleaned it up later in the season. This season is more hit and miss but it's still far too often, especially when guys like Power or Dahlin are getting caught up the ice. Or when the top line guys like Tuch and Skinner are visibly coasting back instead of trying to backcheck.

 

[Dreakon13]

Our players are being pressured and forechecked heavily which is killing us, as we have not adapted to have a support open to counter the heavy forecheck.

So much this. The book is out that almost everyone in this group will give the puck up if they feel any pressure. And the players off the puck are rarely in good position to give the puck carrier options, or to do anything with the puck once they get it.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Part of it is a carryover from the issues last year - they do not do a good job of creating off the cycle. They don't cycle much and didn't, but they were a very good team off the rush last year. This year, their chances aren't falling on rush plays at the same rate and I would assert their issues with cycle/settled offense have been even worse.

It’s like Granato tried to get them to sacrifice a little offense for defense, but instead got them to sacrifice a lot of offense for basically nothing at the other end. They look like a completely different team than they did last season, and not in a good way.

 

[toddkaz]

They were among the worst in the league at that last year and cleaned it up later in the season. This season is more hit and miss but it's still far too often, especially when guys like Power or Dahlin are getting caught up the ice. Or when the top line guys like Tuch and Skinner are visibly coasting back instead of trying to backcheck.

We had discussed it before in the game day thread. One of the most basic things you are taught in hockey is get the puck in deep. The forwards are losing the puck just over the blue line far too many times, This is causing the trailing defenders who jump in the play to get burned. Skinner is really bad for this, Cozens and Tuch 2nd and 3rd.

I am just a armchair quarterback so what do I know but I did grow up playing and two things we were always told. Never across the middle in your own end and get the puck in deep.

 

[rams]

They were among the worst in the league at that last year and cleaned it up later in the season. This season is more hit and miss but it's still far too often, especially when guys like Power or Dahlin are getting caught up the ice. Or when the top line guys like Tuch and Skinner are visibly coasting back instead of trying to backcheck.

That's one of the things that stood out to me in the Jersey game. Not only did New Jersey have odd man rushes going into Buffalo's zone, it seemed like every rush into Jersey's zone, the Sabres were still outnumbered (sometime guys coasting, sometimes one guy would dash over the blueline only to have the other 4 guys coasting to the bench). It was two Sabres against three, ONE on four, it just seemed like the Devils were beating Buffalo to BOTH ends of the ice all night long.