Samson Right For Opening Night http://t.co/MrURxScncY pic.twitter.com/ppBtS0Zx9X
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) October 1, 2015
Sorry, Johan Larsson.
I just don't see you earning an opening night roster spot with the Buffalo Sabres. This is hurting me more than it's hurting you because I know how badly you want to play full time in the NHL. If not here then some other NHL club. I know you don't want to play in AHL Rochester. You've been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. You feel like you are too good to be playing in the AHL right now.
I hate to say it, but you are once again a victim of circumstance.
Once again, the numbers games doesn't work in your favor. I've been impressed with your work ethic, compete and your performances in training camp scrimmages. You have played well at times in the exhibition games that you have competed in.
My opening night forward trios consist of:
Kane-O'Reilly-Ennis Moulson-Eichel-Girgensons McGinn-Reinhart-Gionta Deslauriers-Legwand-Foligno
If this were the 2014-15 season all over again, you would have a roster spot in my opening night lineup. However, we cannot turn back the clock and go back to the future.
The past is in the past. We are looking through the windshield for the first time in a long, looooooooong time in this organization. This is refreshing.
Thank God, the tank is dead.
The truth is, you are now my fifth best center behind Ryan O'Reilly, Jack Eichel, Samson Reinhart and David Legwand. You drop even further down the depth chart when I include natural centers Zemgus Girgensons and Tyler Ennis ahead of you.
Good enough ain't good enough anymore. You need to be GREAT enough. Or else you will not be playing in Buffalo. Period. End. Of. Sentence.
Don't sleep on Legwand. Yes, he is on the back nine of his brilliant NHL career, however, he can still be counted on for 10-12 goals this season. His legs and hands are still in great NHL condition. I know a lot of doubters scoffed when he was included in the Lehner deal. Legwand is no "throw in on that deal". He's Matt Ellis and Randy Cunneyworth Version 2.0. He is schooling Eichel and Reinhart (fellow second overall picks) in the nuances of winning faceoff and what to do after a faceoff is lost. Legwand adds intrinsic value above and beyond goals and assists. He is a mentor and a role model that I demand that my 18 and 19 year old stars look up to.
I have to ride the horses that give me the best chance of winning on a game by game basis.
Gone are the days that we will throw some spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks. We need to win. We need to win now. Now. Right now.
With high expectations come increased responsibilities.
The off season additions of Evander Kane, Ryan O'Reilly, David Legwand and Cody Franson are already paying dividends. The drafting of Jack Eichel and the development of Samson Reinhart will add immediate pop and scoring to the nightly lineup. The kids are going to get great mentorship and guidance from the veteran leadership group. We are in a unique position in that we have two second overall picks in the NHL Draft in the nightly lineup (three when you count Legwand) and they have been impressive, to say the very least. Eichel and Reinhart play similar but very different games. Jack is a bull, my like yourself, who skates at an all-world, elite level. He is a physical specimen of a hockey freak. He has two shorthanded, game winning goals in the past week and a half and he is only 18 years of age! Reinhart's hockey IQ and creativity with the puck are off the charts. The kid was our best player in development camp in July playing against his own peers. He and Eichel were the two best players in the Prospects Challenge last month. Samson's versatility and his willingness to play center and right wing is a huge plus in his favor. The kid skated 39 second on the power play last Friday night in Toronto yet he collected three assists! Think about that. Reinhart created three power play goals in less than one minute of work on the PP. He and Mark Pysyk were great in that game. Speaking of Toronto and Reinhart, did you catch his act at the 2015 World Junior Hockey Championships? Team Canada's gold medal winning squad's MVP was Reinhart. Not Connor McDavid, nor Max Domi, nor Anthiny Duclair, not Nic Petan, nor Curtis Lazar. Reinhart is a special breed of cat and he has to play in Buffalo this season. He bulked up and improved his skating in his stint in Kootenay last season. He is hungrier than ever before in his young hockey life. Reinhart's time is now.
Coach Bylsma is drooling at the thought of his power play units which include Reinhart, Eichel, Kane, Ennis, Girgensons, O'Reilly, Moulson, Gionta, Foligno, Pysyk, Franson, Bogosian, Ristolainen and Gorges.
What's not to love about these personnel groupings?
If the players stay healthy, the Buffalo PP will be in the top 10 in the NHL this season.
With their 5 SHGs in 5 exhibition games thus far, its not out of the realm of possibility to project that the Sabres will score 10 shorties in 82 games played this season.
Those additional PPGs and SHGs combined with a metric ton of more even strength goals will be the factors that lead the Sabres to improve their year over year points total from 54 to the 84 to 89 point range.
The 2015-16 Buffalo Sabres are fully and completely committed to making a run to the playoffs and I am committed to playing my top four centers every night from now until the end of April, then on into May and June. The haters, LA-Z Boy recliner GMs, and bar stool prophets are laughing out loud right now. I could care less what the knuckleheads say.
I've said it before and it bears repeating. It is my humble opinion that the 2015-16 Buffalo Sabres are going to improve by 30-35 points in the NHL standings and are going to scare the crap out of their Eastern Conference foes like Boston, Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, Montreal, Detroit, Carolina, Philly and Toronto who are either in status quo or decline mode. Ottawa, Florida, Columbus, NY Islanders, Washington are on the up-tick and will be difficult to play against. Tampa will be tough to beat but we will give them everything we have.
Don't think so? The same critics laughed at Garth Snow and the NY Islanders a year ago today. Do you remember when the 2013-14 New York Islanders were the 26th ranked club in the NHL with 79 points? It took the Isles one off season to winch their wrecked car out of the ditch and repair in perfect working order. Last season they finished 10th overall, qualified for the playoff with 101 points. Snow shocked the hockey world when he pulled off the respective Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy trades. How'd that work out for Johnny T. and the Brooklynites?
The same haters ragged on the Calgary Flames a year ago today. Remember how gawd awful the Flames were during the 2013-14 regular season when they finished 27th overall in the NHL standings with 77 points? Last season, the Flames tweaked their roster, got superior contributions from the offense, defense, special teams and goaltending and finished 16th overall with 97 points and a playoff berth.
If the Islanders can improve by 24 points in one off season and the Flames can improve 20 points in one off season, why can't the Buffalo Sabres rise from the flames and rubble to be this season's sneak attack team in the NHL? The Sabres finished with 52 points in 2013-14 and with 54 points in 2014-15. The goal of those seasons was to tank out. Those Sabres teams could not light the lamp by design and allowed less than three goals per game. Ted Nolan's teams lost a lot of one and two goal games that I fully intend to win this season. Nolan's team's left a lot of points on the table. The Dan Bylsma Buffalo Sabres are the exact polar opposite to Nolan's teams. The Sabres scored an NHL record worst 161 goals in 82 games last season. That's less than 2 goals per game. Those days are dead, my friend. The new lokk, re-toled Sabres will score 300 goals or more this season when Evander Kane, Matt Moulson, Tyler Ennis, Jack Eichel, Zemgus Girgensons, Ryan O'Reilly, Brian Gionta, Cody Franson, Rasmus Ristolainen and the gang hit the ice beginning on October 8 against Ottawa. The Sabres have scored 21 goals in their 5 exhibition games in the past week and a half. They are leading the NHL in preseason goal scoring. They have scored 5 shorthanded goals, 4 PPGs, and 12 even strength goals. The days of scoring 161 goals are over. Those tanking days are dead, buried and in the rearview mirror.
I have to play the guys that give me the best chance to win right now. That means that Samson Reinhart will be staying here in Buffalo and you will be heading eastbound and down the I-90 to Exit 48. You will love playing for a teacher like Randy Cunneyworth. You will be playing even strength, PP, and PK. You will get as mush ice time as you can humanly handle each night. When a Buffalo center suffers an injury, you will be on the call-up list.
This is your mission, should you choose to accept it.
If this arrangement agrees with you lets shake on it. If you want to speak with your agent and pursue a trade, that's okay too.
Chuck Fletcher never wanted to trade you away from the Minnesota Wild. He had to because of the Jason Pominville trade.
If you want me to, I can call "Fletch" and ask him if he will accept him back. I sure could use a D-man like Jared Spurgeon or Marco Scandella from the Wild right about now. Spurgeon 1. He and Tyler Ennis have been best friends since they were six years old. We'd like to upgrade our D depth and we really like what Spurgeon brings in terms of skills, smarts and durability.
Good chat.
Samson Reinhart is right for opening night.