Banned
Joined: Sep. 2021
Posts: 12,418
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It's not hard to see that this is a Sabres group that consistently strives to outscore their problems, with head coach Don Granato preaching to the players to attack as a five man unit up the ice. If the coaching staff don't find a way to implement a more sound defensive structure at some point, this team isn't going to go anywhere no matter how much offensive talent they have. You don't want Devon Levi playing in too chaotic of an environment, I would also caution against going after the likes of a Connor Hellebuyck, as his strength lies in making straight line saves coming at him, but he's actually below average against scoring chances which require him to move laterally to make saves(according to Kevin Woodley). Looking at the blueline, I personally still need to see more to be sold on Mattias Samuelsson, but even then, I think it goes without saying that this team needs another strong defensive defender. Doesn't look like Jokiharju is that guy, doesn't look like Lyubushkin is that guy long-term either, heck, I'm not even sure they have a guy of the right player-type with enough upside in their relatively deep prospect system as is, as most of the high-end talent upcoming is at forward.