I thought last year in the AHL I read he was a forward IDK.

_________________
just call me Brad

Twitter @BUrbanowicz13

I'll go through what I just posted in my blog:



Durability:
Now the first concern has to be games played. Players do you no good if they're parked in the training room, and Weber and Leopold have both faced significant injuries in their careers. However, I would point out that Weber played 80 games last season, and Leopold played 81 last season and 83 in 08-09. And how soon we forget about Henrik Tallinder. The dude was never fucking healthy. Games played starting in 02-03: 46, 72, 82, 47, 71, 66, 82. Kind of like the olympics, he showed up in force about once every four years. In his career, Tallinder has only played four more games per year than the "Tim Connolly-esque" Jordan Leopold.

Advantage: Wash


Offense:
The offensive numbers are relatively unspectacular across the board, with Leopold providing a slight bump in goal scoring, and a decent loss in +/- although I would point out he is -12 with Colorado and Florida, and even with Pittsburgh and Calgary. Suffice it to say, Leopold is a solid, responsible defensemen when there is talent around him.

Advantage: Leopold and Weber

Physicality:
I think over the years we all appreciated Lydman's penchant for blocking shots and throwing hits. Leopold is not know for a physical presence, but you can count on him for about 60-70 hits a year (the average is skewed by his 43 games in 07-08), which is more than Tallinder, and his 110-120 blocked shots leave him just shy of Lydman.

Then there's Mike Weber, beast extraordinaire. His 45 hits in 16 games in 07-08 put him on pace for about 230. He is going to make up for the physical game lost in Lydman's departure and then some. While his 78 blocked shots are a bit underwhelming, one would think if he can bring one half of a physical game, he can bring the other. Plus it's hard to shoot if you're, you know, knocked on your ass.

Advantage: Leopold and Weber

Responsibility:
The simple fact is that Leopold brings a responsible game that is light years ahead of Lydman and Tallinder. The dude plays safe hockey, and it doesn't come at the expense of offense. Even if you pop his numbers up to account for that short season, you're still only seeing about 30 giveaways a year out of him, about half of what Lydman and Tallinder brought. Mike Weber is about on par with the dearly departed defensemen...but he's only 22, know how many times Tallinder was giving the puck away that early in his career? Me neither because NHL.com doesn't have those stats. But it was probably about 800. Weber will learn to be more responsible. Tallydmander are pretty much at their ceiling.

Advantage: Leopold and Weber

Oh Why the Fuck Can't Our Defensemen Hit the God Damned Net...ness:
Not a whole lot to say here, Leopold is a slight upgrade over Tallinder, Weber a slight downgrade under Lydman.


Advantage: Wash

Overall:
Leopold and Weber are going to minimize brain farts on the defense which can only make things easier on Ryan Miller. The offense isn't a whole lot different than what Lydman and Tallinder brought, but the Physicality will be a slight upgrade. Oh yeah, and it's coming at almost a $3M lower pricetag. That ain't bad.

_________________
Proud LGBTQQ Individual

I feel like I should be a newscaster..."and thanks again CV for your take on the matter, in other news..."

_________________
"...they came down into the stands and asked if I knew how to do play by play. I said...No. But. I'll take a shot at it if you want".- Rick Jeanneret

Criminally.....VERY nice, thorough, and accurate and detailed assessment. I for one agree with you that despite the lack of "name power" replacing Loods and Hank with Leopold and Weber hardly results in an on ice drop off if at all and also saves us $3 million. Weber has the site and grit to play 5-6-7 D man duties on this team, has paid his dues and has proven during more than one stint in Buffalo that he is more than capable of playing here. I for one think Leopold will be plugged into the lineup as needed and that Hank's spot as the responsible veteran presence on Myers line will be Montador's to lose. Also I see the rest of the D looking like this once healthy......

Rivet - Butler
Myers - Montador
Weber - Leopold

Sekera/Grags

I know there are plenty of people worried out there, but with Lindy having zero problem with Myers playing in any situation and the kid only getting better.....I see this as a pretty damn respectable D core for the literally slightly over $10 million combined these dudes will be making.......

_________________
"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

Thanks

Another thing to consider is that there are a lot of ifs in the scenario.

The defense will be adequate if:

Myers doesn't suffer a setback.
We get what we see in Leopold.
Rivet bounces back after injury.
Butler bounces back from his slump.
Sekara looks like he did in the Olympics.
Weber plays like he did in 07-08.

The detractors and Debbie Downers will lambaste people like me saying that all of that is speculation, and rightfully so. But what they (in their negativity) don't realize is that while the odds of all of those things going right might be slim, the odds of them all going completely awry are just as slim. I think there's a good chance that 4 of those 6 things happen, and that has us sitting pretty nicely.

_________________
Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Again, agree that if only 4/6 of those things happen, we're pretty good.....but detractors, as you say, should realize no matter what that NOTHING on your list above is out of the question and honestly, nothing on that list is even remotely unattainable


At your conservative estimate of only 4/6.....Debbie Downers can screw but nothing you listed is even remotely unrealistic

_________________
"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

I've said this before and I'll say this again - do not fuck with Alex when stats are in question. The man has a spreadsheet called "The Ruiner", for fuck's sake.

_________________
mechaphil

My opinions:

Rivet: will be beast.

Myers: will be beast

Montador: another solid year

Leopold: will be bad defensively and we'll all be on his ass all the time (3m a year was a mistake)

Weber: will be solid with a good +/- but not a lot of points. Maybe like 15.

Sekera: will be paired with Weber and be decent offensively but we will still question his defensive abilities.

Butler: "sophmore slump" will morph into a "junior slump" and then he'll just be a flatout bust.

_________________
"Ah...composite sticks...you can't beat 'em...unless you have a wooden one..."-Harry Neale

In Pegula We We Trust!

If Rivet isn't ready to go at the start of the year, they'll go with Gragnani AND Weber up with the big club to start the year unless someone like Brennan has a monster camp and jumps up in the pecking order.

_________________
Sabres Hockey: Commitment to Mediocrity

Well yea, that's what I'm getting at. Obviously if Rivet is injured and Gragnani is the 7th defenseman, when the captain goes down the 7th defenseman steps in. Inference, man.

_________________
mechaphil

Thanks Alex! Honestly I haven't kept tabs on Weber. I've been a bit bummed about losing Hank and Loods because I was just seeing a lateral move. Now that I've seen the numbers though it looks good. I still hope we make one more move simply because I hate Butler, but I'll survive if he's still playing.

_________________

Nice read. I think Webers shot blocking will improve with positioning. he mneeds to learn how to be a step ahead and read the play more decisivly at the nHL level, thoser thinsg come with playing time

_________________
"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger

This all assumes that Weber will have similar numbers as a full time NHL defenseman. I think that's a stretch to just assume that will be true.

His numbers with the pirates perhaps, but I don't think its too far of a stretch to say that his number from his call-ups will be fairly evident of what he'll produce in a full season.

In 23 games with the Sabres Weber has 0g, 3a.

A young defenseman a few years back had 2g and 6a in his first 37 games as a Sabre. Then in his first full (69 games) season had 3g and 16a. (This player was a 2-15 player with the Americans in 40 games).

Another young defenseman had 2g and 4a in his first 47 games as a Sabre. Then in his first full (59 games) season he had 1g and 20a. (This player was a 2-10 player in Portland in 27 games).

I think, considering that he isn't coming in completely raw, expecting at least 2g and 12a out of Weber isn't much of a stretch at all.

_________________
Proud LGBTQQ Individual

I was just about to get at the same thing.

I always tend to be more conservative on a player when they make that leap from the AHL. Some have a harder time adjusting to the speed of the game than others, and defense always seems to be a more difficult adjustment.

Time will tell of course.

I think the only number that's unrealistic is Weber's hits extrapolation from 07-08. Possibly his +/- rating as well, but he showed that as a Sabre already.

You really think 2g and 12a for Weber if he plays a full season is a stretch? Really?

Even Doug Janik put up 2g and 9a in his first NHL season...

_________________
Proud LGBTQQ Individual

So very true! You just can't assume that his totals in the minor's is going to translate into the same type of stats in the NHL.

And his current career NHL totals are 3G 15A, so you could easily say that was a flash in the pan.

I don't think your assumptions are totally out of whack, I just tend to lean more towards a conservative estimate rather than just extending other stats over a full 82 game NHL season, that's all.

The only Sabres defensemen in the last 10-20 years to fail to put up 14 pts in their first NHL season (where they played more than half the games) are Tallinder, Janik, Rivet, Montador, and Fitzpatrick

Paetsch, Campbell, Kalinin, Lydman, Zhitnik, McKee, Patrick, Warrener, Spacek, Sekera, Butler, Pratt, Numminen, Myers, Delmore, Woolley, Smehlik, and Wilson all equaled or surpassed 14 pts in their first season.

So that's what 18 for and 5 against?




Take Nolan Pratt, as unspectacular a defenseman as they come. He had four years experience in the WHL, and three in the AHL before getting called up to play for the Hurricanes.

In 54 games with the New Haven Beast he recorded 3-15-18. In 61 games with the Hurricanes, he came in at 1-14-15. And this is Nolan Fucking Pratt.


Weber has similar experience, and similar stats in the OHL and AHL, and is a better defenseman than Pratt. I don't think 2-12-14 is a stretch.

_________________
Proud LGBTQQ Individual