BUFFALO, N.Y. — Coaches usually don’t show their hand so far away from their opening game, but Don Granato did just that, saying the lines we saw in practice, is what he’d like to go with on Oct. 13 against the Ottawa Senators.
There could be a few tweaks along the way as JJ Peterka has not had a good training camp nor has he looked good in any of the three preseason games he played. Buffalo will have to trim one forward and Peterka can go to the Rochester Americans without having to be exposed to NHL waivers.
On Monday, Granato told me that Peterka has had to digest a lot of information and he’s trying to process it all as best he can. Granato said what’s happening because of it is he’s thinking instead of reacting to the play. The same thing happened to Peterka last season in his first professional season. He didn’t score much for the Amerks and then things finally clicked for him in December and he wound up leading Rochester in scoring.
Yes, the Sabres could waive Anders Bjork or Riley Sheahan instead, but doing that and keeping Peterka around only to sit in the press box wouldn’t make sense. Of course there’s still plenty of time for Peterka to get going before the 13th.
I’m not a fan of Peyton Krebs on the wing, but I’ll contradict myself by saying I’m intrigued by this line where he’s on the left wing with Peterka and Dylan Cozens. Cozens knows Krebs from playing together with Team Canada and Krebs played some with Peterka in Rochester. It's three young and very talented players together. Cozens and Krebs are 21, while Peterka is 20.
Rasmus Asplund started his professional career at center, but has been playing left wing the last few seasons. Granato has him back at center between Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo. I know many of you don’t understand, but Cozens is going to miss Asplund on his wing. The two of them really pushed the play together in the final month of last season.
Many of you are very surprised that Alex Tuch isn’t with Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner. They were very successful, but so was Victor Olofsson when he finished the season on that line.
I really like moving Tuch and letting him ride with Jack Quinn. Tuch is the perfect mentor for the 21-year-old who has only played two NHL games. Tuch averages 20 goals over 82 games in his career and honestly, I’m confident he can turn into a 25 goal scorer if he can stay healthy. Casey Mittelstadt is centering that line and is trying to come back from an injury riddled season last year and establish himself as the Sabres No. 2 center. Last year, he was the Sabres best player in training camp, but he struggled in his one preseason game this season. He still has two more games to try to get going.
I think the top seven defensemen are set with Lawrence Pilut waiting in Rochester. There are always injuries on the defense, so Pilut could easily spend most of his time up here.
I really like the fact that Granato is not afraid to put his lines out there. There is too much paranoia out there with coaches, especially in the NFL and Granato is a refreshing change. Here is what Granato would like to see this season:
FORWARDS
Skinner – Thompson – Olofsson
Quinn – Mittelstadt – Tuch
Krebs – Cozens – Peterka
Girgensons – Asplund – Okposo
Bjork – Sheahan – Hinostroza (Only two of the three will make it)
DEFENSE
Samuelsson – Dahlin
Power – Jokiharju
Bryson – Lyubushkin
Fitzgerald