Buffalo Sabres Offensive FIREPOWER Primed for BREAKOUT | Is Dahlin the KEY to Success?
is this the year these young Buffalo Sabers take a step we’ll break it down for you their top five fantasy targets on the latest edition of the Locked On Fantasy Hockey [Music] Podcast you’re Locked on Fantasy Hockey your daily podcast on fantasy hockey part of the Locked On Network your team every day what is good my fantasy fanatics welcome back inside the lab to your daily 30 minute source for all things fantasy hockey it is the locked on fantasy hockey podcast i’m joined as always by my distinguished co-host Mr steel wrote in on this side of the microphone it’s your boy Big Flip Living Stone here holding it down for the everyday who continue to make us their first listen every single day we see you and we appreciate y’all even through these dog days of the summer deal the Stanley Cup is popping off and before we get to the Buffalo Sabres top five fantasy targets and a whole bunch of young guns that we really do like on this Sabres squad how are you feeling about this Stanley Cup final because quite clearly once again we have the two best teams in the NHL and after yet another nailbiting fun game too we are set up here for perhaps one of the better Stanley Cup final series in recent memory and once again the little ball of hate Brad Marshian proving his worth and putting his money and mouth where his goal scoring is yeah I I remember a certain handsome fellow from the Locked on Fantasy Hockey podcast saying X Factor the rat the Brad Marant himself and he has been a game changer in both games the Stanley Cup finals so far it’s been an absolute blast game one game two both going into overtime game two going to two overtimes it’s been absolutely chaotic you’re seeing you’re seeing the snarl you’re seeing the flare uh from both teams right now pretty much scrums after every single whistle conor McDavid is just proving why for most people he is the best hockey player in the National Hockey League that pass that move that he made on Alexander Barov and Aaron Ecklad Yeah was absolutely incredible to to witness yes on live television he is a special player dryidle getting it done bard had a three-point period himself too again we don’t really talk about what he does defensively but offensively he’s an absolute juggernaut out there this is this is to me been the best Stanley Cup finals so far again we still have a lot way to go till somebody lifts the cup but the first two games it’s been an absolute blast it really has i was saying this last night to my wife when we were watching the game if you are a fair weather or you’re uncertain about the game of hockey if you tune in to this series you will quickly become a fan of the game and it will get you sunk in that’s what we’re going to do on today’s episode with the top five Sabres fantasy targets i think the only place that you and I might differ here is on the inclusion of UPL or where he is on this list and I thought about it steel because obviously his numbers last season 887 save percentage and a 320 goals against make you go h categorical leagues i’m going to get torched in those categories with the Sabres leaving him out to dry cuz a season ago he finished with a 916 save percentage i’m going to put him at five steel because I’m going to start selling this rejuvenated bounceback Sabres year now I don’t know what they’re going to do in the offseason or what your take is on this i think they’re far too talented especially offensively they have one of the best Dmen in the league so what I’m trying to sell you on here is a bounceback for the Sabres overall we’ll get into the numbers and some other players but I got UPL here at five i think he’s a really good goalie i just think he got hung out to dry a number of times last season by this Sabres blue line especially yeah I I struggled with this uh position right here number five on the Buffalo Sabres list do I go with UPPL do I not i ended up going with a guy who who really surprised me but I I I see why he plays so well and I again I had him on a few different of my fantasy hockey teams i was surprised that his percentage of roster on fantasy hockey teams wasn’t even higher so I actually went with Jason Zucker at the number five position uh his second best season in his 14-year career in the National Hockey League 53 points in 73 games 57 penalty minutes 143 shots 68 hits 22 blocks this guy just again I think for is exactly what the Buffalo Sabres kind of need to fill in these gaps with how many how much young talent they have they need a guy like Jucker who brings that veteran leadership who still has a little bit of speed left in the tank as well he goes to the He goes to the dirty areas goes to the hard areas fight for those pucks he still has a lot of skill uh a lot of skill in his bag as well so I think he just proved a lot to me last year like I said I I liked him have I liked having him and streaming him on a week- toeek basis throughout all five of my fantasy hockey teams and again 21 goals 32 assists for 53 points a little bit of B in him as well he had a really good year so I I think he deserves to be at the number five spot his pre-season rank he was 336 he finished 131 so that is a a very valuable player if you’re getting him off the waiver wire and picking up picking him up on a week- toeek basis the fact that he finished in the top 150 fantasy rankings on Yahoo is very special this is a situation for me Steel this team finished 10th in the NHL in goals four and then you look at their goals against numbers and you look at kind of the talent on the blue line but the lack of ability to really kind of keep the puck out of their own net they allowed the fourth most goals against at 287 only the Pens Hawks and Sharks allowed more goals so regardless of what you do up front with all of the talent that we really do love and we’re going to talk about you got to tighten things up on the back end and I think UPL is good enough goalender to do that he just needs some help on the blue line so I understand that he misses your list there’s some players that I think catch honorable mention jack Quinn Zack Benson as maybe week to week streams for some offensive love uh Owen Power on the back end you could catch as a nice fill in if you’re looking for a risky kind of blue line option however at number four JJ Purka is a player that has so much upside i understand that he’s an RFA but I love this player you and I had John Mattish on our show from the score to talk about the Swiss Army knife of skills that this kid brings to the table and I know there’s been some rumors out there that maybe he’s not happy in Buffalo and he wants out for now for the sake of my list he’s a saber because I do think he’s way too good for them to let him walk 68 points in 77 games still we don’t know where he’s going to play 100% but if it’s in Buffalo he’s number four on this list because 68 points in 77 games I feel is just starting to scratch the surface at 23 years old for this kid it really is i also have him at number four and I’ve been hearing those rumors as well about potential organizations offer sheeting JJ Purka Ottawa Senators being one of them i know the lock guys did a did an episode on on that potentially happening as well recently I believe so I I have him at number four he again just like Jason Zucker he proved something to me last year going from 50 points to 68 points a 41 assist season for the 23 year old and for me I know you were talking about Owen Power i think to me I I don’t see him even again he could be a streaming option from time to time he’s not a draftable player in my opinion when you look at the actual contract when you look at the actual contract I think this contract for Owen Power is going to come back to bite the Buffalo Sabres in the butt 8.35 million for for a guy who really hasn’t lived up to that potential yet it’s disappointing to see so that’s a big hefty contract right now for Owen Power i think that’s the type of contract you would like to give to JJ Purka after the couple of seasons he had offensively and again he’s just adding more to his bag as well the the shots on goal dropped off a little bit but the shooting percentage went up from 12 to 15.6 30 hits 16 blocks you’re not getting a lot of those peripherals from him uh um again 68 points is incredible for this guy playing in the top six group so he comes in at number four for me as well excited to see what this Sabres team does in the off season free agency window excited to see what they’re able to do and harness something that has clearly been their strength the offensive flare to this group you know they were top five top three in the power play only a couple of years ago then they had another bad season followed up by a very bad season what will they do this year we’ll continue to talk about it top three fantasy targets so you guys know what to do come upcoming draft season today’s episode is brought to you by our friends at Wonderful Pistachios if you need a snack that’s both delicious and nutritious crack into a good source of protein with Wonderful Pistachios one of the highest protein nuts each 1oz serving has six grams of protein giving you over 10% of your daily value plus they’re packed with fiber and the better for you unsaturated fats to help you keep full longer right now we’re loving the no-shell variety the perfect grab and go snack for busy days road trips at the desk or a quick protein boost it’s always our go-to get snacking get cracking with the snack that packs a protein punch visit wonderfulpistachios.com today to learn more and thank you so much for making the Locked On Fantasy Hockey podcast your first listen every single day continue to smash that subscribe button the follow button leave a fivestar review for your boys here Flip Living Stone and Steel Rooden we appreciate you out there thank you so much at number three on my list and I think our list will most likely be the same from this point out at number three I have Alex Tuck i think he’s an absolute gamer out here i think he’s been great the last three seasons 67 points in 82 games this year 36 goals 31 assists 47 penalty minutes six shorthanded goals as well so he was a dual threat on the power play and on the penalty kill for Buffalo 196 shots which he’s been putting up over the last three years consecutively as well he also brings the other peripheral value too 113 blocks a careerhigh 70 73 hits which is almost a careerhigh for him as well but he’s starting to fill uh that peripheral production a part of or add that peripheral production a part of his game on a consistent basis right now and again if this team which has been one of the best goals for team the last couple of seasons if they can work defensively if the power play gets a little bit better too I think I think the numbers can even skyrocket more from what we saw alex Tuck started the season pre- rank before the season started at 75 he finished the season 50th on Yahoo he is a fifth or sixth round pick in my opinion i think he’s going too low i think people actually need to reach on a guy like Alex Tuck steady as she goes steel and I think if you can run the tape back to one of those early day episodes you and I you know it looked like I was recording back here in a den or something i voiced my extreme support for Alex Tuck at multiple junctures he is just so consistent and reliable and aside from the season where he first joined the Sabres and I think he was pretty banged up that year 50 games played he’s been pretty durable and almost a point per game player he is also you and I talk a lot about sometimes we really like a player and what they do for impacting the game on the ice and the importance for their team to put W’s in the win column and what their fantasy value is alex Tuck has it both going on he is critical to the success of this forward group in the Buffalo Sabres system and he also brings it for you on your fantasy team love this player i don’t think you can go wrong with drafting or reaching on this guy steel and honestly I’m buying into this bounceback in Buffalo this year and I know that might be a bit of a tough sell because right now they’re going to run back perhaps if they lose Purka a worse roster i just think that there’s enough talent here i mentioned Jack Quinn mentioned Zack Benson they still have some intriguing young players with a lot of offensive upside if that defense can get tightened up or maybe they make an ad I don’t know what that looks like i’m just posturing i really love the value for these top guys to maybe even increase a little bit 100% again they still got uh even Payton Krebs on that list you have Devin Levi behind UPL there’s a lot to like about this team i just think for for maybe if you go along the sides of what happened again I think I mentioned this at some point during the season of what Ottawa has had to go through the last couple of years ownership change general manager change uh changing of the culture you know passing of the torch sort of vibe i think that’s something Buffalo really needs to go through because it just hasn’t been it and we had them as a playoff bubble team we also had Ottawa as a playoff bubble team we had Detroit as a playoff bubble team Ottawa was capable of doing it buffalo and Detroit were not able to you know for Buffalo that falls on ownership for for uh Detroit that that for me at least it falls on on Steve Eisermanman the general manager of not having enough at the trade deadline so um again culture needs to change for those two organizations espe especially Buffalo at number two I have Raasmus Dallene i hope you have Raasmus Dene at number two as well flip do you have Tage Thompson i have Tage Thompson you sell me on these peripherals all the time and now you’re not going peripheral value but look I think we’re splitting hairs here because both of them are very close i would also say in terms of where I’d be comfortable drafting them as well so I don’t think there’s an argument really to be had one over the other the key target here is one of these two guys are going to be the top guy off the board for the Buffalo Sabres yeah again splitting hairs here i think they both go in the same round i I know I know Rasmus Alene probably gets drafted somewhere in the third or fourth round maybe ahead of Taage Thompson i know I drafted Tage Thompson actually in the third round or fourth round last year but I I have Raasmus Dallene here and I just think the explosiveness of what Tage Thompson brings offensively is why I put him at number one he had 37 even strength goals he only had seven power play goals so again that power play that led the league by the way 37 that did that did lead the league as well thank you for that uh for that fantastic stat right there i think she can be in contention and I when we talk about uh the Rocket Rashard we we had Tage Thompson we also had William Knander we had Leon Dryidle i think Tage Thompson can be in contention for the Rocket Rashard on a yearly basis again that goes with if the power play is rocking at at full at full percentage there but for me Raasmus Dene 68 points in 73 games 54 penalty minutes uh 200 shots 98 blocks 101 hits he fills in those peripheral gaps that’s also why I have Raasmus Dian at number two when you look at him from two years ago to this last season I know he um I know he missed compared again compared on a yearly basis he missed uh eight games compared to the year prior but to go from 195 hits to 101 and down from 154 blocks to 98 and 235 shots to 200 that’s a pretty steady drop from uh from two years ago to last season so that’s why he comes in at number two and that’s also why I have Tae Thompson at number one yeah I respect it i do and I can’t argue with the explosiveness and the goalc scoring ability of Tae Thompson let me explain a little bit more of why I have it how I do right after the break and on tomorrow’s episode sorry should I say Monday’s episode Mr roden we start to enter into I would say a different echelon of quality of teams for the most part of really some really elite targets we got the Ducks Pens Rangers Red Wings on the come up and as we head up these the standings there will be some very elite pieces to talk about let’s get there all the rest of the week keep it tapped and once again thank you so much for making the Locked On Fantasy Hockey Podcast your first listen every single day continue to smash that subscribe button the follow button leave a fivestar review for your boys here Flip Living Stone and Steel Rooden flip over to you my friend tage Thompson number two raasmus Alen number one for you again we’re splitting hairs here i think both those guys go somewhere somewhere in the third to fourth round um but there’s just so much value to be had with this Buffalo team yeah dependent on the league format and how many GMs maybe maybe a little higher dependent you know if it’s a really deep league I could see them going at the you know middle of the third round no problem in my opinion take in though you mentioned the power play and that is clearly one of the reasons why you invest in the Buffalo Sabres or you would think so anyway last year they finished with the 24th best power play only clicking at 18.8% that’s worse than the Kraken the Wild the Blue Jackets that has to improve and I’m not trying to beat a dead horse or be overly obvious but when you are that weak defensively and your strong suit is scoring goals and you’re actually not even doing it on the man advantage it’s no wonder that this team actually finished with a goal differential of minus 20 that I think could have been a whole lot worse they did play pretty good down the stretch 63 and one to close out last season the peripheral category value that I get with Rasmus Dalene and when you look at the difference you know the shot totals all of those points you made very fair the difference in points last season to Thompson to Dalene was only four and when then I also get what I get with those peripherals even though they’re down steel I just see a little bit more value in Rasmus Dalene however if Dage Thompson goes off for another 40 piece or more I think he’s locked in at the number one spot however There is no wrong choice here i would say two very good fantasy options you’re on mute pal always once a week always once a week but yeah like I was saying I there there’s so much value to be had with this Buffalo team it’s just the fact that they haven’t made the playoffs is very uh concerning and has the culture you mentioned it the culture is a tough cell on these fantasy pieces it It really is and maybe that’s why you again we’re hearing rumors or or of some of these players again maybe Purka maybe Alex Tuck maybe Owen Power or Bowen Byron of of the direction of where this team is going right now so you might see you might see a lot of offer sheets this off seasonason as well based on what happened in St louis with both Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg we could see a lot more offer sheets this season than we have over the last decade so Ta Thompson again for me comes in at number one 44 goals he put up 47 goals two seasons ago in 2022 uh also a career year a careerhigh 94 points for him he had 72 points in 76 games for me I the fact that he’s I think for me the fact that he is 66 220 pounds he has the silkiest softest mits I’ve really seen in the National Hockey League besides Conor Mc he has some mits for a guy who is that big and that tall he’s so he’s got he’s got so much poise as well in the corner in front of the net he has that Alexandrovkesque slap shot on the power play to his game we’re getting we’re getting spicy now there’s so much to love about Taige Thompson and I go back to the fact of a few years ago of management of his head coach telling him “You’re a goal scorer now start scoring goals.” And he just switched on a dime i mean it was incredible to see this light bulb just go off in his head he’s like “You know what i am a goal scorer.” And then he starts putting up 47 44 29 38 he’s been one of the best goal scorers in the National Hockey League the last four seasons so I know the careerhigh of 94 points that that might be the outlier for Thompson but I I really think he can be a 75 to 85 point player on a yearly basis especially if that power play is going at full volume and just to wrap this up I think honestly when it comes down to a young team struggling how this team has the nature and fashion of which the franchise has struggled when you don’t have the security blanket of a back end and a goalender playing with confidence and a back end that you can trust to make the plays the young forward group will not thrive and produce at the level that they can it just doesn’t work like that in hockey you need a balanced attack front to back and all areas of the game have to be respected and taken care of and they haven’t done that so if they can clean that up a little bit who knows there’s been a lot of ifs and cans on this episode but if they can then I see where your angles with that offensive explosiveness with Thompson come into play we’ll wait and see we’ll continue to break it down for you guys all summer long baby thank you so much for making the Locked On Fantasy Hockey podcast your first listen every single day for your second listen check out the allnew Locked On NHL game night every game every night until a Stanley Cup champion is crowned Edmonton and Florida game three coming up this week as well we’re excited for that uh and like I said every game every night until Stanley Cup champion is crowned you can get local analysis on a national scale find NHL game night on locked on NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast from your boys here Flip Living Stone and Steel Road and we wish you good luck with your bets hopefully they hit in game two and we shall see you back here again on Monday peace
Buffalo Sabres’ fantasy hockey landscape: Who’s poised for a breakout season? Tage Thompson’s goal-scoring prowess and Rasmus Dahlin’s defensive dominance take center stage.
Hosts Flip Livingstone and Steele Rodin analyze the Sabres’ top 5 fantasy targets, sparking debate over player rankings. From Alex Tuch’s consistent performance to JJ Peterka’s rising potential, the duo dissects each player’s value. They explore UPL’s chances of improvement, Jason Zucker’s impact, and Thompson’s unique combination of size and skill.
Discover why Dahlin could be the dark horse in your fantasy draft and how Thompson might rival the league’s elite scorers this season.
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