Sabres training camp thoughts: Lindy Ruff’s culture talk, injury and lineup notes
Ruff is clear that he wants the Sabres to be better defensively, and he wants a hardworking team that is a pain to play against.
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Lindy Ruff’s priority is fixing the Buffalo Sabres’ culture.
That message has been ringing through the halls at KeyBank Center since the trade deadline last season. It was a major theme in the offseason and again when Ruff spoke to reporters when players reported to training camp on Wednesday.
That’s why the Sabres swapped out their strength and conditioning staff, a move Ruff said he realized was necessary during last season. He’s promising a demanding training camp and has made that expectation clear with the players.
Ruff is also planning an end-of-camp retreat to try to help the team come together. It’s something he did while he was in New Jersey and didn’t have the same chance last season because the team went to Germany and Prague for the start of the season.
“Really just team culture,” Ruff said. “I don’t even call it bonding. I’ll just call it culture. How we want to treat each other, how we want to play. How, as a group, we’re going to come together as a family and get this done.”
This is getting to the playoffs, something this franchise hasn’t done since 2010-11 when Ruff was still in his first stint as the team’s coach. Ruff acknowledged that he didn’t have a good enough handle on some of the players heading into last season. He was too optimistic about certain players and feels he has a much better grasp of what he’s dealing with now.
Ruff also said culture was “everything” when the Sabres were trying to improve the roster in the offseason. In trading JJ Peterka for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan, the Sabres got two strong locker room pieces who are difficult to play against. Ruff also mentioned Justin Danforth and Mason Geertsen as two signings that fall into that same bucket. Ruff is clear that he wants the team to be better defensively, and he wants a hardworking team that is a pain to play against.
Whether he can achieve those goals remains to be seen. But as general manager Kevyn Adams and Ruff each met with reporters on Wednesday, it was clear they both know the results will say more than any words they offer up in mid-September.
“Talk is cheap,” Ruff said. “We’re going to have to just win games.”
Here are some other takeaways from Ruff and Adams speaking to open camp.
1. Why did Ruff bring back the same assistants?
The Sabres changed their strength and conditioning staff but otherwise kept the entire coaching staff the same. Ruff said he did explore some opportunities to improve the staff, but he decided to prioritize continuity. Seth Appert was an internal promotion to last year’s staff, so he’s in his second season as a Sabres assistant. Mike Bales is entering his seventh season as the goalie coach, and Marty Wilford is entering his fifth season coaching the defense. Ruff and Adams both spoke about needing to improve defensively, and it seems getting some fresh voices behind the bench could have helped. There’s been a lot of talk about accountability in this organization over the last couple of years, but it’s tough to pin down how exactly that is put into practice.“I believe in this group, I do,” Ruff said. “We spent endless hours. We know where there’s areas we need to improve and we’re going to improve.”
That continuity is extending to the captains as well. Ruff said the team’s captains will remain the same. That means Rasmus Dahlin will be a captain with Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson and Mattias Samuelsson as alternate captains. Dylan Cozens was an alternate captain last season but got traded at the deadline. The team never handed out his letter after the trade.
2. What’s up in net?
Adams wouldn’t specify exactly what injury Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has, other than to say Buffalo’s starting goalie is dealing with a “lower-body” injury. But Adams said he got imaging recently, and it came back clean. It’s not an injury that bothers him in the weight room or walking around, but it is giving him problems with specific goalie movements. At this point, the Sabres don’t anticipate Luukkonen needing surgery and are hopeful it will be a day-to-day injury.“There’s no alarms right now saying that it’s a significant injury,” Adams said. “But there was a tweak that he didn’t feel great. So we just have to make sure we protect ourselves. And I’m really being honest with you guys, that it’s one of these situations where it’s day to day, but could it stretch a little longer? Yes. Do we think that’ll happen? No, but he may not be on the ice first day of practice. We’re gonna kind of see how the next three or four days go.”
The team signed Alexandar Georgiev as added insurance in case Luukkonen’s injury stretches into the season. Adams also mentioned it provides some internal competition, and Ruff said he sensed that Georgiev is hungry to prove himself. The Sabres have arguably the worst goalie situation in the Atlantic Division, with Georgiev and Alex Lyon as the two healthy goalies entering camp. That spot will be a major question mark this season, even when Luukkonen is healthy. Can the Sabres get competent goaltending to emerge from this trio?
3. Jordan Greenway setback could create competition
Jordan Greenway was on the ice going through a rehab skate on Wednesday morning. The veteran power forward had a setback during the summer and required a second surgery in July on a core muscle injury that plagued him throughout last season. Adams said Greenway could be ready by opening night, but it’s not a guarantee. That means the Sabres will have some legitimate competition for a spot in the bottom six. The early bet would be that Beck Malenstyn, Peyton Krebs and Danforth make up the fourth line. But Ruff mentioning Geertsen unprompted was notable. Geertsen can fight and play the hard, physical game that Ruff will be looking for at the bottom of the lineup. He can play both defense and forward, so he’s a name to watch entering training camp.4. Some lineup notes
We may not have a clear picture of Ruff’s lines right away, but some of his comments could have given some hints. It seems clear that Ruff still prefers Thompson as a winger. He also seems to have a lot of faith in Josh Norris, who played only three games after the Sabres acquired him at the trade deadline last year. I’d bet Norris is the No. 1 center playing next to Thompson. When Ruff listed his centers, he mentioned Norris, Ryan McLeod and Jiri Kulich in that order. That could be nothing, but it’s possible McLeod has a shot to be the team’s second center. Considering the priority the team is putting on defense, that would make sense. He played well next to Tuch last season. Ruff also said if Zach Benson wants to hold down the No. 1 left wing job, he needs to do a better job of finishing when he gets his opportunities. We’ll see how Ruff puts together the lineup, but he has a lot more options now than he did at the end of last season.5. Tage Thompson locked in
Ruff mentioned that he was encouraged by the way players showed up to camp, making productive use of the five-month layoff from the last time they played a game. One of those players was Thompson, who won a gold medal with Team USA at the World Championship. He also got back to Buffalo early and seems motivated to help the Sabres take the next step. The Olympics are clearly on his mind as well.“Incredibly focused,” Ruff said. “I think the Olympics is a big deal for players, and I think it’s a big deal for him. I think his experience at Worlds was a great experience. He played with Doan and Kesselring over there. They were part of that experience. We have three guys, I don’t care what event you’re playing in, if you win it, it brings you together. It shows you that you can be a winner. Tage got a real good taste for that. The winning goal was on the end of his stick. I think it will drive players. It has driven him. He’s another guy that has had a real good summer. I’m excited for him.”