Former 1st round pick. 25 years old. A whopping 6'8, 249 lbs. Anyone got a scouting report on this guy?
I'm on my phone and haven't been able to read this thread so excuse any redundancies. What I know about Finley, besides his size is that he was still developing. His skating is ok and his balance needs some work. Obviously with that size he doesn't shy away from fightin the bigger guys in the league. Buffalo tries to sneak him through but they are stacked on defense so there really wasn't room for him there.
He needs to work on his game. He has potential to be a decent defensive guy. You're not going to see much offense with him. Any offense is a bonus but he can serve as that Eric Cairns "move guy A from in front of our goalie type." He plays honest, he just needs developing. He's fine as a bottom pairing D man and is not really a liability.
People from Buffalo I've talked to loved his game but said he still needed some work. Im sure it was already stated here but he did fight Matt Martin last season. Not that great of a showing from him since I've seen him play dozens of times and have seen him dominate fights ala Carkner. But we shall see. Hope this helps.
Since he was claimed off waivers that means he either sticks with the team or goes back on waivers at which point Buffalo would reclaim him. I don't know if Snow thinks he will make the team or he just wants some more competition in this shortened camp.
Amerks/Sabres fan here: I've seen every game Joe Finley play this year and most last year. Yes, he's obviously big. He hasn't been as physical this year as he was last year (I think the coaching staff stressed positional play this year) but is good at clearing the crease and taking guys out in the corner. Now that he has an NHL shot, I'm sure he'll be hitting everything he can. Fighting? He does it, not great at it. He usually only gets in a couple shots before ragdolling. His offense is completely non-existant. About 75% of his point shots result in a broken stick. Usually when he does get the puck at the point he takes a shot and breaks his stick, doesn't get good wood and it flutters to the net, and he just dumps it into the corner. His only goal this year was a weird bouncer that Robert Mayer should have stopped. He was probably the most versatile defenseman on the Amerks starting the season paired with fellow defensive defenseman Matt MacKenzie, then was partnered with Mark Pysyk and occasionally Nick Crawford, both more offensive minded.
F Wathier, M Fortunas, L Gazdic, T Morin, T Petersen, T Sloan (DAL).
S Backman, N McIver, M Watkins, T Wishart (NYI).
I wonder if several teams are trying to sign UFAs by waiving a bunch of AHLers. It's been extremely shocking that hardly any of the UFAs have been signed up to this point (such as Arnott and Sykora).
I understand that, but it can't be excuses every single year. I mean, at some point, a GM has to make trades.
Stop holding onto guys like Neilsen and Okposo and acting like these two will suddenly turn into something their not.
That's all. Milbury used to suck at life, but at least he took risks. I'm so tired of Garth holding onto these young guys like we have the best young players in the league. Aside from Tavares, any player on this roster is touchable. Improve the god damn team, Garth.
This post may be what finally puts me past my boiling point with this board .
oh and maybe spell the guys name right if you are going to bash him.... Frans NIELSEN is a great hockey player and a great representative for our club. Just b/c he doesn't score 100+ points every year doesn't make him a bum
Hmm... didn't know much about this guy but Buffalo fans seem to have a "very good stay-at-home guy, don't expect much in the offensive zone though". The size is very intriguing, seems like a nice bottom pairing guy who can put in work on the penalty kill.
Hope he works out for you guys, it certainly appears to be putting another nail in the Amerks coffin.
Edit - Amusing story on how he wound up in Buffalo. He was working out in the same gym and rink with Jordan Leopold. Leo was impressed, told Regier how he looked and they brought him to camp as an invitee. He earned his AHL deal in camp, then they picked him up on a regular NHL-level contract mid-season.
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Hope he works out for you guys, it certainly appears to be putting another nail in the Amerks coffin.
Edit - Amusing story on how he wound up in Buffalo. He was working out in the same gym and rink with Jordan Leopold. Leo was impressed, told Regier how he looked and they brought him to camp as an invitee. He earned his AHL deal in camp, then they picked him up on a regular NHL-level contract mid-season.
I am surprised to see this much interest in Joe. He can't skate at the NHL level so he will be a 240 lb pylon. I hope they can fix that over time, and they could badly use the muscle, but his size had to attract interest elsewhere yet no one else wants him for even a 6th. That says it all right there.
I'd definitely grab Hickey.
If we could make it a 2nd rounder for the rights to Visnovsky and two former first-round pick d-men, I think we're doing better on the deal.
Hope he works out for you guys, it certainly appears to be putting another nail in the Amerks coffin.
Edit - Amusing story on how he wound up in Buffalo. He was working out in the same gym and rink with Jordan Leopold. Leo was impressed, told Regier how he looked and they brought him to camp as an invitee. He earned his AHL deal in camp, then they picked him up on a regular NHL-level contract mid-season.
Sounds similiar to Defazio, he works out with JT and now he's doing well in the AHL for the Tigers.
