thewookie1

I think, although they fired Sutter, many of the players already were eying greener pastures. Then like a set of dominoes, as soon as one said they wanted out the others joined

I’m happy to say I’ve got a few NSH fans onboard with Saros & 24 Östlund, 13, our 2024 1st with Top 5 protection and Polotov Its steep but retains a 1st this year and our top 2 prospects

I believe he hated being traded here but in my opinion it had more to do with being traded than the location.

Sign someone

It's 13, Östlund, Poltapov, and a '24 2nd that turns into a '24 1st if we make the playoffs next year. for 24 and Saros I've got some NSH fans interested so I made it 13, Östlund, Poltapov, 2024 1st (Top 5 Protected) for 24 and Saros That's an equivalence of approximately 2 1sts, and a 2nd + moving from 24 to 13 is worth a very high 2nd in regards to value charts. So 2 1sts and 2 2nds.

Well I don't mind Saros depending on the trade proposal.

For me, all trades need to at minimum break even for our team. Now that doesn't mean you can't buy rentals or the like but rather they need to make an impact worthy of what was traded away. For instance trading a 1st for a random forward; that forward would need to bring significant value to the team for that year (if he's a true rental) whether it be in goals/assists or some combination points, hits, experience etc. In the end you want to walk away feeling like the trade was worth it in the end. The biggest issue with goalies are they have the highest natural risk factor of any position since there are very few valuable avenues it can go. What I mean by that is if you trade/sign a player to score goals but he injures his arm and never puts up huge goal numbers; you can still garner positive value from him if he compensates in other manners such as assists or two-way play. An offensive defenseman can theoretically still be a very effective two-way or defensive defenseman in theory. Skaters are far more flexible in this way. Goalies really aren't, you're either good or bad. Regardless if the goalie has to adjust his play or not due age, injury or what not; all that matters is can he keep the puck out of the net. Hence their boom or bust trait. As for contracts, I have a similar feel about goalies. Long-term contracts with goalies rarely work in the team's favor; especially high AAV ones. The reason being you can't exactly hide a declining goalie in the lineup. A Forward can go from Line 1 to 4 in theory while a Defenseman can go from 1st to 3rd pair. A goalie has two slots and both are more or less locked in game by game. Burying them is practically useless since few goalies outside of ELCs make the 1mil or so you get in relief when burying their contract. Lastly goalies tend to be finicky by nature but also highly influenced by their team's structure and style of play. Martin Brodeur was a great goalie, but he also played on a defensive stalwart his entire career which will always put him below Hasek and Roy in my rankings of goalies. We will need a goalie who thrives in chaos and can make an above average number of saves against odd-man rushes. Our style, even with better defensive coverage, will always be more prone to odd-man attacks. Now that my reasoning is finished, I'll give my take on the available goalies Hellebuyck is a great goalie but one with questionable results against high danger opportunities and is asking for an immediate no in a contract. Vasilevskiy was 26 when he signed for 8x9.5mil and had won a Stanley Cup already. While great Hellebuyck would be 5 years older and likely a "bad" fit with our style of play as a whole. Even Bob was 29 when he signed his 7x10mil contract. (Hellebuyck would be 31 at Year 1 of his (8x9.5 mil contract in theory) Thus based on his asking price via trade and contractual demands I have zero interest in him. Saros is more in-line stylistically and has shown to be effective in more offensively minded defensive set ups. So that isn't an issue and the fact he and Levi have a lot in common would make it even more useful for Levi's growth. The major issue with Saros is availability and cost of acquisition. If they asked to move up to 13 from 24, Östlund, our 2024 2nd and Polotov I'd be very willing to go through with the deal. The issue would be if they insist of Kulich or Savoie to which I'd be rather incredulous to even discuss trading. Hell I'd even put a condition on that 2024 2nd to become a 1st if it helped. Thus I feel somewhat discouraged by the likelihood of the acquisition Hart is plainly not worth 2 1sts plus in my book. Gibson is far too erratic and has a terrible contract to boot If you have other goalies, feel free to ask. As for the counterpoint we don't need to win every trade I'd say; no we don't need to school another team, it can be very fair or even slightly lost. It just can't be a complete waste of assets akin to Murray's McNabb and 2 2nds for Deslauries and Fasching or a near disaster like the ROR trade which only through good luck gave us a star in return. Trading Savoie or Kulich for a year or two of a goalie has all the makings of a complete failure in the making. (Filip Forsberg for Martin Erat anyone?) For instance if we traded Savoie to Nashville, the only conceivable way we come out clean is if either Savoie falls on his face or Saros literally plays Vezina level goaltending 2 years in a row while turning Levi into an up in coming star and taking us deep into the playoffs both years. Anything less than that makes it very easy for Savoie to make us regret our trade for a myriad of years.

Definitely feels like Adams is tying up the offense so he can fully focus his on acquiring that 3/4D partner for Power. In a sense that’s a sound strategy seeing as our offense wasn’t really an issue very often last year and we have at least 2 players in Rochester with Top 6 upsides, Savoie and Östlund in the pipeline. I doubt he tenders Jost but will have an offer for him. As for goalie my guess is he’s far more cautious due to the absurd prices that seem to be floating around. Hellebuyck isn’t worth 8x9.5mil for his 31 through 39 year old seasons. Nashville May just want too much for Saros. Meanwhile Hart and Demko would be somewhat akin to refurbished products you hope keep their shinier form. Presently Levi is the golden calf and is safe. He is presently at minimum going to get a shot at the 1A spot in camp. UPL and Comrie are in less safe waters. UPL will either back up in Buffalo or be traded; I see no circumstance in which KA lets him go on waivers to get claimed. Essentially Comrie only has two shots at playing in Buffalo next year to start. Either Levi falls on his face or a team offers an absurd price for UPL. Essentially Comrie can’t be the backup based on merit or performance due to UPL’s waiver issue.

How is Travis Sanheim?

We need to strengthen our defense before adding redundancies. OEL is atrocious defensively and would be literally worthless aside from Power/Dahlin being out. I have no use for a player who is only useful if it requires other players to be hurt in order for them to have any actual purpose.

OEL doesn’t make any logical sense for the team. He has never been considered a defensive stalwart even in his better years and since we don’t need another offensive defenseman

Captain Dad has a post player career for sure; he’s got a myriad of options

It has nothing to do with the window to me, it’s all about player control. If he refuses to sign a reasonable deal akin to 8x8mil I’d take the bridge just to increase our hold on him. What I don’t want is a 6 year deal where he can walk to UFA and sign with the highest bidder.

How is Justin Faulk defensively and analytically at this point?

To be honest between 2x4mil and 6x7mil I'd be unsure. In my opinion you get an 8 year contract or a bridge; nothing in-between. 6 years doesn't help the Sabres in the slightest and walks him into UFA at 26/27 years old. I would much prefer the 8 year deal even if its 7to8mil a year. If he wants to bet on himself, you give 2 years at 4mil per and then eat a bullet in 2 years with an 8x10mil contract. At very least we have him 10 years + 1 instead of 6 years + 1

Based on the categories it strikes me as a report based on family man players versus young bachelors

That was literally from some Islander fan on CapFriendly Sadly no

Would you trade Olofsson for Clutterbuck, NYI’s 2nd and the rights to Varlomov?

Well based on that he’s looking for 1.9mil per year since Big Macs here are about $7 lol

Would depend on the cost.

One thing that worries me would be the combined trade cost and contract. I'd give him 5/6x7mil at max but I doubt he'd take that

My guess would still be a 3rd that can become a 2nd next year but I certainly wouldn’t turn down more. As for player vs pick; it’s easier to acquire picks than players since one is more or less a currency transaction and the other is bartering

My first target for upgrading the D would be Alec Martinez for a conditional ‘24 4th(3rd) That solidifies the left side and gives 3 Cup Rings of experience and know how to our team which is sorely needed. Muel Power Martinez Stillman as 7 As for the right side we presently have Dahlin, Jokiharju, Bush. That is where we need a defensive partner for Power. Dahlin is a lock. From there Jokiharju or Bush will be moved out while we using the remaining one as our 3RD. There are a number of interesting ideas Tanev/Hanifin from CGY probably leading all trade targets. I’d love Roy from LAK but I doubt they move him. DeMelo from WPG would also work well as a defensive partner. On the cheap acquisition cost side, a guy like Jeff Petry could be an adequate add as he’s a Jack of all trades type with playoff experience. UFAs are primarily older guys like Schenn or middle career guys like Mayfield or Graves.

Intriguing first post, an Assistant GM before a GM

Just happy Eichel didn't win the Conn Smythe Well good game Vegas, you certainly were the better team in this series. Hopefully this endless pain will appease the hockey gods from our tank and let us make the playoffs next year. Also, KA please acquire Alec Martinez; he'd be a perfect 3LD