dudacek

This pretty much sums up Kevyn Adams and the entire team don't it? Sure he moved Cozens, but he's only moving Peterka and Byram because he thinks he has to and he still is refusing to buy significant outside help. It always comes down to 'the answers are in this room.'

Moulson 29 Hodgson 44 Ennis 43 Ott 20 Girgensons 22 Stafford 34 Foligno 19 Leino 15 Flynn 13 D’Agostini 11 Ellis 6 Scott 1 Are you in middle school? 😜 And Moulson got traded and only played 44 games. I think we’ve kinda flushed those teams from our memories.

Crazy thin, Chad was pointing out it’s a growing issue, and may not be a quick fix given Kevyn’s propensity for missing or burning 2nd rounders. We need a few of the pro guys to start hitting so it won’t matter as much.

The pod also had some interesting tidbits on Danforth and Doan. I’d have to re-listen for the particulars, but the gist was that they are at the high-end of NHL forecheckers; I think they said Doan’s retrievals per 60 were at a stand-alone level, almost literally off the charts.

I’ve heard this from a few informed sources. There’s a minority opinion out there that the great unwashed may have an inflated view of Peterka and don’t know how good Kesselring is. Even most of these people still think JJ is the best player in the deal, so it was interesting to hear Fairburn - the most credible of the Sabres beat guys - say it may end up being Kessel. Wishful thinking I’m sure, and I’ve had a lower opinion of Peterka than most.

Is this edit also true?

Yes, things seem to be going rather well on the contract front. The Sabres had potentially one of the bumpiest contract situations in the league and I’m starting to see Adams has actually done a pretty good job of negotiating it so far. Better cap minds than me did a good job of showing last year during the Skinner buyout talks how the Sabres would actually be in a rather precarious position under the cap this year given all their pending RFAs. Priority one was getting a framework in place with Byram, Peterka, Quinn, and McLeod in order to get the starting point needed to chart his course of action, which clearly he was able to do. Then he needed some certainty before July 1 with at least one of his 2 difficult negotiations, which he got with the Peterka trade. He then neatly knocked off Quinn and McLeod early, and to reasonable deals to avoid distractions while shuffling the fringes of the roster to free up the cap space to ensure he kept his leverage with Byram. He added the big right-handed shutdown D, 3rd goalie option and forechecking badgers he wanted, and dumped a couple of role-playing too-pricey roster failures. Now he can deal with Tuch and Levi at his leisure while still being able to complete any further tweaking after the Byram situation settles. On some level it’s actually been a solid bit of business. He may have actually had a plan and has mostly executed it. Too bad on the hockey level it doesn’t appear to have included any appreciable roster improvement.

it does put them over the cap by $2.5M. They waived Nick Leddy, who makes approximately the same amount, in order to create space.

I think JBD was let go with Adams believing he could get an equal or better player at the same price with no risk of arbitration. Jones ended up being that guy. We'll see if he's right.

As far as the saving/creating cap space in order to deal with the Byram situation I'm not going to let my skepticism about Adams blind me to the fact that keeping enough flexibility in order to deal with whatever may come is actually a prudent course of action. The more I parse through the variables there in terms of offer sheets and trade packages, it's pretty easy to see the wisdom. Where the BS meter kicks in to overdrive is the fact that chances are good they won't trade Bo for a $12M cap hit return. And what if the return only carries a $6M hit? Does anyone think they will use the rest of their space to further improve the roster? Adams has set himself up smartly under the cap, but it's not the first time he's done that. And every time before this he has failed to use the space his manoeuvring has created to its full advantage. I'll believe this time will be different when I actually see it.

I really think you guys are missing the crux of the JBD discussion. Adams called him an 8 and treated him like he's an 8. If JBD is just that — another in a long collection of Adams blueline tweeners — he made the right call. If he is a clear step above Bryson, Johnson and Jones and a serviceable #6D, then the board is right and Adams ***** up. It's not really about anything other than player evaluation.

They're fully able to match a $7-9M sheet and should be willing. If a team is stupid enough to go higher, they should take the picks because Byram isn't worth 2 1sts, a 2nd and a 3rd, and those are assets they can flip for what he wants. If Adams doesn't stand firm it's because he's weak or Terry won't spend. Stubbornness, poor evaluation and hubris are three demonstrable Adams traits, but this is the guy who rode out the Eichel storm for months. I don't perceive him to be weak. And I suspect ego will override EEE for Terry if someone drops an offer sheet.

You and me both. I think the issue is not value right now, its fit. Adams believes he has both leverage and interested suitors but he's not holding an auction; if he was, he would have already flipped him for the best pick/player/prospect combo But I think he has a specific kind of return in mind and is trying to get it; it's what he did for Eichel and what he did for Peterka. That's harder, because it involves cap and rosters instead of liquid assets. And he may lose value in the process.

Oh, I would be shocked if they didn't get more than Mittelstadt at the time we traded him, and considerably more than Mittelstadt right now, at least in terms of value.

Not disagreeing with the concept. But right now, Matty Beniers and Ryan McLeod might roughly be the same player. Last year McLeod was better.

Matty played 3 more games than Power last year and had 3 more points. Still a lot of seasons to be played but right now Power seems like the better choice to me.

Willander can probably play right now and the bottom six guy would be a good edgy type like Joshua or Sherwood. Maybe Kevyn is holding out for Byram-level or Byram-lite defensive guy, or a young 2nd-line winger, but I think when all is said and done with Byram, people’s immediate reaction is going to be one of disappointment. They might get value, but probably not if they hold out exclusively for veteran roster players. I think they tipped their hands with the Peterka trade on the model they’re going for. The Sabres will not be getting the best player in Byram deal unless they decide to keep him.

Kulich is already a Sabre. Ryan Johnson, Tyson Kozak and Isak Rosen are of an age and experience where they could or should be making the move. As things stand right now, I give Kozak even odds to be the 14th forward. I expect they’ll keep Bryson as the 7 and get Johnson lots of work in the minors, even if Johnson outplays him in camp. Johnson might beat him out though if an injury opens up a top 6 spot. Rosen almost certainly will not; he’s not the dawg the Sabres are looking to be adding this year. His only shot IMO is an injury or meltdown to both Quinn and Kulich. Novikov has a real outside shot if Samuelsson is hurt, but I think he’s more of mid-season call-up. The other young players - Helenius, Östlund, Wahlberg, Komorov - aren’t seasoned enough. Devon Levi has a job if he earns it, but I suspect it will not be handed to him this time.

Canuck fans are so enamoured with Willander, they wouldn’t trade him straight across for Byram. He’s good: roughly the equivalent of Mtrka in the sense that he projects as a high-floor all-around #2/3, but no one sees him as a #1 except Canuck fans. The ask, IMO is fair for a player of Byram’s resume. It’s roughly the equivalent of what K’Andre Miller just got and what other 3rd contract #2/3 projections go for.

Don’t think I can get there, at least in terms of your second sentence. Aren’t you essentially saying shoulda picked Beniers and kept Mittelstadt? Or shouldn’t have traded Cozens and Savoie for guys who aren’t top 10 forwards? If you simply mean Adams Botterill and Murray should have made better decisions in general, then yeah, sure.

It’s kind of a function of how long we’ve been bad and the fact fact we’ve hit the reset button three times now. This is effectively the last gasp of SabresRebuild 3.0. Sam and Jack were traded in the aftermath of 2.0, Nylander busted, Savoie, Cozens and Mittelstadt were sacrificed in a bid to keep 3.0 alive. Unless some kind of miracle happens, we’ll be adding another one next year for the new guy to launch Version 4.0

Not agreeing or disagreeing with this. But Calgary just had a 96-point season and would be adding a top 4 defenceman without losing anyone. Could you not see them disagreeing?

The tweet up-thread actually resonates with me as possible talking points Andersson is an obvious need if Byram goes, signed or unsigned. Pospisil is a youngish pest that fits the Sabres current direction. Zary is a youngish middle-sixer with fading upside, kinda Krebs/Quinn territory. Mews is a legit prospect who fits the mold of what the Sabres seem to like. No idea what combination of those pieces we’re looking for or what is holding things up. For all his flaws, Adams has shown he can be a stubborn seller.

So on his pod last night, Chad D is sticking with his trade prediction. His implication is that there is a threat of an offer sheet that has forced the Sabres to focus on that particular team, and there is a desire from both teams to get a trade done instead. There is also the implication that the Sabres think there is a deal worth making, but the other team hasn’t met their ask yet. Chad thinks Adams is likely to draw a line in the sand today, where either a trade is made, or talks die, leaving Byram to decide between signing the sheet or negotiating a deal with the Sabres. He never brought it up, but I think the team is Calgary. I disagree. I think you told him you’d rather sign him, but you’re willing to hear offers to get him to a team with the role he wants.

Ruff certainly had a voice in wanting to add players like Doan, Kesselring and Danforth. But other members of the brass, including Adams, probably did as well, and ultimately it was Adams who went out and got them. I’d say the only player the Sabres acquired where Ruff had a more direct voice was Geertsen, who he actually coached.