DarthEbriate

Fan at dev camp: Make a trade, Sheevyn! GMKA: Apology accepted, Fan at Dev Camp.

Last year, Cozens had a slow start, then his concussion. It took him a long time to look himself, but HCDG always kept him in the top 6. McLeod will likely only ever be a 3C on this roster as well, but he has the 200' game to push on Cozens if injuries/slumps take place. Ruff will mix-match lines and ice time and this is a good piece for that.

Playing center behind McDavid and Draisaitl (whenever they aren't on the ice together) and now Henrique. Savoie could become a legitimate top-6 forward, but the Sabres kept the better Winnipeg ICE prospect within the organization, and now have a legit 2/3C to push Cozens and take D-zone faceoffs for Ruff. This is a good hockey trade from both sides.

Still in EEE phase and just happy to be here until proven otherwise. As a breakdown: JJP had 9 goals in his final 22 games once he started getting top line minutes. That's 32G per 82. I believe Skinner's top line production is more than covered. The question remaining on LW is: can Zucker/Benson outproduce 2JJP/3Benson-Skinner's production of last season? 19JJP in those first 5 months; 11Benson; 5Skinner in those final 2 months. Need 35 goals from the 2nd/3rd LW. (And can we get any scoring whatsoever from the 4th line?) Eichel and McDavid/Draisaitl are going to make Skinner so much money -- and make 2 fanbases lament the follow-up contract. Although we now will have to see just how good Skinner is in the playoffs. A huge season and a great playoff run and... does it kindle any HOF chatter?

Good. Goooood... Just reading through this thread and wondering where GM Sheevyn is going to get a top 6 apprentice. GM Sheevyn is the Emperor, having staged his 10-year coup and vote of no confidence in the previous supreme chancellor/GM JBot. Darth Pegulas (the Wise?) is always off-screen.

Matt Ellis... who played on the same team as... Datsyuk. Notably, it's a much smaller roster this year. 2023 - 5 goalies, 13 D (2 given playoff/injury rests: Metsa, Novikov); 24 F (5 given rests: Savoie, Rosen, Weissbach, Kozak, Kulich) Even skipping those "rest" players, this roster is lighter: 2024 - 4 goalies, 8 D, 16 F. My favorite part of the Dev Camp roster is the growth. Gotta take it with a grain of salt, because sometimes they don't update a player's information. Case in point: Von Barnekow -- 2023: 6-2 158#; 2024: 6-4 196#. Dude put on 38 pounds in one year. However, some decent gains from other players: Richard 2023: 171#, 2024: 190#. +19# Panocha +11# Costantini +15#

EA NHL games taught me that the Regier rebuild was too cold (Armia never quite lived up to potential) and the GMTM aggression was too hot (losing McNabb was bad). But a hybrid model of the two: creating JT Compher (because he was in NCAA and had no license agreement) while still maintaining ROR... was just right. Agree with this. Very unlikely given his sophomore season sans Peca. But I do think Kozak has a much better chance of being on the Sabres roster with Ruff as head coach than he did with Granato. Still, depends on the GM to call him up.

Every NHL-level signing this season should've happened last year given the 1-point-short outcome of '22-'23. Zucker as a 2/3W while Quinn was out; allowing the team to trade VO for nothing if that's what HCDG wanted because he was only going to play VO as a 4W. A 4C (Lafferty or equivalent) to replace Krebs/Jost. Replacing UFAs with younger models (A-K, Malenstyn or equivalent in; Okposo, Girgensons out). Add to that the Clifton as a RHD, and yes, even Erik Johnson for veteran Cup-experience depth. Reimer and UPL. Waive Comrie and start Levi in Rochester... Mitts and Skinner still on the team with Quinn returning mid-season.... That's a potential playoff roster.

Yes, but those three have defined grind-line roles that Ruff will use. Kulich, Rosen, and Savoie will all need to enhance their 4th line skill set to play over them. The rookie trio will have a chance to win a job from Krebs, though.

The Locomotive has left the station. An ex-Sabres team would bludgeon a current-Sabres team in a playoff series (unless Ullmark got injured, because your ex-backups are Comrie and Johansson). However, Zemgus might not even dress for that ex-Sabres squad...

Alienating comes in different forms -- how the players are treated, what they're offered, and how they're communicated with. (And it should never be made public by the front office.) But, if you look at the contracts and trades and every time GMKA says, "wanted to be here", you can infer how he feels, or doesn't, about his players. Ullmark - yes, wanted out for personal reasons as well. But he could've been given a starter's extension before his final Sabres season even began. Portillo - The franchise anointed Levi the savior immediately. Portillo knew he wasn't going to be given a fair competition even for AHL starter time here (and his AHL numbers last year were great). He's still a good goalie prospect. UPL - He was in complete limbo at the end of 22-23, sitting behind Levi and Comrie. And this summer, the Sabres simply qualify him rather than going for something long-term immediately. Reinhart - Only offered a bridge (granted, JBott did it first). Montour - Maybe he demanded out, maybe not. But he was still a talented young right-handed D-man who was deemed expendable. Mittelstadt - Wanted to be here, played a position of need, led the team in scoring... still got shopped anyway.

Now... just go sign Henrique in retaliation. And yes, this does mean Skinner is going to finally play in a playoff game (health permitting), and win a Cup.

Playoffs-caliber? No. Not in this division. Because while the Sabres are better roster than they were on 6/27 (or even 4/15), so are a bunch of their primary competitors in the East. Is the Sabres roster better than 4 days ago? Yes. All the core pieces have another year of growth and development. The coach is better. Levi is better than Comrie. As to the moves: Would I rather have Lafferty/Krebs than Jost/Krebs? Yes. Yes, I would. (Yes, we all agree still a glaring hole at C.) Malenstyn is an upgrade from Girgensons. Aube-Kubel is probably a downgrade from Okposo's all-around game/savvy, but his wheels probably make up for it, honestly. Especially over the course of 82 games. Zucker is an improvement over VO/3rd-line-version of Skinner. (Remember, JJP already replaced Skinner in the top 6.) And now, if a rookie wants to make the roster, then they're going to have to outplay a whole of proven vets with established roles. Not VO (whom HCDG had lost all faith in) or waivers-claim Jost.

But Mitts wasn't here before the draft. He only has to keep one person happy.

But it's also a great problem to have if you have multiple excellent players deserving of cash. Sometimes they'll win you the Cup and you gladly let them walk, and others you prioritize to extend, and others you trade for renewable assets. This front office operates out of fear. And this front office's fear leads to alienating their best young players so that they would rather get to UFA ASAP, or to demand trades after signing long-term deals, rather than stay with the franchise's ineptitude.

That's not how the Force Cap works!

Yeah, Zucker has always been kind of a poor man's Pominville. Second/third line guy who gets top 6 minutes because he's healthy (because of play style) and skill. But he's never going to be a top line threat. You know when this move would've been perfect? Last year. When Zucker was a UFA and you needed a temporary 2/3W to complete the lineup until Quinn returned from injury. Most of today's Sabres signings are a year late.

He wants to be... here?

And it's not that the start date of Dev Camp even matters. It's the optics and perception to your fanbase and to the rest of the league. The Kraken Dev Camp starts tomorrow 7/2. Why? So that it doesn't appear that leadership is sitting on their duff on the opening day of UFA. And the Kraken (who finished worse than Buffalo and aren't any more of a contender in their division than the Sabres are in the Atlantic) went out and got Montour and Stephenson, both arguably top-5 UFAs at their respective positions.

This is a really important distinction with Ruff. At 5-on-5 Malenstyn could be playing with Cozens/Quinn, for example. Greenway with Krebs/Zucker. Benson on the 4th line with Lafferty/Aube-Kubel. It'll be about finding those fits. Except on the Sabres, is he a 3C or a 2C?

Huh. Do other franchises just opt out of the afternoon on day 1 of UFA to go do an employee onboarding call? Seems like Dev Camp could wait until 7/2 to get started.

Bryson cromulence achieved! Sooner than expected.

To be fair, at points during the Angry Larry phase we had prime ROR and up-and-coming top-line center Eichel ahead of them. And Reinhart, et. al. The 4th line was extremely important then. (As was goaltending.) Skinner to Edmonton; Henrique to 2/3C in Buffalo. Edmonton misses the playoffs in a massive post-Final letdown.

Is he good?

Our GM is telling you without telling you it's Kulich or Helenius. Look at the amazing training camp he had! Really wanted it and outworked Krebs for it.