DarthEbriate

Here's to another circuit around your Sun! Thanks for all you do.

First, all teams should have some form of self-imposed cap of about 2-3M in spare below the limit for in-season flexibility. Factor in loss of gate revenues league-wide and it's good business to save some bucks here and there. These are the right questions to ask! But yes! The Fear of Arbitration. What a season to be a RFA! Those AAVs being tossed about by models for Reino to get 8x8 are simply out of the picture for this season. He can go to arbitration all he wants but no team should make that deal if we're looking at a three-year period of flat cap/ threatened lost gate revenue. This is the offseason for players to choose Colorado on the cheap, or glom onto some other contender on a prove-it deal. And to make a bid on an RFA --- TBL can't sign a player to even a modest $5M deal because they self-impose a cap. Nab him! Will draft picks even have great value in the next few years if WHL, NCAA, and European leagues all also have consistent and prolonged stoppages?

Precisely. We've had back-to-back hot-start seasons where .500 hockey the rest of the way would've resulted in playoffs. The glaring need each time was a two-way 2C to lighten the burden on the top line and push the right players to their appropriate spots in the lineup. (And also, last year we had a goalie with an eye condition.) But the 2C was always necessary. And JBot did nothing, waiting it out on the youth movement of puck-moving RHD to carry the team. (And I like the idea of stockpiling D prospects when your cupboard is barren because they take time to develop... but of 18 picks made by JBot, 8 of them were defensemen (and 6 of his final 12 picks). Granted, you always take Dahlin. But still, it went from prudent to overkill when you also factor in Antipin, Pilut, Beaulieu, Fedun, Redmond, Hunwick, Montour, Miller, Joker, Dougherty... I mean, where were they all going to play, JBot?

JBott made tons of little moves. Sadly, they all amounted to "sign 3/4th liner or AHL-tweener" and hope that he'll achieve some previously untapped potential and become one with the Moulson. But from Antipin to Vesey to Lazar to Ruotsalainen, none of them have done that, (yet, because Arttu is still pending). We really need a combination of 1 big move (the 2C) and probably 3 savvy minor moves that solidify the roster. GM Sheevyn can do all those things in one offseason, but it's a very tall order given that we also need to build around the top youth we have because we're not stocked with other desirable assets.

This thread is eerily similar to the "JBot, do something!" thread of last rotation. I will say that although I find the lack of moves disturbing, I don't expect anything to happen until the Cup is claimed and we're closing in on the (10/6 ?) draft or even on draft day for the theatrics of watching a televised Zoom call get broken up by Bettman saying "Buffalo trades pick #8...."

Then the thread does belong to you. Very interesting.... We'd better read some responses. The Sabrespacer posters will soon be back... and in greater numbers.

It's true, people forget Maxim was polished player when the league came back from the lockout. He actually started on a speed line with Sanderson and Holzinger waaay back before we even had lost Hasek and started the mini-dip of the early 00's before rebounding to the Drury-Briere-led teams.

GM Sheevyn: Execute Order... What number are we on? Senator Amigula: Did you axe the JBot Academy? GM Sheevyn: Yes. Senator Amigula: Sign Brett Murray and hire an AHL coach? GM Sheevyn: Done and done. Senator Amigula: Four. GM Sheevyn: Very good! Execute Order... Four!

All wings Packers Lurker report in: I see y’all picked up Kumerow for the PS. He’s a very good blocker, but the Packers have 4 TEs and several big receivers who block well on the roster so he was expendable. He’s also 28 years old and has only been noticeable on busted coverages and extended plays (and in garbage time against 3rd stringers in previous preseasons). And other backup receivers (ESB) are better gunners than he. He’s JAG. Don’t listen to the Packers fans who loved him because he played at UW-Whitewater or claim that he was the next Jordy Nelson. I wish him the best (and I always have hopes for the Bills ever since Kenneth Davis and James Lofton, and even Paup headed that direction), but he’s not about to become an impact player. Now, as to this Foster guy the Packers just signed to the PS from the Bills… clearly he’s the next ‘Tae Adams, Nelson, Greg Jennings, Free, Sharpe! 🍺

I think Larry and Girgs will sign elsewhere, but the LOG line could absolutely be effective as #3 (as they were this year) if the top two lines are filled out with top-six players playing their correct positions. Then, the 4th line can be a line with a defined purpose and not just another misshapen and inept 2nd line. Look at VGK -- their 4th line plays 8 minutes a night but is great at what they do: go hit, cause chaos, and be energetic. Occasionally they'll get a goal. The LOG line does a lot more than that: they can shut down top lines. They don't score much, but they can get a cycle going offensively. They can suppress the best for 12-15 minutes/night. And for a few games here and there last season, the LOG carried this team. VGK #4 doesn't do that. However, VGK has 3 complete lines above them. If (a very big if) we get two bona fide top lines, then we can afford a top checking line like the LOG. And then line 4 can be kid/specialists or a defined energy line. All bookended by: I doubt Girgs or Larry is a Sabre next season.

And even Portillo is rating well (at this early point).

According to the images on the article's main page the top teams (in no particular order) are Buffalo, Toronto, and Vancouver (because Matthews counts).

It's GM Sheevyn. He's been the phantom menace behind the scenes for a decade. Now his army of clones is ready to unleash. His ultimate coup was the road trip with the team at the end of the year when he could raise the vote of no confidence in Chancellor JBot. Unlimited power! (This may not be true, but it's my head canon now.)

We must go further back than that. Anger Drafting leads to hate prospects; hate prospects leads to suffering; suffering leads to electing to tank. In 2011-12 we had an aging core we hadn't yet soured on. New owner and the was to build that up with overpriced free agents because we could with all this new cash. But the other reason for that is we'd been drafting poorly for years by that point and our young replacement core just wasn't up to snuff. (When Vanek, Pommers, Roy, Miller, and Stafford came up they supplemented some really good teams in 05-07 --- now in 2011-2013 seasons, the next group had a few good players but they weren't first-liners/top-pairing guys to build around. Trading a core player (or two) for top-end prospects (not say... Steve Ott), and getting the right free agents (not Leino) would've been the way to go to avoid the tank. But once you start down the Tank Path forever will it dominate your destiny.

A Canucks friend at work reminded me that it's not all Demko. Vancouver also removed Eriksson from the lineup after the 5-0 game 1 loss. (And remember, Vancouver was up 3-2 in the third in game 3.) They've been handily outshot, but Eriksson out and Demko in has given them a chance.

I'm beginning to agree with you. Oh Artoo, what are we doing here let's look at the numbers: Price is at 10.5M cap hit for 6 more seasons. His final season will be played at age 38. Now, if he were Hasek/Brodeur and still playing in front of elite teams that might be one thing. But Price's last three regular seasons are sv % of .900, .918, and .909. He's already been sliding downward to average-to-below average. Also, if bought out at any point, his cap hit is a full 9M through 2025-26. Only 500k for the makeup years beyond. That's pretty rough if he's playing near Sabres-level-Hutton consistently from here on out. He could come back up to form, but Hasek/Brodeur were really the exception and not the rule. Skinner is at 9M cap hit for 7 more seasons. His final season will be played at age 34. Now, if I sound a little doom and gloom on Price, let's start with: Skinner had an atrocious season. He also was paired with Johansson and Sobotka, and then Rodrigues, Sheary, and Frolik for a lot of the rest of the way. Give him a 2C (or Eichel time), and he'll get back to 25+ goals for awhile.The key is he probably has 3 more solid seasons before seeing the gradual decline of age. This was also the first season he's missed any significant time since early in his career. Toward the end, it might get ugly, but it should be a fairly short ugly stretch (two seasons). Another thing going for Skinner -- if bought out, CapFriendly shows him being a nuisance 2.5M or so for a few seasons after the contract ends, and one gnarly 6M cap hit in the final year 2026-27. However, if bought out anytime after a big signing bonus in 2023, the hits are manageable. And we've seen before that odd teams like Arizona will trade for useless cap hits if they can nab some picks. He's not completely untradeable. Sure... no one is going to call and ask for him, but he could be moved.

Your insight serves you well. Bury your cap knowledge deep down, @Thorny. It does you credit, but it could not be made to save the JBot.

The overage is vastly because of Dahlin and Kahun. It's part of why Pitt dealt Kahun for some fourth liners (one of whom had prior Crosby magic).

Two 30+ goalies when the next season begins in a flat-cap era on a not-so-good team (remember, yes, they beat PIT in a play-in, but MTL was 6 teams separated from the playoffs in a normal season; they were as bad as we were). That's way too much for a backup when your starter is making $10M. Maybe they'll get Price to waive his NMC to go to a contender. But if I'm a contender I can get someone cheaper than Price as a UFA this offseason where goalies are going to be in a surplus. There's not a logic to this move until they make their next move.

Perhaps more "anointed as having made it by the front office". I believe we all still have them listed as prospects. Our farm system is slightly skewed by Eichel and Dahlin being day one starters. It's been our top-five picks, Olofsson, and no one "on-the-cusp". But what we're missing is the next tier of player ready to get the call-up from the AHL (because they're all in Europe, they're just all defensemen, or they're borderline NHL prospects signed out of college to begin with [i.e., Casey Nelson, Andrew Oglevie]). For example, we needed a PK-er last year. Our GM went and got Frolik, rather than call up a Malone or equivalent (granted, Tage was already hurt and Lazar was already up). Maybe this year's prospect pool will be different.

Agreed here. A prospect can be a prospect, then make it, and then return to being a prospect (Mitts-style). You can also have the old prospect who one day finds himself 26 and all-but-forgotten but then gets the call-up and makes a career of it (Moulson-style). Age doesn't see prospects ("Too old! Too old to be a prospect."). Our prospects pool is: Asplund, Cozens, Mitts, Tage, Pekar, Ruotsalainen, Davidsson, Huglen, Samuelsson, Bryson, Borgen, Laaksonen. Johnson. UPL, Johansson, and Portillo. And a handful of skaters still over in Europe. I'm not sure where this list stacks up League-wide.

But can he become an Angry Asplund? Queuing up Han Solo's Fever Dream --- "Angry Asplunds! Very dangerous. You go first."

Shoots left. Posted a -32 in 2018-19. So... he logged a lot of minutes on a bad team. Welcome to the Amerks (Sabres) family, Jones!

The bonus applies this and next year I believe, and Pitt would have had to re-sign Kahun. So they moved him out for rentals that would then be off the books. So if Kahun signs for $3.5M/year + $1M in performance bonuses in 2020-21, then they saved a bit of cash by moving him and getting Kapanen for this upcoming season. I'm not sure how the Performance bonus breaks out across cap hit by season, but Capfriendly has Kahun's bonus at 2.8M. Of course, they could've just kept him and the prospect and we'd have peddled ERod and Sheary elsewhere (hoepfully).

Pitt didn't want to or couldn't pay Kahun's bonuses (and possibly higher than Kapanen's base salary) so they moved him despite a good season. They got the experienced Sheary as a rental and took a flier on ERod. Of course, Sheary had dwindled to a 4W on Pitt the years before so it was odd that they wanted to rent him back for the playoffs. Anyway, they overpaid a bit to find a comparable player (Kapanen) that they already had on their roster (Kahun). But they may have saved some cash to do so. When you have Crosby-Malkin (for a couple more seasons) you try to go all-in, but basically you tread water and hope for the breaks to go your way. Maybe Kapanen will be the next Kunitz and have a wildly successful ride at Crosby's side.