GASabresIUFAN
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Posts posted by GASabresIUFAN
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16 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:
Power and Dahlin played 254min together at 5v5.
60.18cf%, 57.69gf%, 54.76xgf%, 56.25hdcf%
These numbers are better than Power with Byram and Byram with Dahlin.
I was just looking at the numbers as well and @thewookie1 was correct. They weren't bad together. \
Looking at the stats, everyone was decent to good with Dahlin, except Clifton. Clifton/Dahlin xGF (38.33%)/
XGF over 50% = Power/ Dahlin (54.76%), Joki/Dahlin (56.22), Mule/Dahlin (50.15), Clifton/Power (51.24), Mule/Power (56.36)
Byram's best partner was Dahlin at 47.37%.
From these numbers it looks like Power and Dahlin, while good together should anchor their own lines and Jokiharju needs to be traded. I'm also still not seeing how to put the pieces together.
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2 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:
I would swear Dahlin & Power were solid, the issue was that Byram & Jokiharju were like 25 GF%
Late last season Byram and Power were paired as well, so there should be some analytics on Byram/Power and Power/Dahlin.
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14 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:
Rasmus Dahlin is one of the top five 2-way defenders in the league. Owen Power I would 1000000000000% not call a O first defender at this stage. We didn't fail last year because Dahlin pinched too much is what I am saying.
No we didn't fail last year because Dahlin pinched too much. We failed because we didn't have a good system and we didn't have enough good defensemen and still don't. That's not the discussion. The discussion is making the best pairings from the D we do have and I don't think matching any of Dahlin, Power or Byram together is a viable plan. @thewookie1 said Power and Dahlin were good together last year when paired. I don't think the analytics support that contention, but you are the analytics guru on the board, so please let us know. The pieces would fall together much better if that were true.
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26 minutes ago, Taro T said:
Umm, Tallinder and Lydman were the pairing back in '05-'06. They were not split up often at all.
I didn’t mention specific pairings and Ruff did use them as his shutdown pair periodically, but I remember Lydman with Teppo and Tallinder with Soupy primarily. McKee played with Kalinin and Fitz subbed in where needed.
@thewookie1 I don’t think the analytics support your contention.
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5 minutes ago, JohnC said:
Why are you out of hand dismissing a Dahlin/Bryam or a Dahlin/Power or a Dahlin/Samuelsson (you didn't mention Samuelsson) as viable pairings? Bryam started off well for us and then seemed to fade and become a confused player. Let's be fair to him, he came to a new team and had to work with new players in a system he wasn't accustomed to. So, let's be fair and give him the time to adjust to his new and dramatically different setting. For me, I definitely consider him to be a top four player. If he is that level of player, then dealing Mitts was certainly a fair-value trade for each trading team.
I agree with you that it is very unlikely that the GM is going to be interested in a Cirelli deal. The main reason will be due to the length and AAV of his contract. That doesn't mean that he won't make a lesser deal that gives him more flexibility to re-sign the near future contracts of some young players already on his roster.
I was going to start another thread on the defense but it basically has to do with structure. When you have an O first player like Power, Dahlin and Byram they tend to get caught up ice when they act in support of the offense in the O Zone. This isn’t a criticism, it’s a by product of their job.
To make sure that the team doesn’t suffer to many odd man rushes the other way, teams tend to match such O blueliners with a more D aware player. The simplest example is the 05/06 Sabres that paired O first D, Teppo, Soupy and Kalinin with D first player McKee, Tallinder and Lydman.
IMHO, putting any 2 of the Big 3 D together is a recipe for odd man rush disaster or forcing one of the players to become something he’s not. Ideally each one should anchor his own line, but we don’t have good enough D first players to pair with them, except Mule and he’s hurt all the time.
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1 hour ago, Brawndo said:
Cirelli is a cost controlled asset for seven years, that would fill the role of 3C on this team. That alone could entice Adams to move assets as he would be on the team for awhile. His highest offensive output was 45 points, but he is a very good defensive forward, he would be the match up center that the Sabres are lacking.
His age and experience would be a huge plus for the club. In terms of not trading in the division, BriseBois has not had a first round pick since 2022 and is not scheduled to pick in the first two rounds until 2026. The Sabres will to pay a higher price, but have the assets to do so.
This type of move would be out of character for Adams, but then so was the Byram Trade
It would be extremely out of character for him and against his stated goal of not adding a long-term contract. It's why when I mentioned him earlier I kind of dismissed him as a trade target. That doesn't mean I'm against the acquisition, I just find it highly unlikely given KA's track record. You and I would look a Cirelli and say perfect, we have a long-term solution at 3C and someone who could play up if we have an injury. KA looks and thinks he's not one of my core players and therefore I'm not committing to him for 7 years.
I do disagree that trading Mitts was out of character for KA. In fact it was perfectly in character. Keeping Mitts was not in his budget so he traded him for whatever he could get. It didn't matter that he didn't have an adequate plan B at 3C (also in character) and it didn't matter that the player acquired didn't bring a skill set we needed (also in character). It's just another example of KA not having a clue how to build a successful team. Another example of poor asset management.
KA could sell the deal in the press as he acquired a much needed top 4 D. Unfortunately Power/Bryam or Dahlin/Bryam or Dahlin/Power aren't viable D pairings. Maybe Ruff could get it to work, but I'm not holding me breath. What makes it even worse is that Byram is going to need a new deal after next season. He basically traded Mitts for one season of an alleged top 4 D unless he gives Byram the long-term extension he couldn't afford to give Mitts.
Honestly I have lost all faith that KA can pull this plane out of it's tail spin. I was bullish on the Clifton and Johnson signings. I hoped Clifton could play up and Johnson would bring some much needed leadership and maturity to the D group. I was wrong on both counts and so was Adams. I then looked at the cap situation Adams has put us in, his keeping Benson in the NHL last season, his awful pro level acquisitions, his long-term mismanagement of the goaltending, his lack of any defensive stalwarts on his defense, and his failure to properly support the team in season the last two years, and I have come to the sad conclusion that he is in so far over his head he doesn't even know where to begin to fix his roster. His keeping of terrible coaches like Ellis and Wilford are just further examples. I do hope that my assessment of Adams is wrong.
I really like to know how anyone has any faith or hope left that Adams can fix this team.
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3 minutes ago, Taro T said:
It is the narrative, but is it actually true?
We'll never know for sure, but I doubt Lindy would have brought back Ellis or Wilford if he had a choice. Wilford's D group was among the worst in the NHL last season defensively and Ellis was worse. Hard to imagine Lindy saying he'd want either guy. During his last stint as the Sabres coach, he had guys like Mike Ramsey and James Patrick coaching his defense. He also has had NHL forward vets like Travis Green, Sergei Brylin, Don Lever and Curt Fraser on his staffs.
I doubt he believes Ellis or Wilford are in that class.
I don't think he minds having Appert around. Chris Taylor was on his staff in NJ.
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I was looking through the list of NHL UFAs and guess what, Tyson Jost is the 6th highest paid UFA center. Monahan signed with Montreal last season for the same $2 mill we paid Jost. G-d Adams sucks.
I did find a player with one year left on his deal who could be a good fit and that's Mikeal Granlund if SJS is willing to part with him. He is 32 and has one year left at $5 mill and had 60 pts last year.
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2 hours ago, Thorny said:
Well, he also hadn’t failed to make the playoffs 4 consecutive years before this season so maybe that willingness changes
Even if he is willing to make changes, it takes two to tango. He is going to have to find UFAs willing to be part of this circus or trade for players without trade protection or trade for players with trade protection who are willing to come. I looked at the UFA lists and for players on cap strapped teams without trade protection and I honestly don't see many acquisition candidates. I'm sure there are more than I think, but I remember the failed Gibson and Murray trades. I just don't believe Adams is capable of fixing the roster even if the want is there.
I have more faith in Lindy Ruff being a GM than I do Adams. If Adams is willing to let Ruff have a say in who is brought in, then I'd be more optimistic. Given that Lindy wasn't given any say in his Asst Coaches, I feel pretty confident that Adams won't give him much input in the roster either. Sorry Lindy. The good news for Lindy is that he'll be retained as coach or GM when Adams gets fired for failing again next season.
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15 minutes ago, Brawndo said:
If Anthony Cirelli is really available that’s a perfect target for a trade
Do you really think TB is going to trade him or if they do, would they trade him inside the division? Do you think that Adams wants to take on the next 7 years of his contract at 6+ a season after he didn’t re-sign Mitts to avoid taking on another long-term deal. Also add that Cirelli gets trade protection after next season and so far isn’t as good offensively (best season only 45 pts) as Mitts.
By the way, I mentioned Cirelli earlier as one of the few decent centers without current trade protection who could help our current lineup. However the longterm deal he’s under may be a non-starter for Adams who has yet to commit to a contract outside of “his” players beyond 3 years in either trades or free agents.
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1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:
I'd like to see power under Ruff before pulling the trigger. I'd like to Byram under Ruff as well. There's no issue this off season with the cap and all season long to trade one of them if we get better clarity over who is better.
That's perfectly reasonable. However, to believe, like some here, that KA will be spending like a drunken sailor on players this off-season is not really feasible. First, odds are he still has an internal cap below the actual cap, second he has to find guys who want to come here and third he has to maintain cap flexibility long-term.
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1 minute ago, sabremike said:
You would think the fact that there are an absurd number of former Sabres on the teams still competing for the cup would teach people a very painful lesson, but nope...
You can’t keep everyone. That’s the painful truth of the NHL salary cap. It’s even harder when the team has a lower internal cap.
If you keep Power, odds are that we won’t be able to afford to keep Bryam. These are the tough choices the GM has to make. My point is make the choice now and reallocate Power’s 8 million to improve other areas of the team. Are you giving up a prime asset. Yes, of course and that’s the point. Here Power will never blossom into a No 1 D. Dahlin deservedly has that job for the longterm. That means we are paying Power like a no. 1 D, but can’t utilize him that way. That’s a waste of limited cap space imho. I also like Bryam’s game a little better.
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43 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:
Re: Power, it is true that he needs to learn how to physically impose himself defensively. The risk I guess is that it just isn’t in his make-up and never happens. But he retrieves and moves the puck out of danger zones so effortlessly that I think we don’t even notice the positive impact he has on possession and zone time. He is much better than Byram in my view.
34 minutes ago, JohnC said:Trading Power makes absolutely no sense! What you would be doing is jettisoning a player who as a rookie did play well, added to the fact that he has so much untapped immense upside to his game. All of that upside is not going to be actualized in one year. Acting out of frustration and impatience is self-sabotaging. It won't take long to come to the realization that the player you let go is now starring on another team.
Not too long ago, you wanted Mitts thrown out the door. He became one of our better players. You also wanted to get rid of UPL because he wasn't an instant franchise goalie. Last year, he demonstrated that he could be our long-term franchise goalie. (I'm aware making conclusive judgments on goalies are fraught with inaccuracies.)
My point here is simple, it is better to be patient and act with calculation than it is to act out of frustration. It's so aggravating to see many of our former players thriving on cup contending teams while we continue to be stuck in the mud. What you are essentially arguing for is to provide the league with more of our talented players so that we can continue to take futile actions that gets us nowhere.
And this is why this team doesn't move forward. He'll develop, he'll develop I hear them cry. Really he will! When? When will he become a physical force? When will he become a 50 point player? 2 years into his $8 mill deal or is it 3 or 4 or 5? Dahlin is the No. 1 D. He gets the majority of the PP time. Power and Byram are therefore 2nd fiddles.
Despite having all this expensive talent on D, we are still terrible at playing defense. Something has to give. You can't keep handing out big contracts and field a complete team (see Toronto and at least they are a playoff team). KA traded Mitts because the team's budget didn't allow for another big contract. What happens after next season when the team is slated to re-sign JJP, Quinn and Byram? Buying out Skinner helps but not as much as your think. Only Greenway's salary comes off the books and truthfully we need him.
So the questions becomes priorities. Who to keep and who to trade or not re-sign. The sad part is that we are making these decisions already and we aren't even a playoff team because of our clueless GM. So if you aren't moving on from Power, are you allowing JJP to walk in a year, or Quinn or whom? We don't have enough centers, but are you trading Cozens who finally seems to be blossoming at Worlds? Pick your poison.
To me Power is the logical point to start now that KA acquired Byram. Dahlin and Bryam anchor the top 2 D pairings and QB the PP units. After that we have plenty of candidates, both short-term and long-term for the majority of the remaing D roles in Clifton, Joki, Mule, Johnson, Novikov, Strbak, Komarov, except D first top 4 defenseman. Maybe the assets from a Power trade bring in that piece and more center help.
Remember the reason Toronto failed is that they signed Tavares for big money and all their star forward but then didn't have enough cap space to fix their D or goaltending properly. Our goaltending is becoming a strength. Our D needs more D first players to become elite and our forwards need center help. If you want to keep Power, trade Byram again and don't re-sign Joki. That's fine with me as well, but having Byram, Power, and Dahlin is not a working plan either short-term or long-term as their skill set are redundant and they don't work as D partners.
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1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:
If it's not then the top of your roster isn't good enough and you need to trade someone to get something better or open space to get something better.
I agree. I’d trade Power. This may seem extreme but what does he bring that Dahlin and Bryam don’t? He also isn’t worth 8 mill a season imho, but given his age and draft status, I think we can get some important pieces to improve this team short and long-term.
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1 minute ago, Taro T said:
But that $17MM isn't going to go to 7 skaters. It's going to 3-5 and likely only 3-4. Plenty of $'s to bring in what he's been talking about bringing in.
Not on medium or long term deals. One year deals, sure, but they have to have significant open cap space after next season to re-sign JJP, Quinn and Byram. Good luck finding players that only want a one year deal and who will improve the team. Also 3 mill for a player gets you Clifton type players. Is that really going to elevate this sorry roster?
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I was crunching some numbers and it doesn't look good for the Sabres being able to truly spent much this off-season unless it's on one year deals. Assuming Ryan Johnson and Levi make the team and UPL takes a 4 million contract, the Sabres will only have 17 million to sign or acquire 5 forwards and 2 D or about 2.3 per player.
Unfortunately, KA must keep in mind that JJP, Quinn and Byram need new deals following next season with only Greenway's 3 mill coming off the books after next season. The way KA has structured the team isn't sustainable. If he acquires players, they'll be on short-term deals in order to be off the books after the season to clear room to at least retain JJP and Quinn.
The qualifying offers for the RFA are 925K for UPL, 2.6 mill for Jokiharju, 1.9 for Bryson and 832K for Krebs. Given the Sabres budget, Krebs is sadly returning as cheap depth with upside (in theory anyway). I don't think Bryson is worth 1.9. I'd rather trade Joki than keep him, but it may be cheaper for KA to retain Joki than find a useful RHD replacement.
With Savoie (887K), Krebs (2 years 1 mill per season), and Joki (3 year @ 4 per season) another nearly 6 mill will be spent on rookies and returning players. This leaves us with 11 million for 4 players and us still needing a 2/3C.
Here is a link to some FA contract estimates. They look pretty good. Their UPL and Joki projections seem spot on. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JPtGk5m_S9VuR5e7T8lb_BlilXRwJPF0V2ddQzjjpvc/edit?pli=1#gid=0
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It's kind of a hard group to rank right now. I think the top 12 all have NHL futures. After the top 15, I doubt any of the others play a minute in the NHL.
1. Benson is still a prospect despite playing in the NHL last season (and again this coming season). He's 18 with only 71 games under his belt. He is still waivers exempt and can be sent back to the CHL
2. Levi - Likely UPL's 1B to start next season. Great in the AHL once sent down full time.
3. Savoie - AHL eligible next season after destroying the WHL. Could make a run at an NHL roster spot in the fall.
4. Johnson - still only 22 and earned a extended callup last season. I think he could force his way into the Sabres lineup fulltime next fall.
5. Kulich - didn't see much progress year over year in the A. Hopefully he'll take another step forward next season.
6. Rosen - Improved over the course of the season, but like Kulich struggled in the playoffs. Also needs to take another step forward next season
7. Östlund - Solid season in the SHL and a very good in the U20. Made Amerks debut. Could vault ahead of Rosen and Kulich next season
8. Novikov - Great AHL debut with 23 pts for the Big D. Might challenge for an NHL callup as early as next season.
9. Wahlberg- Solid AHL late season debut for the big center. Decent in the U20s
10. Komarov - Q D of the year for good reason. Now lets see if the O he showed in the Q carries over into the A for the big D. Skating still a concern
11. Neuchev - Came on late in the year for the Amerks. Hope to see further progress next season
12. Strbak - Another big D who had a nice freshman season in the NCAA for Mich St.
13. Lindgren - Another solid year in the WHL. Hopefully he'll be in Rochester in the fall
14. McCarthy - 38 games as a freshman for BU and was a +12.
15. Ratzlaff - played 52 games for Seattle in the WHL. Solid if unspectacular .905 save %
16. Kisakov - Improved in send season in Rochester, not sure what his future is however.
17. Poltapov - only 13 points in 56 KHL games. I don't expect him to come to NA.
18. Richard - Solid freshman year at UConn with 18 points in 36 games
19. Costantini - 21 year old blew up in 3rd NCAA season with 31 pts in 38 games for W Mich after on 3 pts for N Dakota the year before.
20. Sardarian - production improved in second collegiate season with 14 pts in 32 games.
21. Marjala - 40 pts in 60 Liiga games with another 9 in 9 playoffs games. No idea if he'll return to NA.
22. Kozak - 12 pts in 41 Amerks games
23. Miedema - 41 pts in 68 games in the OHL this year down from 52 in 68 last season.
24. Panocha - Solid first NA season for the German D with 15 pts in 52 games in the Q.
25. Leinonen - Former 2nd rd pick is looking like a bust. Continues to struggle in Finland. Moving to Sweden 2nd tier league next season.
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41 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:
I’m not disputing this, but don’t recall him saying he wants to add a top 9 wing. I hope he does. If he does, though, it will mean demoting Greenway to line 4, or trading Skinner, Tuch, Benson, Quinn or Peterka (none of whom are being demoted to line 4), or buying out Skinner. I guess they could “Krueger” Skinner again, or trade Greenway, but I can’t imagine those options are in the plans. I’m still holding out slim hope (5% chance, maybe?) for a Skinner buyout. It’s a bit of a litmus test for me re: just how serious they are about making the playoffs this season. Though I’m holding out slim hope, I don’t think they are as serious as I would prefer.
If KA can make a deal that pushes Greenway to the 4th line, that’s a step in the right direction. I like Greenway and am glad he is here. I do think if we made a 4th line staring Greenway, a decent center and another smart effort player, we could have a very effective and disruptive “4th” line.
When I look at the returning forwards I see 4 top 6 players (Quinn, TNT, Tuch and JJP), 3 players who could be in the top 6 but shouldn’t be yet (or anymore) in Skinner, Benson and Cozens and a 3/4 liner in Greenway.
In Adam’s world the forwards probably look something like this
JJP TNT Tuch
Benson Cozens Quinn
Skinner ???? Greenway
????? Krebs ?????
What he should be looking at
JJP TNT Tuch
Benson ???? Quinn
Skinner Cozens ????
???? ???? Greenway
We need a top6/9 center, a top 9 RW, a 4th LW and Center.
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52 minutes ago, JohnC said:
The Mitts trade that brought us Byram would look even better if a comparable replacement is brought in for Mitts. I haven't given up on Krebs, but I don't see him having much value in the market right now. A Necas trade that cost us our first pick and a mid-level prospect appeals to me a lot.
With respect to you questioning the size of KA's cajónes, I wouldn't consider the proposed Necas trade a major/daring deal. In my view, it would be a fair-value deal for each team for a player who probably won't be on either of our top two lines.
KA is not a proactive GM when it comes finding veteran talent for his roster. Every major deal has been reactive. He's told to sign Hall, he signs Hall. He is told to redo the rebuild and he trade Risto, Eichel and Reinhart. He fails to sign Ullmark and has no plan B, thus signs Dell and Anderson. The team is up against the internal cap because of the long-term extensions, so he can't re-sign Mitts and therefore trades him for whatever he can get even if that player doesn't really fit any need on the roster.
I guess the only thing he is proactive about is signing players to long-term deals after one good year. Makes you wonder how he is going to be able to retain JJP and Quinn when they have another big year this coming season?
Trading for Necas is arguably again reactive since he doesn't have any centers after TNT and Cozens. At least it would be a move to add depth and talent where it's needed and Necas is at least a legit player.
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2 hours ago, Archie Lee said:
Dudacek can give his thoughts on whether he would prefer that we just kept Mitts. His post on Necas is firmly in the real world though, where Mitts is gone.
I like the Necas idea. Carolina loves their Finns and their D is going to have some losses this off-season. Maybe Joker ++ and we can get him?
As I said in my post, I'm not against the move, but it would be contrary to KA stated objective. There is no question that we need to upgrade the center position. He's a reasonable replacement for Mitts with potentially better goal scoring upside. I also don't think KA has the b.... to make such a big trade.
If the trade were made Krebs, 11 and a mid level prospect for Necas and 28 maybe?
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On 5/18/2024 at 1:55 PM, dudacek said:
Here’s someone who fits my “this year’s 2021 Reinhart” model.
Marty Necas is a 25-year-old 5-year veteran RFA who wants more than Carolina is willing to pay him.
Friedman says he’s expected to hit the market. Wants term and the Canes won’t do it.
6’2” skilled, and fast. Former 12-overall pick in 2017 who broke out with 71 points 2 years ago after 3 years of 40ish. Dropped to 53 last year.
Not particularly physical or a shutdown guy, but his puck possession numbers are strong.
Plays RW but is naturally a centre and reportedly wants to play centre.
This is the the type of guy you could get for the Reinhart price of roughly 2 picks in the second half of the 1st, or equivalent prospects.
He shouldn’t cost more than Cozens on term and you’ve got him for at least 2 years for 5 or 6 if not.
He’s basically your Mitts replacement to a “T”.
Which is ironic because reports say he was going to be the Sabres pick at 8 in his draft year before newcomer Botterill overruled the holdover staff and took Casey.
Let me see if I understand your post. We should trade two 1sts (or equivalent) for a less physical and less defensively aware version of Mitts and give him the same money that re-signing Mitts would have cost? If that's the case, why trade Mitts? I thought the whole point of trading Mitts was for KA to avoid another long-term big forward contract. I'm not against this move per se, but if this was the plan, why not re-sign Mitts and use the 2 1sts on a top 4 D, who adds a skill set we don't already have?
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9 hours ago, dudacek said:
isn’t it really just about spending your money wisely?
I think it @GASabresIUFAN who has talked on here about Adams choices at the bottom of his roster.
While Vancouver was paying $4M to Lafferty, Blueger and Joshua, the Sabres were paying $7.2M to Okposo, Girgensons and Jost.
That’s not just about having a better bottom 6, the difference might be what allows you to acquire an Elias Lindholm.
It”s not something the Sabres have really had to worry about as they stocked their roster with players on their first and 2nd contracts.
But it’s something they need to worry about now.
The Sabres have needed better asset management for 13 years, but Adams has been particularly awful. Okposo and Girgensons should have been gone 2 years ago. Jost should not have been re-signed. It’s not the so much money, but it’s about getting your money’s worth on the ice. KO, Jost, Robinson, and Z gave us 49 points (205 games) for almost $ 9 Million. We could have paid 4-5 million for the same production and had money left over to improve the team in other areas like real center depth, a top 4 D etc….
I keep asking people why they are so hopeful Adams will finally make the correct move to improve the team when he has no track record of making good pro level acquisitions.
Other than UPL not a single UFA or RFA should return next season, and that includes Joki and Krebs.
As to the thread title, I’d like to see a UFA list of players that can help this team who might actually want to play here. I’ve mentioned Monahan, who grew up in southern Ontario, as a remote possibility (I know Wpg wants to keep him). Who else?
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17 minutes ago, MattPie said:
I'd think not, 3-6-9 in 10gp for the Avs this playoffs.
I was looking at the ex-Sabres in this playoffs
Casey 3-6-9 in 10
Samson 5-4-9 in 10
Montour 3-5-8 in 10
Zadorov 4-4-8 in 10
Eichel 3-4-7 in 7
ERod 3-3-6 in 10
McNabb 2-3-5 in 7
Kane 2-3-5 in 9
Nothing spectacular, but a core of very solid performers.
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4 hours ago, dudacek said:
Which of these key people do you see as being in over their heads?
- GM: Adams - Way far over his head
- AGM: Karmanos - Rochester has been good under his watch
- Head scout: Forton - Nothing wrong with our drafting
- Player development director: Mair - Hard to judge
- Analytics director: Ventura - Is he bad at his job or were the coaches bad at utilizing his information?
- Head coach: Ruff - I've always been a Lindy fan so.....
- 1C: Thompson - Likely better as a 2C
- 2C: Cozens - Needs to be a 3C or winger
- Power forward: Tuch - No issues with Tuch, he the team's top returning playmaker
- Goal scorer: Skinner - Streaky scorer in season and from season to season
- 1D: Dahlin - Legit No. 1 Defender
- 2D: Power - Color me un-impressed. Not aggressive enough and not good enough in the D zone.
- Shutdown defender: Samuelsson - Assuming he's healthy?
- Starter: UPL - Earned the job, but I won't call him a proven starter yet.
- Captain: ???
I’d say only Karmanos and Lindy are proven fully in their position, although I would make arguments for Ventura and Dahlin. Some might add Skinner, but not me.
In over their heads - Adams, Thompson, and Cozens. (Pegula)
Not enough info - Mair & Ventura
Not proven yet but possible - UPL, Samuelsson, and Power
Qualified and good at their jobs - Karmanos, Forton, Ruff, Tuch, and Dahlin
Depends on the week and the season - Skinner - will likely be surpassed this coming season by JJP and Quinn.
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Sabres Defense - Current Pairing Ideas and What Moves Should Adams Make to Enhance the Group
in The Aud Club
Posted · Edited by GASabresIUFAN
I sort of sidetracked the offseason game plan thread with a defensive discussion. That discussion deserves it's own thread.
Right now the Sabres D group consists of Dahlin, Power, Byram, Clifton, Samuelsson and prospect Johnson who are all under contract.
Jokiharju, Clague and Bryson are RFAs. Q offers for each are as follows: Jokiharju (2.6), Bryson (1.9) and Clague (.775)
With 6 players under contract, there isn't much that KA has to do this off-season.
I was honestly surprised to learn when looking at Power's xGF earlier today how well most of the guys looked when playing with him. (Thanks @thewookie1) Maybe there is more there than I suspected with just the eye test. While I mentioned him as a possible trade piece, I do agree with @LGR4GM that odds favor all of Byram, Dahlin and Power in the lineup in the fall. If that's the case, which of the other 5 guys (Clifton, Johnson, Samuelsson, Jokiharju and/or Bryson) do you want back, what would the pairings look like and what other moves would you make to improve a D group that as among the worst in the NHL last season in giving up HDCS and HDSA?
I worry that bringing back the same group would be a mistake. This group needs at least one more good D first player, maybe two. I'd like to see Dahlin, Power and Byram anchor their own pairing and try to spread the ice time more evenly. I also want to see Byram on the PP. I think he will bring more aggression to the PP, which it desperately needs.