GASabresIUFAN

You think Power is a top 20 D in the NHL? Not even in scoring. When you add defensive play he's not in the top 100. Last season he had 7g 33a, good for 29th in the NHL in scoring by a D. Byram had 7g and 31a for 36th. Power had 6 PP points to Byram's 2, meaning that Byram actually outscored Power at EV with 7g to 6 and 29a to 28. The Athletics estimated he gave the Sabres about 4.7 mill worth in value and that was entirely offense. If this continues, he is a $3.7 mill drag on the Sabres cap. They state that Byram gave the Sabres 5.3 mill worth of value. They have Power's 5 on 5 defense as a -10 putting him in the bottom 27% of all NHL D. Byram at only -1 putting him in the middle of NHL D. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6048291/2025/03/09/nhl-player-cards-atlantic/ As I have said many times, for this defense to improve one of Power or Byram need to go. Adams (I think he is making the wrong choice as usual) looks to want to trade Byram. I believe Byram is the better player and should be anchoring the 2nd pair. He is just as good offensively, he actually hits people on occasion, and is better defensively (but that isn't saying much. I think Adams would get more for Power (only because of his draft pedigree) and be able to get out from under that terrible contract.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nhl/news/series-buffalo-sabres-offseason-recap/19e6b936c937b3f3f32ec2a0 This franchise has turned into a steaming giant pile of horse manure.

I'm always willing to reconsider an opinion if a player (or Gm's) play/actions warrant it. I've changed on many players (past and present). McLeod is the latest example. If someday Power or Byram learn to play adequate defense, I'll reconsider them as well. Samuelsson is the opposite. I was very bullish on him coming up and in his first couple of seasons. However, the player the last two seasons has stunk and that is being kind. It's like he got his big contract and stopped working (Power also). I was also very bullish on UPL coming up, but when he has but up a below 900 save % in 4 of the last 5 years between the AHL and NHL, a change needs to be made.

What makes your team better? The TOI basically proves my point that Kesselring is a 3rd pairing D on mediocre Utah squad and we are now asking him to be a 2nd pairing D on the terrible Sabres squad. What could possibly go wrong?

That may be a partial explanation but getting reduced to 12-13 minutes in many games in the last 1/3 of the season means more is going on, especially when Ian Cole is skating 20 minutes a game.

This is my point about this team. Adams is gambling on everyone staying healthy, producing and miraculously learning to play defense. He is praying that a goalie (UPL) with one good professional season in 5 has another breakout season and if he fails Adams is hoping that another prospect, who can’t seem to handle the NHL game, finally figures it out. I think Adams has a better chance of winning the Powerball.

Kesselring never skated over 20 minutes in a game after game 49 last season. After that his ice time diminished. From games 54-73 he skated between 12-15 nearly every game. This looks very much like the coaching staff in Utah lost some confidence in Kesselring. His offense decreased and he went from +10 in the first 49 to -6 in the last 33.

UPL - 1 good season in 5 professional seasons. JAG Krebs - JAG Doan - 4th line grinder. Kesselring - 17:30 minute a night guy. Likely asking too much for him to move up to 22 minutes a night. 3rd pairing guy on a good team Samuelsson - Bust. Should have been bought out. Greenway - loved the Minn Greenway. His injuries have robbed him of that physical game most nights. JAG Norris - Will score goals when healthy, which is never. Quinn - still has a chance to be a good NHLer. Has to stay healthy. Very cautiously optimistic. All could make an impact with Kesselring and Quinn being the most likely. Unfortunately, your analysis starts with 3 guys with significant injury histories (should be 4 w Quinn) the odds of getting and keeping all of them healthy for the majority of the season is unlikely. Sadly, Adams is trusting all these guys to make an impact. What’s the odds of that?

Which is more likely; the Sabres trade for Kadri or the Sabres trade for Panarin? Both have NMC. Kadri has a 7 mill cap hit, while Panarin’s is 11+.

Despite my very negative comments and loathing of Adams, my anger really stems from the wasted opportunity that were the young Sabres. There are real pieces on this team that I believe if handled properly could be the building blocks of a very good hockey team. Unfortunately Adams is clueless and we are wasting the primes of many of the players list below. 1. Dahlin - He is a spectacular hockey player and honestly maybe the best defenseman ever to play for the Sabres. 2. Tuch and Thompson - On a real team these two would be genuine NHL stars. I like their games and work ethic. 3. Benson and Kulich - I believe in both players and think they have the type of two way games that will make them good to excellent NHL players for the next decade +. I think Kulich is a good 60 pts 2 way 2nd line center in the next year or 2. 4. McLeod - He developed in the second half of last year into a perfect 3rd line center for a good playoff team, someone who plays good defense, kills penalties, can play up in the lineup when necessary and can contribute secondary offense. 5. Zucker - He adds veteran leadership and has more in the tank than I thought. 6. Power or Byram, but not both. I have been very critical of both players, but both are very good skating young offensive D and I don’t mind have one anchor the 2nd pair as long as the partner is very defensively aware. Maybe Kesselring is that player, but it’s a huge leap of faith to believe he can go from being a 17 minute a game player to a 22 minute a game player. The rest of the team is just roster filler and not good filler at that. The offense is not the problem with this team. The problem with this team is in zone D play and goaltending. These have been the same issues for the last 4 years and Adams “strategy” of hoping kids like UPL, Levi, Samuelsson, and others grow into solving those problems was and is doomed to failure. A real team would have fired Adams the year the team regressed after the playoff near miss.

At this point it's a whatever. There is no ( and never was a ) long term plan and there was no actual roadmap to fix what is wrong with this team, goaltending and actual defense, this summer. Adams makes moves just to look like he is doing something without actually accomplishing anything. Whether Byram stays or goes it doesn't matter. Keeping Byram is the failed status quo while trading him almost assuredly diminishes the team further. Remember that this is the GM who has traded away our 5 most productive Sabres drafted and developed forwards. Gone are Eichel, Reinhart, Mitts, Cozens and JJP. In return we have Tuch, Krebs (4th liner), Norris (oft-injured), Kesselring, Byram (?), Doan (bottom 6), Levi (minors), Kulich, Östlund (minors), and JBD (released). This looks like a huge downgrade in talent and the results in the standings speak for themselves. Why would any fan expect Adams to get good value for Byram and players who would actually improve the team?

An overpaid one dimensional offensive defenseman who isn't physical at all despite his size, is terrible in the defensive zone and isn't much of an asset on the PP. Does that about cover it?

Don’t worry, Adams doesn’t understand it either.

Did the presentation take days because that is how long it took Adams to put forth a coherent sentence?

The blueline is Dahlin, a bunch of maybes, and some less then maybes. There are still 6 rostered D (with Byram) that are mediocre or less defensively. Neither Timmins or Kesselring are true shutdown D. Both played about 17 1/2 minutes per game last season and started their shifts 55% of the time in the O Zone. Neither is very physical despite their size and Kesselring doesn't kill penalties. Timmins, to his credit, started played the PK this past season for the first time in his career. Byram, Samuelsson and Power still stink defensively and with Wilford as coach I'm not expecting any improvement. In fact, both Samuelsson and Power have regressed since Wilford became the coach. This D group, while offensively talented, big and better balanced (R vs L), is less physical than last year and still a black hole defensively. I don't expect any real improvement in goals against unless the goalies play out of their minds. Sorry, but the genius Kevyn Adams has sold everyone that Kesselring and Timmins are defensive improvements over the replaced Joki and Clifton. If they are it's nominal.

I feel a sign and deal trade coming. 🙂 See Marner. The Sabres can re-sign him for 8 years and then trade him. If traded before he re-signing, the new team can only give him a 7 year deal.

Generally I agree, but Kadri wants to come back East (based on articles I've read) and I believe he makes his offseason home in Toronto. So if you were Kadri, do you want to play with a possible bad team close to home with less travel or play on a possible bad team 2000 miles from home?

I'm a little confused by all the love being thrown toward Kesselring. Solid player? Sure, but he isn't exactly a proven top 4 D nor is he a shutdown defender. The guy had his best season last year, but only averaged 17:41 (16:24 at ES) a night. For his career he has averaged less than 17 minutes a game. Power, who Kesselring is penciled in to play with averaged 21:19 (18:13 at ES) last season and is a 22:39 a game for his career. Kesselring also doesn't kill penalties. He also has started most shifts in the Ozone (55%). He also isn't overly physical. Frankly he looks on paper like Power from the right side but maybe better in the D zone. Then again, who can be worse in the D zone than Power?

Byram to Calg for Kadri with other pieces worked out to make everyone happy.

The cliff can, but the Sabres need to take some risks at this point to change the direction of the ship. If we get 2 good years after the trade, then the deal is well worth it. Also if the Sabres stink, but Kadri remains solid, he could be traded to a contender for a return of assets. I agree he likely isn't a No. 1 center in the McDavid sense, but he was 27th in points and 8th in goals among centers last season. He also is incredibly durable playing 82 games each of the last 3 seasons. His addition would make our lineup so much more flexible in case of injury to any of the top 3 centers. We know McLeod can play up and Kulich and Thompson can be effective at center.

So what would the offense look like with Kadri and then what happens with Kulich? Kulich might get sent down at that point and is that really the worst result? He can also play wing. Line 1 - Thompson Kadri Tuch Line 2 - Benson Norris Quinn Line 3 - Zucker McLeod Kulich Line 4 - Doan Krebs/Kozak Greenway (Malenstyn is an extra)

Lets get the prelims out of the way. Yes Kadri is 34. Yes he has 4 years left on his deal at 7 per season. Yes he has a NMC. Yes Calg said they aren't trading this offseason. Now that the prelims are out of the way, despite comments to the contrary, I think Kadri is available in the right deal. I'm going to assume Adams has the assets that interest Calg (we know they are interested in Byram). The question is can Adams and Pegula convince him to come to Buffalo? If I were Adams, I'd kick the tires and talk to the Flames and Kadri to see if there is an interest. I think Kadri could be the piece that move the Sabres into playoff contention. He is a veteran center with tons of playoff experience (including a Cup win in 2022). He is a pest and very hard to play against. He also still has his offensive game. In fact, he out scored and out pointed JJP last season. He is an instant culture change for this organization. Byram for Kadri is a good place to start. So who do you replace Byram on the defense with? Well, Grzelcyk comes to mind. Also we could promote Kesselring to play with Dahlin and then add a vet like Rutta to add depth and experience. Or we could trade Rosen, Krebs or other prospects to get a D.

2nd or no, it doesn't matter. To not re-sign him for 875K and create some internal competition is frankly stupid.

JBD signed w Det for 875K. We paid a 2nd to get JBD but wouldn't part with 875K to keep him. Pure genius. Maybe re-sign JBD, who played well in his 15 games, and also trade for Timmins. Guess what, you'd have depth behind Kesselring and maybe real competition for jobs. G-d forbid. I defer to Adams guaranteed roster spot system because that has worked so well.

This isn't the worst idea I've heard.