GASabresIUFAN

5 players from the Canadian 2020 U20 team. Didn’t they lose to the US? Cozens, Krebs, Quinn, Byram and Levi. Maybe they’ll have better luck in the NHL. Ryan Johnson was on the US squad.

Here are the Sabres top 9 for 2024/25 after this trade Skinner TNT Tuch JJP Cozens Quinn Benson Krebs Greenway Is that a play caliber forward group? I guess it could be if Krebs, JPP, Quinn, and Benson are all better next year and TNT Cozens rebound from their terrible 23/24 seasons. Apparently great minds think alike.

Because our GM is incompetent. The biggest tragedy of this deal is Krebs, who is not good, is now our 3rd line center and will be next year.

or getting a concussion victim who will never be the same (see Tim Connolly for example) for a player just maturing into stardom (see Sam Reinhart for example).

Rousek recalled.

Let's say argument's sake, that Byram stays healthy and has a great season next year. How much would it cost to retain him? 6 mill, 7? KA will also have to re-sign JJP and Quinn and has already invested some 27 million in Dahlin, Power, Clifton and Samuelsson, plus whatever he decides to pay Jokiharju to not run away as he is our only marginally competent RHD. I stand by my prediction, isf Byram plays well, we won't be able to afford to keep him and he'll be traded for other assets.

So far White, Poyer, Morse, Bates, Neal, Harty, and Hines are gone, and probably Martin as well. Douglas and McGovern restructured. Haack and Edwards re-signed. Haack will replace Martin Not sure who will replace Morse and Bates at center Douglas has already replaced White at CB We are also now down to one safety on the roster and that's Hamlin. Ty Johnson will replace Hines once re-signed and no one cares who will replace Harty except Hamler was signed at a futures/reserve deal a few week ago.

Went there after the trade to keep up on the Bills news. That's a discussion for the Bills thread. See you there!

At least Beane is making good headway today reshaping the Bills aging roster to distract me from how much I dislike the job Adams is doing with the Sabres.

Here is the best news of all. He is likely only going to be here for a year and will likely be traded at next year's deadline or after next season. He has one year left on his deal at 3.8 and then he is an RFA. Given the Pegula internal cap and the money invested in Samuelsson, Dahlin, and Power, we won't be able to re-sign Byram if he has a good season.

Well that was quick. If I knew Adams would react so fast to my thread I would have posted it two months ago. Hate the trade. I guess the trade is part of the internal Pegula spending cap. 5 LHDs, and we got younger and more injury prone, and lost our best playmaker in the process. Joki’s agent must be sitting in his office laughing his ass off.

It doesn't. We now have zero playmakers on the roster. Zero forwards who play a two way game consistently and a crap load of D who don't play D very well. Yeah!

What a friggin joke of a franchise. Just what we needed a defender who can't defend. Great. KA has to be the worst GM in history.

Try outs doesn’t necessarily mean calling up Kulich and leaving him in Buffalo for the season. Two years ago Quinn and JJP received two games in Buffalo. I don’t see Rosen or Kulich getting an extended tryout. It’s more likely someone like Rousek gets a longer look to see if he can replace Z or KO long term as a 4th liner.

I’m going to take a more positive point of view. I didn’t want KO, Z, VO or Jost back this season and I’ll be happy to see the back of them. I sincerely think KA will find at least two players with term (or RFAs) to replace the dearly departed and we’ll be better off for it. Last season he acquired Stillman (bad) and Greenway (good) with term. He also took Bjork (terrible) with term in the Hall deal. I also don’t think they’ll force the kids into the lineup for the remainder of this season. They are trying to make the playoffs in Rochester and need their best players there.

I think he'll be more active than we think. KO, Z, EJ, and someone else will be traded off the team. I also see 1 or two players added. One player will be on an expiring contract to help a team clear cap space and give us a warm body to replace a departed player (possibly in the same deal such as Z for cap dump and a 4th). Another player with term (or a pending RFA) similar to the Greenway deal last year. Perhaps someone like Chychrun or Boone Jenner.

The trade deadline is just a few days away. Friday at 4 to be precise. So, who comes, who goes and who stays? How many deals does KA make? Will any of them being for an impact player?

https://theathletic.com/5303482/2024/03/04/top-nhl-prospects-2024-matvei-michkov/ No. 6 - Zach Benson No. 20 - Matt Savoie No. 21 - Jiri Kulich No. 51 - Noah Östlund HM - Isak Rosen

Just when I say nice things they go and blow a game. Geez!

The schedule coming hone is very hard. However of the 20 remaining games after tonight there are 9 games left against teams between us and the wild card. We play Det 3 times, Wash twice, and one each with TB, Philly, NJ and the NYI. Add a game against imploding Ottawa. If they Sabres can win all 10 of these games and split the other 10 games against Tor (2), Edm (2), Dallas, Seattle, Nash, Calg, Florida, and Van, then they’ll have a legit shot at the playoffs as hard as that is to believe. Winning tonight against Wpg would help.

I wrote in another thread that KA is bringing back nearly his entire roster next season. It was a little tongue in cheek, but the Sabres are 7-3 in their last 10. They have 21 games left. If they continue that level of play the rest of the season they might challenge for a playoff spot by the end, thereby creating hopium, and giving KA the excuse to run it back one more time.

What about Chychrun? 1 year left on his deal. Ottawa wants to move him. Mobile RHD. Contract is for about $5 million. Joki and a 2nd for Chychrun?

Every year there is a player or two traded at the deadline with term who is traded because he needs a change of scenery. Last season KA smartly acquired Greenway for a 2nd and he has been a quality addition to this roster. He has played up and down the lineup, scored some timely goals, and killed penalties effectively. So who could be this deadline’s Jordan Greenway for the Sabres?

So basically they were just as bad defensively and in goal in the first half of the season as they were last season as they played themselves out of contention. Now that they aren’t in real contention they are playing better. I think we have seen this movie before. The offense still hasn’t come around. UPL does deserve all the accolades he is receiving for this season. He is the sole reason our numbers are better. We have allowed the 20th most HDSA (high danger shots against) this season and were 21st last season according to moneypuck. In fact, we allowed only 2.1 HDSA last season and are allowing 2.2 this season. However, don’t count on a repeat performance from UPL next season. As we have seen with our top forwards, next season is a thing onto itself. It does give hope for next season, but that’s it. Goaltending stats vary year to year and are very dependent on how the team plays in front of him.

He is going to bring back virtually the same roster. He’ll re-sign UPL, Krebs, Joki and Mitts, elevate Levi to goalie 2 and if KO wants to play again, he’ll re-sign him as well. I also think he’ll re-sign Robinson. That leaves exactly 2 roster spots; 13th forward and 7th D available for new talent. He’ll claim that this season was growing pains for the youngest roster in the league. He’ll state the fans should be optimistic for 24/25 because of the improved defense and goaltending in the second half of this season, the return to health of key forwards and the continued development of young elite talent in Benson, JJP, Quinn, Power, Levi and Ryan Johnson. He’ll talk about how close to NHL ready star prospects Savoie, Rosen, Kulich and Novikov are giving us great depth next season and in the future.