GASabresIUFAN

The mentoring is an issue that KA has brought up time and again. He talked about it with Anderson, with Johnson as well as Z and KO. As to goaltending, Levi, regardless of his prep, has never played a season at the top level of the sport, never been the No. 1 goalie of an NHL team and no forward or D vet understands the goalie position and the highs and lows of a long NHL season for a goaltender. Our goalie coach Mike Bales’ NHL experience was 23 games.

In the Extensions thread, I suggested that Mitts might get an extension sooner than later if he continues to excel partially because of his friendship with DC and Raz. Those 3 are also close to Bryson. Was locker-room harmony a factor in keeping Bryson over Stillman?

Now that you edited my post to add Bryson. Do you think his close relationship with Mitts, DC and Raz played into his getting the 7th D job? Locker-room harmony is a big deal to DG/KA.

It’s not an unreasonable take considering they were only 6 points out of a playoff spot and acquired more “proven” goaltending. They have also invested in “proven” but still productive older players like Giroux and Tarasenko up front to bolster their offense. I have proven in quotes because older players get hurt and their production decreases and goaltenders are notoriously inconsistent. Add our questions on defense and in goal and our forwards inability to back check consistently and you have a recipe for Ottawa being better than the Sabres. Do I agree? No, but in my predictions I have both Ottawa and Buffalo making the playoffs.

And so out of character. Does he not value goaltending or is he so infatuated with Levi’s potential that he is unable to see what is obvious to the rest of the world? Does he believe from his time in Carolina that any goalie if they get hot can carry a team to the Cup and therefore it’s not worth spending resources there? The funny thing is that KA loved Anderson for his mentoring skills but when he needs a mentor goalie in the locker-room for his prized prospect he doesn’t make the move. It’s so weird.

While 13th overall picks don’t often make the NHL their draft years, players outside the top 3 do make the jump occasionally. Cole Sillinger (12th in 2021). Our old friend ROR made the jump after being taken 33rd in 2009. HOFer to be Bergeron jumped from the Q to the Bruins after being taken 45th in 2003. These last two makes you wonder about the scouting not to long ago. These are just a couple that stand out in my memory, but there are others.

@That Aud Smell Levi is new-ish as well. He only played 7 games last year.

I know it’s not the grind of an NHL season, but Benson played 80 games last year. He played 60 regular season games, 15 playoffs games, plus 5 for team Canada in the Gretzky Hlinka Tourney. He is going to go through some tough stretches, but I suspect he’ll be up to the task.

There are Kremlin and oligarch supported teams and everyone else.

Better?

Power is next. I doubt Krebs, Joki or Mitts get extended before next off-season. The caveat would be Mitts if he starts burning down the house. Given his close relationship with Dahlin and Cozens, if Mitts continues to excel, KA may want get him to lock him up.

According to capfriendly the contract has full NMC years 2-8.

Now that Dahlin is signed, what does our cap look like for next year. Right now we have 12 players signed for next year (8F, 3D and 1G) for a cap hit of 53,206,070. RFAs Power, Mitts, Krebs, Joki, Bryson, UPL, and Stillman. UFAs Z, KO, VO, EJ, Comrie If Power signs for 8 and Ryan Johnson, Kulich and Savoie make the team, that brings us to 16 players (10-5-1) for $63,967,736. If the cap jumps to 87.5 million, that leaves about $23,500,000 to complete the rest of the roster. How this plays out will be interesting to watch. All eyes on Mitts, Krebs and Joki. Assuming all have good seasons, will KA want to commit to all or just some of them? Will KA bring back any of the UFAs. My guess right now is maybe only EJ and that in the role of 7th D. (Cap projected at 87.5 next year according to TSN.CA -edited my post to reflect)

No surprise given the recent performance of the original D pairings. Would like to see Clifton get a chance with Power, but at least DG knows what he is going to get from the 1st 2 pairs. Lets hope Joki’s D zone play improves this year now that he is healthy.

The acquisition of a proven goaltender.

They hide guys in the AHL all the time. That’s one reason why NHL teams now own their AHL teams. It’s a way to control a player without using up one of the 50 contract slots. If Metsa proves NHL ready, the Sabres buy his contract from the Amerks. The Amerks are owned by the Sabres, how on Earth can Ottawa (for example) just swoop in an take an Amerk on an AHL deal without first coming to a trade or other compensation agreement essentially with the Sabres? If the Amerks were owned by someone else and only affiliated with the Sabres, then in theory they could sell their AHL signed players to another team, but I doubt that would go over well with the Sabres. Think back to when the Sabres and Panthers shared an AHL affiliate. There were three groups of players on that team; Sabres prospects, Panthers prospects and AHL signed players. When the affiliation ended the AHL players remained with the AHL team and all the NHL prospects were moved to their new AHL teams. The key is who owns the AHL franchise. As of a few years ago at least 20 of the 32 AHL teams were NHL owned. The Chicago Wolves are the only completely independent team with no affiliation.

They hadn’t earned bigger deals.

The Sabres. Rosen is better than Bryson, Stillman, and Clague. I’d rather have claimed Dreidger, but Jones is also better than UPL and Comrie.

Calle Rosen is on Waivers. So is Martin Jones. There are two reasonable waiver claims.

I'd love to see the organization's notes on Metsa vs Bryson.

It does, but the AHL contract would have to be purchased by the NHL team. The Amerks, which are a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sabres aren't selling their AHL players to another NHL team. They certainly can and do trade AHL players to other AHL teams. Once traded, the new parent can purchase the AHL contract. If there was an independent AHL team, the team would be free to sell their players to anyone, but there aren't any independent teams.

No they can't. They have an AHL contract. The AHL team can trade them to another AHL team and then the parent can acquire the contract, but (for example) Ott can't sign Metsa out from under the Sabres. This isn't the NFL practice squad.

Losing Jones, Milano, and White in 2 games. Cursed!

No he can't. He is either going to play the season in Rochester or his contract will be purchased by the Sabres. Those are his two options. His contract with the Amerks is for 2 years.

My concern about the goaltending is growing. Keeping all 3 is a sign that they lack confidence in all 3 and are playing wait and see if any of them step up. How many wins will that cost this team. It’s also a sign that they are putting to much on Levi and KA’s lack of realistic goaltending plan since Ullmark walked is still plaguing this franchise.