GASabresIUFAN

The limit for a 2nd is 4.29 per season. Bos is currently 6.2 under the cap with 20 players under contract. Swayman and Frederic are their RFAs. No word on Bergeron or Krejci returning. Their 3rd goalie is Bussi (25) who had a very solid year in the A last season. Frederic made $1 mill last year, but put up 31 pts (17g) last season. He’ll get a decent raise as well. I think they’d match a 2 year 4.29 per season offer, but it still may be worth the effort.

Once we see them in Rochester, we'll get a much better idea of their preparedness. My guess is both are relatively close.

It's expectations and hopium. I hoped for a real upgrade on defense and instead, we acquired Stillman. It was a wasted opportunity. A better upgrade may have gotten us into the playoffs. That's all water under the bridge at this point. I am rapidly learning that KA does not like the prices for the Chychrun and Pesce of the world. He has kicked the tires and came up unwilling to part with key pieces of his pipeline. I get that. He has a young team with a deep pipeline and wants to build from within. At some point, however, the pipeline won't give you what you need and he will have to do what Stl did and go get the missing piece or two even it costs you a Östlund, Rosen. That said, I really like what KA added on defense. Johnson is the type of player, a veteran leader who can still play, that we've needed on the backend for two years. Clifton is not quite the proven 4 Pesce would have been, but I think this is a very reasonable gamble given his progression over the last 5 years. As I've said before, KA is playing moneypuck and hopefully it works. What I don't like is not upgrading the non-Levi goalies. I think this is an opportunity to spend some capital. With a proven goaltender and the D upgrades, this team could be a beast. Without it, it's still possible, but unlikely. With the improved goaltending, the question for the season will be, given that other teams in the East, like Det, upgraded on paper, will just adding defense be enough to get beyond just sneaking into the playoffs? Honestly, I'm not sure.

I asked that in another thread. How much and for how long?

Comparison 74/75 Sabres to 22/23 Sabres. What I remember about the 74/75 team was how big and strong, but offensively capable that D squad was. I didn't realize how young they were. Hajt, Carriere, Fogolin, and Schoenfeld were Sabres draftees. Korab and Guevremont came in trade. 22/23 seems back to the future. This may be the biggest Sabres D group ever, but the size, skating, and roles remind me of the first Cup contender. There are 3 draftees, and 3 UFAs signees. 74/75 Korab 6'3 218 (age 25) - 12+44=56 Guevremont 6'2 202 (23) - 7+25=32 Hajt 6'3 205 (22) - 3+26=29 Carriere 6'1 204 (22) - 1+11=12 Schoenfled 6'2 206 (21) - 1+19=20 Fogolin 6'0 200 (19) - 2+2=4 22/23 (points from last year) Dahlin 6'3 202 (23) - 15+58=73 Power 6'6 218 (21) - 4+31=35 Lyubushkin 6'2 200 (29) - 2+12=14 Samuelsson 6'4 231 (23) - 2+8=10 Johnson 6'4 225 (35) - 0+8=8 Clifton 5'11 190 (28) - 5+18=23

Same for Washington under Trotz.

Interesting to note that the Amerks will have 4 rookie pros in their D group (Savoie, Jandric, Metsa, Johnson), plus NA rookie (Novikov), plus Cecconi and Davies who still qualify as "developmental" (less than 260 pro games) players under AHL rules. Only Prow is considered a vet. That said the 4 rookies have 18 years of college or Jr experience and Novikov has 2 years of experience in the KHL. It's kind of an intriguing group.

I did not like the trade of Bloom for Stillman because I thought then and still think that Stillman was and is a lousy NHL defenseman. KA must have re-thought him as well because he is now down to 8th or possibly 9th on the depth chart depending on how management views Clague who they just re-signed. I thought acquiring Stillman was a waste of an asset and still do. Granted we need another depth-type forward prospect like a hole in the head and Bloom won't be missed (unless he becomes Brandon Hagel 2.0). Now back on topic; Goaltending or lack thereof. When I made the list, it's pretty clear to me that Briere will move Hart at some point this summer or this coming season. Why acquire Petersen when you have Sandstrom and Ersson behind Hart, unless you plan to move Hart to make room for Ersson to play with the more veteran Petersen. Hart is kind of the ideal candidate for me. He is young, but has years of experience already. His numbers are good and he'd benefit from a change of scenery and a competitive team. Buffalo also gets a goalie with 2 years of control. That should be a bridge long enough for Levi to earn the No. 1 job instead of getting it handed to him now because there is no viable alternative. I also think it's worth monitoring how Askarov (NSH) and Wolf (CLG) do in camp. Do they force their way onto the NHL rosters, allowing Nash to trade Saros and Clg to trade Markstrom (he has an NMC) or Vlader?

Here is the goaltending situation across the NHL Ana - Gibson, Dostal (RFA) AZ - Vejmelka, Ingram Bos - Ullmark, Swayman (RFA) Buf - Levi, UPL, Comrie, Tokarski Calg - Markstrom, Vladar & Wolf (Minors) CAR - Andersen, Raanta, Kochetkov Chi - Mrazek, Soderblom, Stauber Colo - Georgiev, Francouz CBJ - Merzlikins, Tarasov DAL - Oettinger, Wedgewood DET - Husso, Reimer, Lyon EDM - Skinner, Campbell FLA - Bobrovsky, Stolarz (Knight - IR) LA - Copley, Talbot, Rittich Minn - Gustavsson (RFA), MAF, Hunter Mon - Allen, Montembeault, (Price-IR) Nash - Saros, Lankinen. Askarov NJD - Vanecek, Schmid NYI - Sorokin, Varlamov NYR - Shesterkin, Quick Ott - Korpisalo, Forsberg-IR PHI - Hart, Petersen, Sandstrom, Ersson PIT - Jarry, DeSmith, Nedjelkovic SJ - Kahkonen, Blackwood Sea - Grubauer, Daccord STL - Binnington, Hofer TB - Vasilevsky TOR - Samsonov (RFA), Woll, Murray VAN - Demko, Martin VGK - Hill, Thomspon, (Lehner-IR), Patera WAS - Kuemper, Lindgren WPG - Hellebuyck, Brossoit I've underlined teams that may be willing to trade a goalie. I've put in bold the goalies I think could be or are on the market. The top goalie prospects according to the Athletic in Feb 23 are Wallstedt (Minn) - Iowa (AHL), Askarov (NSH) - MILW (AHL), Wolf (Calg), Levi (BUF), Cossa (DET) - Toledo (ECHL), Dostal (ANA), Kochetkov (CAR), Schmid (NJD), Ersson (PHI), and Commesso (CHI) - BU (NCAA). I put in italics the top prospects who played in the NHL some last year. 7/10 played at least 1 NHL game last year.

Especially when you look at Rochester. They have 7 D as well. That’s 17D in the top 2 levels of the organization.

I'm not the GM, but I've stated numerous times I'd trade for Helle as a rental. Their price would have to come down to a more reasonable level since we aren't asking for an extension to do the deal. I'd also make a try for Hart. I'd have also offered Andersen 3 years at 4 to see if he'd come.

Don't forget TNT, Skinner, Tuch, Dahlin and Mitts' career years.

That's fantasy land. Krebs and Rousek maybe, but probably not.

Saros, Helle, Hart to name 3 although only Helle is probably available. I'd rent him for a year for Rosen, UPL, and another medium asset. I think it's that important.

He didn't acquire UPL. I'm not sure he acquired Houser either. Anderson played well for us but couldn't play more than 25 games. Levi is the future, but the rest are hot garbage.

I think you need to read my earlier post about Gibson. Gibson doesn't move the needle and is what KA was talking about when he said acquiring a goalie just because he has played a lot of games but isn't really better than what you already have.

It will be the difference between just making the playoffs as a WC vs being in the top 3 in the Atlantic division. I'd argue it could easily make a 10 pt difference in the standings.

I think Gibson was who KA was talking about in the quote I posted. (Stats from last season) Gibson - 53 gp 3.99 GAA, .899 Save % .481 Quality save % Comrie - 19 gp 3.67 GAA, .886 save %, .421 Quality save % UPL - 33 gp 3.61 GAA, .891 save %, .406 Quality save % All 3 stink to high heaven. Gibson's excuse was ANA's terrible defense and that may be partially true, but that doesn't account for all of it. KA is looking at Gibson's numbers and asking himself why would I trade for him when it's the same crap I already have? In his mind at least UPL, who is only 23, might improve. I'd sign Halak before I traded for Gibson.

Levi is the starter.

To add fuel to this fire. Stats from NHL.com https://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?report=goalsForAgainst&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20222023&seasonTo=20222023&gameType=2&playerPlayedFor=franchise.19&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=evenStrengthGoalDifference&page=0&pageSize=50 VO: On-ice Even Differential -18 JJP: On-Ice Even Differential -14 Both were on the ice for 58 goals against, while VO was on the ice for 40 GF and JJP 44 GF at even strength. VO was 5th on the Sabres with 21 EV goals and had 28 EV points. JJP had 10 EV goals and 27 EV points. How DG allocates EV ice time and allocates line assignments will come down to camp battles. I think the only thing we know for sure is that Skinner TNT Tuch is the first line, DC is the 2nd line center and Z and KO anchor the 4th line. After that I think DG will decide on how things play out in camp.

Is Prow signed for this year?

I just checked the Amerks roster and that is also looking like it’s near completion. They have under contract 2G, 7D, 15F once Murray and Weissbach re-sign. I don’t know if Neuchev and Novikov will be here in the fall, but I assume so. Rousek may make the Sabres. Komarov is signed, but I don’t think he is AHL eligible.

Amerks so far G - Tokarski and Cooley D - Savoie, Johnson, Metsa, Cecconi, Davies, Jandric and Novikov (is he here?). Komarov is signed but I don’t think he is eligible for the A next year. F - Mersch, Jobst, Richards, Fiddler-Schultz, Kulich, Rosen, Kisakov, Neuchev (is he here?), Cedarqvist, Biro, Kozak, Nadeau, Murray (QO - rfa), Weissbach (QO-RFA) and Rousek (if he doesn’t make the Sabres). Did I miss anyone? PS: thanks @Flashsabre for the missing names.

I completely agree but KA is “confident in the guys we have.” Hard to fix a problem that you don’t believe exists. KA’s rationale: “You can go sign a veteran goalie that’s played a lot of games, but if you don’t think he’s better than the ones you have, why would you do that? So you can walk in here and say we got someone who played a lot of games?” Adams said. https://theathletic.com/4661807/2023/07/03/sabres-free-agency/

My hopium was that we wouldn’t take the risk of 3 inexperienced goalies. Could Comrie comeback health and be the goalie he was that one season? Sure, I guess.