GASabresIUFAN

What else is he going to say now that he painted himself into this corner with the Levi or bust approach to goaltending? I do have to say that Adams was completely honest when he said he was going to improve the defense.

I do as well. It will be interesting watch the D-camp to see if our impression is the correct one.

https://theathletic.com/4661807/2023/07/03/sabres-free-agency/ I still have an interest in Pius Suter for additional depth.

https://theathletic.com/4661807/2023/07/03/sabres-free-agency/ That should put a fork in everyone's hope of a goaltender acquisition unless UPL and Comrie are just awful in camp. So what is our best-case scenario for our goaltending? Levi dominates in camp, stays healthy all year and becomes a bonafide No. 1 despite only 7 games of NHL experience. UPL wins the backup job and develops into a consistently average NHL goalie for the 25 games he plays. (I imagine Comire and/or Tokarski play 8-10 games this season). Worst case is that Levi doesn't prove ready to carry the team and none of the other 3 are up to the task either. KA is taking a huge gamble here. If it pays off he'll look like a genius. If it doesn't, it could knock the Sabres out of playoff contention for a 13th straight year.

It looks like the NHL roster is very close to complete. We have 25 players under contract for about 77 million. As of today we have 3G, 9D and 12F plus Quinn on IR. I don’t see any major acquisition(s) coming at this point, even in goal. So what’s left to do? 1. The biggest priority has to be getting Dahlin and Power extended. How much and for how long? 2. Complete Rochester’s roster. Murray and Weissbach have Q-offers to sign. Anything else need to done? 3. Trim the NHL roster to 23. Which D get moved or waived? Bryson and Joki seem like the candidates on the block. Do we move VO? Do we move a goalie or a 2nd D to add a 13th forward? 4. Camp battles: Who starts as Power’s partner? Where do any of the D outside the top 3 play? Who joins the second line? Who centers the 3rd and 4th lines? Where does VO play if retained? Can any of the kids crack the lineup? Who wins the backup goalie job?

We already brought back Tokarski.

Who is left on the market that has a connection to DG, KO, KA or the Sabres in general? If they don’t the odds of them coming here are greatly diminished. Look at the list recently Stillman - Connected to KA Greenway - Connected to DG Clifton - Connected to DG Johnson - Connected to DG and KO Even when we draft there seems to be a connection. The drafting piece illustrates using all available resources for better knowledge about a player. Benson - Plays w Savoie and played with Krebs and plays for former Sabre James Patrick Strbak - going to MSU to play for Nightingales’ brother McCarthy - KA’s neighbor. So who is left with ties to our team?

Marty is not a fan. He kind of poisoned the well for me.

I guess the question comes down to what people feel is a reasonable number of games played for a rookie goaltender with 7 games of pro/NHL experience in his first NHL season. The comparable players are Helle and Oettinger. Helle played 2 college seasons and put up numbers very similar to Levi. In Helle's 1st two pro seasons, he played (and dominated) mostly in the AHL (58 games in year 1 and 30 games in year 2). Helle played 26 NHL games in year 2 and then 56 in year 3 at 23 years old. Oettinger played 3 college seasons. In year 1 as a pro at 21 years of age he played 38 AHL games and 2 NHL playoffs games. In year 2, he played 29 NHL games. In year 3 he played 10 AHL and 48 NHL. At 24 (year 4) he played 62 games for the Stars. I think we need to approach this season saying 50% of the season of Levi in goal would be a good result. That, therefore, means we need a 1B. We don't have a 1B. Instead, we have 3 marginal backups. Levi is 21 by the way.

Not sure what you are getting at. There are crickets because we watched our terrible bottom 3 and then watched the playoffs and saw that we needed to be better defensively, bigger and harder to play against. We also saw how terrible our PK was with the players we had. Here are two upgrades in all areas. I also don't remember any posts here that didn't like the Benson pick. He is small, but the draftniks, like me, never thought a player of his skill would fall to us. I'm thrilled to have Benson. I personally didn't like the Stillman trade because I don't think Stillman is a good player. I'm thrilled right now that he is down to 8th on the depth chart.

@LGR4GM What is the market for his services at this point? How many teams can take on a nearly $5 mill cap hit? (17 already have $5 or less in cap space). How many actually have a roster slot? Most of the few teams with a roster spot don't have cap space or have RFAs to re-sign. In addition, there are better and cheaper alternatives. Guys like Tarasenko are still available as UFAs and guys like Yamamoto are signing 1 years deals for $1.5.

There is no question he is our worst defensive forward and he had a terrible year last year. His EV differential was -18 (according to NHL.com) and his GV/TK was -2. However, he has been on the + side of the ledger in recent years and was better in 2021/22 where his differential was the same as TNT and better than Cozens and Krebs. My guess is KA thinks he can improve and he isn't going to trade him.

How did you quote my VO post in the Development Camp thread? I fixed the typo. 🙂

While I think Rousek has a great shot at making the Sabres, I doubt he'll add 20-25 goals next season.

Here are a couple of stats about Johnson and Clifton that should help clarify why they are here. PK time: Clifton played 100 minutes on the PK last year. That was 5th on the Bruins D (they took a lot of penalties), but about the same amount of time Dahlin spent on the PK. Clifton's GP has increased each year in the NHL starting at 19, then 31, 44, 60, and 78 last year. He also had his best scoring season with career highs in goals (5) assists (18) and pts (23). Those stats would have placed him 3rd in pts and assists and 2nd in goals on the Sabres. This was accomplished on Boston's 3rd pair who zero PP time. His 120 blocked shots would have been second behind Dahlin's 132. Two not-great stats are his 60 PIMS (only Dahlin's 96 were more on the Sabres) and his 47 giveaways (but those are still less than Power and Dahlin). Erik Johnson: Did you realize EJ only had 12 penalty minutes last season? For a team as disciplined as the Sabres in not taking penalties (3rd least in the NHL), that's a nice addition. Stillman had 13 in 18 games and Clague 24 in 33 games. He also killed 128 minutes of penalties for the Avs (3rd on the Avs). Johnson also lead the Avs in hits (121) was 3rd in blocks (102) and only had 17 giveaways for the season. All in all, we are getting 2 guys who hit, block shots, kill penalties and are defensively responsible.

Why trade him at this point unless we are getting an upgrade elsewhere in the roster (goalie?) or for an offer KA can't refuse? Our roster currently stands at 3G, 9D, and 12F. Move Bryson and your back to the 23 contract limit. The team has nearly 6 million in cap space. If Bryson is traded, that number jumps to nearly 8 million. There is literally no pressure to trade VO. I also think we are forgetting that VO was one of our best forwards in the second half of 2021/22. PS: I'd also move UPL or Comrie to make room for a 13th forward.

I agree in general, but I’d trade Wpg Rosen for one year of Helle. Then again I think Rosen is Joel Armia 2.0.

same answer. If Wpg would trade us Helle for Rosen, UPL, and something, I think KA would have to consider it.

They played Old Apartment and Brian Wilson during the set and both sounded just fine without Page. I think Ed said during the show how much del Amitri sounds just like they do in the studio.

Fair question. Finding someone with similar credentials on a 2-4 year deal would have been ideal. $5 mill per season for up to 4 years should not be a problem for us cap wise. Also such a contract is likely very trade-able after 2 years. I fully understand why none of the bigger names came here. All the big names, Hill, Andersen, Jarry and Varlamov all stayed with their current teams leaving not much for those looking for help. That doesn’t change the disappointment in not finding help and keeping the lousy status quo. I still believe help is possible, but KA is going to have to be creative.

Be careful folks. Someone will say you are being disrespectful to Levi if you think KA should upgrade Comrie and UPL. It’s entirely possible that Levi starts 40+ and the other 3 guys play 35 or so and the Sabres get NHL average from them and we squeak into the playoffs. Is that really the goal? Our offense last year put up 293 goals. We just upgraded the D and PK. We still have plenty of cap room why settle for bad backup goaltending and put the weight of the franchise on a rookie with 7 games of pro experience? Here are the backups in case things go wrong. Eric Comrie - NHL experience - 47 games over 7 years - Career Gaa - 3.32 with a .897 save %. Quality save % .465 UPL - NHL experience - 46 games over 3 years - Career GAA - 3.47 with a .897 save %. Quality save % .422 Tokarski - NHL experience - 80 games over 9 years - Career GAA - 3.15 with a .902 save %. Quality save % . 463 By comparison here is what Tristan Jarry looks like - 206 gp - 2.65 GAA, .914 save% and .606 Quality save %. Who would you rather share the net with Levi, guys like our 3 backups or someone like Jarry?

Your probably right that they’ll get more him at the deadline than they will right now.

Another Sabre turned GM in the offing ?

Who is left worth looking at?

3rd pair in 24/25 Johnson & Johnson.