GASabresIUFAN

The Sabres went 3-3 on the homestand beating only bad teams and losing to the 3 decent teams they played. This season is basically done and it's time to start thinking about next year. So what to do? If I'm KA, my first move is trading Jokiharju for a team looking for D help. The Sabres have 5 D under contract for next season. The team is locked to Dahlin, Power, and Samuelsson. Clifton has come on of late and has another 2 years on his deal. Rookie Ryan Johnson has outplayed Joki which has led Joki to be a healthy scratch. Last year KA inexplicably held on to or brought back Bryson, VO, and Jost who were all healthy scratches last season. It's time to not make the same mistake again. Time to trade Joki while playoff teams are desperate for D help and get as big a return as possible. This move solidifies Johnson's spot in the lineup and gives the team a better chance of winning. Along the same vein, I'd trade Krebs as well. What has he done to earn an extension? He's still young and is an RFA. Someone will take a shot at him. Given our forward depth in the system, time to clear some dead weight. Jost or a contract received in the trade for Joki or Krebs can fill in as the 4th C. I'm also interested in giving Greenway an extended look as the 4th C for next season. If we have to take a contract back in these deals so be it. We have the cap space and that will up the return. The next move is to trade Girgensons. Might as well play Robinson every night to see if he is worth re-signing. He is also faster than the other depth players and unlike most Sabres he is willing to crash the net. The other move is trading VO. Teams in the playoff race want depth scoring and he needs a fresh start elsewhere. If we have to eat some cap and/or take back a contract again so be it. I'm holding onto EJ and KO unless they ask to be traded. This is a bit of a change in opinion, but I still want to field a decent team. That said, I'm not re-signing either play for next season. I'm also hopeful that KA might find a way to land a top 4 D to partner with Dahlin or Power to get a head start on next season. I'm also hopeful that KA is showcasing Comrie for a trade, but if not, I'm still willing to let Comrie back up UPL for the remainder of the season to allow Levi to be the starter for the Amerks and hopefully get playoff starts. Here is how the post-trade deadline might look Forwards Skinner TNT Tuch Benson Mitts Quinn JJP Cozens (Greenway, Kulich, Rosen, or a new player) Robinson Greenway (Jost?/New player?) KO Defense Dahlin Ryan Johnson (new player?) Power Clifton (or RJ) Mule Eric Johnson Goalies UPL Comrie

Especially when he has 1 pt in his last 10 games.

This season was over 20 games in. Any team that has a season long win streak of 2 games is not a playoff team. The questions are how do you fix this team and are KA/DG the men to do it?

Terrible penalty call, but not surprising. This team still isn't good. It was a terrible giveaway in the 1st by my friend Mitts.

Don’t expect him to stay in the NHL. The Sabres play a back to back in LA and then SJS on the 27th. Then they are off until 2/6. The Amerks play 1/26, 1/27, 1/31, 2/2 and 2/3. If the Sabres have a brain, they are going to send Levi down to play in at least 2 of these games for the Amerks.

Fixed.

That’s when Skinner is traded.

Took KA long enough.

I'm going to review this yet again. Here is the Sabres cap situation heading into next season Forwards under contract (8) - Skinner, TNT, Cozens, Tuch, Greenway, Benson, Quinn, JJP - Cost $33,662,023 Defenders under contract 5) - Dahlin, Power, Samuelsson, Clifton, and R Johnson - Cost $27,894,047 Goalies under contract (1) - Levi - Cost $925,000 Totals (14) - Cost $62,481,020 That leaves approximately $25,000,000 for max of 9 players [probably 8]. RFAs - Mitts, Krebs, Joki, Bryson, and UPL UFAs - Robinson, KO, VO, Girgensons, and EJ. Can we afford Mitts? Yes, we can! The only RFAs that should return are UPL (I can't believe I'm typing that) and Mitts. Under the UFAs, I can see Robinson being brought back, but he won't be getting the 1.6 he is getting right now. The biggest expense, besides Mitts, facing the Sabres in the off-season will be getting a top 4 D. It looks to me like Ryan Johnson is working hard to secure one of the two spots. Odds also favor one of Savoie, Kulich and/or Rosen earning one of the forward slots. All told with re-signing Mitts (6 for 6.5), Robinson (1 yr @ 1.1), UPL, (2 years @1.75), and Kulich (918K), that brings us to $73,731,088 for 18 players. The remaining roster holes are a 3/4 center, a top 4 D, a 12th/13th forward, and a 7th D. Skinner TNT Tuch JJP Mitts Quinn Benson Cozens Kulich Robinson ????? Greenway (?????) Dahlin R Johnson Power ?????? Mule Clifton (?????) Levi and UPL Knowing KA, he'll re-sign Joki and Krebs and bring back an entire status-quo roster that is failing this season. Somebody who gives a darn about winning dumps those two and tries to actually improve the roster. The one thing he doesn't do is trade away his best forward from this season.

Correct and who really is worried about him being claimed?

Ok, so what is his trade value? A 2nd? How does that help us?

Weird stat of the season. The Sabres’ 18 RW are tied for 5th in the East behind Florida (24), NYR (23), Bos (22) and Car (19). TB, NJ and Pit also have 18. Teams in a playoff spot Tor (14), Det (17), and Phil (17) all have less. The Sabres, 6-4, in their last 10, are still 7th in the Atlantic and 8th in the East WC standings.

Can we send Levi down now? UPL has earned the net with back to back shutouts (granted against the 2 worst teams in the NHL). How does sitting on the bench in the NHL help Levi or the Sabres. Comrie or some other scrub can sit on the bench just as easily Levi. The beauty of it is that Levi may find his game in Rochester and if UPL falters, Levi can always be recalled.

Have we had the most fragile team over the last two years?

I know you ignored the comparison but Kuznetsov is a very good comparison to Mitts. For his career he has average .78 pts per game. If you take out the last two seasons where he has really slowed, his production is .83 pts per game and his goals per game were .26. Mitts this season is .86 and .27 respectively and over the last season and a half is at .77 and .21. By the way, when Tuch signed his 7 year 4.75 mill per season contract in 2019, he was coming off a 20g 52 pt season. No way Mitts signs for anywhere near that figure.

But the point is they are more similar to Mitts than Stafford or Charlie Coyle. It’s also why I wrote that Backstrom had a higher ceiling and that a more recent comp is Fiala.

Lol. Coyle’s best season was 8 years ago at 56 points. With the Bruins Coyle has had 45 and 44 points respectively. Mitts had 59 last year and is on his way to 70 this season. This is almost as good a comparison as Mitts to Stafford. 100K per point is the starting point on a new contract. Add a premium for 25+ goals and for high end two way play. Better comparisons to Mitts are Nik Backstrom or Evgeny Kuznetsov. These guys are 20-25 goals with 50+ assists most of their careers. Backstrom had a higher ceiling, but the majority of his career he produced like Mitts is this season. Mitts is currently on pace for 22 goals 49 assists for 71 points. A similar player in age and scoring is Kevin Fiala. He had a breakout 33g 85 pts campaign to earn a massive 7yr 7.85 per contract, but has settled in since as a 20g 70 pts guy. In fact he has nearly identical stats as Mitts this season with 10g 27a. He had 23g 49a for 72pts last year.

Sending a player down who isn't fully NHL ready is not sending the wrong message. In fact, it's quite the opposite. There is a justifiable argument that Levi is better than Comrie, however, if we are no longer doing a 50/50 or even 60/40 split between UPL and Levi, then having Comrie as a backup for limited games is not an issue. Remember sending Levi down, doesn't prevent the Sabres from recalling him for spot starts. PS they already have sent numerous messages that they weren't interested in winning. They didn't upgrade the top 4 D . They didn't bring in a veteran goalie in case the inexperienced goalies failed. They didn't upgrade the bottom of the forward group. They didn't upgrade the roster when the injuries hit for the 2nd season in a row. Sending Levi down won't change what everyone already knows; KA was not serious about winning this season. As I've said before, compare what KA has done with what Van's GM has done.

@GoPuckYourself By the way, I do agree that the kids are going to force some tough choices among our forwards and we can't keep everyone. However, I can make a good argument to keep our top 8 forwards. JJP, Quinn, and Benson are on their ELCs and have so much potential, thus they shouldn't be traded. Tuch is a heart and soul local guy whose game has blossomed in Buffalo and is on a cheap contract so he shouldn't be traded. TNT proved he was a top forward last season by scoring 40+ goals and 90+ points. How many 90 pt guys do you only have to pay $7 mill? Therefore he shouldn't be traded Cozens is so young and already has a 30-goal campaign, no way he should be traded and we lack good centers anyway. Mitts is our leading scorer, best 2 way forward, best playmaker, and most versatile player. He needs to be re-signed because we lack centers, playmakers, and forwards with a 2-way game. Skinner is a guaranteed 30-40 goal scorer who isn't going anywhere because of his NMC and huge contract. He is also one of the few Sabres who plays with an edge. How does an underperforming team keep all these guys and while making room for younger cheaper players like Savoie, Kulich, Rosen, and Östlund? I think part of the answer is our GM is going to have to start using some bridge contracts. He is also going to have to move out some prospects and players depending on who blossoms and at what positions. I can see Tuch not being re-signed. I can also see Skinner being moved.

Sure. I can understand wanting to trade a forward to get a top 4 D, especially given our forward pipeline. However, Mitts is the wrong player. We don't have enough playmakers and we certainly lack forwards who play a good 2 way game. We also lack centers. Skinner is on the top of my list to move. Sadly, he has a NMC and a huge salary. That said, I think we can get a top 4 D by moving 1 or 2 of our top forward prospects. Savoie is on the top of my list to be traded.

LOL So the guy who has improved every year since DG took over, who is our most versatile player, our best playmaker, our best 2 way forward, our leading scorer, and our best forward in zone entries shouldn't get a contract. Thank G-d you aren't the GM. Did our lousy GM give Cozens a contract too early? Did our lousy GM give Power and Samuelsson contracts too early? Probably! However, that's not Mitts' fault. Unlike those players, Mitts has earned his new contract. Your comparison to Stafford is a terrible one. Drew was a streaky goal-scorer and not much of a playmaker. He did remake himself into a good defensive forward late in his career, but Mitts and Stafford have otherwise nothing in common. By the way, anyone who thinks Mitts is signed for $5 mill per season or less, especially if he finishes with 70 points or more this season, is in for a rude awakening.

The real question is why do Benson and Mitts get it and why don’t most of the rest of the key forwards? Why do they get to the right areas, why do they win one on one competitions along the boards? Why do they get back on D when their teammates don’t? I know how hard Mitts worked to improve his two way game and to get stronger along the boards. Now he is looking to score. Once Benson figures out how to score in the NHL he will be unstoppable as he does everything else well already. Makes you wonder if Mitts should be one of the players who receive a letter.

That has absolutely nothing to do with the Sabres why do you keep bringing it up? Also, Levi’s excellent play late last year has nothing to do with this season. His numbers in the NHL this season aren’t good. He has a 3.32 and a .889. These are below-average numbers and being a backup isn’t in his or the team’s best interest. He needs to play regularly.

@Thorny you were arguing with me about sending Levi down but liked this statement. What gives? Is it that Comrie comes up if Levi goes down if no trade is made? What if UPL gets 28 of the last 38 starts Levi gets 5 and Comrie 5? Is that more palatable?

Does he get NHL service time ?