GASabresIUFAN

Reinbacher - if available. The most likely available candidate 8-11 is Moore. I would not draft ASP. I also really like Wood and Danielson in the 12-18 group. I'd actually take Willander over Simachev. I also really like Honzak in the 19-24 group. He won't be a reach at 13. Pronman has him 13th, Bukkala, who does a scout survey, has him 12th, and McKenzie, who interviews scouts and execs, has him 17th, so don't be surprised if he goes higher than listed here. His numbers (goal and pts per game) and his physical size are very similar to Cozens' draft year in the WHL. This is a very tall and talented LW. Moore is the fastest player in this draft with McDavid-type speed and good skills. Danielson, like Honzak, is a Cozens kind of player. I've seen a couple of reports making the comparison. Woods' gets compared to TNT. It's the size, goal-scoring UConn thing I guess. Recent reports say his skating has improved. Willander over Simashev. Willander is an excellent skater, has a good O skill set, is a decent size, is willing to be physical, and is an extremely effective defender. Actually, he reminds me of a little smaller (he's 6'1") version of Power. I also like that he is coming to NA next season to play NCAA hockey for a stacked BU team. A really strong second-half and his breakout U18 elevated his draft status. Button has him 8th, Pronman 15th, and Bukala 15th. https://www.nhl.com/news/tom-willander-turns-down-sweden-pro-league-for-ncaa-before-2023-nhl-draft/c-344874284

Final Consensus Update - 17 different rankings utilized including TSN (2), Athletic (2), McKeens, Elite prospects, Yahoo (Kennedy), Hockey News (2), Smaht, Flo Hockey, Dobber, Shane Malloy, Recruit Scouting, Daily Faceoff, Sportsnet (Bukala), and FC Hockey. 1. Bedard, 2-Fantilli, Tie 3rd, Michkov and Carlsson 5-7, Smith, Benson, Leonard 8-11, Dvorsky, Moore, Pelikka and Reinbacher Gap 12-18, Wood, Barlow, Perreault, Danielson, Sale, Simashev, Yager 19-24, Willander, Musty, Honzek, Cristall, Brindley, Stenberg 25-28, Ritchie, But, Gulyaev, Heidt There is a huge cliff after Heidt. No one has consistent 1st rd grades after 28 29-32, Nadeau Dragicevic, Gauthier, Edstrom 2nd Round 33-35, Hrabel, Molgaard, Bonk, 36-39, Haltunnen, Molendyk, Perron, Stramel 40-42, Sawchyn, Augustine, Ziemmer Gap 43-48, Hameenaho, Lindstein, Brzustewicz, Morin, Cagnoni, Akey, Morin 49-53, Minnetian, Price, Strbak, Wahlberg, Whitelaw 54-55, Lardis, Nelson 56-59, Rehkopf, Ciernik, Bjarnason, Kantserov, 60-63, Cataford, Dvorak, Dower-Nilsson, Barkey Large Gap - Round 3 64-66, Lind, Pinelli, Suniev, Gap 67-69, Strathmann, Pitre, Kiiskinen 70-71, Cam Allen, Cowan. Gap 72-74, Fowler, Myatovic, Gajan, 75-76, Nordh, Jarventie 77-80, Rykov, Terrance, Bertucci, Unger Sorum 81-85, Gibson, Burns, Misiak, Mania, Nilsson 86-90, McCarthy, Pekarcik, Ratzlaff, Kumpulainen, Nurmi, 91-98, Mukhanov, Wikman, Karki, Cleveland, Touirigny, Fink, Peddle, Shaugabay Others: Sothern, Ludkte, Forsfjall, Miedema, Levis, MacKinnon

Doesn’t kicking the tires mean asking what he wants. I agree 7 years is to long for a 32 year old D, but a 5 year deal with an average cap hit of 6 would work.

If by some miracle Michkov is available at 13 the Sabres have to take him. Given our young forward group and deep forward pipeline, we can afford to wait on a potential franchise talent. If I’m honest, if Michkov starts to fall, I wouldn’t mind if KA traded up to 7th to get him as I don’t see him falling past Wash at 8.

FYI: https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/analyzing-oliver-ekman-larsson-and-if-he-can-be-effective-on-a-new-team/

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/nhls-top-12-ufas-of-2023-latest-rumours-reports/ Orlov to Buffalo? He checks so many boxes for us, KA has to be kicking the tires.

https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/stanley-cup-final-2023-golden-knights-prove-that-envy-is-only-problem-with-nhls-new-expansion-model/ FYI:

https://theathletic.com/4637928/2023/06/24/nhl-trade-grades-avalanche-ryan-johansen/ Ryan Johansen to the Avs for Alex Galchenyuck. Nash retains 50% for the next 2 years $4 mill per season. Galchenyuk is a UFA July 1st.

I wonder if Connor Clifton would be a more KA style signing.

Didn't the great TM trade a 1st for Lehner and a cap dump? Saros has to be worth more than that.

Are we giving up on UPL? Maybe, but it also maybe an acknowledgement that Levi has already supplanted him as the top goalie prospect in the system and that UPL’s NHL future is best cultivated elsewhere. It’s also an acknowledgment that putting a playoff caliber team in the hands of two raw goalies isn’t a smart way to proceed if you want to make the playoffs. There is also a compromise between the scenarios you mentioned. That compromise is a 2-3 contract for the veteran goalie. Ideally, you sign or acquire a vet, waive Comrie to Rochester and go with Levi and the vet.

I think you are misreading me. In OEL people were dismissing the idea out of hand. I took the other side of the argument because there are few ideas that should dismissed out of hand. I made that mistake on Bogo and others and given our need to upgrade the defense I think KA would be smart to kick the tires on any D capable of upgrading our D especially someone as talented as OEL. All you have to do is look at Karlsson, who rebounded significantly at 33, after two straight injury plagued seasons. Here, I certainly have a definite opinion on what should done at a minimum this off-season, but I’m completely open to other ideas of what can be done to improve the team. However saying that you don’t have an opinion until after the season is not completely honest. Weave admitted he wants new goaltending. Why not say, I want KA to get a new goalie, or this is my wish list. I think your idea of saying lets grade him as the season progresses, but doing nothing is out of the question is a good one; although I’d still like to see which moves you want made.

Every move has risk as does doing nothing, because there are no guarantees nor can you expect them. Would you rather KA do nothing and go with the current status quo roster or would you prefer he make changes to the current group such as acquiring a new defenseman or two and/or a new goaltender to pair with Levi? That’s the real question this thread is asking. You clearly want KA to go get better goaltending.

Do you think Jordan would sign here after Eric’s experience or does he like Adams enough to disregard Eric’s opinion?

Food for thought One of these players is a current Sabres and one is a draft eligible player who should be available to Buffalo at 13. These are their draft year stats and both played im the WHL. 1) 6’3 190 1.24 pts/gp, .5 g/gp 2) 6’4 186 1.3 pts/gp, .54 g/gp Player 1 - Dylan Cozens Player 2 - Samuel Honzek - who is 17th on McKenzie’s list.

One of things that has stood out while making the consensus list this year is all the good goalies. There are 7 with 2nd or 3rd round grades on McKenzie’s list. I had 6 on my consensus list. Makes you wonder why we reached last year for a goalie in a weak goalie draft given the depth in this one. McCarthy is 86th on this list and guess where the Sabres draft? Unless Reinbacher falls Moore, Wood, Willander seem like good possibilities at 13.

@JohnC has said for months, that will return with the status quo goaltending. However, I think that would be a mistake. Teams have a limited window in a cap world and we are entering ours. We no longer have time to risk more lousy goaltending. You brought up Freddie Andersen, but lets play out his acquisition for a second. You wouldn’t be comfortable with him as the primary starter, but what about a tandem of him and Levi vs Levi/UPL or Levi/Comrie? By the way UPL fell off a cliff in Feb and March when we needed him to play well. He went 3/6/2 in 12 games with a .870 save% and a 4.33 gaa.

I think KA is off to a very good start especially if the Dahlin rumor is true. I expected KO back and like the Rousek signing. He upgraded the forward group at the deadline with Greenway. I’m more positive about the Z signing after hearing KA discuss his return. However, the biggest dominoes have yet to fall. Despite what others may think, I’m very bullish on the Sabrex next year and I believe two smart moves could make us one of the elite teams in the NHL.

I’d like to add another name. What about Greenway? Donnie wanted him badly. He will likely start the year on our 3rd line. His career numbers are pedestrian, but Donnie seem to think he has 20 goal potential (he scored 4 goals in 17 games for us; a 19 goal pace). If he bounces back from last year and puts up 15-20 and 40 points+ wouldn’t he have to be a candidate for making the biggest stride year over year?

Yes it is possible with the most likely scenario being he starts the year in Rochester and gets recalled when an injury strikes in Buffalo. That said is anyone really comfortable with any of these scenarios heading into next season? 1. Levi/UPL tandem (53 games of NHL experience), 2. Levi/Comrie tandem (54 games of NHL experience) 3. UPL/Comrie (93 games), 4. levi/Comrie/UPL (100 games). PS: In UPL’s and Comrie’s combined 93 games they carry a Save % of .898.

Because i want to see others opinions. It’s called a discussion. Some might be satisfied if KA does nothing more this off-season. Others might want more substantial restructuring of the defense. Others are dissatisfied with the status quo forward group and want a 4th line center and some more physical forwards. Others here want a coaching philosophy change and assurance that our young forwards backcheck. Truthfully these are all valid opinions. However simply stating we can’t judge any moves at this time is a little disingenuous. As KA said in his presser his goals are to improve the team both for next year while preserving the franchises’ ability to sustain long-term success. This is a hard needle to thread, but he is clearly committed to attempting to improve the roster over it’s current form and he is open to moving our top pick to get it done. He doesn’t know whether the move will work, but it’s a calculated risk and he should be positively judged for recognizing the issue and trying to correct it. As to Comrie, I have no issue with his signing of Comrie. With the information he had made it a reasonable calculated risk. The move to acquire Greenway was a similar calculated risk, but it was the right move and whether it works or not doesn’t change that fact. My hope for this off-season is that KA graduates from small moves and at least somewhat goes for a homerun, like Fla did for Tkachuk and LV for Jack. Getting Saros and or Pesce would be those kind of moves. Those players would elevate us to contender status overnight and help make for a great off-season. The Athletic today suggested Pesce (with an extension) for Östlund and the 39th pick. I’d make this move in a second. It solidifies our defense for years to come without hindering our pipeline much given our depth at forward while keeping our 13th and 45th picks.

@Weave The analog I’d draw is you’re in HR for your company tasked with hiring a Sales Manager. You list the job, interview internal and external candidates and hire the best candidate for the job. When hired you don’t know for sure whether or not the person will succeed in the job, but you hire based on credentials. There are no guarantees? But you still have to hire someone. KA has two key jobs available without adequate internal applicants.

Simple. We have two major roster holes that need filling, top 4 D and a veteran goaltender. If he doesn’t acquire players with the credentials for those jobs, I believe he has failed the team this off-season.

Not the same at all. What we are judging is whether the right kind of decisions were made to improve the team for next season. Won’t you be annoyed if KA doesn’t add D help in the off-season? Do you really believe that UPL and Comrie are good enough to give us good goaltending when Levi doesn’t play or if Levi proves not to be as NHL ready as we hope?

The Athletic today suggests Östlund and the 39th pick for Pesce as long as an extension framework is in place. I’d make this deal. While Pesce will be 29 in Nov, I think a 6 year deal could work out decently for both parties and it would solidify out top 4 for at least the next 3-4 years.