GASabresIUFAN

@LGR4GM Pronman’s final rankings have Pekarcik up to 43rd.

Assuming KA goes for a D, I think Simashev is the pick if Reinhbacher is not available. His Russian contract actually works for the Sabres. Assuming Novikov and Johnson make the Sabres over the next couple of years and we sign (or acquire) a D to partner with Power (or Dahlin) for next season, Simashev would join the organization just as the top 4 D KA acquires contract likely ends or is about to end. In fact, our D for 25/26 could look like this Dahlin Samuelsson Power Simashev Johnson Novikov All that said, Leonard, Moore, and Dvorsky are really special forwards. If one of them is still available at 13, KA would be hard pressed to not take them and then fill his D pipeline with the 2 2nd rd picks. I have 10 D with 2nd rd grades plus 1 guy (Dragicevic) with a late 1st rd grade who could still be available at 39. I like Oliver Bonk, Max Strbak among others. As I mentioned earlier, I also really like forward Nick Lardis in the 2nd rd.

He'll be available in the 3rd, although I agree he was excellent at the World U18s. Of the 12 rankings I've looked at with 100+ players, Juraj has only been listed in the top 100 in 4 of the rankings. The only people who gave him at or near second round consideration were Button at 39 and Wheeler at 67. He currently sits 103rd on my consensus board. Nick Lardis, who is also very young in this class, has a much better pedigree and with a little luck, he'll be available to us at 39 and possibly 45. He had a great run with Hamilton in the second half of the season and put up 10 points in 6 playoffs games. He is a pure scorer.

Nope not ever. Can’t root for Eichel and won’t root for a 6 year old team about to win a championship that our 50+ year old team has yet to win.

My consensus Board is really shaping up. 1. Bedard 2. Fantilli 3-7. Michkov, Carlsson, Smith, Benson and Leonard Gap to 8 8-11. Pellikka, Moore, Dvorsky, Reinbacher Gap to 12 12-18. Barlow, Danielson, Perreault, Simashev, Cristall, Wood, Sale Gap to 19 19-26. Musty, Honzek, Yager, Brindley, Stenberg, Williander, Gulyaev, Heidt gap to 27 27-28. Ritchie, But Cliff to 29 29-34. Perron, Molgaard, Nadeau, Sawchyn, Dragicevic, Gauthier Gap to 35 35-37. Lardis, Molendyk, Whitelaw 38-48. Edstrom, Ciernik, Hrbael, Stramel, Cagnoni, Wahlberg, Haltunnen, Ziemmer, Bonk, Augustine, Lindstein Gap to 49 49-56. Price, Pinelli, Barkley, Hameenaho, Brzustewicz, Dower-Nilsson, Minnetian, Akey Gap to 57 57-66. Morin, Strbak, Nelson, Kantserov, Bjarnason, Rehkopf, Suniev, Rykov, Cataford, Under Sorum My mock draft - 13. Simashev (unless one of Reinbacher, Moore, or Dvorsky fall to us. 39. Lardis - Only 17 but very fast skater and good hands 45. Bonk - Solid 2-way D

He wasn't a downgrade, he was basically the same. That's the problem.

If you are filling your holes with worse players than the ones that just left your team is generally heading in the wrong direction. Admittedly a team like TB brings in Bogo for cheap depth, but for a team like Buffalo to bring in status quo or worse players is a mistake. Bush was supposed to be an upgrade over Hagg and just wasn't.

He isn't an upgrade physically. The stats don't support your assertion. Hagg is 6'2 210 with Bush 6'2 200. Bush had 99 hits last season (68 games), Hagg had 97 (48 games). Hagg also added 111 this season for Det (38 games).

But the point of an FA signing is usually to upgrade the roster. I don't think Bush moved that needle. KA could have accomplished the same thing by just retaining Hagg.

This is the only reason the perception is changing. FAs want to win and this team is a hair's breath away from being one of the strongest teams in the East.

I think all his numbers are basically what Hagg gave us last year, except Hagg played 17 minutes to Bush's 15, and in only 48 games to Bush's 68, Hagg gave us similar totals in hits and blocks and a similar % of pt/gp. Their advanced stats on Hockey-reference are nearly identical as well. Sorry, I don't think Bush was much of an upgrade. I do agree KA needed to get at add more D depth last season. Last off-season I asked for a top 4 defender and a depth player like Bush and all we got was Bush. The needs heading into last season were the same as this off-season, getting a top 4 D man and a decent goalie. Instead, KA signed two band-aids. KA has shown he can get excellent value when trading away talent. He has shown he can draft well and develop players. I think he is doing a very good job locking in his core with a goal of smart cap management. The only area where he has been a disappointment so far is outside player acquisition to upgrade holes in his NHL roster. His first crop of Hall, Eakin, and Staal were busts. His second group of Pysyk, Butcher, Dell, Hayden, Anderson, and Vinnie ranged from good (Vinnie) to decent (Anderson & Pysyk) to awful (Buther, Hayden, Dell). This last group, Comrie, and Lyubuskin, plus Stillman & Greenway at the deadline, have not dramatically upgraded the team with Comrie being awful, Bush decent, and the jury still out on the 2 deadline players. But what about Tuch and Krebs you say? The difference is KA was selling the best player in the deal and as I said earlier he got excellent value. Now he is the buyer and this is a much different position than signing or trading for depth players or dumping the old core. His only major buy was Hall and that was an abject failure from day 2 to the day he was traded for a 2nd and Bjork. How he does a buyer this off-season is critical to getting the team the depth it needs to succeed next season.

KA’s will be judged this off-season based primarily on 3 things and a bonus. 1. Getting a good partner for Levi in net. 2. Getting a D partner for Power. 3. Extend Dahlin (possibly done). Bonus: Extend Power, although it’s very possible Power’s camp wants to wait. Bringing in this year’s equivalents of Comrie and Lyubushkin will be failure. Everything else is gravy.

They have competent management so it's not surprising they are succeeding. Remember it's not like they were picking from the best player on 30 or so teams. The expansion team was choosing in theory the 8th best forward or the 4th best D or the backup goalie. In addition, players on their ELC were also exempt from being drafted. If you look at the current Sabres 7 forwards - TNT, Tuch, Skinner, Greenway, Mitts, Cozens, plus Rousek would all be protected with Krebs, Quinn and JJP exempt 3 D - Dahlin, Samuelsson, Joki with Power exempt. G - UPL with Levi exempt Who would be available - KO, VO, Jost, Lyubushkin, Stillman, Bryson, Clague, and Comrie. Who are they really getting from us if the draft were held this off-season? A year from now it would look something like this 7 forwards - Tuch, Skinner, Greenway, Mitts, Cozens, Krebs and Greenway. JJP and Quinn remain exempt. We'd have to have at least one forward with a contract available with NHL experience. 3 D - Dahlin, Power and Samuelsson. Johnson exempt. Stillman, Bryson and Joki would all be RFA and therefore available, as would the player KA adds to off-season to be the 4th D. 1 G - Goalie w a contract and Levi exempt. Again, it's not like we'd be giving up much.

I’m not. That was the point of my post. The need is so obvious even Sabres management recognizes it. Granted I posted about those same two needs a year ago before last season stating if they get real goaltending and a better defenseman or 2 we were ready to be a playoff team. Instead we got Comrie and Lyubuskin. While I have some confidence KA can make the necessary moves, a veteran G and a top 4 D acquisition are going to force him out of his comfort zone.

For two years. Sarcasm?

I'm shocked.

We need more Czechs to balance our Russians.

I think he was talking a total contract value of 10-12 over the 3 years.

Not happening. Chytil received basically $100K per point from his best season (last year) when he scored 22g and added 23a for 45 points. Why would Mitts, who tailed 59 pts last year, sign for anything under 5.5? Both guys do have similar point totals for their careers (138 vs 139), but Mitts has accomplished the total in 50 fewer games (327 vs 277)

I think Otto Stenberg is a slightly better prospect comparing their draft years. Östlund was more productive in the J20, but Stenberg was significantly better in international play, especially in the WJC-18. Stenberg also played significantly more SHL games in his draft year (23) to 11 for Östlund. I have Stenberg 24th on my draft board.

I suggested this possibility weeks ago in the draft thread. Odds are that he drops some since he can't come here until 2026, but I doubt the Caps draft some one else if Michkov is available.

What % of NHL forwards have ever reached 500 goals. There are about 50 in the entire history of the nhl.

As much as I like Mitts you can't keep everyone. They have committed long-term $ to TNT and Cozens. We have Östlund, Rosen, Krebs, Kulich, and Savoie all possible 3rd line centers over the next few years. It's possible Krebs could even prove ready for that role as early as this season. What do you do if your KA and JJP and Quinn take a strong step forward and Mitts jumps to 70 points. Obviously a great problem to have, but how many can you reasonably afford to re-sign? Maybe KA nad Mitts can come to a 2-3 bridge extension to keep the band together for a few more years, but at some points someone (or 2 or 3) have to move on.

or doesn't want to be in Philly or wants to play for a contender asap.

He has also never been a big fan of UPL. Assuming for argument's sake that Levi is the real deal (I have come to believe he is), what do the Sabres really need to truly contend over the next 2-3 years while Levi gains enough NHL experience to be considered an elite No. 1. Sure Helle would be ideal for next season, but his one year deal and likely need of a long term extension vote him off the island. Hart has two years left, is a proven young goalie, and should be better on a better team. However, Danny's stupid asking price likely votes him off the island. What they need is a goalie who can play up to 40-45 games who can give us a .905 to .910 save % night most nights and that we can get under contract for 2-3 years.