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To acquire Helle wouldn’t make sense without an extension, but would go against his stated goal of not blocking a prospects. Levi is KA’s guy. If Helle he 2-3 years left on his deal, I’d be all for acquiring him and we’d have our Ullmark/Swayman type tandem, but without cost certainty and more than one season guaranteed I wouldn’t make the deal.

What experience does Hellebuyck have in a system like ours ? Excellent goalie and I agree we need a good vet to protect Levi next year. I even agree with trading UPL and am ok with moving Krebs, however I want someone experienced with a higher event system. Is Hellebuyck talented enough to succeed in Buffalo? Sure, but he only has one year left on his deal and it may take him the year to adjust. I also think Wpg will want more than KA wants to give for a goalie who can leave in a year. Great that KA think a UPL/Levi combo isn’t the answer, but we need someone with more term and high event experience.

Thanks for the updates

To follow on my earlier post there was an inflection point in the build of the current Leafs team when they had a choice of adding Tavares or defense and goaltending. They chose Tavares. Oops. The Sabres are at the same inflection point. Hopefully, KA finally invests in defense this off-season.

How about an NHL 23 video game tournament with the bottom 8 teams. Each GM can designate one signed current NHL player from his roster to represent the team (that player gets an NMC for the season if they participate). The winning team gets the top overall pick and the 2nd place team gets the 2nd overall pick. The winning player gets 100k, split 50k to him and 50k to charity. The 2nd place player gets 50k to split. The remaining players get 10k each for charity. The setup is the players must play their team with its current roster. Each match is a best of three. Just think of the promotion and TV value. The event could be streamed live on the internet and on TV.

The more I watch the playoffs the more I realize we are Toronto 2.0. Lots of flash but not built for winning playoff hockey. Bringing in Greenway was KA’s first acknowledgment of this fact. I agree with your post. If I were the GM, I move on from VO, Joki, UPL, Comrie, Lyubushkin and Stillman. Yes Stillman and Bush are physical players but they are out of position so often that they aren’t effective. Obviously this isn’t going to happen. The best we can hope for is the acquisition of two good D. Hopefully then, we carry 8 D for depth and that the two new guys force two of Joki, Stillman and Bush to the press box. I also want one of the new D to be a veteran mentor for our young D group. As for goaltending, I’d love to see a mentor for Levi who can still play 40 games if necessary. Entering next season with UPL or Comrie backing up Levi has disaster written all over it.

How about eliminate the lottery all together. Can’t rig something that doesn’t exist. If you have to have the lottery then only the bottom 5 teams each with a 20% chance of winning. Then put in a rule, that you can only win the lottery once every 3 years. The truth is winning the lottery guarantees nothing just like winning the President’s trophy. How long has it taken Edm with the best player and maybe the 5th best player to build a Cup contender? 8 years? The Sabres have two No 1 picks on defense and still allowed 300 goals. Toronto has Matthews and Tavares and can’t win in the playoffs. The teams succeeding in the playoffs can kill penalties, play overall good physical defense and have balanced scoring. Right now the Sabres are Toronto 2.0.

What?

They won’t make that deal. Didn’t we just hire a goalie from Wpg? As much as I like Helle, even if acquired don’t expect similar results in our system. That doesn’t mean he won’t be a huge upgrade over UPL and Comrie, but we’d actually get is an unknown for the price such a deal would command

For us Bills fans living outside WNY having 7-8 prime-time games, is a blessing. This way we don't have to pay Youtube TV $350 for the season.

Mule is offensively mediocre, but he has a good shot, and like Mike Ramsey, he'll add more O over time. Don't forget he has only 109 NHL games under his belt. However, Novikov, playing in the 2nd best league in the world, the KHL, has a total of 9 pts in 94 games. Yes, he's only 19, but he really is a pure defensive player.

We need to see if Novikov skates well enough to even be an NHLer. If he does skate well he could very well develop into a shutdown defenseman. However he completely lacks an offensive tool kit.

Any discussion of the Sabres draft needs ultimately comes down to the cap, guys in the pipeline and projected holes in the roster. You also have to look at who is likely to be available when the Sabres draft. Right now the Sabres have forwards stockpiled like cord wood. Many of them are 1st rd picks already forcing their way onto the roster. Kulich, Savoie and Rousek are the closest to NHL ready and Rosen isn’t far behind. Östlund might also be moving to NA adding another 1st rounder in Rochester. Add guys in Rochester now or next season like Kisakov, Kozak, Nadeau and Neachev and you have another solid developmental layer. As to the rest of the pipeline you don’t have much. On defense you have a few Russian late round picks in Novikov and Komarov and a mid round CHLer in Lindgren. Novikov could come over as soon as this season, but the other two will remain in the CHL next season. Still none of these guys are likely to be top 4 D. On goal the only prospect is a 2nd rounder Finnish goalie who looks like a draft mistake so far. On the face of it, KA would be wise to add D and goaltending. However given the depth at forward in the 1st rd out this draft, expect a Forward with the first pick. I wouldn’t mind trading a forward or two for a D if Johnson doesn’t sign.

Yes

So let's see if I understand this. The Briere/Drury/Grier Sabres lost to Adams' Hurricanes in 2006 in the Conference finals. Adams is now the Sabres' GM and doing a pretty good job. Briere is now the GM of the team he left the Sabres for (Philly) and Drury is now the GM of the team he left the Sabres for (NYR). Grier is aslo the GM of the SJS. Very interesting.

Please see above.

or worse, such as Nads get knocked around

Wow, I’m not even that negative. While you maybe ultimately correct, it won’t be because this kid doesn’t work hard enough. It will mostly likely be because of the forward depth in the organization ahead of him on the food chain. I would count him out. He plays a tough around the net type of game, which we can use. Reminds me of the one we let get away in Hagel. I

That Russian Flu is very dangerous.

Could be. Rotenberg who runs St Petes is a big Putin Supporter and runs the Russian Hockey Federation. He may not want to let Michkov go. It would be interesting if that happened.

I agree. I think there is a significant chance that Washington or Det take him if available, but I do honestly think it's possible he slides all the way to us. If that happens, KA certainly drafts him. Also the Caps are kind of win now mode. The just extended Strome, Jensen, Milano, Alexeyev and TVR. They have almost no cap space and no draft capital. The need this year's 1st to push for a roster spot sooner than later.

Where is he going to play? Skinner, Tuch, TnT, Cozens, Mitts, Quinn, JJP and likely Greenway are pencilled in for top 9 forward slots next season. Krebs and VO are under contract. Savoie is NHL only if kept. That’s already 11 forwards with top 9 aspirations. Even if you trade VO and make Krebs the 4th line center, you are still at 9 top 9 forwards. Where do you slot Kulich? Is he better off on the 4th line in the NHL or being the top player in Rochester playing in all situations. Rousek is the same issue, except he’s older and better suited for a 4th line role. Where does Kulich fit if both KO and Z re-sign? I definitely see the argument that Kulich is ready. KA has said when prospects are ready they’ll be in the NHL. He has also said he wants KO and Z back next season and acknowledges Savoie’s issues. How he makes all those ideas work together is a mystery. The easiest solution is Kulich is sent down and is the first callup when an injury strikes.

Here is a draft day scenario that could play out. Matvei Michkov is the consensus 3rd or 4th player in the draft. Some scouts think his skill level rivals that of Bedard. However he is under contract for the next 3 years in Russia and who knows how long Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine lasts. Given that back drop there is already talk of him falling in the draft, but how far will he fall. I quess it would be based on how much the team liked his talent and how patient the GM is willing to be. Looking at the draft board, there are two teams ahead of us who are willing to gamble on Russian players. They are Det @ 9 and Wash @ 8. However given those two teams are desperate to add talent who will be in the NHL sooner than later. Wash is getting older as we speak and Det lacks scoring depth now and doesn’t have a huge pipeline to add it. On the other hand, Buffalo has plenty of current young forward talent and a very patient GM. We are the one team in the lottery that can truly afford to be patient and we also have a history of drafting Russian through the pandemic and since the war started. So how far might Michkov fall? Last season Yurov, who was under contract for last year (and has since signed an extension for next season) fell from the consensus 11th slot to 24th. Trikozov fell from consensus 34 to 60th. Miroshenko, who already had been downgraded because of cancer, was a consensus 21st, went 20th to the Russian sanctuary Caps and signed with the Caps already once his KHL season ended. Unlike Yurov or Miroshenko, who had 1 year left on their KHL deals when drafted, Michkov’s contract runs through 2025/26. That’s asking a ton a patience from an NHL team and most of the GM’s drafting in the top 16 likely won’t be the GM by the time Michkov reaches the NHL. Based on the mess in Russia and the KHL contract, I can easily seeing him falling to us at 13. I didn’t see an negative Russian bias in the covid 2021 or 2020 drafts.

The headline writes itself “Nads adds 2 in Amerks debut”

I agree that Z is the odd man out and that Krebs is pencilled in as the 4th line center. I also think KO takes the 1 year deal and comes back to finally make the playoffs as a Sabre. If this plays out and VO is traded, I think KA has only one forward roster spot to fill. The 3rd line wing spot is Savoie’s to lose and I see Jost returning in the 13th forward utility role. That leaves Z’s spot to be filled. Does Rousek get a shot at the job or does KA sign someone (or do we get a forward back in the VO trade)? While like a bigger change in the roster, it really looks like may only be 2-3 open roster spots for next season. Those spots are a 4th line forward, the 4th D and either a depth forward or D if they go with a 23 player roster. With Rousek and Kulich likely in Rochester, forward depth is less of an issue. Given the injuries last season and the forward depth, odds favor the 23rd roster spot going to an 8th D.