GASabresIUFAN

I guess they are a pretty good team.

He is actually down to 3rd, Kane passed him this season. Still an amazing accomplishment for a guy who was primarily a D.

One other note from the interview was KA mentioned having 4 goalies. I take that to mean Levi, UPL, Comrie and Subban (who was excellent for Rochester this past year). He also talked about only carrying two next season in the NHL. Reading these tea leaves, I'll guess that they currently envision Levi and UPL in Buffalo with Comrie and Subban in Rochester. I like the Comrie/Subban tandem in Rochester, but not real happy with UPL's return. If KA is serious about cutting the GA, he can start with replacing UPL, but that doesn't seem in the cards right now. It also seems that other than adding one more D, but expect really many other changes in the roster over last year except a rookie pushing out a veteran at forward. I think his game plan is to wait and see what Z and KO want to return and then decide on the few remaining roster spots from there.

What KA talked about in the interview was really situational hitting (aka checking). Hitting once you have possession doesn't help keep possession, but forechecking to knock guys off the puck to aid in recovering possession does. I got the feeling from the interview that they feel they can be more physical in that area and that is one of the primary reasons Greenway was acquired. This answer does bring into question why Stillman was acquired and Lyubushkin was signed. Both guy are more hit first and ask questions later type of players and both guys are known for (and we saw) getting out of position while trying to make a hit. It's one of the primary reasons I was against the Stillman trade. What we need to more guys who are willing to clean out the crease and block shots. McKee type of players. Someone mentioned Parayko in an different thread and I incorrectly said we didn't his skill set. I thought of him as a Tyler Myers type player with better O skillset. However when I looked yesterday at his numbers, I was pleasantly surprised by his shot blocks and his willingness to take the body. Turns out he maybe a perfect addition to our top 4 if really available.

No one wondered why we traded Bloom, we wondered if KA received something of value for him.

Oh, look, another forward.

Until he doesn't. Odds are we'll still have Comrie and Subban in case of injury.

I'd take this deal.

After the draft and with the addition of Ford, how are people feeling about the Bills right now for next season?

What are some of the UFA goalies' estimated deals?

Would a 1.1 offer to KO be an insult? He had 28 pts last year. My guess is a 1 yr 2.5 deal would be more appropriate. Z has produced 15-19 pts each year for the last 7 seasons. I'm not offering anything over the 2.2 he earns right now and I'm not going beyond 2 years. We simply have too much talent coming up and already have enough leaders (Tuch, Cozens etc) to cover that need. Truthfully we need more physical players on the 4th line than Z or KO. If it were up to me, I'd move on from both, but that isn't how KA works.

If Z gets more elsewhere, G-d bless him and I hope he'll be happy elsewhere. Jost Q offer is 2.25.

These all look doable, except I'm not giving Jost or Z more than a 2-year deal. I doubt KA would go 5 years on Orlov, but 4 on Gavrikov makes more sense from a Sabres point of view.

The Athletic’s Wheeler has Gabe up to 8th on his May rankings after Perreault dominated at the U18’s. If you watch the Sweden/USA gold medal game highlights, there is a great clip of Perreault making a 180 degree spin with a behind the back pass onto his linemates’ stick for a point blank scoring chance.

Power for the Calder.

@Pimlach Here is the link to the interview. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frankly-speaking-with-frank-seravalli/id1658075238?i=1000610717441 The Montour discussion starts at 16:04. KA's answer starts at 16:54.

You can't tell me you aren't annoyed when Jack does well or ROR.

There is no question that played into KA’s thinking. However, there are no core pieces except guys acquired in trade like Tuch and Skinner (and KA was stuck with Skinner) who are over 24 now and Tuch is only 26. Montour is now 29.

KA also said Montour has matured as a player since he left.

But Bush is on a 2 year deal that likely won’t be renewed. He is also a bottom pair D. Montour to be utilized properly would have to be the QB on the no. 1 pp. That wasn’t happening here. Also the D core is Dahlin, Samuelsson and Power. All 24 and under. When KA arrived Joki was 21, and Johnson was a 1st rd draft pick. Even without knowing he was getting Power, a mix of Dahlin, Joki, Johnson and Samuelsson had the look of a potential good top 4. From that standpoint where does Montour fit? I think KA’s comments make sense and then add in the motto of players “wanting to be here” and I can easily see that an extension was something neither party was interested in.

The age information came from KA himself during the interview. Yes he was 27 when traded, but if KA’s timeline was 3 years to get the ship turned around, then he’d be 30 when the team again became competitive. From this point of view, KA’s comments make sense. Did Montour also want out. Probably, but it’s clear from KA’s comments that he wasn’t going to offer an extension to Montour.

You do realize that Hawerchuk was in the top 20 scorers (currently 22) in NHL history with he retired with 518 g and 1409 points. Before he came to Buffalo he was the no.1 player on Wpg for years and years, won a Calder, finished 2nd to The Great One in the MVP race at 21 when put up 130 points. He played in the playoffs every season of his career except 2 and was an over a pt per game playoff player. The only active players ahead of him are Thornton, Ovie and Sid. Patrick Kane is nearly 200 point behind Hawechuk for his career. Not his fault that he played 2nd fiddle to Gretzky out West and to Patty in Buffalo.

Levi is definitely the silver lining, just like Thompson is ultimately the silver lining on the ROR trade. If he gives us Miller level goaltending it will change the future of this franchise for the better. I heard KA talking about Montour. He was very complimentary of his talent and wasn’t surprised he was flourishing. Reading a little between the lines, I got the impression that he believes we utilized him incorrectly, but moved him because his age was beyond the range he wanted for this rebuild.

There are a clear top 6 players in Bedard, Fantilli, Michkov, Carlsson, Smith and Benson. Bedard, Fantilli, W. Smith, and Carlsson will be drafted in the top 6. After that who knows. Benson and Michkov are top 6 talent, but Michkov could slip because of the Russian issues and Benson could slip because or his size like Savoie did. My guess all 6 will be drafted in the top 10, but after that the guys ranked 7-17 could all be available and all probably have similar draft grades on most NHL boards. This draft reminds 2019 when the US and Canadian U18 teams were loaded and guys like Caufield, Newhook and Krebs fell to 15, 16, & 17. Spencer Knight went 13th that year. We are going to get a really talented player this year at 13. With 2 seconds, I suspect KA’s plan will be to get the BPA on his list at 13 and then grabs some D in the second. Here is a bold prediction. If KA gets a forward at 13 and Östlund stays in Sweden, KA trades Östlund for a D, much like the Nylander for Joki trade.

Should we be annoyed the 2 former Sabres, Montour and Reinhart, were keys pieces in Fla beating Bos?