GASabresIUFAN

They should try to sign him long-term, but if I were Power’s agent, I’d do the Dahlin style bridge to maximize the 3rd contract once the cap goes up.

Aka Wreck-IT Ralph

Yep. Odds favor us getting another forward at 13.

What should KA's greatest priority be this off-season? Upgrading the defense? Finding a partner for Levi or a starter to play ahead of him? What about upgrading the number of 2-way forwards in the bottom 6?

I agree.

Excellent answer.

What is your overall grade for the season? Overall Grade is a B. Offense was spectacular, but the defense and goaltending lacking. The team improved by 14-16 points despite these issues. What grade would you give Adams and Granato (including his staff)? Adams - Grade is a C+. He needed to upgrade the D and G in the off-season and added Lyubushkin and Comrie in the summer with mostly poor results. He added Stillman (F) and Greenway (B) at the deadline with mixed results but tried to get Chychrun which I hope is a sign of him being a little less conservative going forward. The Jost waiver pickup was excellent, but not sure where he fits long-term. The C+ grade stems primarily from his failure to upgrade the 2 glaring deficiencies in the off-season or during the season. Still, the roster is vastly more talented than when he arrived. Granato - Grade is a C+. PK is worse. Defense and goaltending were also marginally worse. This is on the coaching staff as well as KA. The offense was spectacular and that is to DG's credit. Also, the PP is improved overall, but I didn't see enough adjustments from his staff as teams learned to take TNT away. What grade would you give the Forwards, the Defense, and the Goaltenders? Forwards - B+. The offensive explosion was great, but the young studs need to learn to back-check better to help the D and help limit some of the high-danger chances. Defense - C+. Power, Dahlin, and Mule (when healthy) are awesome, but everyone else not so much. Goaltending - D+. Anderson was excellent considering his age, but his age meant that we had to carry 3 goalies, and the unit as a whole was well below average and cost us a playoff birth. Levi's 5 games were a breath of fresh air and give great hope for the future. Levi's great start is the reason the grade isn't an F. What grade would you give the Power Play and the Penalty Kill? Power Play - B+. The only issue I have is the lack of adjustments once teams worked to take away TNT. Penalty Kill - F. 73% is not acceptable and is 4% worse than the terrible PK last year. Who is your MVP? Dahlin. The fuel that makes the engine go. He simply makes everyone he plays with better. TNT is a close second after his historic season. His dynamic play and chemistry with Tuch and Skinner helped those two have career years. Who is your ROY? Power obviously, but Quinn and JJP had excellent rookie years as well Who is your MIP (most improved player)? Season over Season award goes to Cozens. 57% increase in production and playing an excellent 2nd line center at 22 is impressive. The in-season award goes to Mittelstadt. Went from a career high of 25 points to 57 ytd and has become the team's go-to utility forward. Who is your unsung hero? I have 3 candidates: Samuelsson, Tuch and Skinner. The forwards had by far the best seasons of their careers. Skinner's revival from RK doghouse has been incredible and Tuch outperformed Eichel. However, I think the award should go to Samuelsson. The team's W/L record differential when he plays and when he is out with injury is night and day. If only he could stay healthy.

In most respects this has been a very successful season. Regardless of the outcome tonight against Columbus, it looks like the team will finish 20th in the league with 89-91 pts, up from 75 last season. The young team matured, moved up in the standings in the very difficult Eastern Conference, and gave the franchise the most hope it’s had in 12 years of wandering in the desert. Still there are areas on concern. The roster is still far from complete and not every area of the team improved year over year. So what are Sabrespacer’s thoughts on the team? What is overall grade for the season? What grade would you give Adams and Granato (including his staff)? What grade would you give the Forwards, the Defense and the Goaltenders? What grade would you give the Power Play and the Penalty Kill? Who is your MVP? Who is your ROY? Who is your MIP (most improved player)? Who is your unsung hero?

Off-season gameplan forwards - The Plan - 1. Trade VO for whatever KA can get. A 2nd rd pick may be enough. 2. Re-sign Girgensons and Jost. 3. Sign UFA Eric Haula for the 3rd or 4th line center job (2 years 3.5 per season). Haula is an excellent 2-way player who can score and wins faceoffs. Rousek and Kulich will be the 1st 2 recalls. Cap-wise trading VO and leaving Rousek in Rochester is a wash for adding Haula and bringing back Z. (cap cost approx 44.850) lIne 1 Skinner TnT Tuch line 2 JJP Cozens Quinn line 3 Mitts Haula Savoie line 4 Girgensons Krebs Greenway (Jost) Off-season gameplan defense - The Plan - 1. Trade/Waive Bryson. 2. Trade Jokiharju for a good D prospect. 3. Acquire Joel Edmondson from Montreal. Joel is 29 and has 2 years left on his contract. Adding Orlov and Edmondson while subtracting Joki and Bryson would add about 5.65 to the cap bringing the cost of the D group to 25.3 A. Dahlin Samuelson B. Power Orlov C. Edmondson Lyubushkin D. Stillman Off-season gameplan Goaltender - The Plan - 1. Move on from one of UPL or Comrie and send the other down to Rochester. 2. Signed Adin Hill to a 3-year deal at 3.5 per season. Adding Hill while trading UPL and waiving Comrie to Rochester would bring the cost of the goalies to $5.125. (3.5 for Hill, .925 for Levi and .7 retained for Comrie.) Total team cost approx 75.28.

Sadly, Plastic from China, but it's the thought that counts.

By the way, the Atlanta Braves are doing a Star Wars Night with a Mando Bobble Head. Because "This is the A"

Just finished watching the game. Nice win. Congrats to Anderson for winning your final game. Another excellent game by Mitts. Still can’t figure out how Giroux’s goal was counted.

Can someone explain how Claude’s goal wasn’t scored with a distinct kicking motion?

With the Sabres eliminated from the playoffs and two games left this season, here is a quick look at the status quo roster with cap cost. Forwards: (Cap Cost $44,812,856 - This assumes QO's of 787,500 for Rousek and $2.25 mill for Jost) lIne 1 Skinner TnT Tuch line 2 JJP Cozens Quinn line 3 VO Mitts Savoie line 4 Rousek Krebs Greenway (Jost) Defense: (Cap Cost - $19,652,381) A. Dahlin Samuelson B. Power Jokiharju C. Stillman Lyubushkin D. Bryson Goalies: (Cap Cost - $3,562,500) Levi, UPL, and Comrie Total Cap - $68,027,737 for a complete 23-man roster from internal players. Note: Clague's QO is 787,500. KA literally doesn't have to do anything for Buffalo this summer to field a complete team other than re-sign RFAs Jost and Rousek. There was some criticism in another thread of posters suggesting KA will add a veteran goalie this off-season. The critic said that KA wasn't going to bring in an outside goalie because he had 3 under contract. That same remark can be leveled at every position group on the Sabres. We have 7 D under contract, plus an RFA (Clague) and we have 11 forwards under contract and 2 RFAs.] There are also 4 UFAs of note in Okposo, Girgensons, Hinostroza and Anderson. Does anyone actually believe that the status quo roster outline above will be the opening-day roster? Considering their minimal PT down the stretch, does anyone actually envision VO, Bryson, or Clague on the roster in the fall? Given KA's attempt to acquire Chychrun at the deadline, does anyone really expect Stillman to be a starter next season or Jokiharju as Power's partner?

As you know, I am a big believer that prospects closer to NHL ready have more value. In my prospect list, I tend to favor guys closer to NHL ready, which is why Rousek is ahead of more talented guys like Polatpov and Kisakov. IMHO it still could be 2-4 years before either of those guys see NHL ice while Rousek is ready now to contribute. I still have Johnson ahead of Rousek. I think he's very close to NHL ready. Also given our lack of D prospects, I would like to see him signed. That said, Johnson was a Jbot pick and KA and his staff may not like how he projects here long-term. It's past time for KA to make this decision. Sign him or don't, but let's forward one way or the other. This shouldn't be taking this long.

I think he means that the Sabres might believe that the 63rd pick will be a player with greater upside potential than Johnson.

Do you also think that KA won’t bring in help on D when he has 8 D already signed or under team control?

Maybe not, but that doesn't change the premise that KA may be able to utilize the compensatory pick to get a decent NHL player for next season. PS LV is going to have to move someone to control their cap problem. Martinez, Pietrangelo, and McNabb all have trade protection. Whitecloud was recently extended to a long-term contract. Their most tradeable assets on D are Theodore and Hague.

In KA's world, you want to be part of things here or you don't. If Johnson is not on board, then move on. It may even be argued that this draft is deep enough that the compensatory 2nd rd pick might become just as good a player long-term. Obviously, that player won't be as NHL ready, but with 8 D under contract or control anbd cap space and assets to acquire UFAs or current NHL players, maybe signing Johnson isn't a huge priority for the team. Think of it this way. We paid a late 2nd for Greenway, a player in his prime, with two years left on his deal. Maybe KA trades the compensatory 2nd for a D from a cap-strapped team. Maybe LV will trade us 6'6" late bloomer Nic Hague for that 2nd?

Not one person is disrespecting Levi. I think everyone here is astonished by how well he played. Not one person here thinks he isn't the future in net for the Sabres. I also think everyone here believes Levi will be part of the tandem in the net in Buffalo next season. The question is how do you properly support this top prospect? Option A. Do you anoint him the starter and just get a competent backup? Option B. Do you bring in a good starter to take the pressure off and hopefully build a tandem like Boston has? Option C. Or do you bring in someone as a veteran mentor who can start if necessary but would willing to take a back seat if Levi proves ready to be the man? I would guess KA goes with Option C.

Gives him something to shoot for next year.

The difference is that Hill has a proven track record unlike Comrie who had one good season and that season totaled 19 games in a D first system. Hill has improved each year in the NHL with 3 different organizations and in 3 different systems. I agree this is a risk in that he has never been the guy, but it’s a much smaller risk than Comrie was. Remember we are looking for guys “who want to be here” and pursuant to KA’s stated philosophy are still in their prime. That doesn’t leave many candidates.

I'm trying to be an optimist. The attempted Chychrun trade gave me hope that KA is finally serious about fixing the defense.

I believe UPL has more trade value than Comrie. However, trade one or trade both, either result is ok by me. As to trading for a starter, I sincerely doubt given KA's limited history that he is going to trade a 1st rd pick or even a high 2nd rd pick for a starter. Levi is his guy, but I do think he'll sign or acquire a goalie with NHL experience. Varlamov, Talbot, etc... are easy to picture in that role, but KA has stated he wants acquired players in their prime who could be here awhile. My prime candidate is Adin Hill. Hill will start next season at 27, he has 101 NHL games under his belt (including 88 starts), has a career .910 Save %, and a career GAA of 2.67. He has never been a starter, but has increased his NHL PT every year for the last 5 years without a falloff in performance. In fact his 27 games for LV YTD have yielded his best results (2.50 and a .915). Vegas acquired him last year for a 4th in 2022. I'd offer a 3 or 4 year deal @ 3.5 per season.

Bush is not my favorite and either is Joki. That said, I do believe that Joki and Bush could form a decent 3rd pairing. My concern is that Bush and Joki were 2nd and 3rd in SH TOI and our PK was under 93% this season. Goaltending was a huge factor, but so was lousy D play.