GASabresIUFAN

Seriously? The guy has built the best teams we have had in two decades. Only injuries, mostly on defense, kept this team from being elite in the end and they still only lost 3 regular season games by 8 points total. Yes the o-line needs work and his drafting needs to be better, but these are correctable issues. Have a little faith.

If they bridge Quinn and/or JJP depending on their development they can likely keep Skinner for the term of his deal. However I do think that re-signing Tuch may force KA to move on from Skinner, who will down to one year on his deal when Tuch becomes a UFA.

Cody was developing into a nice player, but was cut down do to a disease. We have no idea what Cody would have been had he stayed healthy. Cozens also isn’t a Cody type of player. Mitts is more Cody. Dylan is a fast, skilled, 2 way forward who is willing to play in the dirty areas. ROR is the comparable, but Dylan is faster and more skilled. As long as he remains healthy, this contract should age very well. I expect Dylan to become a pt a game player over the term of this deal.

No we can’t in the longterm. That’s why you have Savoie, Kulich, Rosen, Östlund and others in the pipeline. The core is Dahlin, Mule, TNT, Cozens, Power and two top wingers who for now are Skinner and Tuch. Everyone else will likely change over the next 7 years. Fortunately we have two more years on JJP and Quinn. There is a distinct possibility that one or both may get a shorter bridge deal to keep cap compliant. Odds favor Mitts, VO, KO and Z getting replaced over the next few years as the kids in the pipeline mature.

Not even close. Goal scoring is up just .19 goals per game per team since ROR's last season in Buffalo. Add about 6 points to his numbers max. Outside ROR's peak season of 77 pts at 27 years old, his production ranged from 55 pts to 64 from ages 21 to 30. He did have another peak of 54 pts in 56 games @ 29 years old. His peak in goals was 28 (twice). Cozens at 22 is on pace to reach 72 pts this season and he already has 17 goals in just 49 games.

it's up but not at much as you might think. In 2017-18 the average team scored 2.97 goals per game. This season it's at 3.16. Basically 1 extra goal every 5 games or about 16 goals per team for the season.

and it's 400K a year less than we paid that jerk ROR back in 2016 for a guy who will likely end up being a better player. In the Original rebuild we were gave ROR an extension for 7.5 mill and he gave us a max of 61 points in 2017-18. We gave Jack 10 mill per season in 2018-19 and he maxed out at 82 pts in 2018-19. That was a possible investment of 17.5 mill if we had kept them together (yes I know they never played together under those deals, but that was the initial plan). When they played together they maxed out at 125 pts in 2017-18 This year we have locked up our top 2 centers for 14.242 million (starting next season) and they are already at 111 pts in just 50 games.

100k per point is 7 mill + if he reaches 70 pts this season which I think he will easily.

Fox signed lasted year coming off his ELC at 9.5 for 7 years. Makar signed after the 20-21 season for 6 years at 9 per season. After seeing those deals I’m think 10 for 7 years or 10.5 for 8.

The Athletic has an article today about RFAs getting a raise. https://theathletic.com/4162161/2023/02/07/nhl-restricted-free-agents/ Here is what they say about DC. “Speaking of players who will be coming off their entry-level contracts, there’s Cozens in Buffalo. He’s had an encouraging start to his NHL career, and is really starting to put his skill on display this season. The center is excellent at getting the puck into the zone, and now is building on that to turn those entries into scoring chances more consistently. Buffalo’s been willing to bet on their players sooner than later — Mattias Samuelsson and Tage Thompson were each signed ahead of their contracts’ expiration in an effort to save money. So do the Sabres take a similar approach here? Or, do they add to the league trend of signing future stars to lengthy contracts early into the NHL careers to ensure they pay skaters in their primes? If Cozens signs with term now, it probably won’t reach his $6 million market value. But maybe it comes in a bit below that in the $4-5 million range. If not, there’s always the option of going short-term first.” https://theathletic.com/4164724/2023/02/07/nhl-contract-grades-sabres-dylan-cozens/ That said the author of the article also gave the signing a grade of A-. Another Athletic writer gave the signing an A.

FYI: Dylan is currently tied for 31st in NHL scoring by centers with guys like Dylan Larkin, Robert Thomas, Zegras, and Kuznetsov. Thomas, 23, who is playing on the last year of his prior contract with the Blues, re-signed this past off-season for 8 years at 8.125 per season after putting up 77 pts (20 goals) last season. His Buddy Kyrou, 24, signed an identical deal with the Blues after a 75 pts season (27 goals) at age 23. I think both guys are pretty good comps for Cozens and we got him 2 years younger and for 1 mill less per season.

I don't think it will come in under $10. I'm hoping for 10 x 8.

But did he say what year they were going to make the playoffs?

Now that Cozens' deal is done, we probably need a place for the speculation on Norris candidate Rasmus Dahlin's next contract. It should be noted that Raz has another year on his current deal and therefore can't be extended until this off-season (July 1st I believe). Dahlin currently is Second among NHL D with 55 points and second in goals with 14. Only Erik Karlsson has more with 66 and 16. Dahlin is 3rd in average PT at 26:07 per game (only behind Makar and Doughty) and 3rd in assists at 41 (behind Karlsson w 50 and Morrissey w 43). Dahlin is also 3rd at EV points at 31 (Karlsson 49, Fox 32) and tied for 2nd at EV goals at 9 (Karlsson has 13). Prior to this campaign Dahlin best season was last year with 53 pts (13 goals ) in 80 games.

Yep, 8 years for an internal player and 7 years for an external player, but 10 for 10 just sounds better. 10 x 8 just doesn't have the same ring to it.

10 for 10

@BullBuchanan Just curious what did you think Cozens' deal was going to come in at? KA has been re-signing his young core to long-term extensions. What did you think this was going to cost for a 2nd line center scoring nearly a pt per game?

Just a guess, but the 5 team NTC likely includes the Leafs. No self respecting player committed to the Sabres would ever want to be a Leaf, especially if they are from Western Canada.

Yes, yes and yes. KA wasn't yet comfortable in the chair, Dahlin's growth had been arrested by RK and Dahlin had confidence in himself. The truth is that Dahlin is our best player and should be our highest paid. I have to give KA credit. He learned a great deal from that first miserable season and has built a real positive organization that is in sync from player to senior management. I have a glimmer of hope that he can getting Dahlin signed to a "reasonable" contract that will leave some money on the table to help retain other players. While this is great news, the defense and goaltending still need to be better for this rebuild to ultimately work. 3.4 goals against per game is terrible.

Obviously it's impossible to predict how any contract is going to age, but this contract has the potential to be a great bargain for the Sabres. Yes Dylan gets 49 million whether he succeeds or fails, but what in his character even hints that he doesn't want to continue to grow and improve? Nothing. I also think KA made it clear that he has his core and wants to get that core signed, sealed and delivered. I agree wholeheartedly. Unlike the Thompson situation where the improvement came seemingly out of left field. Cozens has improved dramatically each of his 3 seasons. I honestly believe he'll easily be a pt a game player for the term of this deal, making this contract a bargain in hockey terms. I do think it's interesting that the deal came in 42K under Thompson's annual cap hit. I guess KA didn't want to pay his 2nd line center more than his 1st. Also I think this indication that management and the players on this club are on the same page. Hear me out. We have seen numerous reports how close many of the young guys on this team are. Someone mentioned earlier that Dylan left money on the table. He possibly did, but I get the distinct impression that Tage, Dylan, Dahlin and others want to build something together and that if leaving a few $ on the table so that guys like Mitts or Joki can be kept another year or two, that's ok by them. Also Dylan will be a UFA at 28. Plenty of more $ to earn while still in his prime.

With forwards

This team can’t succeed with the D group as currently constructed. Last season we gave up 3.56 goals against. This year we have only marginally improved to 3.4 despite the additions of Power and Bush and a full season of Samuelson. Simply put our goaltending and 50% of our D group aren’t good enough. The first step is to move on from Bryson. This should be done at the deadline. I know he is friends with the young core, but if we want to win now and in the future he is the first casualty. The second step is to demote Jokiharju to the 3rd pair and get a good partner for Power. This seems more like an off-season move, but if the right deal comes along at the deadline KA should listen. In fact, if KA can upgrade Joki and then demote him to the 3rd pairing, he can include Bryson in the trade. This leaves Clague as the 7 and I’m good with that.

Hopefully he won’t wait until he is 24 like Danny did to develop into a good player.

We have had one. It was called get a darn D man already Kevin. I just didn't say do something already.

Some all-star notes 47 players were named to the All-Star teams (3 were injury replacements). Of those 47 -33 Forwards, 8 G and only 6 D. Of the 39 Skaters - 31 were 1st rd picks. 26 were top 15, 16 were top 5, including 7 1st overall. Only Panarin was undrafted. Only 1 G was drafted in the 1st rd. 7 of the 8 were 3rd rd or lower, including the undrafted Thompson. Ullmark was a 6th rd pick (the lowest drafted player). All the D were 1st rd picks, except Fox (3rd rd in 2016). Players from 8 countries participated. CZE, GER and SUI had 1 each. FIN had 3 and SWE had 4. The Big 3 were Russia, Canada and the USA. Russia had 9 including 3 goalies, Canada had 12, including the 2 rookies goalies (Skinner and Thompson - both from Alberta) and the surprisingly the USA lead with 16 including 13 forwards. Earliest draft year was 2004 (Ovie) and latest was 2021 (Beniers). The heart of these games were players drafts from 2013 to 2017 with 5 or 6 players from each draft. That said the 2018 draft had the 1st, 2nd and 4th overall picks participating. From 2015 2 5th rd picks made the teams - Kaprizov and Troy Terry.