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Skinner has 11 pts (3g 8a) in his last 12 games. He hasn't been at his best of late (something I've commented on before), but he certainly hasn't been bad or a real negative.

I'll give them our 7th pick in 2035 and they have to eat 50% of his salary.

where would they put him? We currently have 23 players in the NHL.

I'm confused. You want Östlund to be stuck in the SHL next season? If I'm reading your post correctly, if Djurgardens returns to the SHL next season, Östlund can;t void his contract. If they stay in the lower level Östlund can void his contract and join the Amerks. Don't you think the Sabres would prefer Östlund to play in the AHL over the SHL? Or do you think his contract would slide another year if he stays in Sweden and that is why you want him back in Sweden?

The Athletic has Skinner’s value at 10 million.

Wow. I guess the Rags are going all in.

Skinner and Thompson are clear examples of coaching and system matter. Jbot brought Skinner in to be the goal scorer on the top line. He envisioned a long-term Eichel/Skinner pairing where Jack feeds Skinner and Skinner pots 40 a year. While that vision worked under Housley, it was kneecapped under RK. Now under DG that vision has returned in an altered form with TNT, Tuch, and Skinner all working together as a unit. DG’s system has forced Skinner to improve his passing and he has. I will say that having Rasputin for a season plus has made Skinner more defensively aware. Had Jbot initial vision come to fruition no one would have complained about the deal. I think if we look back on this site, I think most people here were happy Jbot re-signed him. It bodes well for the remaining years of the contract that Skinner at age 30 is having his best season. Strange fact about Skinner is that his career high in points is 63 and he has done it 4 times including his first NHL season, his first season in Buffalo and his first season under DG. Now he has 50 pts in just 47 games and it’s the first time in his career that he has significantly more assists than goals. He has 30 assists ytd. His career high is 32. This is Skinner’s 10th season of 20 or more goals, and will be his 6th 30+ goal season if he can add 10 more this season.

Hard to know Power's value at this point, but it is considerable. Power is 25th in the NHL for TOI/GP as a rookie in the NHL. In the same range as established stars Werenski, Ekblad and Morrissey. His 19 points is tied for 55th. His +12 is tied for 31st. By most common measures he is a top pairing D already at 20. So what is he worth already? Hard to know, but KA extended Samuelsson with on 40 games of NHL experience. If I were Power's agent, I'd sign a 3 year bridge deal and then when his client is 24, go and get the long-term big money deal. I'm a Mitts fan, but I honestly don't see him getting a long-term deal unless he blossoms into a 70 pt player next season. My guess is KA will be patient and see how next year goes and see how Kulich, Rosen and Savoie progress before deciding on how to proceed with Mitts (& VO for that matter). I think KA would rather pay his guys (Quinn and JJP) vs paying Mitts.

especially with Marchand in the division.

I’ve been arguing for months that the window is now and upgrading the D is a priority now. Same with the goalies, but UPL is playing well enough to at least make us competitive. I was watching NHL now and they suggested we add Schenn and Barbashev. They said avoid Meier who would have to be re-signed at a number above Cozens or TnT and therefore would upset the balance in the locker-room. They think he isn’t as good as TnT and maybe not as good as Cozens either. Barbashev is interested. He is just turned 27, had 60 points last year, can play all 3 forward slots, is an UFA making 2.7, but is struggling some this year (24 pts in 51 games). Considering how many Russians KA has drafted in recent years, having a veteran Russian who is young enough to be here awhile might not be the worst idea. He also has 50 games of playoff experience. He’s an upgrade over Vinnie and Asplund, great injury insurance and a possible KO replacement is KO walks this summer who can play anywhere in the lineup. NHL Now said he was a pretty good guy as well.

… and in English?

That doesn’t preclude Joki anchoring the 3rd pair and getting a better partner for Power. The Sabres give up 3.4 goals per game. That has to improve. Our PK is near the bottom of the NHL. Goaltending is part of the problem, but so is 50% of the D group. I’m glad Joki has helped Power, but that make him good enough to be his partner long-term.

I forgot to mention VO’s deal ends after next year. He’ll be a UFA and I suspect KA won’t re-sign him. Bush is also an UFA after next season and I can see him being retained by KA if we don’t develop a replacement in time such as Komarov or Novikov. I’m hoping both Russians and Johnson join the Amerks next year and put pressure on the bottom tier D on the Sabres. I’ve run some numbers and I believe that 2 of Rosen, Savoie and Kulich will be on the Sabres roster to start 2024-25. To me that means KA will likely move on from Mitts and KO and re-allocate that money toward defense. Power is the great mystery. Where will his game be after next season. Are we talking about a 10g 40+ pt player who plays 24 minutes a night? If so we are looking at either a bridge like Dahlin’s (3 x $6) or will KA lock him up for 7 x $8 like he did with TnT and Cozens. KA seems to prefer the 7 year extensions. Joki’s extension is a mystery to me. Does KA like him enough to keep him or can he be replaced. Honestly, I’m hoping for a better partner for Power. We need to upgrade our PK and in zone D and as steady as Joki is he doesn’t move the needle enough in those areas of need to keep him.

You don’t think there are some elite players who are second line centers in the NHL? What about guys like Draisaitl, Malkin (in his prime) or Point?

Z, KO are the key UFA’s this off-season. Jost is the key remaining RFA for this season. Come July 1st, RFAs for 2023-24 Power, Dahlin, Mitts, Joki, Bryson and UPL can be extended. Will any of them be extended early or will KA again wait until mid-season next year to start getting these done. We have a dedicated thread for Dahlin, but it might be worth discussing the merits of extending the others. I do think Jost and Z will be retained will identical 3yr 2.5 per season deals. I also think he may extend Krebs in a similar deal this summer to lock up his centers. The rest I have no idea how KA might handle it.

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.