GASabresIUFAN

There is a balance. AHL rules limit the number of vets skaters allowed to play each night (vets are players with over 260 games of pro experience ) to a max of 6. It’s rare for teams to have 12 or more legit drafted prospects playing in the AHL in a year. It’s why guys like Davies and college UFAs get signed. Best case we’ll have 9 drafted skaters in the AHL next season in Murray, Rosen, Kisakov, Kulich, Cederqvist, Rousek, Pekar, Laaksonen and Weissbach. (10 if you include Malone) (UPL is a goalie and has different rules). Right now I think only Mersch and Prow are vet skaters under the AHL rules. TB usually kept a stable of 4 or so truly veteran guys to provide constant leadership in the AHL. I haven’t seen that yet from KA other than Mersch. DR kept guys like Michael Ryan, Chris Taylor up front and David Cullen and Brandon Smith on D to shepherd the kids and it truly helped guys like Roy, Pommers, Vanek, Campbell and others develop. I’d like to see something similar to that in Rochester again.

That’s not even close to mathematically true. The majority of star forwards in the league are top 5 picks. There are always exceptions, but really not many. Of the top 25 point scorers last season 14 (56%) were drafted in the top 4, 10 of 25 in the top 2 (40%). Another 7 were drafted in the top 17 picks. (21 of 25 were 1st rd picks or 84%). Only 4 of the top 25 were acquired after the 1st rd and they are Josi (2nd rd), Johnny Hockey (4th rd), Kaprizov (5th) and Panarin (undrafted).

https://www.yahoo.com/news/lightning-syracuse-crunch-player-development-140400915.html I saw this article and it reminded me of why the Bolts are such a good organization and consistently develop later round players like Point, Cirelli, Johnson, Palat, Joseph, Paquette, Killhorn and Gudas. TB believes learning to win starts in the AHL. Like TB, I have longed believe that building a winning culture starts with building a winner in the AHL. The prospects need to learn “Sabres hockey” and learn to win there first. TM thought the AHL was a place to temporarily stash players. Jbot tried to build a winner in Rochester, but he didn’t have enough prospects from TM to create that teaching environment, although they made the playoffs both of his completed seasons. KA now has the prospects (his own plus Jbot’s) to build that winning environment in Rochester. Signing Mersch and Malone were a positive step to adding veteran leadership, but I’m not yet convinced he is fully committed to building a championship level team in Rochester.

If he puts up another 30 goal 70 pts season, I have zero issue with him getting paid. For me the issue is mostly term but also overpayments in $ as well. $8 mill in today NHL for a 70 pt guy is appropriate, but not 9 and not for more then 6 years. We also can’t give out to many of these type deals. With Skinner’s bad contract, once Dahlin, Thompson and Powers get paid, there really isn’t to much room for more big $ deals. Those 4 plus Tuch will likely cost about $39-40 mill. That leaves approx 43.5 for the other 18 players, and Samuelsson, Mitts, Krebs, and Cozens will also need new deals during that time. We also still don’t have any proven goaltending. If Comrie works out you can add him to the contracts list.

Not a surprise once they re-signed Hintostroza. With Quinn and JJP joining the Sabres and Bjork under contract, his best scenario was as the 14th forward. He’ll make significantly more money in Switzerland. Best of luck R2.

Funny how you ignored the 90 pts part of my post, but yes there are very few superstars in the league. There were about 40 pt per game players and only 18 1.2 or better pts per game players. Thompson was best Sabres at .87. By your own admission, our best two potential forwards are Quinn and Savoie (I agree by the way). I also agree let’s see if they get there before locking them up for big $. By the way looking back at the 05/06 Sabres, I reviewed the careers of Vanek, Pommers, Roy, Drury and Briere. Their primes lasted 6-9 years. Interestingly the pinnacle for 3 of the 5 occurred at 29 and then it was downhill from there. Vanek peaked at 22 and Roy at 24. Thompson just broke out at 24. His next contract will start when he is 26. A 6 year deal will should cover his prime very nicely.

Ok, you do even more work on prospects than I do, which guys do you project with become a 50 goal scorer? Which will become a pt a game player much less a 90 pt player? Which will accomplish those heights consistently? Will any of them do it by 24? Tnt had a huge breakout year at 24 with 68 pts. These guys are 50-75 pts players and that isn’t a sin. Skinner’s career high in goals is 40 and points is 63 pts, which he’s accomplished 4 times. DR built a cup contender on a roster of those kind of forwards.

Here are some of the truths about this rebuild. 1) The true potential superstars on this team are on defense in the names of Dahlin and Power. If we are going to commit stupid money to anyone these are the guys. 2) There are no potential superstars at forward. Some really nice players like Thompson and potentially Mitts, Cozens, Quinn and JJP among others. This is actually a strength. This team will score by rolling four lines and that means no one player like a Crosby or Kane is the key to success. 3) The true depth in our farm system is at forward. This means that KA probably doesn't have to put to many of his big contract eggs in the forward basket. Maybe he can let guys like Cozens and Mitts walk (or be traded for other futures) as Kulich and Östlund develop to take their places. These decisions will be the hardest part of cap management going forward. IMHO none of these guys should be re-signed for more than 5 or 6 years. 4) none of this matters unless we get good goaltending, which KA has yet to invest in. 5) As I've said before, this is the last season KA gets a pass. Once we start committing bigger $ to players like Thompson and Dahlin, we need to not only make the playoffs but have success there as well.

The Blackhawks haven’t won a Cup since extending Kane and Toews. Sorry.

McDavid and Crosby are superstars that have stayed healthy. The Blackhawks gave Kane, Toews, Keith and Seabrook huge longterm deals. Only Kane’s has worked. Shea Weber’s deal is a failure. The list is endless. Drury and Briere’s contracts when they left the Sabres failed miserably. Drury was paid an average 7 mill a year for 5 years and last only 3.5 years with the Rags. His points we 56, 58, 32 and then 5. You consider that a success? Most long term deals especially if they last past 34 deteriorate quickly. Locking kids up also often don’t work. How is Kotkaniemi’s deal working for the Canes? I’m not saying don’t give deals to some of our key kids. Dahlin and Power are the best bets, but again 5-6 years max.

and if Thompson back tracks this season to 50 pts? How is Skinner's huge deal working out? Did we get our money's worth out of Risto's extension? What about deals like Mark Stones or William Karlsson's? These long-term big money deals rarely work out. I'm not signing any current Sabre for more than 5-6 years. I think TB will come to regret all 3 of the 8 years extension they just gave out.

I don't disagree, but I doubt KA does. I think in his mind he has committed to Bryson, Jokiharju and JJP this season.

I’m just curious who people want to vote off the island. I’m also curious which cap casualties would actually upgrade the Sabres?

So lets assume for arguments sake that somebody good shakes loose from a team making a bigger deal and or trying to get to the cap ceiling. Which player in the Sabres lineup do you want to dump to add that player? On defense Power, Dahlin, Samuelsson and newly signed Lyubushkin are written in stone. Are you dumping Bryson or Jokiharju? At forward, are you replacing the team's best defensive forward (Asplund) or the most physical forward to accommodate an acquisition? Or do you think one of the rookies needs to be sent down? Other that these 4 guys I don't think anyone else is vulnerable.

Please re-read the bolded. Obviously, Levi is our top G prospect, but I was only comparing each teams’ respective draft picks.

I wonder if Bryon also goes by the name Eklund, who recently posted that Johan Larsson is a 50 pt player. He also has Minn No. 1. Lets compare just using recent draft picks Top D Power (no 1 2021) vs Lambos (26th in 2021) - huge edge Buffalo Top G Leinonen (no. 41 -2022) vs Wallstedt (no 20 - 2021) - huge edge Minn Top RW Quinn (no. 8 2020) vs Yurov (No. 24 2022) - Edge Buffalo Top LW JJP (no. 34 2020) vs Ohgren (No. 19 2022) - Edge Buffalo but close Top C Savoie (No. 9 2022) vs Rossi (No. 9 2020) - Edge Buffalo as Rossi is struggling with transition to the NHL So relatively similar except Power’s huge edge on D, but Levi balances the scale in goal and when you add 3 additional 1st rd forwards for Buffalo in Rosen, Östlund (who helped Ohgren score his goals) and the under drafted Kulich, the scales tip heavily in the Sabres favor.

It really depends on how management feels. They have 3 choices with him, the Q, back to Europe or the AHL. It may come down to how he does at camp. JJP almost made the Sabres in camp and had a great year in the A at 19 in similar circumstances. The biggest difference is size. They are about the same height but JJP has about 20 lbs on Kulich. If management thinks he’s ready for the physical grind that is the AHL, he’ll be in Rochester. If the want him in NA but don’t think he’s ready for the AHL than he goes to the Q. Otherwise back to Europe like Östlund. KA has no plans to rush any of these guys. He doesn’t really need any of them until 2024-25 at the earliest. I did look at Nadeau’s Q team and they were a good mix of ages but of their top 22 players in games played 15 were 18 or older including 7 19 year olds and 3 over agers. Kulich just turned 18. While agree he’d probably dominate the league, it’s wouldn’t be the worst thing for him to learn the NA game in a place he can have success. Savoie is also returning and if doesn’t make the Sabres in a year, he’ll have to return again.

Good question. I imagine something like 5g 25a and playing 22-23 minutes a night as Dahlin’s wingman.

He didn’t draft them because of a need in the NHL. Savoie is likely a winger in the NHL, Östlund is going back to Sweden for at least 2 more years, and Kulich is likely to play in the Q next season. KA isn’t going to rush any of them. We did need centers in our pipeline, but he was pretty clear they stuck to their board. Whether organizational need was a factor in how they ranked the players we’ll never know for sure, but filling needs for centers and goaltending in the first 4 picks hints that it might have factored in.

I do as well but the organization has to consider it. I will say this, they seem pretty confident about getting their Russian over here. I hope for their sake that it works out for the players and the team. Sadly, I don't share his confidence. I'd feel better if Kisakov is in camp for the Sabres come fall.

FYI: The Sabres are as high on Kozak as I am. This is from Peca after Development Camp as quoted by Lance Lysowski Now add that Kozak will be signed sooner or later after playing one more season in the CHL. Poltapov may never player here. All the talent in the world is meaningless from a Sabres point of view if the guy never comes to NA. Lets hope that Novikov, Poltapov, Kisakov and Neuchev all come to NA after next season and infuse Rochester with even more talent. Can you imagine an Amerks team in 2023-24 with Rosen, Kulich, Kisakov, Poltapov, Neuchev, Cederqvist, Huglen, Bloom, Nadeau and Kozak?

I'm sorry to post something by Eklund, but I just had to laugh. See bolded comment Johan Larsson To the Penguins? I respect Johan. He played his heart out for the Sabres. However to put it kindly the guy will never sniff 50 pts in a season even with Pittsburgh. The guy scored 132 pts in 488 NHL games, with a career high of 18 pts. Maybe he was thinking about Erod returning to the Pens. LMAO.

We liked 167 Raw Oyster Bar, Millers All Day and Hank's. Loved the ice cream at Off Track. Had a great Kayak tour with Kayak Charleston (Kayakcharleston.net).

It's going to happen, but I don't think Vinnie is the guy to do it.

I was in Charleston a few weeks ago. We had a great time.