GASabresIUFAN

Correct. It's kind of mind boggling actually.

That is what I was thinking as well. It's a huge risk on Petry, but with the lack of RHD in our system it is worth kicking the tires.

You could even structure the deal to give him $4 in real dollars next season with 3.25 the final two year or 3.5 then 3.0. With the decreasing real $ it might make him tradable in year 3 if necessary.

Here is a kill two birds with one stone idea. What would we have to give Montreal for Petry and Allen? Petry, 34, has 3 years left a $6.25 (also a M-NTC) and Allen, 31, one year left at 2.875.

Great question. He was paid 1.7 last year in real $ and took less money than he might have gotten elsewhere to stay in TB. However, this is his opportunity to cash in and that might be how you get him here. I don't think he is a $4 mill player. With no RHD's really in the pipeline, I might offer him a 3rd year and slightly less money say, 3 years @ 3.5 per season.

Is the problem in NJ Blackwood or the NJ defense? At 25, taking a chance on him would be a very reasonable thing to try, especially as he has only one year left on his deal at 2.8.

I've been talking about Rutta for months. I think he has to be near the top of KA's wish list.

@thewookie1 The goaltending issue is why KA's wait and see doesn't work. He needed to be more aggressive here like Yzerman and Sakic (even if you don't like Sakic's decision). I agree goalies generally aren't reliable and that there isn't enough quality goaltending to go around. It's why when you have a decent one you lock them up. For example, Ullmark's save % that last 3 years is .915, .917 and .917. Now we are again fighting for scraps. Maybe winning cures this problem, but it's hard to see the team making huge further strides with some help in goal. The best outcome is probably Comrie, who at 26, still has time to establish himself as a No. 1 goalie and may just be a diamond in the rough. You mentioned Jones earlier. He has been exceedingly mediocre the last 4 years, but that was behind two defensively challenged teams (SJ and Philly). While the Sabres aren't great in their zone they are markedly improved and should be better again next season. Could Jones, 32, under Bales and an improving defense, end up being the stop gap to Levi? My guess is that if KA wants someone who can play 40-50 games, he could be at the top of KA's list.

Free agency opens on Wednesday. So far the Sabres haven't really changed the complexation of next year's roster. According to cap friendly with the re-signing of Anderson and acquisition of retired Ben Bishop, the Sabres have 7 available roster spots 34 million in max cap space and a little over 14 mill to get to the cap floor. The 16 contracts listed by Capfriendly include 11 forwards (including Quinn and Bjork), 4 D and 1 G. Of those 7 available roster slots, 2 are likely to go to key unsigned RFAs are Olofsson (5.5?) and Bryson (1.5?). Another to Casey Fitzgerald (750k) and another to JJP (855K). Assuming the above is close on the RFA contracts, we actually only have 3 roster spots available unless Bjork is sent packing. KA needs to spend 5.4 on these 3 jobs just to get to the cap floor. So what 3 (4?) jobs are open 1) Goaltender - No surprise there. It's pretty clear UPL isn't ready and that Anderson should only be a backup. Good UFAs are very limited at this point. 2) Defense - even if Casey Fitzgerald makes the team, that leaves up with only 6 D under contract. I can see KA actually adding 2 players here. I would love KA to get at least one top 6 RHD to partner with either Bryson or Power and relegate Fitz to a support role. Another small question is whether KA goes with 8 D or only 7? 3) Forwards - Once VO re-signs and JJP makes the team, we'll have 13 forwards under contract. This would in theory leave one opening for a UFA forward or trade acquisition. There is some wiggle room here as JJP (and or Quinn) can be sent down and Bjork can also be waived if KA finds a better option (which shouldn't be to difficult). RFAs Routsalainen and Murray and possibly Malone and Biro might also fight for an NHL roster slot. IMHO, all 4 guys are better than Bjork. Depending on how things go you could argue there are up to 4 roster spots in play. I'm nore inclined to think that we'll carry 13 forwards and only change will be moving Bjork off the team. So how does KA fill these jobs? I think his strategy is to acquire players dumped by cap strapped teams who are trying to sign bigger prey or just looking for cap relief to re-sign current players. Teams like SJ, Minn or Montreal come to mind in the second category. Sadly, I think he'll go cheap on goaltending again. Comrie just seems like the most likely UFA target or maybe our friend Mike Grier can be convinced to part with one of his 3 NHL goalies. I guess trades for Allen or Talbot are still possible as well. While I doubt this happens because of the $ and length of his contract, could KA go after someone like Ryan Ellis? Is Ellis, who is still recovering from an injured pelvis, on the market now that Philly acquired DeAngelo? Jan Rutta from Tampa is probably available. I think Stralman, 35, would be a good stop gap. Are guys like Braun or Manson on KA's radar? At forward how likely is it that Vinnie returns? Could KA really make a splash here and sign Copp?

And not worth it.

How is what possible? To grade the draft now, even though not one of these guys has set foot in the NHL and won't for years? It's just a grade based on potential based on the scouting reports, "expert" rankings and team needs. Sabres added skill, speed, and competitiveness and filled needs at center and goaltender. As I wrote in the initial thread there are 5 guys I think have legit NHL potential. If all 5 make it that would be an exceptional result. 5 years from now we may look back at this draft and say KA blew it, but I doubt it.

Allegedly. I mentioned that in the Goalie Carousel thread. I post a link to the story if I can find it again.

Now you know why most of the rankings gave him a solid 2nd rd grade and the Sabres, who apparently have very good Russian scouting, had him in the 1st rd. I'm sure they were shocked when he fell into the 3rd round.

Who is realistically left to the Sabres at this point in trade or UFA? Murray and Gibson have apparently already turned us down. The top of the heap is Kuemper and Campbell and it's unlikely either comes here with established playoff teams still looking for help. According to capfriendly the remaining UFA goalies, who played at least 17 games last year, are Greiss (36 years old - 3.66 . 891 last season), Jones (32; 3.43 .900), Halak (37; 2.94, .903), Rittich (29; 3.58, .886), Lankinen (27; 3.50 .891), Comrie (26; 2.58, .920), Gillies (28; 3.71, .887) and Tokarski (32; 3.27, .889). Any interest other than Comrie? Who might be available in trade? Talbot (35; $3.667 for one more year - 2.76, .911) Varlomov (34; $5 for one more year, M-NTC - 2.91 .911) Allen (31, $2.875 for one more year - 3.30 .905) Quick (36, $5.8 for one more year - 2.59, .910) Although he doesn't have a NTC/NMC, the career King is unlikely to get traded without his consent. To me it looks like Allen, Talbot and Comrie are KA's best bets at this point. Comrie is the one that interests me the most as I think he has been a slow developing goalie that has Husso like potential next season. I'll add one more possible but unlikely trade target. Would WPG honestly move Hellebuyck in the right deal? He's 29 (2.97 .910 last season) and under contract for two more years at $6.166. He has no trade protection.

I said "entering it's 3rd year" and that is absolutely accurate. So far all we have to show for 3 KA off-seasons so far is downgrading Ullmark to Anderson and a failure to secure even decent backup goaltending. Until he gets a real starter in the net in Buffalo, he has failed to adequately man that position.

Sad but true.

Day 1 - I’m not sure they could have done any better. My only gripe is that they didn’t take a RHD with the 28th pick, but that is a tiny criticism consider they grabbed Kulich at 28. They elevated our center pipeline from nearly non-existent to very deep, fast and skilled in a day. Savoie, whether on the wing replacing someone like Skinner or VO or at center is a huge upgrade in talent. Östlund, like Krebs, is a fast highly skilled playmaker, who just needs to add some muscle and improve his shot to make the NHL. Kulich is a Swiss Army Knife and my favorite player of our picks. Grade A+. I can see why others may downgrade us some for taking Östlund early and the lack of height on the 3 guys, but none of this trio plays small. Day 2 - My grade for day 2 is a B. On the plus side they added the top goalie on their board and drafted two huge value players in Neuchev and Lindgren in rounds 3 and 4 who the consensus had solid 2nd round grades on. I also like the Karlsson pick. On the downside, the team has now ignored RHD in the 1st 2 rounds for the 9th straight years. Hard to develop RHD if you don’t draft any. I also think that they took Topias much to early, but hard to be overly critical considering they drafted the guy they thought was the best goalie in the draft. I also didn’t like the overage player they drafted. He doesn’t look like he does anything at an elite level. With overagers like Morrison, Devine and Mittelstadt on the board, I would have rather had one of them. I also worry we may regret missing out on RHD like Luneau, Casey and Havelid in the second. I hope the plan is to restock our RHD with the 3 2nd rd picks next season. Overall KA and staff get an A-. I think it’s not unreasonable to believe that all 3 centers will become effective NHLers and that Neuchev and Lindgren have legit NHL potential. Getting 5 NHLers from a single draft would be an exceptional result.

I fully agree. Sometimes patience is not a virtue. He keeps watching as other GMs solidify their goaltending situations waiting for the right guy to fall in his lap. Last year, this lead to the Anderson Dell signings as a stop gap with less than stellar results. This year we seem to be going down the same rabbit hole.

He does. After Kasper this was my favorite player in the draft who I thought we had a reasonable shot at. Don't get me wrong, I really like Savoie and Östlund, but there is something about this kid that the team and the fans will gravitate to. He's one of those guys a coach loves because he can carry out anything the coach needs done; score, create, kill penalties, stop the opponents best line; done, done and done. I don't think his ceiling is as high as Savoie or even Östlund (at least as a playmaker), but he could become our Bergeron type player (no pressure kid).

I'm kind of surprised that this pick didn't get more interest from the board. How many guys do you find in the 6th round that scored 30+ goals (in only 41 games) in their draft season.

Debrincat (saves Chicago 6.6 mill on the way toward their tank)? Luke Kunin (saves Nash about 2.3 mill)? Carolina trading D'Angelo to the Flyers is certainly a cap saving move. Tony is coming off a 51 pt season and is an RFA. Carolina paid him only 1 mill last season and couldn't afford to re-sign him.

I have. I've seen great patience work both for him (Eichel) and against him (the continued failure to secure adequate goaltending entering it's 3rd season). I've seen him act quickly and get rewarded (Risto) and act quickly but not get a max return (Reinhart). I've seen smart moves to get to cap floor (Boychuk and Bishop) and a dumb move to get to the cap floor (Butcher). Ultimately, KA has been mostly on the plus side of his deals, but I don't think he has quite learned when to be aggressive and when not to be. Stevie Y wanted to improve his goaltending and went out and made it happen. KA is still waiting for someone to fall into his lap.

Is KA playing chicken with the UFA and trade markets to see who the 20 cap strapped teams need to dump to fit signings of guys like Kadri or Johnny Hockey under their caps?

That’s asking a lot especially with Tage, Mitts, Cozens, Asplund, Krebs and Girgensons already in the NHL