GASabresIUFAN

What about Father and Son? For example we had Sam Reinhart (S) who is better than his father Paul Reinhart. We had Alex Nylander (S) who is not only worse than his brother, but also his father. I think we also had the best Foligno, Mike (S), but his kids, Marcus (S) and Nick, have had excellent careers. What other Father/Sons? Ryan MacInnis (S) isn’t as good as his HOF father. My guess is Jimmy Snuggerud will probably be better than his father and former Sabres Dave (S). Adam Creighton slightly better than father Dave? We also had Lee Fogolin Jr. (S) who was better than his dad Lee Sr, but both were Cup winning D. Sabres legend Bill Hajt was certainly better than his son Chris. Casey Fitzgerald (S) isn’t as good as his dad Tom. I also think we had the best Pyatt in Taylor (S) who was better than father Nelson and brother Tom. Danny O’Regan (S) and his Dad Tom are a wash. There are a bunch more. I wonder if Mattias (S) will eventually surpass dad Kjell. Both Sauve brothers, Bob (S) and JF (S) were better than their respective sons. Phillipe and Maxime. Son Jimmy Vesey (S) over dad Jim. I’d say Craig Wolanin is better than 1 game Sabre Christian. Obviously Pierre Turgeon (S) was better than his son Dominic. Is Randy (S) better than son Miles? What about the Thomspon family? Tage (S) over brother Tyce and father Brent. One other note. Mark Jankowski is arguably better than his grandfather Lou Jankowski.

It’s why I posted the numbers and why I think Cozens and Mitts are two key players this coming season. My first thought was of the Vanek Roy Max line when I posted my question, but Max had already played 332 games before Vanek showed up. A VO Krebs Quinn line would be more analogous.

https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/inside-the-sabres-predicting-which-unrestricted-free-agents-return/article_e3bfc97c-dc55-11ec-a33e-63672400cf41.html I don’t know if we discussed this a few weeks ago when it was first published, but I thought Lance did a pretty good job here. Forwards: Eakin - gone Hayden - returns to fight for the last roster spot vs Murray. I disagree. I think he’s gone because Murray is the better player. Caggiula - no path to a roster spot - gone MacInnis - returns to play for Amerks Jankowski - returns as needed center depth. Starts in Rochester Malone - Priority re-sign who could challenge for a depth roster spot on the Sabres, but likely an Amerk. I have always liked Malone and hope he finds a way to make the Sabres. i doubt however. Vinnie - re-signs with the Sabres. I hope so. Defense: Miller and Butcher - Gone. Thankfully Psysk - gone because we need some who can kill penalties and plays a heavier game. I agree. Davidson - returns to play for the Amerks Prow - gone Schuldt - returns to the Amerks. Goalies: Anderson - returns to the Sabres in a backup role Tokarski, Dell and Subban - gone Overall I agree with most of these predictions. However Hayden has zero chance of making the Sabres. I also doubt all 3 of Malone, MacInnis and Jankowski return given the recent additions of prospect Rosen, Kisakov and Cedarqvist, but it’s certainly possible. I also don’t want Anderson back if KA wants UPL as his partner.

I’ve been thinking about for the forwards will play out this fall and came away with two key questions. 1) Who will be are 4 starting centers in the fall? 2) How will DG allocate Quinn and JJP? Centers I think we can write Thompson and Mitts in pen as the No.1 and No.2 centers. The debates comes down to how does management view Krebs, Cozens, Asplund and Girgensons. All 4 guys can play center or wing. Cozens (and Asplund )looked great on the wing at the worlds. Girgensons is our best returning faceoff guy, but I expect continued improvement from TnT and Mitts in that area. I also thought Krebs looked more comfortable in the middle. Asplund is also our best defensive forward and I can see management wanting him to anchor a shutdown line. Right now my current thinking is TnT, Mitts, Girgensons and Krebs. The Kids Where do JJP and Quinn when they make the team? Does DG ease them in if he can or does just drop them in the deep end like he did Power? Right now, I’m thinking a kiddie corps line of JJP Krebs and Quinn might be fun to watch grow, but the I don’t think DG would go with that much inexperience on one line. That said, would be easier to play JJP and Quinn together to carry over some of their Amerks’ chemistry? Also given our forward group’s lack of experience in general, how much choice is there? Our most experienced forwards are KO (909 games), Skinner (853), Zemgus (545), and Tuch (305). The next group is Tnt (223), Mitts (195) VO (188) and Cozens (120). Last are the guys with one year or less of experience Asplund (80), Krebs (61), Quinn (2) and JJP (2).

In theory he could acquire a soon to be UFA or RFA and try to sign him. It almost never happens but it does occasionally. We tried and failed with Vesey, but I wouldn’t mind trying with a potential goaltender.

Hopes and prayers to Kim and the entire Pegula family. I hope she recovers quickly and fully.

Yep. It's why so many people really like his game. I have him 13th on my board and I'd grab him at 16 if he is still available.

i have Howard at 20th on my current draft board with a recent ranking by Wheeler at the Athletic at 10. I would not be a stretch to see him taken at around 16. The biggest issue for me is our depth in the system Buffalo, Rochester and the draft picks at LW. Despite the groaning of people on this board, don't rule out KA taking a LHD at 16 like Korchinski, Mintyukov or Mateychuk. Kasper would be my personal selection at 16. Geekie will also get play at 16 is not taken earlier, but 9 is to early for him IMHO.

Here are the projections from 5 recent mock drafts. Some quick thoughts. No to Nazar or Geekie at 9. Lekkerimaki at 9 would be fine. I like Ohgren or Nazar at 16. 16 is much to early on Bichsel, or Pickering. I like Luneau, a RHD, at 28. I love Kulich there even more. Someone will fall to us at 41 that we didn't expect to be there like Seamus Casey, or even Bichsel.

Not eligible to play in Rochester next season.

I guess we can add Cedarqvist to the Amerks rookies with Rosen and Kisakov for next season. The Forward group is shaping up nicely for the Amerks with the 3 rookies, plus Mersch, Weissbach, Rousek, Pekar, plus probably Murray and possibly R2 as well. A very European group so far, with only Mersch from NA so far.

I edited my previous post after reading the linked article.

So what's his SHL contract status Mr. Baker? Well I went and researched it. Cederqvist signed a 2 year deal with Djurgardens in April 2021. That would seem to indicate that he can't join Rochester until after next season. https://www.difhockey.se/article/h1toaknob-1lead/forwardstalangen-filip-cederqvist-till-djurgarden

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/nhl-draft-sabres-biggest-needs-top-prospects-144315374.html FYI

The best player available is Dumba. I don't see KA making a big move to acquire him. I'm probably willing to do much more than KA, but I suspect KA is going to go for smaller deals to maintain his assets while hopefully improving the team. Also Teppo and Lydman were small deals at the time, they just were master strokes. While I'm not sure KA will get that lucky, I do believe that Stralman could end up being a Teppo kind of value pick up.

Quick cap update $47,801,667 for 12 forwards, 4 D and ZERO G. This includes Bishops, CoHo, Bjork, JJP and Quinn. Add RFAs VO (5.5 for 4 years) and Bryson (1.67? for 3 years). Add these two and the team has 13 forwards and 5 D for $54,971,667 or about 7.5 mill under the cap floor with 2 goalies slots and 3-4 skaters to sign (the 4th slot would be a Bjork replacement).

Many of these guys are UFAs and would cost nothing but salary. Cost for the non-UFAs would depend on age, salary, term, and how desperate the seller is to get the cap space open. Take Orlov for example. He’s 30, has one year left at 5.1 and is still a very effective player. He’d likely cost the 41st pick, plus a pick next year. I’d pay that price for him. Honestly, Stralman, a UFA, is the most Teppo-ish player available. Anton can still add offense, but is still good defensively. He’d be a perfect mentor for the young D. At 35 he is a better player at both ends of the ice than Subban.

What we are looking for a good fits that might end up being cap dumps or cap casualties. For example Dumba or even Dmitry Orlov. Maybe TB lets Jan Rutta (UFA) walk. There is also Letang, Stralman, Jensen (Wash), or even Gudas. All would be better choices than Subban.

Yes if KA is willing to acquire someone via trade.

Or Toni Lydman or etc..... PK Subban's skill set simply doesn't fit with the team's needs. So many better choices. Quick cap update $47,801,667 for 12 forwards, 4 D and ZERO G. This includes Bishops, CoHo, Bjork, JJP and Quinn. Add RFAs VO (5.5 for 4 years) and Bryson (1.67? for 3 years). Add these two and the team has 13 forwards and 5 D for $54,971,667 or about 7.5 mill under the cap with 2 goalies slots and 3-4 skaters to sign (the 4th slot would be a Bjork replacement).

Subban couldn’t play top 4 minutes with NJ and now people want him to pair with Power and play top 4 minutes here. That makes zero scene. Power needs a smart defensive partner, not a has been offensive D.

Please explain what PK brings to the table that we actually need?

Noooooooo! I want a D who can actually play D

I think this deal is terrible news for next season. KA of course could prove me wrong, but getting a 4.9 mill cap hit is basically saying that he isn't even willing to spend money on even decent players to get to the cap floor. I'm now very worried that Anderson/UPL is the goaltending plan despite the Campbell rumors. That would be unacceptable and a show of bad faith from KA. The best that can be said is that KA did this to insure he gets to the cap floor and now can be flexible with whom he acquires. The transaction is nearly meaningless from an actual $ standpoint. Most of the money Bish will get will be paid by Dallas' insurance company. For Dallas this is a great deal. They clear Bish's cap hit for only a 7th rd pick.

Your not undervaluing him. He isn't close to as good as the player listed above. A 32 pt "breakout" season isn't worth 4+ a year. If some is dumb enough to give him that money and term they can have him. He is already 27, how much improvement will there be at this point? I'd much rather give VO the 5.5 he has earned. As to Vinnie vs Ilya, I'd rather give Vinnie 2 to 2.5 to stay and be the effective utility forward he was last year. If I have to replace Vinnie, I'd much rather try to re-acquire Compher from Colorado.