GASabresIUFAN

Don't worry, KA is going to trade for him this off-season.

So basically nothing like "Spector" quoted him as saying! These are reasonable comments and truthfully makes sense. In the goaltending thread we have discussed acquiring Ullmark, giving Comrie and or DeSmith a chance and going after Husso or Campbell. All would be upgrades over Anderson and a scrub 2.0. Nothing here limits what KA might do as Spector implied.

Are you saying that no GM, player, coach or agent has as ever used the media to manipulate public opinion?

I don't think it was an opinion piece as to the goaltending, not if I'm reading the quote below accurately.

I wonder if KA or a member of his team leaked the story to LL so that the fanbase gets used to the idea that KA is going to fail the team again with bad goaltending

And sometimes that works (Quinn) and sometimes it doesn’t (Rosen). The key is build a quality scouting department and trust them. This year that is truer then ever. After the clear top 5 anything can happen this year. Opinions vary so widely this season it’s startling. For example, I have Snuggerud in the mid 20’s on my consensus board, but he has rankings as high as 8th and as low as in the second round.

Translation: Anderson plus a scrub 2.0. I can’t begin to say how angry this makes me. It’s time for KA to step and get some real friggin goaltending to support this rebuild.

link?

But what are you paying him beyond next season?

I have 13 14 ballots so far in my consensus rankings. All but 2 are final. I'm waiting on the Hockey News and FC/Sportings News. I also am waiting on TSN MacKenzie's final list. Anyway. Here is where we stand. Tier 1 - Wright, Cooley Slafkovsky Tier 2a - Nemec and Jiricek; 2b Kemell and Savoie Tier 3 - Lekkermaki, Gauthier, Nazar, and Yurov (8-11) Tier 4 - Korchinski, Mateychuk, Lambert, and Mintyukov Tier 5 - Geekie, Kasper and McGroarty (16-18) - no way Kasper actually lasts this long IMHO. Tier 6 - Ohgren, Kulich, Howard, Miroschniichenko, and Ostlund Tier 7 - Firkus, Mesar, Snuggerud, Pickering Tier 8 - Bichsel, Gaucher, Del Bel Belluz, Chesley (28-31) Tier 9 - Odelius, Hutson, Luneau, Beck and Casey Tier 10 - Goyette, Nelson, Hughes; Tier 11 - Trikozov, Perevalov, Havelid (40-42) Tier 12 - Bystedt, Zhilkin, Rinzel, Salomonsson With this update It looks to me like the pick at 9 comes down to Savoie, Gauthier, Nazar. I'd even consider Kasper here. 16 looks like Kasper or Kulich, or one the talented LHDs 28 - If we grab a D at 16, I'd like Snuggerud at 28, Chesley also is a solid RHD 41 - Expect someone to slide. Casey, Luneau, Havelid are all good RHDs.

and if Kane walks in a year, but you could have locked up VO for 3-5 years instead? How much are you paying Kane to stay? What about his poor off the ice reputation?

Food for thought. Only one team has won a Cup with 2 1st overall picks on the roster since 2000 and that was Pitts (Crosby and MAF). No team with a 1st overall D has won the Cup since 2000. If Colorado wins, they'll have 2 1st overalls (Mackinnon and E Johnson), and E Johnson will be the 1st 1st overall D to win the Cup with century. Granted only Power, Dahlin, Ekblad and E Johnson have gone 1st overall since 2000.

Right! Why trade important assets for a guy you can get in a year, especially when management is still evaluating what they have.

The Sabres need to build their D pipeline. We have 3 legit prospects and none may ever play for us; Johnson can become a UFA after this next season, Oskari’s defense isn’t close to NHL ready and Novikov is in Russia and may never come to NA. While I wouldn’t take a LHD a 9, but I’d consider it at 16, and I have zero issues with grabbing D at 28 and 41 if we take forwards at 9 and 16. As I posted earlier, I’d take Kasper at 9 (or Savoie if Kasper is gone), Nazar or Kulich at 16 and then take D at 28 and 41.

If we want him, wait a year and sign him as a UFA.

are you willing to trade Quinn and the 9th over all pick for him and take on his salary?

I've updated my board as more final rankings come in. My picks as of right now would be: 9. Nazar (unless Nemec or Jiricek fall to us) 16. Kasper or Kulich 28. Bichsel, Odelius, Chesley or Luneau.

https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-nhl-draft-preview-options-at-16th-overall/c-334638620 Sabres.com thoughts on who will be available at 16

Is it just me, or are the LV Knights and Mon the two worst managed teams in the NHL right now? That’s really saying something given our recent history. I’m curious how $ LV is really on the hook for for the next 4 years. Is there insurance payments like we get for Bishop? If there isn’t I’m not sure this deal makes much sense. Dadanov has only one year left on his deal. Why pay someone 30 mill not to play to just get potential cap relief.

@LGR4GM love the list. Sorry about your Dad. Hope he gets better soon. Given all I have read, I think after the top 5, this draft could go in any direction from 6 down to 18 or so. The 3 LHDs seem allergic to actually playing defense, but all three have amazing puck moving skill sets. Personally, I think Kasper could very well be the right selection at 9. We need more big motor players and he fits the bill.

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.