GASabresIUFAN

With Fitz, Samuelsson, Cozens, Krebs, and Bryson basically graduated from our prospect pipeline, who is left? When I looked at my notes I found 6 “pods” or small groups. Pod 1 is 5 future stars - Quinn, Power, Levi, JJP and Portillo. All have had dominate seasons with the 3 skaters all likely to join the Sabres next fall. I have Quinn over Power because of the unprecedented season he is having in Roch. They are players 1-5 on my list Pod 2 is the near ready D in Laaksonen (7th) and Johnson (6th). Neither is probably ready for immediate NHL duty, but they should be the top pair in Roch next fall and early callups when injuries occur. Laaksonen continues to generate big time O and his in zone D is improving. Pod 3 is the breakout CHL players - Bloom (9th), Nadaeu (10th) and Kozak (11th). All had 30+ goals this season. Pod 4 is Rosen and the Russians. I have Rosen (8th) higher then the rest despite his struggles this season because the talent is there. All three Russians excelled at different points this year, but I discounted them because of the war in the Ukraine which has clouded their availability to come to NA. Kisakov (12th) has 26g in the MHL, Novikov (13th) played 32 KHL games as a 18 year old D, and Poltapov (14th) hit his stride with 10 pts in 10 MHL playoff games. Pod 5 is 3 surprising breakouts. Costantini (15th) blossomed at UND and is still 19. Huglen (16th) became a go to player at Minn and Cederqvist (17th) picked up 32 pts in 49 SHL games. Pod 6 is 3 very good AHL players who can contribute in the NHL in Murray (18th), Biro (19th) and Weissbach (20th). All 3 will be 24 next season, but given the Sabres young forward depth, I doubt any will break into the lineup permanently.

I think you mean that young.

I would love to get a Hellebuyck or Saros, but those guys are unlikely available. Given his past comments about not blocking his prospects, it’s more likely that he’ll want to get a vet that can add to his cap and provide good goaltending while UPL develops into a starter, or UPL gets passed in the pipeline by Levi or Portillo. That’s where someone like Varlamov comes in. He carries a 5 mill cap hit for next year, the NYI have a younger guy who is already their starter, but are still tight against next year’s cap. He is 33 and still a good goaltender with a 2.74 and .918 this season.

I originally thought VO would be traded for a goaltender. I now believe that is in error. I believe KA re-signs him to keep the band together for as long as possible. I believe he and DG like the progress VO has made as a playmaker and improvement as a 200 foot player. So what does next fall's lineup look like Skinner Thompson Tuch VO Mitts Quinn JJP Cozen and Krebs Girgensons Eller KO Asplund Dahlin Jokiharju Power Dumba Samuelsson Bryson Fitz Varlamov UPL

Given the totality of the circumstances, the 2 issues of VO’s next contract vs acquiring a goaltender are separate issues 1) The Sabres are 23rd in goals for. Can we really afford to let one of our premiere goal scorers go? 2) The Sabres are approx $18 mill under the cap floor with surprisingly few job openings. VO’s next contract will go along way toward helping us get to the floor. 3) The Sabres have other assets to use to get the goaltending including 3 1sts this year, 3 2nds next year, and a boatload of cap space to help other teams get under the cap. KA said at the deadline that he was willing to weaponize the cap space. I don’t see the attitude changing in the off-season. 4) KA’s pronouncement that he only wants guys that wants to be here, isn’t lip service. The recent article about Asplund and VO’s bonding in Rochester and being key pieces of the of fun and family atmosphere in the locker room reinforced the idea that KA would bring back VO to keep his scoring and maintain the building culture. Nothing precludes KA from trading VO in the right deal, but it would have to be a huge offer. Also he has been pretty clear that he wants to acquire a top flight RHD to partner with Power and mentor the young D group. 19 teams are either at this years cap ceiling or over the cap using LTIR to stay complaint. Most of the these teams have limited flexibility for next season and will be dumping veteran contracts this off-season. This is how I believe KA will weaponize our cap space. I can see guys like Varlomov and Dumba at the top of KA’s list.

FC’s interactive draft is also Meh right now. They still have us drafting 5th with the LV pick at 29th and Florida 30th.

So here is the plan. The Bills trade down to later in the first and add a 2nd second. They still use the late first on S Lewis Cine, UGA. With the first 2nd rd pick they grab McDuffie, CB Wash (or whomever they deem as the best CB available at that slot). With the 2nd 2nd rd pick the grab Quay Walker, LB, UGA. In the 3rd they draft James Cook, RB, UGA and in the 4th OG Justin Shaffer, UGA. Now that is a draft I can live with.

I understand why people are trying to read into KA’s statements. The team is generating some hopium right now, but we are a wounded fanbase suffering from a sports version of PTSD. We have seen college kids reject us before (only one of our picks in Petersen - Vesey said he was always going to go UFA and TM traded for him anyway). We have seen stars like Sam, Jack, and ROR say they want out and we’ve missed the playoffs for over a decade. With that track record no wonder fans are worried that star college kids may want to find greener pastures. However, the truth is the only drafted college kid that the Sabres wanted to keep who bolted is Petersen. As others have pointed out, TM and his staff did a terrible job of communicating with the kid. Also goaltending wasn’t really an issue for us in 2017. Lehner was here and Ullmark was almost ready in Rochester. Behind him we had Jonas Johansson, a former 3rd rd pick, just made the jump from Europe to the AHL in April 2017. Crowded net for 2017/8 with starters Lehner (NHL), Ullmark (AHL) and JJ (ECHL). So the Iowa native bolted to a Western team. If I’m a prospect goalie I’m thrilled with the situation in goal. There is no real starter in Buffalo. The only prospect is UPL and he is headed for a backup role in Buffalo. That leaves clear openings in Roch and Cin. With Levi staying in school, that means Portillo has a clear shot for the AHL starting gig. For Johnson the situation is more murky. There is no road to the NHL on the left side and may never be with Power (19), Dahlin (22) and Samuelsson (22). However there is very beatable competition on the right side. I doubt any of Jokiharju, Bryson, Pysyk or Fitz are real roadblocks if Johnson can effectively transition to the right side. I’m really not worried that any of the big 3 college prospects will reject the team. The team is turning around and creating legit positive vibe. The developmental staff and GM are communicating with the kids well and there are clear avenues to playing time in Rochester and ultimately Buffalo for all three. When they sign is probably the biggest issue.

Kind of sad that our European UFA imports haven’t really worked out. Antipin 46 gm 1g 5a Pilut 47gm 0g 10a R2 NHL 35gm 7g 3a AHL 59gm 22g 35a

They are going to need over the next two drafts a starting CB, LB, Safety, RB, OG and possibly a WR. They need to grab a CB in the first rd this year. After that checking a couple of the list above would be great.

It was one of the finest plays I have ever seen in 50 years of watching pro hockey.

Vic and Asplund are serious pieces of the family atmosphere in the the locker-room. Vic and Mitts, now healthy and in game shape are dominating and preventing teams from concentrating on Skinner and TnT. This team definitely needs goal scorers, letting a home grown player leave while in his prime when we have the cap space to pay him would be a mistake. 4 years at 5 mill should get it done (hopefully).

I was thinking the same thing, but I would have added “so zip it.”

You don’t think Ahl is an elite player? That line with Teravainen and Svechnikov is one of the top lines in hockey. DeAngelo is an elite scoring D (45 pts in 52g)and Slavin is one of the best all around D in hockey. Those are 5 elite players. However I agree we need a couple of players to really become dominate to really be a Cup contender. Dahlin is one. To me it looks like Mitts and TNT are getting better every night. I am so looking forward to a line of Quinn, Mitts and VO next season. I agree because when I look at the best teams I see McKinnon and Rantanen in Colorado, Huberdeau and Barkov in Florida and wonder who we have that could reach that level. FYI Samson has 68 pts in 67 games YTD.

Vic has 9g 5a in his last 17 games. Anyone still want him traded?

What a great victory. Just finished watching. We were the better team after the first period. Honestly Freddy Andersen is still not my favorite goalie. Florida is the better team IMHO. Since March started we are 10-4-3 against 13 playoff team, 3 borderline playoff teams and only one sub 500 team (Chi). It helps when your best players are your best players. What balanced scoring. Thompson 9g 6a 15 pts Olofsson 9g 5a 14pts Skinner 9g 5a 14 pts Mitts 3g 9a 12 pts KO 5g 6a 11 pts Dahlin 1g 9a 10 pts Tuch 2g 7a 9 pts Cozens 1g 8a 9 pts Krebs 4g 4a 8 pts Samuelsson 0g 6a 6 pts Pretty impressive. DG and guys deserve so much credit for playing so well running this gauntlet. Watching these guys right now feels like watching the 2005/6 team as they gained momentum.

Dahlin's play and pass to VO was unbelievable. With Tuch, those maybe the best two primary assists this season.

Got home from a bowling tournament a little bit ago and just saw our two goals early in the second. Sick assist by TNT and what a shot by my boy Mitts. We look much better as usual in the early going of the second period then we did in the first.

If they use his goalie equipment bag, he’s probably used to the smell.

Hey Power is signing, do the rest really matter?

Especially if he uses a smelly equipment bag.

That would be a very large suitcase. Probably should use a rolling duffel bag instead.

And there was much rejoicing.

and void the Petersen Problem. Essential once we draft college kids we need to recruit them to the Sabres. PS Is it a surprise that the TM Sabres failed to reasonably communicate with their players and prospects?

I wouldn't give up on Laaksonen yet. Fitzgerald was a 3rd rd pick in 2016 and finally made the Sabres this year. Oskari is a 3rd rd pick for 2017 and is in only his 2nd year of NA pro hockey. Given our lack of depth on the right side, he could easily get a shot next season. He is still physically maturing and is now 6'2" 185. According the Amerks coaching staff he is making strides on defense. https://pickinsplinters.com/2022/01/12/laaksonen-assists-on-4-goals-in-amerks-win-but-his-defensive-gains-are-more-important/