GASabresIUFAN

He needs to acquire current real NHL goaltending.

Name the defensive stalwart on our team? Butcher, Miller, Dahlin? What about Hagg, Jokiharju, Bryson or Pysyk? Pysyk is the best defensive D man on this roster and he is a journeyman at best and a maybe bottom pairing guy on a good team. Jokiharju is next and at best he is inconsistent. The rest range from mediocre to down right awful. It’s probable that the best defenseman in this organization is sitting in Rochester for logical reasons unknown and his name is Samuelsson. One of the reasons our goaltending stinks is that guys playing defense in front of them stink at playing defense. The solution is to move on from everyone not named Samuelsson, Dahlin and Jokiharju, add Power and find two veteran D who can actually play defense. Want Psysk back on the 3rd pair ok maybe, but a minimum of one veteran real good in zone D is a necessity. Ok, Curt?

I’ll let you know when we get a few who can actually play defense.

Hayden , Eakin, Caggiula, Bjork, Butcher, Dell, Subban, Anderson, Tokarski, and Hagg have all played for us this season. It’s talent or the lack there of. It’s called tanking and it was easily avoidable. It all starts with a GM who didn’t think quality goaltending was important. I believe this is the second season in a row we have utilized 5 or more goaltenders. Like Ullmark before him, UPL has now suffered significant injuries in three of the last 4 seasons. If KA is serious about creating a winning organization he needs to acquire good goaltending.

Your opinion seems contrary to what many have written about him over the last 2 seasons.

Based on my research prior to the draft, both were drafted one tier ahead of where they should have gone. Not huge reaches, but reaches. On the consensus board I do every year Rosen was 21st and Poltapov 40th. As I said then, I'll repeat now. I had centers ranked ahead of both guys that were still available like Svechkov (17th on my board) and Lucius (11th) (who would have been my pick) over Rosen and Pinelli (23rd) and Raty (17th) over Poltapov. That said, D+1 for most of the mid-level 1sts down to the second is a huge transition year, and isn't ultimately indicative of what they'll become.

So a McCabe or Chris Butler?

Ultimately, the question of keeping VO comes down to how does KA and the management team view the forward core group. I believe they want our top 3 centers to emerge from Mitts, Krebs, Cozens and now Thompson. Of the 4, I think Krebs ends up on the wing. Quinn, Krebs, Asplund, JJP, Tuch and Skinner are KA’s top six wingers long-term. (Skinner because we have no choice). Where does that leave VO? Now add to that the need for real goaltending and veteran D, I can see KA moving on from VO to help fill other holes.

While having 4 goalies on the injured list isn’t foreseeable, having goaltending issues was certainly was, especially when you hire two FA goalies who played a total of 10 NHL games between them last season. I said neither Anderson or Dell were NHL goaltenders any longer and that has sadly proven correct. This failure is on KA and has now derailed the development of both the Sabres and Amerks for this season and has reinforced the losing culture. This was completely avoidable. All this reinforces my opinion KA is in way over his head.

I have a copy of this as well. TM didn’t exactly follow the plan. Not sure why this conversation belongs in the Eichel trade thread.

So our goaltenders are now Houser and Dell. What could possibly go wrong.

Long live the Tank!

As a final note, GA beat 5 teams on it's way to the CFB championship that finished in the final AP poll. Final score for those 5 games; 144-45.

You are assuming VO is traded for picks or prospects. What if it's for a veteran RHD to play with Power or Dahlin? What if it's for a proven goaltender? What if VO isn't interested in signing a long-term deal (like Reinhart)? What if KA only wants to give a 3 year deal (see Ullmark) and VO wants 5-6 years? There is more to the calculus then simply wanting someone to stay. Staying has to be something acceptable to both parties.

The difference is style of play and that Tuch is already locked in. VO will be 27 to start next season. Are we investing in a 5 year deal until he’s 32? Tuch on the other hand will only be 26 and is locked up for less then we’ll have to pay VO, has a longer NHL track record and his contract ends when he’s 30. Simply put, we should get most of Tuch’s prime years, vs VO, who if signed for 5 years, will likely give us a minimum of 2 years of declining prodcution. Also add in all the talented wingers coming up in the system who are destined to replace one or both players. The more I think about this, I really wonder if KA might just trade VO at the deadline.

Even with 11 assists in 18 games, that’s another 30 pts this season, giving him 50 for the year. If the Drs say he is going to be fine, then that changes nothing. You are still looking at $5 mill as a starting point. I know you want him cheaper, but that ain’t happening.

Honestly this may best for both parties. Given his age, KA may view him as a transitional player; someone who is part of the rebuild but not part of the long-term core.

If he gets him for 5 mill that isn’t overpaying. He has 20 pts in 26 games. That’s a pace for 57 points based on the games remaining. A $100k a pt, $5 mill is a starting point. in his 3 seasons, all Covid limited, he paced at 64, 47 and 57 this year. Add a premium for goal scoring and again $5 mill is a starting point especially with him having arbitration rights.

Yes. Quick, with the addition of Power, Quinn, Samuelsson and Krebs to the currently signed players, the Sabres have 15 (11 forwards and 4 D) guys for next season already, but for only 41,865,334. RFAs and lesser UFAs like Murray, Bryson, UPL, Pysyk and Hinostroza should be cheap to keep. Also kids like Fitzgerald, JJP and Laaksonen are on rookie deals and our cheap also if they make the team. The only exception is Olofsson. If Pysyk, Bryson, Murray and UPL stay on the team, you have approximately 45 mill invested in 19 guys, leaving 1G, 1F, and 1D slot to get to 22 guys and around 17 mill to spend. Assuming VO is also retained, that takes the last F slot. Given his career so far, I don't see a 3 year deal at 5 per season out of the question. KA needs to spend the money just to get to the cap floor and to lockup on our best goal scorers.

Ok, but you didn’t answer my question. Do you think ND could have beaten GA or Bama this season? By the way, I do agree that next year GA has an easier schedule on paper then ND, but that doesn't mean anything once the season begins. in 2021 Georgia played 7 ranked teams and went 6-1 against them. ND played 3 and went 1-2.

Until we see Levi as a pro, I’ll reserve judgement (and the Hopium).

GA and the Braves have been playoff contenders often during their droughts. The Bills haven’t won or come close to a championship in decades. Last year’s visit to the AFC championship game was their first final 4 appearance since 1993. Prior to last season, the Sabres had made visits to the final four most recently in 2006 and 2007.

It’s called Hopium and it’s very dangerous stuff. It must be taken wisely and used as directed it can lead to championships (Braves, Dawgs 😁). One legit worry is still the goaltending. If we don’t get solid goaltending we aren’t going anywhere.