GASabresIUFAN

Crazy win. Tokarski was unbelievable. Save of the year.

FYI Hinostroza, Caggiula and R2’s PT 5 on 5 is about the same. Vinnie and Caggiula are getting an additional 2 minutes PK time.

Who is he playing ahead of when Mitts and VO return? Girgensons, KO, Cozens, Thompson, Asplund, Skinner, and Eakin are guaranteed slots head of him. I also don’t see him supplanting Hinostroza or R2. That leaves him fighting for the last spot with Bjork and Hayden. Once Tuch returns, where does he play?

I don't think he is going to take things apart. Olofsson is really the only big question. Is KA committed to him being part of the core long-term? If KA is then it's unlikely KA trades VO. However, as an RFA, he'd probably bring a pretty penny at the deadline. Everyone else ranges from no value to being replaceable internally except maybe Miller. Trade Hinostroza and R2 slides into his role with probably better results. Hagg can be replaced by Samuelsson. When VO, Mitts and Tuch gets healthy, that probably the end of the road for Hayden, Caggiula and probably Hinostroza. I don't see Eakin or Pysyk being traded because of our lack of depth at center and RHD. Once everyone gets healthy up front, most of the JAGs will be gone VO Mitts Tuch Skinner Thompson Asplund Girgensons Eakin KO R2 Cozens Bjork Add Krebs to the mix and Bjork is gone as well. I really like that forward group. On defense you have 4 core guys once Samuelsson gets elevated and Joki gets healthy in Dahlin, Joki, Samuelsson and Bryson. If Pysyk is retained, that leaves one maybe two slots. Moving on from Butcher (as if someone would take him) and Wolanin wouldn't hurt us and giving Miller's slot to Power makes sense.

There is always someone available especially in the off-season. The question is cost. KA didn’t want to spend anything on goaltending and got nothing.

If KA wanted better goaltending he wouldn’t have signed Dell and Anderson in the off-season. UPL should stay where he is. The only real solution is to find outside help but that is nearly impossible at this point. KA isn’t going to do it anyway. I fully understand and agree that looking at a Tokarski/Dell combo makes one want to retch.

When VO, Mitts and Tuch return, Hayden, Caggiula and Bjork should be the guys replaced. However, I believe R2 is waivers exempt and can be sent down.

I’m usually gung ho on GM’s supporting a team to keep it in contention, but this maybe the one time I’m not. 50% of this team are JAGs, that’s way to much for a GM to cure at the deadline unless we bring up the kids from Rochester. Honestly that seems like the mostly likely place to get upgrades; Samuelsson, Krebs, JJP, and Quinn would all upgrade this roster. Hopefully UPL continues his current form and becomes an upgrade as well. Ultimately with our currently improved prospect depth and 4 1sts and 4 2nds in the next two drafts, we could find ourselves with good depth and a contending team for the next decade. That seems more important to me then going for it this season. I remember when Don Waddell went for it with the Thrashers and it was an epic fail. That failure was the ultimate death blow for the team here in Atlanta. The question is is there a middle ground? If KA can utilize the cap space and or lower picks to get upgrades, I’d probably be onboard.

The broader question is who might be available in trade or as a FA that fits the bill of a veteran and effective stay at home RHD? I have no idea at this point, but people tend to become available when cap room is needed. Maybe TB needs to trade Cernak. Maybe we can’t upgrade Pysyk, but maybe he plays well enough in the next 68 games to make it unnecessary.

No. More mature maybe and more confident certainly, but not more skilled. Skinner and KO’s rebound illustrate how vital usage and opportunity is to success. RK nearly destroyed Skinner. DG is doing R2 no favors this year by saddling him with AHLers like Caggiula and Hayden. His production is nearly non existent right now.

and opportunity. RK buried Thompson, Mitts, Asplund and Skinner. DG gave them opportunity to show they can play and guess what, we found out they can play and well.

I did a quick check on last season Asplund 10 pts for the season (10 under DG) Thompson 14 pts for the season (12 under DG) Skinner 14 pts for the season (10 under Granato)

I agree. They'll give Johnson a year in Rochester to get acclimated to the pro game.

One other thought. Would this be a golden opportunity for KA to reach into the FA market or trade market to acquire a better then Pysyk RHD to be either Power or Dahlin's partner? We certainly have the cap space.

We kind of got off track a little in the college hockey thread and started discussing the future flow of D to the Sabres from college, Rochester and elsewhere. I thought we should probably bring that discussion here; so here goes. KA has pretty much a clean slate to work with after this season. Hagg (L), Pysyk (R), Miller (R), Wolanin (L) and Butcher (L) are all UFAs. Bryson (23, LHD) is an RFA who shouldn't cost much to retain. Only Jokiharu (22, RHD) and Dahlin (21, LHD) are signed beyond this season. In Rochester are (all are RFAs after 22/23) 1) Samuelsson (21, LHD) - He looks NHL ready now and was solid in his NHL debut last season 2) Laaksonen (22, RHD) - 7 pts in 11 games so far. AHL All-star last year. Miller's replacement? 3) Fitzgerald (24, RHD) - 6 pts (3 goals) in 11 games and Amerks +/- leader at +6. In College 4) Power - (18, LHD) - 1st overall in 2021 draft. 18 pts in 12 college games ytd. Had 16 in 26 games last season. Already 6'6" 215. 5) Johnson - (20, LHD) - 31st overall in 2019 (ROR trade). 7 pts in 12 games ytd. Solid at 2021 World U-20 for USA. Has improved each season in college. Others 6) Novikov - (18, LHD) - 188th pick in 2021 is already 6'3" 200 and taking a regular shift in the KHL. He will represent Russia in the World Jrs. 7-9) Cronholm (L), Kukkonen (R) and Worge-Kreu (L) - 2018 picks are all skating in the SHL or SM-Liiga. All seem like stay at home type players. Don't know if KA has an interest in bringing them over or not. I'm going to assume that Wolanin, Butcher and Miller are gone by season's end at the latest. I'm also going to assume Samuelsson gets the call soon if the Sabres suffer another D injury or Miller gets traded whichever comes first. KA will sign both Johnson and Power at the end of their college seasons. KA also will re-sign Bryson to a two year deal. This will give KA the flexibility to keep Bryson long-term if he continues to improve, but also a solid trade asset if gets beaten out by guys like Laaksonen, Power and Johnson. KA base group for next year probably looks something like this: Dahlin/Jokiharju, Bryson/Samuelsson, Power/?????? Based on what I have seen, there is a chance that both Pysyk and Hagg could be retained for veteran presence. Pysyk as a solid stay at home partner for Power's first NHL campaign is not the worst place to start. Hagg as a 7th D in appealing but he might find greener pastures elsewhere.

I don’t see why this is a surprise. RK’s system sucked the life out of all offensive players. Now we have a coach that allows players to create and a system that emphasizes counter attacks and quick strikes. We saw last season when DG took over how quickly we started scoring even without Eichel and Hall. This season is just an extension of what started last year. It’s a amazing how Mitts, Thompson, Asplund and Skinner have blossomed without RK.

He looks like he has for the last 3 years. Terrible.

FYI: He was 10th on my consensus list which averaged the rankings from 15 writers and services.

Finkle is Einhorn

Only 2 forwards on the list haven’t yet played in the NHL yet and they will and only 3 aren’t established NHL players. There are only 2 rookies on the backend and one is Power, which is why I kept vets Hagg and Pysyk. Upgrade the goaltending and the above group will compete for a playoff spot.

Seriously? The current team with 50% JAGs is 22nd in the NHL. This proposed team is a huge upgrade in talent.

What about next fall? Skinner Mitts Tuch Krebs Cozens Quinn Asplund Thompson JJP Girgensons Jankowski Okposo Bjork Dahlin Jokiharju Bryson Samuelsson Power Fitzgerald Hagg Pysyk Trade VO for a real goaltender Tokarski How’s that for a scary talented buy very young roster.

Dylan “Don’t send me down” Cozens. Nice win.

We’ll never know if the tank would have worked since we didn’t have competent management to execute the rebuild.

Is Pekar turning it around?