GASabresIUFAN

22 players were mentioned in the article. Of the 18 prospects discussed guess how many centers? Zero! That’s right we have zero centers in our pipeline worth noting. We draft high end centers, like Mitts, Cozens, Jack and Sam, but when was the last time we successfully drafted a center outside the top 10. Derek Roy? This is not the way to build or sustain an organization.

Do you think he'll perform to the level of a $3 mill player? or will his defensive failing make him into Miller 2.0 and ultimately spend the season in the pressbox?

If the plan is to tank, then yes they are succeeding. Putting another crop of prospects in another losing situation is a stupid plan by definition. You don't fix a losing culture with more losing. We had the cap space to make the team competitive this season without taking an ice time away from our top kids. That type of support is how you build a winning culture. Apparently the Sabres' brass never learns.

This move only makes sense if your in tank mode and are willing to "box out" a prospect or two (which is something KA said he won't do). No way we are going to pay 2.8 to someone to sit on the bench. Remember he was so bad in his own zone that a rebuilding team (NJ) wanted him gone and was willing to pay us to take him. However, lets say he plays well and you flip him at the deadline for a 3rd. How exactly does this help us become a winner sooner then later? Yes we ended up with a 3rd and 5th in 2022. The odds we find an NHL player with either pick is low, about 22% for the 3rd and 15% for the 5th and that is 3-5 years away if they make it. Since we are now clearly a budget team, KA could have instead used that money and allocated it somewhere like goaltending to help the team be competitive now. Obviously if you have pivoted to tank mode, then helping us be competitive now isn't the goal so why not bring in a defensively challenged defensemen to play in front of your AHL goaltenders. He will certainly help us lose games. I'm so excited that our management wants to teach another generation of Sabres prospect how to lose with dignity.

So KA's motto is I'm sorry I failed to support the team properly but I really really tried. Who could have guessed that a quality UFA goalie would want play for a perennial contender instead of the worst organization in sport. If his honest goal was to support the team with quality goaltending by re-signing Ullmark, then he should have had a plan B in place when Ullmark reasonably bolted. He didn't. A competent GM would have had a plan B. Going from Ullmark to Dell/Anderson to not a plan B. It not even plan X. It's a joke. It's going from helping a team to be competitive to tanking the squad before the season even begins. He deserves no credit for "trying" to re-sign Ullmark, because he failed to get him signed and failed to sign or acquire an adequate replacement. Also it's not my spin that he isn't blocking UPL, it's KA's himself. He stated to Vogl on 7/29 about his goaltending quartet that "We feel good where we're at." He further stated the following "We certainly spent a lot of time planning around where we would go, or how we would pivot,” Adams said. “I felt that we made a strong offer; when he made a decision to go a different direction, we pivoted. We looked into where the market was from certain trade scenarios, but for us, giving up assets isn’t something we were comfortable with at that point." And “We don’t want to box players out in any position,” Adams said. “We want to make sure that guys like UPL, when they’re ready, they have the opportunity, but we have competition there. It’s gonna be guys competing for a spot.” This is delusional. There is no other way to look at this situation. He made an offer to Ullmark, who knows what it was or even if it was a legit or competitive offer, and when that failed he had no real plan to get another quality goaltender in here. He basically threw up his hands, pivoted to tank mode and got some guys standing on the corner holding signs saying will goaltend for food. This is the type of terrible and short sighted decision making that got us here, thus he gets zero credit for making an offer to Ullmark.

Once Mitts, Dahlin and Joki re-sign, we'll be over the cap and I'd have rather spent 2.8 on a goalie. I'd feel better about it if he been a RHD. As with last year, I'd rather see Samuelsson and Bryson over Hagg and Butcher. What funny about KA's off-season is that he acquired mediocre vets to compete against kids who showed ok in the NHL (Samuelsson and Bryson) making it harder for them to make the team. However in goal he acquired guys who are not longer NHL players to not block a goalie (UPL) who can't stop pucks in the AHL. The strategy makes literally zero sense, but then again either do the Sabres.

and just think, they'll be better then we are.

I'm pretty much in agreement with you here. I think winning games or more generally being competitive each night would do much more for the culture that anything else. No one wants to work for a company or team going under. As to Butcher, him wanting to be here is all well and good, but why being him in at all. Bryson may not be as dynamic offensively, but he is better on defense and KA's stated goal was not to block the kids. With Miller and Dahlin already on the roster, and Bryson capable of adding some O, Butcher is a luxury that was completely unnecessary. He also isn't cheap. We are paying 2.8 mill (of his 3.7) for a guy who'll likely be a 3rd pairing guy, giving us the same value as a 750K scrap heap vet. It's a waste of money. KA should have spent the 2.8 on a goalie and at least made us a touch more competitive. Like I said this acquisition makes no sense.

I agree which is why I’ve been saying I don’t understand the Butcher acquisition. They can limit him by playing him with Pysyk for about 12 minutes a night 5 on 5 and then use him on the PP

Butcher needs a coach who knows how to utilize his offense and protect him on defense.

Hagg in goal? He can't be worse then Dell. I also like Samuelsson in the lineup over Hagg. Frankly, I'm ok with Hagg and Samuelsson in over Butcher. I won't mind 2 physical guys in the lineup each night.

If DG goes with the vets over the kids, KA's acquisitions would have blocked two kids and give us a starting 6 of Dahlin Jokiharju Hagg Miller Butcher Pysyk That's hard to look at.

none. Arbitration ended on the 26th I believe.

The camp battles should be interesting. I can honestly see both R2 and Asplund kept at wing to bolster the forward lines and that is where he played them last season, but I also think R2 should be given a legit shot at center. KA also signed centers Hayden and MacInnis. While the season could be very difficult. It should be a very interesting camp to see who asserts themselves. My guess is it's going to be a wide open camp for line combos, but with a few battles for depth positions like 4th line center.

Now that the arbitration cases are over my guess is RFAs signing will pick up. Training camps will open in a few weeks (9/15 or so). Preseason starts 9/28. Regular season 10/14.

It’s not a question of comfort. It’s a question of who do we have that most likely can do the job. The 3 most talented healthy centers on the current roster are Mitts, Cozens and R2. I don’t think that is debatable. The question then is how do we allocate them to maximize the offense. Under Granato last season Mitts as the 2C scored at a 60+ pt pace. Who else on this roster played at that level? No one says this is a playoff contender. The goal this season is continued development of young players. Challenging these kids is part of that process. Ask yourself are Cozens and R2 an upgrade over Staal and Eakin?

Beane knows his job, but it was pretty clear that Gabe Davis was ready for a bigger role. I suspect Davis will be starting over Sanders sooner then later.

John Brown released by the Raiders.

I don't think 400k (aka $400,000) will go very far in fixing Key Bank

Seems small to me as well. 1.4 Billion and it's not even a dome.

I never said he was cut - I listed "cuts/trades"

Three somewhat surprises so far on Bills cuts/trades - Cam Lewis, Jacob Hollister and Daryl Johnston. I heard that Cam Lewis had a great camp. I'm surprised they didn't find a way to keep him. The Johnston trade was also surprising given his value of special teams. Just shows how deep this roster is when guys like Lewis and Johnston can't make the team.

This happens every year. People want guarantees. They don't exist. Skinner scored 40, must be signed to a long term deal yelled this board because he'll now score 40 every year playing with Jack. Didn't happen. Mitts is a bust yelled this board. Now it's Mitts can't play 1C. He did just fine as the 2C down the stretch and is the best option we have right now. I also have zero worries about R2 as a C in the NHL. Will he be over matched at times. Probably, but his skill level will give him an advantage against many 3C's in the NHL. Cozens is still a kid and we are force feeding him, but if anyone can be force feed a role I think he is the guy. I actually don't think there is any question that Cozens will eventually be a very effective 2C. Hopefully starting next year. For comparison purposes here is last years opening centers - Eichel, Staal, Eakin. This coming season so far - Mitts, Cozens, R2. As we saw Staal and Eakin were done as NHL players, while the 3 guys we have now are ascending and have upside. Sure none of these guys are as dynamic a talent as Jack, but from a depth standpoint, I'll take the new group. I don't think there are any questions about Mitts, Cozens and R2's talent. The only real question is are they ready for the role they'll be given. We won't know what they are until they are given a chance to play there. Remember we pigeon holed Reinhart as a RW. We found out to late that the replacement for ROR was already on the roster all along.

Simple. After trading and not replacing ROR, we created a scoring line of Skinner, Eichel and Reinhart. We foolishly created a super line instead of 2 or 3 capable lines. We learned last year that the replacement for ROR was here all along in Reinhart, but we stapled him to Jack's hip. Dumb. Now we'll have 3 lines centered by three capable centers in Mitts, Cozens, and R2. Skinner and VO are good scoring wingers. Thompson should add some scoring from a depth role. The question becomes can guys like Girgensons (hi 15), KO (27), Asplund (7), Hinostroza (16), Caggiula (13) and Bjork (9) add 10+ goals each next year to help balance the lines. Remember I'm not saying this is the TB offense, I'm just saying I think we can roll 3 lines capable of scoring.

This is becoming ROR part 2. Top line centers on long-term deals, check. Both want out of town due to losing, check. Management is also inclined to trade them, check. Circumstances that limit trade value to the Sabres; ROR's bonus and Jack's injury coupled with the NMC clause kicking in next summer. At least ROR was healthy. That deal should almost serve as a reference point for what we can expect for Jack if he was healthy. We basically received a 1st and a good prospect plus two contracts on marginal NHL players. Again this isn't happening unless someone is willing to take on the liability of the surgery. Taking the $8 mill bonus hit was a much easier pill to swallow.