GASabresIUFAN

The blueline is Dahlin, a bunch of maybes, and some less then maybes. There are still 6 rostered D (with Byram) that are mediocre or less defensively. Neither Timmins or Kesselring are true shutdown D. Both played about 17 1/2 minutes per game last season and started their shifts 55% of the time in the O Zone. Neither is very physical despite their size and Kesselring doesn't kill penalties. Timmins, to his credit, started played the PK this past season for the first time in his career. Byram, Samuelsson and Power still stink defensively and with Wilford as coach I'm not expecting any improvement. In fact, both Samuelsson and Power have regressed since Wilford became the coach. This D group, while offensively talented, big and better balanced (R vs L), is less physical than last year and still a black hole defensively. I don't expect any real improvement in goals against unless the goalies play out of their minds. Sorry, but the genius Kevyn Adams has sold everyone that Kesselring and Timmins are defensive improvements over the replaced Joki and Clifton. If they are it's nominal.

I feel a sign and deal trade coming. 🙂 See Marner. The Sabres can re-sign him for 8 years and then trade him. If traded before he re-signing, the new team can only give him a 7 year deal.

Generally I agree, but Kadri wants to come back East (based on articles I've read) and I believe he makes his offseason home in Toronto. So if you were Kadri, do you want to play with a possible bad team close to home with less travel or play on a possible bad team 2000 miles from home?

I'm a little confused by all the love being thrown toward Kesselring. Solid player? Sure, but he isn't exactly a proven top 4 D nor is he a shutdown defender. The guy had his best season last year, but only averaged 17:41 (16:24 at ES) a night. For his career he has averaged less than 17 minutes a game. Power, who Kesselring is penciled in to play with averaged 21:19 (18:13 at ES) last season and is a 22:39 a game for his career. Kesselring also doesn't kill penalties. He also has started most shifts in the Ozone (55%). He also isn't overly physical. Frankly he looks on paper like Power from the right side but maybe better in the D zone. Then again, who can be worse in the D zone than Power?

Byram to Calg for Kadri with other pieces worked out to make everyone happy.

The cliff can, but the Sabres need to take some risks at this point to change the direction of the ship. If we get 2 good years after the trade, then the deal is well worth it. Also if the Sabres stink, but Kadri remains solid, he could be traded to a contender for a return of assets. I agree he likely isn't a No. 1 center in the McDavid sense, but he was 27th in points and 8th in goals among centers last season. He also is incredibly durable playing 82 games each of the last 3 seasons. His addition would make our lineup so much more flexible in case of injury to any of the top 3 centers. We know McLeod can play up and Kulich and Thompson can be effective at center.

So what would the offense look like with Kadri and then what happens with Kulich? Kulich might get sent down at that point and is that really the worst result? He can also play wing. Line 1 - Thompson Kadri Tuch Line 2 - Benson Norris Quinn Line 3 - Zucker McLeod Kulich Line 4 - Doan Krebs/Kozak Greenway (Malenstyn is an extra)

Lets get the prelims out of the way. Yes Kadri is 34. Yes he has 4 years left on his deal at 7 per season. Yes he has a NMC. Yes Calg said they aren't trading this offseason. Now that the prelims are out of the way, despite comments to the contrary, I think Kadri is available in the right deal. I'm going to assume Adams has the assets that interest Calg (we know they are interested in Byram). The question is can Adams and Pegula convince him to come to Buffalo? If I were Adams, I'd kick the tires and talk to the Flames and Kadri to see if there is an interest. I think Kadri could be the piece that move the Sabres into playoff contention. He is a veteran center with tons of playoff experience (including a Cup win in 2022). He is a pest and very hard to play against. He also still has his offensive game. In fact, he out scored and out pointed JJP last season. He is an instant culture change for this organization. Byram for Kadri is a good place to start. So who do you replace Byram on the defense with? Well, Grzelcyk comes to mind. Also we could promote Kesselring to play with Dahlin and then add a vet like Rutta to add depth and experience. Or we could trade Rosen, Krebs or other prospects to get a D.

2nd or no, it doesn't matter. To not re-sign him for 875K and create some internal competition is frankly stupid.

JBD signed w Det for 875K. We paid a 2nd to get JBD but wouldn't part with 875K to keep him. Pure genius. Maybe re-sign JBD, who played well in his 15 games, and also trade for Timmins. Guess what, you'd have depth behind Kesselring and maybe real competition for jobs. G-d forbid. I defer to Adams guaranteed roster spot system because that has worked so well.

This isn't the worst idea I've heard.

Kev is such a genius.

Yes, but would should at least get another asset back in addition to Andersson. Plus Andersson is an upgrade on Byram on the ice plus Andersson is deadline tradable if the team is again out of the playoffs.

Bringing back Byram is a status quo move and the status quo is failure. I agree that any trade Adams makes will likely be inadequate, but it’s the only chance the team has to get better heading into next season.

That doesn’t have to be the case. I’ve suggested Byram to Calg for Rasmus Anderson plus another asset. Anderson is on a reasonable 1 year deal and might enjoy playing with Dahlin enough to re-sign. I would then hope that a second move could be made using the Calg asset and someone like Quinn to acquire a top 6 playmaker.

Sure he can keep him, but that doesn’t make the team better. That’s the whole point. The goal of the offseason was for the Sabres to get better. So far Adams, unsurprisingly, has failed again. All keeping Byram does is kick the can down the road for another season of failure. Great! What a smart solution. The only way to get better is to move him to a team that needs his skillet and get piece(s) we need like a playmaker for the top 6, a starting goalie, and or a defensively sound top 4 D.

So what is the solution? I honestly don’t know I agree, Dahlin is great and makes everyone he plays with look decent even if they aren’t.

It’s a results business and he had failed at every turn. He deserves to get criticized. Remember Byram is a redundant asset. He the 3rd puck moving LHD on the team. His value is greater to other teams that lack his skill set. The problem is if he pulls the trigger on a trade we know that the return will be inadequate. We also know, with 25 mill already sunk in Dahlin, Power and Mule, that another large contract for a poor defensive D would be a mistake for the Sabres. To further complicate matters, if he trades Byram for a forward, Dahlin again has no partner. There are no top 4 D left in free agency and I doubt someone is going to trade us a top 4 RHD at this point. So Adams has painted himself into a corner. If he keeps Byram the team suffers and if trades Byram the team likely suffers as well. Well done Kevyn.

That's a fantasy. Wait too long and the offers dry up as teams look elsewhere and/or they run out of cap space. Eventually, you run out of suitors and then you are left with having to re-sign a player who doesn't want to be here. This what happened with both Ullmark and Reinhart. Maybe he just signs a 1 year deal and forces Adams to trade him at the deadline or next off-season (his last as an RFA). Regardless, better trade him now while there is a market for his services.

How has it worked out for the Sabres?

Adams just needs to get this over already. Sign him or trade him. Enough! The trade offers aren't going to get any better and if he can't find a deal he likes, then make a friggin decision to bridge him or sign him long-term. Just get it done so that this isn't hanging over the franchise any longer. We all know (and so does Adams) that whatever decision he makes won't improve the team, so why wait? G-d I loath Adams.

Does Adams honestly think he has done enough to field a playoff team?

It’s worth an NHL player about 25% of the time 4 years from the date the player was drafted. Here are KAs 2nd rd picks 1 - star - JJP who he promptly traded away for a former 6th pick to play top 4 defenses and a former 2nd rd pick who has yet to establish himself as a full time NHL forward. 3 - busts - Kisakov, Poltapov (he’s not coming over folks) and Leinonen 3 - recent prospects - Wahlberg, Strbak, Kleber

The KA press conference in a nut shell. Blah, blah, blah, excuse for not really fixing the team, blah, blah, blah. I wonder if Adams is really Charlie Brown’s teacher.

If that’s the plan why do we keep trading away the forwards we draft and develop who succeed because management doesn’t want to pay them.