GASabresIUFAN

My guess is Adams is now done unless a major injury occurs. 5/6 of his top 6 is probably written in ink. (TNT, Cozens, Tuch, Quinn and JJP) Camp battles for a 2nd line winger and both 3rd line wingers (Greenway, Benson, Zucker) Camp battle for the 3C job with McLeod the heavy favorite (Krebs and Lafferty also competing) Aube-Kubel, Malenstyn, Lafferty, and Krebs fighting for the last 3 starting forward jobs. If Kubel, Malenstyn and Lafferty comprise the 4th line, I'd be tempted to call them the Malachi Brothers. On defense the only pairing certainty is Dahlin anchoring the top pair. After that we are going to Lindy play mix and match with Power, Byram, Mule, Clifton and Joki. Gilbert and Bryson likely make the team as 7 & 8, but I could see Clague beating out Bryson for the 8th slot. In goal UPL will be in the NHL. Will Levi need to be sent down opening the door for Reimer to win the backup job? Right now Adams was 11 forward under contract with 2 pending RFAs, 10 D (Johnson and Clague to the other 2 ) and 3 goalies.

That is a very generous description of Byram

except I don't think KA is going to cut him for getting a $1 mill decision.

is there an NHLe that is both league and age based?

Hits, EV pts, XGF @ EV, Faceoff %, Blocks, PK skills, speed, size takeaways, etc are just a small sample of the differentiating stats that factor into who plays where and when. McLeod is definitely the favorite to win the 3C job, but I was just showing how close the counting stats were between the 2 players.

Even with Savoie gone, our top forward prospects are Helenius, Kulich, Östlund, Wahlberg, Rosen, Neuchev, Ziemer and Poltapov. How many guys do we actually need? Don't forget that Benson is younger than half those guys and JJP is only 6 months older than Rosen and Poltapov.

This won't get to arbitration. They rarely do. My guess is a 3 year deal.

No I wanted KO and Z gone before 2023/24. I have also advocated for launching Krebs into space. However, I am trying to look at the team objectively with an eye toward how Adams views the roster. Krebs actually had 100+ hits last year, has good to excellent passing skills and position flexibility. If you are KA and trying to build a team with position flexibility than simply tossing Krebs into the dumpster is not what Adams would do. Also he is cheap talent. His Q-offer is 832K and he has no leverage. If Krebs put in the work he promised this off-season he can still have a viable NHL career. Remember Curtis Lazar had a similar pedigree to Krebs and ultimately has carved out a career as an effective depth forward. I agree with you, but I was surprised by how close their numbers were.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5619075/2024/07/05/oilers-ryan-mcleod-sabres-trade/ A perfect Sabre. 🙂 McLeod and Krebs can play both center and wing. McLeod's best offense came playing higher in the lineup. This move takes the pressure off Krebs to immediately be productive as the 3C and gives him a chance to win a job as the 4C or a 3/4 winger. When injuries occur, you will see McLeod move to wing and allow Lafferty or Krebs to step up into the 3C role. This trade was about creating internal competition, improving the PK and getting a controlled younger player with 3 years of NHL experience and 50+ games of playoff experience.

Krebs vs McLeod. Player 1 - 219 gms 32g 43a 75pts Player 2 - 215 gms 20g 46a 66pts

@thorny Yes, his brother along with Carter Hart and 3 others are part of the Canadian Jr sexual assault scandal. His brother used to play for Lindy in NJ. I raised Michael's name on another thread having forgotten that he was part of the scandal and has now been charged with sexual assault.

No. just no.

With the addition of McLeod, how does this affect the contract offer for Krebs? Krebs Q-offer is 832K. Could they say take it or leave at that price? UPLs is 925K and Malestyn's is 775K.

Arbitration is usually for a 1 or 2 year deal. On a one year deal, my guess is the Sabres come in under $3.5. $4.6 is probably the area for a 4-5 year deal. We have to remember that UPL's season was his first good one in pro hockey (AHL/NHL). Malenstyn has no case. He is a 1st year NHL player at 26. If he thinks he's getting Lafferty type money he is out of his mind. The projection has him at 1.5 for a year 2 years. Her isn't worth that.

@LGR4GM I guess I brought up the wrong McLeod brother the other day.

I did say wait until 7/5 before getting the pitchforks for Adams.

So where are we? Forwards JJP TNT Tuch Benson Cozens Quinn Zucker McLeod Greenway Aube-Kubel Lafferty Malenstyn(rfa) (Krebs-rfa) Defense Power Dahlin Byram Clifton Samuelsson Jokiharju (Gilbert Bryson) Goalies UPL(rfa), Levi, Reimer

Now lets hope it translates to the ice making the Sabres harder to play against and giving Lindy the ability to roll 4 effective lines.

My wife and I were driving back to Atlanta from Florida when this trade went down and I almost threw-up my Chick-fil-a. On what planet was Beck Malenstyn worth a 2nd rd pick.

This isn’t the “go for it” move of getting someone like Karlsson or Cirelli (if they were even available), but it’s a substantial upgrade over the Krebs we saw last year.

Savoie

I’m pretty sure this is sarcasm, but it is a huge pressure release trade. We all knew (as did the rest of the NHL) that we couldn’t enter next season with Krebs pencilled in the 3C. This move gives us a legit 2-way 3C who kills penalties, wins draws and who is young enough and cheap enough to be a piece for the next few years. It also removed a forward from our logjam of forward prospects. I might agree that this move is “boring”, but the 2024/25 Sabres are better now than they were this morning.

That’s probably true.

While I like the McLeod addition, he’s a huge downgrade from Mitts. Byram better have a big year.