sweetlou

Not enough moves...JBots is in serious shake up mode. I still believe one of ROR, Okposo, or Risto being moved. Since Risto is still young and on a good contract for the minutes he eats up we as fans have to live with his mistakes. Think how good he will be when he is 25-27 yrs old. ROR makes the most sense to move. Would be able to garner the most return for a player liked around the league. Just doesn't fir Buffalo's mold moving forward. Okposo I think could be good on Jack or Casey's wing, they would just need speed on the other side. I think of Okposo as a Vanek type player. Going to get his points on the PP and be the trailer on rushes.

No not full trades just key pieces.

So looking at teams that have cap space that could take on ROR or Okposo and possible returns. Okposo- 1. Carolina- Justin Faulk 2. Arizona- Max Domi 3. NY Rangers- Mats Zuccarello, 3rd rd pick for Okposo and Fasching 4. Vancouver- Brandon Sutter ROR- 1. Arizona- Christian Dvorak 2. NY Rangers- Kevin Hayes, Mats Zuccarello, 2nd rd pick for ROR and Fasching 3. Vancouver- Bo Horvat 4. NJ Devils- Miles Wood and Pavel Zacha 5. San Jose- Tomas Hertl 6. Anaheim- Josh Manson or Brandon Montour

I think one of Okposo or ROR gets moved this off season. The return on ROR would be greater that is why I think he will be moved. Looking at teams that have young centers under 25 who may be up for new contracts in the next few years I have compiled a list below. I think the Sabres need a second line center who can compliment Jack not fight over the ice time a #1 center should be getting. JT Miller from Tampa is and RFA who will probably get around $5 mil AAV. He definitely has the speed JBots is looking for. Tampa has a lot of young talent in Kucherov, Point and Gourde that they will need to sign after next year so I don't see them being able to give Miller a long term deal. I think if you trade them a prospect and pick we would be able to get him. Ryan Hartman from Nashville is an RFA RW. I think he would be a stud on Jack's wing. Big, physical forward with speed. Nashville probably resigns him for about $3mil AAV, but I think he would be great in a Sabres uniform. Sam Bennett from Calgary could be an interesting pick up as a 2/3 center. Thomas Hertl from SanJose. Kevin Hayes from Boston.

I think ROR to St. Louis makes sense. They need another center to compliment Schenn. A replacement for the loss of Stastny. Could there be some prospects thrown in the trade either way, yeah I guess so. The main reason for the Pitt trade is they need players under contract relatively cheap. I think Sheahan gets traded because he will get about $3mil AAV and they just picked up Brassard for their third line center. Larsson fits the mold of a rat they can use on the fourth line and kills penalties. McCabe gives them depth. As a UFA Nelson will be able to demand more on the open market. If Buffalo wants him they will have to pay a little bit more than if he was an RFA. If Carlson wants $7.5 than you give it. We need a true #1 defenseman. This slides Risto to the 2nd pairing. This is also based on us drafting Dahlin as he is a LD. We have Scandella for two years so we wouldn't need to rush Dahlin's development. But imagine in two years a d core of Dahlin- Carlson Guhle- Risto Borgen- Nelson DeHaan is a steady 4-5 defenseman but we need more skill.

https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/663228

Exactly what I was talking about...For five years before the Sabres got Eichel, ROR, Reinhart, and Okposo they had third and fourth liners playing on the top lines. Girgensons, Larsson, Stafford, Ennis, Connolly, Roy, Hodgson, Hecht, Foligno, Leino, Stewart, and Gionta all played on the top lines from 2010 to 2015. This group is nothing but a bunch of third and fourth line players. My point is if they had better first line players like they do now with these players filling in the third and fourth lines they would be a much more rounded team.

I looked this up to find all the d that have been lost. Most of the forwards except Vanek and Kane were 3rd and 4th line role players. But we traded those players for picks. My point is every good team has a solid 3rd and 4th line, which the Sabres haven't had in years. Many times the Sabres take 3rd and 4th line players and try and move them up to the top lines.

So I took one ex Sabres from every team and want to get opinion on if the exes are better than the current... Anaheim- Ryan Miller, Derek Grant Arizona- N/A Boston- Tim Schaller, Brian Gionta Calgary- Chris Stewart Carolina- N/A Chicago- Cody Franson Colorado- Nikita Zadorov, JT Compher Columbus- Thomas Vanek Dallas- N/A Detroit- N/A Edmonton- Zack Kassian Florida- Mark Pysyk, Jamie McGinn LA- Torrey Mitchell Minnesota- Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno Montreal- Paul Byron Nashville- N/A New Jersey- Drew Stafford NY Islanders- Steve Bernier NY Rangers- N/A Ottawa- N/A Philadelphia- Michal Neuvirth Pittsburgh- Chad Ruhwedel San Jose- Evander Kane St Louis- Chris Butler Tampa Bay- Cory Coanchor Toronto- Dominic Moore Vancouver- N/A Vegas- Brayden McNabb, William Carrier Washington- N/A Winnipeg- Tyler Myers, Joel Armia So there are a few young defenseman that would look good on the Sabres, (Pysyk, Myers, McNabb, Zadorov), and a few depth players that would have filled in nicely on the third and fourth line, (Schiller, Foligno, Byron, and McGinn). Like I have stated before the depth on the d and the ability to have a third a fourth line that can score goals has been what has hurt the Sabres for years now.

Move #1 RFA's Sheehan and Rust from Pittsburgh for Larsson, RFA Antipin and 2019 4th rd pick. I like Sheehan sliding into our 3rd line center checking role. Rust gives us speed on the wing. Can play any where from top line minutes with Eichel or slide down to 3rd line. Pittsburgh has pretty much a full line up and may not be able to afford RFA's like Rust or Sheehan. Larsson becomes a depth player for Pittsburgh. Antipin may stay with the Gonchar to mentor him to NA game. Move #2- ROR and McCabe to SanJose for Tomas Hertl and Brenden Dillon. Move#3 Sign John Carlson Rust- Eichel- Okposo Mittelstadt- Hertl- Reinhart Wilson- Sheehan- Pommer Girgensons- ERod- Baptiste Scandella- Carlson Guhle- Risto Dillon- Nelson

This thread is not about who the Sabres should get rid of but who the fans want to see the Sabres acquire via trade, draft, or free agency. 1. Karlsson or Carlson- team needs a true #1 defenseman to drop Risto into the #2. We may have to give up Risto to acquire Karlsson. 2. Draft- #1- Dahlin, #2- Svechnicov, #3-Zadina, #4- Tkachuk 3. Sheehan or Rust from Pittsburg 4. UFA- Luke Schenn- right handed defenseman 5. UFA forwards- James Van Riemsdyk, Riley Nash, David Perron 6. Goalie- Carter Hutton, Anti Raanta

Would you offer UFA Right handed D John Carlson a 5 year $35 million contract? AAV of $7 million. I know a lot of people would prefer to get the other Karlsson, but this would be just a signing and not have to give up a roster player. I would then use ROR to land a couple of solid, speedy forwards. Defense would look like Scandella- Carlson Guhle- Risto McCabe- Nelson Extra- Beaulieu Buy out Bogo or send him to Rochester

Teams who could be interested in ROR and the key returning piece if Sabres were to make a trade...I did not include any division foes like Montreal or Ottawa Arizona- Christian Dvorak NY Rangers- Kevin Hayes Vancouver- Bo Horvat NJ Devils- Miles Wood SJ Sharks- Tomas Hertl ST Louis- Jaden Schwartz

So the biggest question is who would have cap space to take on his salary and what would the return be?

No to Miller!!! Stop trying to bring back so many ex Sabres- We need to get younger, not try a project with 30+ year olds.

I forgot Girgensons- could be filler for any line

I think top 6 is something JBots will work with unless an unbelievable offer is made for Okposo, ROR, or Reinhart. I would go with Mittelstadt, Eichel, Okposo Nylander, ROR, Reinhart I think Mittelstadt can be our version of Barzal or Marner. Play second fiddle to Eichel and has the speed and talent to keep up. I really think he looked comfortable in his 6 game trial. Next year he should have the confidence to take even more chances offensively. Besides the obvious of goaltending and finding another top three defenseman, the biggest issue to me the past three years has been the lack of scoring by our third and fourth lines. They don't need to be 20 goal scorers but they must have the ability to score 10 goals each and outscore the opponents third and fourth lines. Off season additions Sign UFA's David Perron 3 years $4 million a year Trade Larsson to Pittsburg for rights to Riley Sheehan and sign Riley Sheehan 4 years for $3 million a year. He becomes our third line center. Good for face offs (54%,) and can get you between 10-15 goals. Line 3 Perron, Sheehan, Pommer. (If they want Mittelstadt to play center, then you can move Perron to top line and have Sheehan move to LW) Line 4 Baptiste, ERod, Bailey I could live with this as the opening day offensive lines Mittelstadt- Eichel- Okposo Nylander- ROR- Reinhart Perron- Sheehan- Pommer Baptiste- ERod- Bailey I give Fasching one more year in Rochester and in 2019 he moves into top line and slide Okposo to fill in Pommer on third line. On defense Draft Rasmus Dahlin Three way trade with Arizona and Colorado- We trade Guhle and Bogo to Arizona (Arizona gets vet and prospect for player who becomes an UFA after next season) Arizona trades Oliver Ekman-Larson to Colorado (OEL and Barrie are very similar players) Colorado trades Barrie to Buffalo (Buffalo gets a veteran top RD and can slide Risto to second pairing) Sign Sustr from Tampa- 2 years $2 million or Luke Schenn for 2 years at $1.75 million or keep Casey Nelson 2 years at $1.5 million a year Sign Falk to one year $700k Buffalo defense Scandella- Barrie Dahlin- Risto McCabe- Sustr/Schenn/Nelson Extras- Falk, Beaulieu Goalies- Sign Raanta for 2 years $4million Raanta Ullmark

Team speed is still a need, but having one player that trails the play is not bad. Having a player like Vanek that fills in the slot after the initial rush could be a great fir for a guy like Mittelstadt on the third line. As long as you have another winger that can rush up the ice with him. ERod- Eichel- Okposo Wilson- ROR- Reinhart Vanek- Mittelstadt- Baptiste Girgensons- Larsson- Bailey/Pommer I still think they should see what the can get for Girgensons or Larsson this off season. each are in last year of contract and don't see them sticking with Buffalo after next season if they are still here. Will Pommers and or Moulson be bought out? I still think the Sabres regime is looking at next year being a learning year, hopefully finishing around .500, and really building for 19/20 to be the year they make the playoffs. I also don't think there is immediate help in the pipeline and we are a couple development years away from seeing Nylander, Pu, Fasching making the big club.

Sabres pick depending on which selection they have... If pick is... #1- Rasmus Dahlin #2- Filip Zadina #3- Brady Tkachuk

Dont like the lines at practice Would rather have seen... Rodrigues- Eichel- Pommer Wilson- ROR- Reinhart Girgensons- Mittelstadt- Okposo Pouliot- Larsson- Baptiste

If Sabres don't use buy outs on either Moulson or Pommer and keep Girgensons and Larsson for their last year here is a look out at potential UFA forwards for 2019. Player, Position, Age Artemi Panarin, LW, 27 Logan Couture, C, 29 Tyler Seguin, C, 27 Jeff Skinner, LW, 26 Marcus Johansson, C, 28

I have already mentioned Riley Nash from Boston and David Perron from Vegas, but here is a list of other potential forwards to pick up in UFA. Tier 1- Top Six If some how we move on from Okposo or buy out Moulsson or Pomminstein James Neil James VanRiemsdyk David Perron Thomas Vanek Tier 2- Bottom Six - Move on from Larsson, Girgensons, Pouliot, Josefson, or Nolan Blake Comeau Matt Calvert Andrea Athanasoiu Riley Nash I believe with a top six of following players Sabres can be very competitive... ?????- Eichel - Okposo Mittelstadt- ROR- Reinhart Its the bottom six that kills them year after year with no goal support whatsoever.

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Looking at potential UFA' to help fill void of current players we don't resign. Riley Nash- 3rd or 4th line center who can score 10-15 goals and give you 25-30 points. Sign to 2 or 3 year contract at 2-2.5 mil a year. Trade Larsson. David Perron 1st or 2nd LW...gritty winger who can score 15-20 goals and give you 40-50 points. Sign to 3 year contract at AAV of $4.5 million. Resign RFA's Wilson, Bailey and Baptiste 18-19 Line up Perron- Eichel- Okposo Mittelstadt- ROR- Reinhart Wilson- Nash- Pommer Baptiste- ERod- Bailey