[How do we acquire 2nd line center?]

7 hours ago, CallawaySabres said:

Even though I know it won't happen, I would love to get Lehner back....

[How do we acquire 2nd line center?]

15 hours ago, Taro T said:

You talking this season or last?  The odds weren't low at all last year.

I'm referring to this off-season.  Last season was unique.  Most players do not get a chance to get a max term agreement @ $11m for the city of their choosing.  Of all the players in UFA for the NYI's (Nelson, Lehner, Eberle) I think Lee is the priority.   If some team goes crazy and offers Anders a $9m *7, don't you think the Isles with their cap space would match or go above this with an extra year to offer?   

[How do we acquire 2nd line center?]

18 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Well, my first choice would be Anders Lee

Agreed.  He could play Center or first line LW if Skinner is not resigned.  But how likely is it that the Isles do not resign their Captain?  That’s a really low number.

[Bogosian has hip surgery, out 5-6 months]

Best case next year is he plays most of the year on a bottom pairing (maybe Pilut).  He goes into March healthy and nets us a 2nd and a prospect to a team like Toronto this year.  We wish him well, and use his $5.1m (and Scandella/Hunwick’s cap) to acquire a high end talent next summer.

P.s look at the Right handed defense hitting UFA next year.  Bogo is not getting term nor salary.  I’d be surprised if he exceeds $4.5m *2.  

[Tyler Myers anyone?]

[2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round]

2 hours ago, CallawaySabres said:

What a freaking joke that no goal call was in Carolina. Washington is going to smoke them in game 7

Don’t bet on it.  Every underdog has won (save NYI and Pit was an early favorite with the sports book).  If Carolina, Vegas and Tor can win road game 7’s, then only one higher ranked seed advances.   Washington has only one line playing well, so if Carolina can shut them down and stay out of the box they have a chance.  Should be a good game 7.

[Free Agent Contract Projections]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

 

2 May open ourselves up to a future similar strike against Dahlin or Mittelstadt.

#1 is a huge concern.  #2 is easy.  If Dahlin gets an offer sheet, you match.  If Casey gets one, pending compensation you walk, and take the picks.   

[Around the NHL Summer 2019]

10 hours ago, Hoss said:

that’s a pretty normal age for a successful musician to start

Agreed.   His bio suggests he left school at 15 to play professionally in Vancouver.   I would think 5 years is barely enough to become so proficient that he was paid to play in clubs.

[Casey Mittelstadt, deep breath, he's fine]

12 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

We easily have 4 now in Skinner, Reinhart, Sheary, and Olofsson for starters. ERod would be 5 if they left him at wing, then add a Donskoi as a free agent got 6. Possibly add Thompson or Nylander if they develop.

We need more finish but this is not a bad group.

You are big on Donskoi I see.   Has it got so bad that we are targeting UFA’s that cannot make the top 12 forwards in a playoff series?  I know he has grit and has scored goals before but DeBoer referenced his 33 game scoring drought and inconsistency as to why he is not playing.  If he is available late in FA to fill out the roster maybe.  

[Per Botterill: Sabres have relieved Phil Housley of his Coaching Duties]

26 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

Todd McLellan .... hmmmm 

Nice Scoop.  Heard the same on Boomers show/NHL on Sirius. 

Edit - and of course Brawndo has this posted....amazing

[Per Botterill: Sabres have relieved Phil Housley of his Coaching Duties]

11 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Disagree entirely on Torts. He will hold the so called talent accountable and for me it's high time we did that. I also think he is less (or at least no more) antiquated than most of the veteran coaches names mentioned or Barry Trotz and many others. You can merge skill and toughness (Cassidy) and you can adapt to the new game (Julien) while still retaining sound defensive principles and nothing about how Columbus plays screams antiquated to me.

Couldn't take post games like this (where he berated his team for a loss against the Buffalo Sabres).   Yes he holds players accountable. Yes he has more winning seasons than not. Yes, can even be entertaining sometimes.   Just like his failure in Vancouver, I don't need a coach asking Jack/Sam/Rasmus to block shots.  Grit is fine on your fourth line.  Not in your top six.   Are the Sabres coddled?  Probably.   Was Housley soft?   Probably.   Do we need to go 180 degrees on this?  

Question -  If players like playing for him, how many of their UFA's return?  Dzingel, Panarin, Bob, Duchene, McQuaid.  

 

 

[Per Botterill: Sabres have relieved Phil Housley of his Coaching Duties]

3 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Torts might not if Columbus goes out again in round 1, which is likely. 

Hard pass.  His teams have either been knocked out in the first round or missed playoffs altogether in 14/18 years of his coaching.   Plus his style is antiquated and an annoying personality.  

[Per Botterill: Sabres have relieved Phil Housley of his Coaching Duties]

9 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

The hockey night in Canada guys on Saturday were clear and adamant that although many teams were interested in Q, he was only interested in teams where "he could see a clear path to a cup." Florida? Don't think so. Point is he isn't into rebuild situations unless he sees that they are almost ready. 

Boudreau no thank you. Trots is Torts no? Tortorella. I'd like that. 

Both Trotz and Torts have jobs.

[Grade your Buffalo Sabres overall season ...]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Relative to expectations going in (C+ = met expectations)

Hutton C

Ullmark C-

 

Dahlin B+

Ristolainen C

Bogosian B-

McCabe C+

Scandella C-

Nelson C

Beaulieu C+

Pilut C+

Montour I

 

Skinner B

Eichel C+

Reinhart C+

Okposo C-

Berglund F

Sheary C

ERod B+

Mittelstadt C

Pominville C+

Thompson C-

Sobotka C-

Girgensons C-

Larsson C

Elie C-

Wilson I

 

Gotta ask....harsh grades for Sam and Jack.  

[GDT: Season Finale Sabres at Detroit April 6th, 2019 7PM MSG]

Can someone verify the status of our Blues pick with Anaheim.   Are we in need of a Blues loss to retain, or those teams like Carolina, the Peg, Nash to win and Pittsburgh tie in the event of a Blue Regulation Win?

[Skinner Contract Watch]

1 hour ago, CallawaySabres said:

8 for 7 years is as high as i would go.  That drops to 7 if he demands 8 years

I’m no agent but both yield $56m, so you would always take 7 years @ $8m with a chance to get another deal.  If you offer 8 years it would have to be like $7.25m AAV.   I’d do $7.5m for 8 years.   

[Buffalo native Dennis Gilbert first NHL game tonight]

Dennis Gilbert Jr. - Former SJCI student,  former Chicago Steel, former ND student, and current Rockford IceHog gets a start tonight against St. Louis Blues.  Typical late season call up, but great opportunity for the kid.  I went to St. Joe's with his father.   Happy for the family.  Hopefully he can help keep the Blues at bay, as we need them to lose out to maintain their pick!

LW	C	RW	Forwards
DRAKE CAGGIULA Rating: 71.8#91 LW	JONATHAN TOEWS Rating: 79.3#21 C	PATRICK KANE Rating: 82.4#3 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 77.85#18 FL1
ALEX DEBRINCAT Rating: 80.1#9 LW	DYLAN STROME Rating: 71.8#109 C	BRENDAN PERLINI Rating: 71.0#104 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 74.30#18 FL2
BRANDON SAAD Rating: 74.9#38 LW	ARTEM ANISIMOV Rating: 71.6#110 C	DOMINIK KAHUN Rating: 72.5#90 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 73.01#13 FL3
CHRIS KUNITZ Rating: 70.3#118 LW	MARCUS KRUGER Rating: 70.3#155 C	JOHN HAYDEN Rating: 69.6#127 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 70.06#27 FL4

 

 

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS		Defense
DUNCAN KEITH Rating: 74.2#44 LD	ERIK GUSTAFSSON Rating: 77.1#21 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 75.65#14 DL1
DENNIS GILBERT	BRENT SEABROOK Rating: 71.4#82 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 71.40#28 DL2
CARL DAHLSTROM Rating: 71.1#103 LD	CONNOR MURPHY Rating: 71.9#72 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 71.52#17 DL3

[Phil Housley should be fired.]

8 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

 

I think goaltending is a major factor in this Jekyl and Hyde season.  I’d like to see the stats broken down by month on Save %, shot attempts, shots allowed, shots on goal, and scoring chances.

My feeling is that for much of he second half of the season the ice tilted more toward our end as our D broke down.  I think injuries didn’t help, but overall I think the level of play diminished by the D and the goalies.  

it's in Hockey reference.

[How do other teams find high quality players in the mid/late first rounds and later but the Sabres don't?]

i was curious to see if there was any correlation to winning and hitting on Rounds 4-7.  So I took the Draft database for 2010-2017 (no one playing round 4+ from 2018) to find the answers.   So I ranked each team based on 4 categories.  Sum of Total points, Sum of Games played, Count of Total selections or picks, and  Average Position of draft #. (this normalizes for  teams with  more 7's than 4's).    Results are interesting.  Ottawa is first in points scored and games played.   With moderate draft picks and position in the draft.   While the Sabres rank dead last in Points and second last in Games played.   That goes to Cal Peterson and Ullmark playing games as Goalies with negligible  points.    Let me know if you want the data swizzled a different way to help draw conclusions or validate your assumptions. 

[Who is here next year?]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

A buyout costs us against the cap this year and again the next.

Waivers costs us $2 million against the cap this year and nothing next.

 

Thought the Wayne Redden rule says max 925k can be saved?  That yields $2.675m next vs. $1.5m on buyout.  Plus the cash saved ($1m) and not having him in system. 

[Who is here next year?]

Just now, PerreaultForever said:

Cancerous? I thought that was the guy they traded away when they got him? Maybe that malignancy rests somewhere else?

Supposedly in the locker room.  But Vlad’s cancer is on full display each night he skates.     Maybe that is why Armstrong insisted on including him in the trade.  

[Who is here next year?]

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

I fully expect contracts will not be offered to Pominville, Girgensons and Larsson. I hope they simply waive Sobotka.

We need to sign Skinner, bring in two forwards who are better than Sheary and one who is better than Larsson. ERod gets a spot and of course Sam and Jack.

Let Nylander Olofsson Mittelstadt Thompson Smith Asplund Okposo and Sheary fight it out for the other five spots, and only the strong survive.

This is the second time I’ve seen the recommendation of waiving Sobotka.  His contract is perfect for a buyout.  You pay 2/3 of a $3m base, and get relief on a $3.5m cap down to $1.5M cap hit.  A waiver, b/c I assume there is no chance he gets picked up by any team, provides no cap relief.  His play is cancerous and we need to end his ties to.Buffalo this June.  I don’t want to hear his name this summer.  

[Phil Housley should be fired.]

1 hour ago, carpandean said:

Since JB made his statement, the Sabres have gone 3-12-2 (including just 1 regulation win and 12 regulation losses.)  I can't imagine that Jason was expecting things to go that badly (they went 6-10-1 in the previous 17, including 4 regulation wins, which is still bad, but not that bad.)

great observation!  It's frying pan to fire....so to speak. 

12 hours ago, dudacek said:

I struggle to judge coaches because I have no exposure to what message is being delivered and little insight into what strategies are being implemented and adjusted.

Two things I can judge: The talent of the players versus the results on the ice; and the progress of individuals as the season progressed.

I perceive the Sabres talent level to be an 80-90 point team. I perceive Jack Eichel as a 90-point player, Sam Reinhart as a 70-point player, Jeff Skinner a 35-goal man, Bogosian, McCabe and Scandella as legitimate NHL defencemen, Ristolainen and Montour as 2/3 guys, Dahlin as an elite prospect, Mittelstadt as a potential 1st liner, Thompson and Ullmark as good NHL prospects and the rest of this season's regulars as basically replacement-level guys.

The Sabres are going to finish as a 75-point team with only Evan Rodrigues exceeding expectations. Outside of Evan, I can't pinpoint a player — Dahlin, maybe? — who is better now than he was in the fall.

Always good insight.  Agree with all but Dahlin.  My observation is he is the same.  Flashes of greatness from the outset but mistakes continue to pile up in his own D-zone.  I took his stats and split them for the first 39 games and the last 39.   Takeaway improved.  +/- is worse.   As you might expect.   Nothing jumps out either way.  

 

[Olofsson called Up]

I was around <5% watching Thursday.  Now I'm 50/50. 

[GDT Sabres at Ottawa 3/26/19 7:30.]

23 minutes ago, freester said:

Botteril should be fired for wasting 2 years of Middlestadts ELC

Or fired for allowing  his agent to force his hand and burn the first of three last year.  Totally taken advantage of.  Physically not ready.  He should be in Roch and his entry level should be sliding.