Archie Lee

I can't remember if it was before the Krueger hiring or before Granato was made permanent, but Knoblach was mentioned as a candidate for the Sabres at one point. Not sure if it was just a media-type running a list of potential candidates or if he actually was on a short-list.

I’m not saying you are wrong on the culture piece or on Ruff wanting him gone, though I don’t have reason to think Skinner is horrible for team culture or that Ruff refuses to work with him (Ruff has coached many one-dimensional forwards in his career). I do think that to focus on culture is to also overlook some cold hard facts that just support it is time to move on from Skinner: - Skinner is currently tied with Kaprizov as the 25th highest paid forward in the league - Of the 24 forwards who make more than Skinner, last season only one produced less (Backstrom, who was limited to 8 games by injury) - Skinner was 107th among forwards in points - He is at an age where there can be diminishing returns. - A buyout before the end of his contract might now be inevitable - The short-term buyout cost does not get appreciably better if you wait until next season and if you proceed now you gain $7.55 million in space to remake the line-up in a critical year As fans, we are actually remarkably easy on Skinner. Players who make what he makes are expected to be the difference for their teams. We don’t expect this from him. In a year where we needed our $9 million player to produce 35 goals / 70 points and pull us towards the playoffs, he was really bad. He is just nowhere close to being a $9 million player and if they act now they have a real opportunity to make major change.

It does seem that this is a real possibility now. Not that I expect Adams to shut down every crazy rumour, but if there was talk of a Dahlin or Power trade I think he would put that to rest in a hurry. That he didn’t just say “we aren’t buying out Jeff Skinner” suggests to me it is at least an option if things fall a certain way.

I’m not sure I follow. I don’t necessarily think Adams can or will pull of a big trade for a top 6 forward. If he does though and the outcome is we need to buy out Skinner to make it all work, that is a positive While not a sure thing by any means, buying out Skinner could actually represent an end of the dysfunction. Teams who are eating millions of dollars in dead cap space because of bad contracts, were well represented in the playoffs (and cup final).

The Sabres will be taking an enormous risk to their already bad reputation, if they buy him out and don’t utilize the cap space to improve their team. If they go cheap, don’t make the playoffs and Skinner signs on and thrives with a playoff team, I can only imagine the reaction of fans and media. If they are worried about the future cap implications of a buyout followed by taking on new long-term contracts, then there is a long-list of veteran players who are one-two years from UFA status, who teams might be looking to move, who don’t all have trade protection, and who could help remake our line-up. There have been rumblings about Adams trying to acquire a top 6 winger. My best guess is that Skinner will only be bought out if this happens. The additions Adams has commonly spoken of, would not require a Skinner buyout to make work. Add a $6-8 million winger and it will get tight to add a (good) 3c and upgrades to the bottom of the line-up. The buyout window starts 48 hours after the last playoff game and then ends on June 30. If we don’t see a big Sabre acquisition before free agency, then I don’t think there will be a buyout.

It could be both. It could be that the Hurricane's GM thought it was time to move Skinner for something rather than lose him for nothing and that the head coach thought Skinner wasn't a great fit for what he wanted to do. The part of all this that I reject is that Carolina could not have turned it around, and that we can't now turn it around, with Skinner. Of course, Skinner has been a factor in the performances of every team he has been on. But he is not the reason the Sabres have missed the playoffs the last 6 years. That said, if Pegula is willing to spend the cap savings that would be gained with a buyout next week, then there is without question a better team that could be built without Skinner.

Is this the beginning of a full sell-off for Calgary?

Added to the one or two good players we can add with the cap space available before a buyout? Absolutely it is enough for a major overhaul (top 6 forward, 2-3 bottom 6 forwards, top 4 D and even a b/u goalie if you want to go crazy).

If the Sabres buyout Skinner and don’t utilize the cap space saved to remake the roster, then it will reinforce my current view that we don’t operate like a typical NHL team that has the primary goal of winning. My preference for a buyout is directly linked to the opportunity that exists for a major roster overhaul; the sort of overhaul where when it is done nobody would say: “what this team could really use is a one-dimensional goal scorer who makes 30-60% more than he is worth (depending on his year to year production levels)”. As with everything, we’ll see.

I’m all on board for a buyout. I still don’t think it happens, but I am 100%. But I don’t buy the Carolina got better because they dumped Skinner thing. Skinner was a year from UFA and Carolina’s options for a move were limited due to his NMC. They got what they could for him before losing him for nothing. I’m not saying he is a fit with a Brind’Amour team (he isn’t), but if I was going to weight the impact of Brind’Amour becoming head coach and Skinner’s departure on Carolina’s ascension, it would be 100% on Brind’Amour becoming coach.

It all depends on what they do with the roster. Make the right moves and a buyout can make us a better team.

I’m not an expert on this, but the Sabres are not able to waive Skinner because of his NMC. Yet, they can buy him out. So I don’t think you need to waive a player first. I suspect this is just the Rangers hoping he will be claimed or that a team will reach out about a trade that works better for them than a buyout.

Maybe I am overstating his negative value a bit. In a world where he has no NMC, yeah, maybe a team takes him for nothing and maybe even returns something. As is though, the trade partners will be few, if any, and I think we would need to give up an asset to make the deal, even at 50%.

In response to your reasons: 1.) I am trying to understand, but can't begin to see how it is "far" more tolerable waiting a year. "Ever so slightly" more tolerable? Sure. "Far" more. I just don't see where people are getting this. The math does not lie. The difference between a buyout this year and next is $444K per year from 2025/26 through 2028/29 and then only in year-six, 2029/30, do we have one year with a significant difference ($2.44 million). 2.) I don't think the Sabres should worry about what other teams do and should just worry about icing the best possible team we can this year. 3.) It would be wrong, in my opinion, post- buy-out, to look at any particular contract or contracts and say "this is what we bought with the Skinner buyout". If we buyout Skinner it opens up a multitude of options that just don't exist without a buyout. We could add a player like Necas in a trade and upgrade the bottom 6 with players who will earn more than your average 4th line player and pursue an upgrade to the top 4 D (DeMelo, Roy, Tanev). No single upgrade would be directly because of a buyout, but rather the upgrades in total are possible, in part, because of a buyout. My 1st choice would be a trade also. The barriers to this are too significant to overcome though.

I suspect Skinner's trade value is negative. We would need to attach a substantial asset to get a team to take him, even at 50% retention. I am no more down on Skinner than I ever was. I have no reason to think he is a locker room cancer, I don't think he is a significant contributory factor to his teams always missing the playoffs (on balance, he has been a net-positive for his teams over his career, I think), it would not be at all shocking if he signed with another team, posted 30 goals and 60 points and made it to the playoffs. He just isn't worth $9 million and since we may well need the $4.5 - $5.0 million in cap space next season, that comes with a buyout this year or next, I think the time is right to strike and take advantage of the extra $7.5 million that you can use this year with a buy out before month-end. I do not understand how people can compare buyout numbers for this season and next season and continue to conclude that there is benefit to waiting. The only substantive benefit to waiting comes 6 seasons from now in 2029-30. By then the cap could be $100 million; the $2.44 million in dead cap in 2029-30 should just not be a factor in this.

I realize that what Adams has laid out in this article has not exactly been given "the universal stamp of approval" by Sabres fans, but I'm a bit surprised that this is what some fans wanted to hear. All we need is a bottom 6 upgrade (including a C), some grit and D depth? That's what people wanted to hear? It might be enough. If the still unproven goaltending holds up. If multiple players have significant bounce-back years or take big steps forward production-wise. It would be nice, in my view, to add at least one catalyst-type player to the top-6. Not that I expect Adams to telegraph his plans for a player trade or UFA acquisition, by any means. I was kind of hoping though, if not expecting, that we would do more than tinker with the edges of the line-up, which is what it sounds like he is planning to do.

I can’t access the article. Without having read it, sounds like he thinks the core group is ready and does not need to be upgraded and that changes in head coach and to the “make-up” of the bottom of the line-up are what was and is needed. Is that a fair assessment or am I being too simplistic in my interpretation.

I agree. I like Mangiapane as a target, but I don’t think he should cost #11.

That was me, I think. I apologize. Lesson learned.

Cool. A lot of hockey fans would not begin to understand how someone would get information or value or satisfaction out of posting 44,000 times on a hockey discussion forum. We all have our things we enjoy and don't enjoy.

I'm not making a prediction. Honestly, I'm about to express a rather uniformed impression that I have of Östlund. He gives me Asplund vibes (size, background, post-draft production, uncertainty if he can be a centre in the NHL, etc.).

Acknowledging I have seen very little of any of the players in this draft, from all that I have read and the little I have seen, I would be thrilled with anyone in that top 11.

Until we see otherwise, I think the post-off-season roster will be closer to this than we are hoping. Goalies will be UPL and Levi. The D looks mostly right, though I don’t think Clague will be on the team. It will be Johnson or an underwhelming UFA, like Brendan Smith. I think we do trade a prospect or #11 for a 3C and that our general reaction will be of disappointment in the return (Jenner for #11 is the ceiling, Laughton for Rosen and a lesser pick the floor). We will come in $3-5 million under the cap. For some fans it will be surprising how close to the cap we are, but the reality is there is only room for one big move or two-three moderately big moves. I don’t see this as “Sabre fan end of the world”. I think it is possible that adding a veteran 3C combined with better coaching, some bounce back years and maturation, will get us close and maybe into a WC spot. But we will not be going into training camp thinking this is a playoff team. Rather, we will be thinking this is a playoff team “IF” a lot of things go right that are far from sure-bets to go right.

I appreciate what you are saying. But it is not the case that there is little to no chance that Kulich or Savoie will beat out a veteran, established, important player (Tuch, Cirelli, Kane, Cozens) who the Sabres paid a high-price to obtain and/or pay a big salary to. There is no chance. It only happens if something unexpected goes wrong, like an injury or a veteran showing up terribly out of shape. Kulich being better in training camp than Patrick Kane as example (who would be one of the biggest offseason signings in Sabre history) is not going to get Kulich the start in game one over Kane. (queue Allen Iverson: "Training Camp? We're talking Training Camp?").

There is zero chance that Adams brings in two established top-9 players through trade/free agency and then gets to the end of camp and puts them in the press-box because Savoie and Kulich looked better in a couple of pre-season games against Columbus.