What to expect next season, the 2018 Sabres

[Marions Piazza]

The draft is on June 22. I would expect their to be movement the week leading up to it (18-21) and on draft day. The Sabres should be in play considering they suck. There are only 5 UFA's or something like that so it makes sense that other players under contract will be moved to fix this mess. 

 

Here is the article in the Athletic that Lebrun wrote. https://theathletic.com/298928/2018/04/03/lebrun-sabres-feel-the-urgency-to-turn-things-around-next-season/It is paid for content however. 

There was a time I thought that RoR, Risto, Reinhart, McCabe, Eichel (of course) were pretty much untouchable.  With the exception of Eichel, anyone should be in play to try and shake up this mess we have.

[LGR4GM]

There was a time I thought that RoR, Risto, Reinhart, McCabe, Eichel (of course) were pretty much untouchable.  With the exception of Eichel, anyone should be in play to try and shake up this mess we have.

I would guess the only player not in play is Jack Eichel. Everyone else I think is fair game and Botterill is open for business. 

[nfreeman]

Logically speaking, ROR is the most likely trade candidate.

 

- Reino is young, relatively cheap and, despite being slow and inconsistent, he's still got 2 20+ goal seasons in his 3 years.

 

- Risto is a good player in a position in need who's under contract for a while.

 

- No one is trading for KO

 

- Eichel is untouchable.

 

- No one else on the roster would comprise a major move, which appears to be what JBott is interested in.

 

BUT I keep coming back to (i) ROR is a pretty good player at a high-value position who is only 27, albeit a disappointment as a leader and a bit overpaid, (ii) trading him would leave the Sabres pretty young and pretty thin at center and (iii) JBott has said a number of times that he's not going to trade ROR.

 

So that brings me back to trading Reino, Risto or both -- especially because it would seem that Reino has rescued his trade value with his strong 2nd half.

 

We'll see.

[darksabre]

Logically speaking, ROR is the most likely trade candidate.

 

- Reino is young, relatively cheap and, despite being slow and inconsistent, he's still got 2 20+ goal seasons in his 3 years.

 

- Risto is a good player in a position in need who's under contract for a while.

 

- No one is trading for KO

 

- Eichel is untouchable.

 

- No one else on the roster would comprise a major move, which appears to be what JBott is interested in.

 

BUT I keep coming back to (i) ROR is a pretty good player at a high-value position who is only 27, albeit a disappointment as a leader and a bit overpaid, (ii) trading him would leave the Sabres pretty young and pretty thin at center and (iii) JBott has said a number of times that he's not going to trade ROR.

 

So that brings me back to trading Reino, Risto or both -- especially because it would seem that Reino has rescued his trade value with his strong 2nd half.

 

We'll see.

I think trading ROR would be a huge mistake. Reinhart as well.

 

Ristolainen seems like the guy I'd peg for trade bait. He eats a lot of minutes, but his development seems to have stopped. If Botts thinks he can fill out the forwards with real goal scorers then I could see Ristolainen on the move. Eating minutes is great, but this team needs players putting up points. 

Googles Risto's stats: he has 40 points this year??? When did he do that?

 

Maybe he's not trade bait either. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

Logically speaking, ROR is the most likely trade candidate.

 

- Reino is young, relatively cheap and, despite being slow and inconsistent, he's still got 2 20+ goal seasons in his 3 years.

 

- Risto is a good player in a position in need who's under contract for a while.

 

- No one is trading for KO

 

- Eichel is untouchable.

 

- No one else on the roster would comprise a major move, which appears to be what JBott is interested in.

 

BUT I keep coming back to (i) ROR is a pretty good player at a high-value position who is only 27, albeit a disappointment as a leader and a bit overpaid, (ii) trading him would leave the Sabres pretty young and pretty thin at center and (iii) JBott has said a number of times that he's not going to trade ROR.

 

So that brings me back to trading Reino, Risto or both -- especially because it would seem that Reino has rescued his trade value with his strong 2nd half.

 

We'll see.

My concern as well about trading ROR now. After next season we will have an idea what kind of progress centers like Asplund and Mittelstadt are making. If they are ready for bigger roles, then you can trade ROR.

 

If Jbot chooses to trade ROR now, then a center has to be coming back, because I don’t see any FA center other then Tavares I want or are under 30. https://capfriendly.com/browse/free-agents/2019/caphit/all/center/ufa. I doubt Casey is really ready for the 2nd line center role.

Edited April 4, 2018 by GASabresIUFAN

[Brawndo]

The draft is on June 22. I would expect their to be movement the week leading up to it (18-21) and on draft day. The Sabres should be in play considering they suck. There are only 5 UFA's or something like that so it makes sense that other players under contract will be moved to fix this mess. 

 

Here is the article in the Athletic that Lebrun wrote. https://theathletic.com/298928/2018/04/03/lebrun-sabres-feel-the-urgency-to-turn-things-around-next-season/It is paid for content however.

 

 

 

There may or not be some information from that article available in Post 16 from this thread.

 

 

 

Logically speaking, ROR is the most likely trade candidate.

 

- Reino is young, relatively cheap and, despite being slow and inconsistent, he's still got 2 20+ goal seasons in his 3 years.

 

- Risto is a good player in a position in need who's under contract for a while.

 

- No one is trading for KO

 

- Eichel is untouchable.

 

- No one else on the roster would comprise a major move, which appears to be what JBott is interested in.

 

BUT I keep coming back to (i) ROR is a pretty good player at a high-value position who is only 27, albeit a disappointment as a leader and a bit overpaid, (ii) trading him would leave the Sabres pretty young and pretty thin at center and (iii) JBott has said a number of times that he's not going to trade ROR.

 

So that brings me back to trading Reino, Risto or both -- especially because it would seem that Reino has rescued his trade value with his strong 2nd half.

 

We'll see.

From the sounds of it, the most calls Botterill received around the deadline were about ROR and his potential availability. I have no doubt that Botterill loves the idea of having Eichel-Mittelstadt-ROR as his three centers, but I also believe he realizes that what he has isn’t working and changes need to be made. As LeBrun mentioned Botterill has no motivation to trade any core pieces, but he said there is a market for ROR/Reinhart there is the potential for a huge overpay.

 

The point I come back to is that in both games against Toronto, The ROR Line was matched up against Matthews Line and was having a difficult time keeping up with their speed. If I noticed the disparity I’m sure NHL GMs do as well, but if one of them as willing to overpay for ROR the trigger may need to be pulled. The Sabres could increase the return by being willing to retain up to 1.5 Million in salary as well.

[Sabel79]

This team needs to cut it out with the dead money. I would be most disappointed if they end up eating salary on any trade.

[TrueBlueGED]

My concern as well about trading ROR now. After next season we will have an idea what kind of progress centers like Asplund and Mittelstadt are making. If they are ready for bigger roles, then you can trade ROR.

 

If Jbot chooses to trade ROR now, then a center has to be coming back, because I don’t see any FA center other then Tavares I want or are under 30. https://capfriendly.com/browse/free-agents/2019/caphit/all/center/ufa. I doubt Casey is really ready for the 2nd line center role.

I keep coming back to the obvious answer being O'Reilly on Eichel's wing. Many of us envisioned this happening when Reinhart was ready to move to C, but maybe it'll be Mittelstadt who enables it to happen.

 

It's just hard for me to see any ROR trade where we come out of top unless we're getting a bonafide top pairing Dman coming back.

Edited April 4, 2018 by TrueBlueGED

[Brawndo]

This team needs to cut it out with the dead money. I would be most disappointed if they end up eating salary on any trade.

The way I look at it, the salary cap is projected to rise to 78-82 Million for next season. Even if the Sabres retain 1.5 Million for the remainder of his Deal that equals out to less than 2 percent of the total cap. If a bonafide Top Pairing D is coming back, that’s well worth it IMO

[nfreeman]

 

From the sounds of it, the most calls Botterill received around the deadline were about ROR and his potential availability. I have no doubt that Botterill loves the idea of having Eichel-Mittelstadt-ROR as his three centers, but I also believe he realizes that what he has isn’t working and changes need to be made. As LeBrun mentioned Botterill has no motivation to trade any core pieces, but he said there is a market for ROR/Reinhart there is the potential for a huge overpay.

 

The point I come back to is that in both games against Toronto, The ROR Line was matched up against Matthews Line and was having a difficult time keeping up with their speed. If I noticed the disparity I’m sure NHL GMs do as well, but if one of them as willing to overpay for ROR the trigger may need to be pulled. The Sabres could increase the return by being willing to retain up to 1.5 Million in salary as well.

 

I agree with both of the bolded.

 

However, both could be addressed by a Reino trade in lieu of an ROR trade.

 

Maybe it will just come down to the trade offers that are made.

[woods-racer]

I agree with both of the bolded.

 

However, both could be addressed by a Reino trade in lieu of an ROR trade.

 

Maybe it will just come down to the trade offers that are made.

 

The offers may also lead to nothing. There may not be a market with a return that improves the team. Which is the camp I'm in.

[Doohickie]

There are numerous things you can like about how they finished the season, IMO, the #1 is that Reinhart seems to have figured it out.  I know, I know, many here are worried its just Stafford disease, time will tell, I am hoping it's not an anamoly and he can continue his play next year right out of the gate.

 

Your hopes will be dashed.  Samson has, indeed, figured it out.  But he's a second half player; it takes time for him to warm up.  He will not be very good "out of the gate" next year.  But if the Sabres are hanging around a wildcard spot by mid-season, his increased second-half point production may put them over the top.

I cna't remember the last player that has come up from Rochester and stayed up for good.

Ummm... Baptiste?  :huh:

[GASabresIUFAN]

This team needs to cut it out with the dead money. I would be most disappointed if they end up eating salary on any trade.

 

 

Getting rid of dead money will be hard to do. No one is taking KO, Moulson, Bogo or Pommers off our hands. However, with the cap going to be at 80 mill or so, we have plenty of cap space to work.

 

Assuming Casey, Guhle and Ullmark make the team, we are at 15 players under contract for next season for $57 mill including Moulson’s dead money but no roster spot. Those 15 include 6 D. Add Sam for 5 mill, and you have 16 players for $62 mill. $18 mill for 6 players is plenty of cap spaceto work with.

 

 

I keep coming back to the obvious answer being O'Reilly on Eichel's wing. Many of us envisioned this happening when Reinhart was ready to move to C, but maybe it'll be Mittelstadt who enables it to happen.

It's just hard for me to see any ROR trade where we come out of top unless we're getting a bonafide top pairing Dman coming back.

Frankly, I envision him as the 3rd center. Our top Pker, 2nd PP center and shutdown center 5 on 5 in the future. I hope we become like the Pens and can role 3 scoring lines with Jack, Casey, and ROR as the teams spine.

 

I also not against trading ROR if Jbot thinks he can fix the D by doing it. Whether he trades ROR may depend of whether we win the lotttery. Get Dahlin and my guess is the odds of trading ROR diminish.

[WildCard]

I'm with True. I don't think trading RoR or Risto gives us back anything we really need, especially at the value we need it. Also, throw RoR on Eichel's wing when Mittelstadt is ready.

 

And enough for trading for draft picks. I'm so sick and tired of collecting picks

[darksabre]

The only way I trade O'Reilly is if we're getting a younger center in return who is a better fit for the team.

[Weave]

And enough for trading for draft picks. I'm so sick and tired of collecting picks

One by one you are all coming around.

 

*castles fingers*

 

Excellent

[WildCard]

The only way I trade O'Reilly is if we're getting a younger center in return who is a better fit for the team.

That trade I would do. I don't know where you'd find that player though

Edited April 4, 2018 by Jokertecken

[darksabre]

That trade I would do. I don't know where you'd fine that player though

Agreed. I have no idea who that player would be. 

 

I just don't want to go back to having no centers. Those days were worse than the tank. 

[Brawndo]

I agree with both of the bolded.

 

However, both could be addressed by a Reino trade in lieu of an ROR trade.

 

Maybe it will just come down to the trade offers that are made.

Most likely and Botterill is in a good position as he doesn’t need to make any moves, the offer would have blow his socks off.

[Randall Flagg]

To Columbus: ROR, Ristolainen, Nylander

To Buffalo: Nutivaara, Murray, Carlsson, Dubois, Bjorkstrand

[Drunkard]

The way I look at it, the salary cap is projected to rise to 78-82 Million for next season. Even if the Sabres retain 1.5 Million for the remainder of his Deal that equals out to less than 2 percent of the total cap. If a bonafide Top Pairing D is coming back, that’s well worth it IMO

The problem with this is you can only retain on 3 salaries at any given time so retaining on O'Reilly would only allow us to retain on 2 salaries for the next 5 seasons. Not exactly good for flexibility with future deals. If a team is willing to offer enough in trade to satisfy GMJB but is short on the cap space to make the deal we'd be better off taking a dump from that team with a couple years of term on their deal rather than hamstringing ourselves for the next 5 seasons.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Alkoholist

[LGR4GM]

The only way I trade O'Reilly is if we're getting a younger center in return who is a better fit for the team.

Vegas does. Suzuki

San Jose does. Norris

Arizona does. Keller

 

Three teams with good young centers in the pipeline.

 

Suzuki would be my favorite on that list.

[darksabre]

Vegas does. Suzuki

San Jose does. Norris

Arizona does. Keller

 

Three teams with good young centers in the pipeline.

 

Suzuki would be my favorite on that list.

That makes us a little young down the middle for my liking.

 

I'm thinking more like Bo Horvat or something. A guy a few years younger than O'Reilly, maybe not as prolific at faceoffs, 

[LGR4GM]

That makes us a little young down the middle for my liking.

 

I'm thinking more like Bo Horvat or something. A guy a few years younger than O'Reilly, maybe not as prolific at faceoffs,

I'd rather load up on young talent. Suzuki is crazy good. Norris is ROR like. Keller is Keller. If we move a ROR, it's gotta make me want to.

[darksabre]

I'd rather load up on young talent. Suzuki is crazy good. Norris is ROR like. Keller is Keller. If we move a ROR, it's gotta make me want to.

I'm not sure I want to take anyone on who isn't NHL ready. Keller is the only guy on that list with a full season under his belt and the production to get me excited about. We can't wait for prospects to develop.