2020 Off-season gameplan

[LGR4GM]

59 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

My wish list...

1 - Backup goalie upgrade.  Too many good choices on the market that are better than Hutton.  Buy him out, send to Rochester, or give him the Moulson treatment...I don’t care. 
 

2 - Physical 3rd pairing LD. 
 

3 - A 3C who is defensively sound and can pitch in 30-35 points.

 

4 - A 4C who is a pest and a good PK’er.  There should be one out there for 1-1.5mil. 

Jake McCabe. 

What they really need is a solid 2nd pairing LHD. 

[tom webster]

8 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Jake McCabe. 

What they really need is a solid 2nd pairing LHD. 

Yep

[GASabresIUFAN]

Now that we have overpaid to re-sign Thompson and Girgensons it’s becoming clear that KA either has no game plan or lacks the ability to create a coherent plan. 

While neither of these guys are the linch pin to our success, the over payment to them will limit our ability to do other things.  Z is easily replaced by a player for half the cost.  His re-signing seems a little desperate.  My guess is Larsson is moving on and KA felt he had to bring as much of the 4th line back as possible.  Not really much of a plan.

Here is the plan so far

2c - 36 year old Staal on a one year deal 

2rw - Cozens - rookie with no pro experience, while letting a 40 pt player walk for nothing in Kahun

3c - unknown likely Mitts right now 

3lw - unknown

3 RW - over sign and give slot to the unproven Thompson

4 LW - over pay to bring back Z

4 C - give job to Lazar and letting Larsson walk but saving 2 mill in cap space.

no change in D or G so far but a glut of quality goalies in the market.

 

[dudacek]

Just now, GASabresIUFAN said:

Now that we have overpaid to re-sign Thompson and Girgensons it’s becoming clear that KA either has no game plan or lacks the ability to create a coherent plan. 

While neither of these guys are the linch pin to our success, the over payment to them will limit our ability to do other things.  Z is easily replaced by a player for half the cost.  His re-signing seems a little desperate.  My guess is Larsson is moving on and KA felt he had to bring as much of the 4th line back as possible.  Not really much of a plan.

Here is the plan so far

2c - 36 year old Staal on a one year deal 

2rw - Cozens - rookie with no pro experience, while letting a 40 pt player walk for nothing in Kahun

3c - unknown likely Mitts right now 

3lw - unknown

3 RW - over sign and give slot to the unproven Thompson

4 LW - over pay to bring back Z

4 C - give job to Lazar and letting Larsson walk but saving 2 mill in cap space.

no change in D or G so far but a glut of quality goalies in the market.

 

Interesting post two hours before free agency starts.

Let’s revisit this Monday morning.

[LGR4GM]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Now that we have overpaid to re-sign Thompson and Girgensons it’s becoming clear that KA either has no game plan or lacks the ability to create a coherent plan. 

While neither of these guys are the linch pin to our success, the over payment to them will limit our ability to do other things.  Z is easily replaced by a player for half the cost.  His re-signing seems a little desperate.  My guess is Larsson is moving on and KA felt he had to bring as much of the 4th line back as possible.  Not really much of a plan.

Here is the plan so far

2c - 36 year old Staal on a one year deal 

2rw - Cozens - rookie with no pro experience, while letting a 40 pt player walk for nothing in Kahun

3c - unknown likely Mitts right now 

3lw - unknown

3 RW - over sign and give slot to the unproven Thompson

4 LW - over pay to bring back Z

4 C - give job to Lazar and letting Larsson walk but saving 2 mill in cap space.

no change in D or G so far but a glut of quality goalies in the market.

 

Overpaid... I mean I guess but this bolded is just not true. You might be able to argue that we overpaid Zemgus by about 400k and Tage by about 300k so if 700k is that limiting on you as a GM, you probably already screwed up your cap. 

[nfreeman]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Now that we have overpaid to re-sign Thompson and Girgensons it’s becoming clear that KA either has no game plan or lacks the ability to create a coherent plan. 

While neither of these guys are the linch pin to our success, the over payment to them will limit our ability to do other things.  Z is easily replaced by a player for half the cost.  His re-signing seems a little desperate.  My guess is Larsson is moving on and KA felt he had to bring as much of the 4th line back as possible.  Not really much of a plan.

Here is the plan so far

2c - 36 year old Staal on a one year deal 

2rw - Cozens - rookie with no pro experience, while letting a 40 pt player walk for nothing in Kahun

3c - unknown likely Mitts right now 

3lw - unknown

3 RW - over sign and give slot to the unproven Thompson

4 LW - over pay to bring back Z

4 C - give job to Lazar and letting Larsson walk but saving 2 mill in cap space.

no change in D or G so far but a glut of quality goalies in the market.

 

Dude.

Your disappointment at the canning of JB (which, as far as I can tell, is shared by no one other than JB's family and every other NHL franchise) has left you bitter and broken.

There is NFW that Mitts is the plan at 3C, or that we've seen even half the plan yet. 

TT's contract is pretty cheap and represents effectively zero commitment, as a buyout (as noted by @Taro T) would cost next to nothing.

The offseason has just started.  Let's see what happens in the next week or so.

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Now that we have overpaid to re-sign Thompson and Girgensons it’s becoming clear that KA either has no game plan or lacks the ability to create a coherent plan. 

While neither of these guys are the linch pin to our success, the over payment to them will limit our ability to do other things.  Z is easily replaced by a player for half the cost.  His re-signing seems a little desperate.  My guess is Larsson is moving on and KA felt he had to bring as much of the 4th line back as possible.  Not really much of a plan.

Here is the plan so far

2c - 36 year old Staal on a one year deal 

2rw - Cozens - rookie with no pro experience, while letting a 40 pt player walk for nothing in Kahun

3c - unknown likely Mitts right now 

3lw - unknown

3 RW - over sign and give slot to the unproven Thompson

4 LW - over pay to bring back Z

4 C - give job to Lazar and letting Larsson walk but saving 2 mill in cap space.

no change in D or G so far but a glut of quality goalies in the market.

 

Pretty sure Cozens NHLe is 41 right now. 

Larsson is a UFA. He can literally do what he wants right now. 

[tom webster]

24 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Now that we have overpaid to re-sign Thompson and Girgensons it’s becoming clear that KA either has no game plan or lacks the ability to create a coherent plan. 

While neither of these guys are the linch pin to our success, the over payment to them will limit our ability to do other things.  Z is easily replaced by a player for half the cost.  His re-signing seems a little desperate.  My guess is Larsson is moving on and KA felt he had to bring as much of the 4th line back as possible.  Not really much of a plan.

Here is the plan so far

2c - 36 year old Staal on a one year deal 

2rw - Cozens - rookie with no pro experience, while letting a 40 pt player walk for nothing in Kahun

3c - unknown likely Mitts right now 

3lw - unknown

3 RW - over sign and give slot to the unproven Thompson

4 LW - over pay to bring back Z

4 C - give job to Lazar and letting Larsson walk but saving 2 mill in cap space.

no change in D or G so far but a glut of quality goalies in the market.

 

You do realize the off season just started?

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Here is the plan so far

What does "Here is the plan so far" mean to you.  So far except the Staal move, everything is just status quo for a team that can't do status quo any longer.  That doesn't mean he can't make a big impact in free agency or through a trade, but as I and others have pointed out, his cap space will be down to 10 mill or less given the internal cap after re-signing RFAs Reinhart, Ullmark, Montour, and VO etc.. 

And no the off-season hasn't just started.  Ours started months ago.  KA has had plenty of time to move on from Montour, Risto and/or Miller through trade.  He has time to buyout Hutton and move on.  All we have to show so far is Staal, a move I love.  This isn't about JBot.  It's about being aggressive now and improving this team.  

Also now that we are a budget team, regardless of whether it's 76mill or 72 mill or even less, the tighter the budget the more important it is to make every penny count.  The Thompson and Z contracts may represent that the budget constraints aren't a much as feared, or a symptom of our inexperienced rookie GM or both.  I'm inclined to believe it's the latter.

Edited October 9, 2020 by GASabresIUFAN

[dudacek]

9 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

What does "Here is the plan so far" mean to you.  So far except the Staal move, everything is just status quo for a team that can't do status quo any longer.  That doesn't mean he can't make a big impact in free agency or through a trade, but as I and others have pointed out, his cap space will be down to 10 mill or less given the internal cap after re-signing RFAs Reinhart, Ullmark, Montour, and VO etc.. 

And no the off-season hasn't just started.  Ours started months ago.  KA has had plenty of time to move on from Montour, Risto and/or Miller through trade.  He has time to buyout Hutton and move on.  All we have to show so far is Staal, a move I love.  This isn't about JBot.  It's about being aggressive now and improving this team.  

Also now that we are a budget team, regardless of whether it's 76mill or 72 mill or even less, the tighter the budget the more important it is to make every penny count.  The Thompson and Z contracts may represent that the budget constraints aren't a much as feared, or a symptom of our inexperienced rookie GM or both.  I'm inclined to believe it's the latter.

This is the statement I thought was premature:

it’s becoming clear that KA either has no game plan or lacks the ability to create a coherent plan.

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Pretty sure Cozens NHLe is 41 right now. 

Larsson is a UFA. He can literally do what he wants right now. 

Great, Cozens NHLe is 41.  Wow!  Isn't that wonderful!  In virtual hockey Cozens has 41 pts, and now many actual NHL or Pro points does Cozens have?  Zero!.  I'm a huge Cozens fan and believe he will be and should be in our lineup in the fall.  However there is zero guarantee he is ready and will produce.  We have seen this record before with players drafted in a similar slot in Mitts and Nylander and have zero to show for it.  

Retaining Kahun would have added so much flexibility to our lineup and given us a nice replacement if Cozens fails or other kids fail.  To lose such a good utility player is just dumb.  Granted he still could be re-signed, but don't count on it.

Yes Larsson is an UFA and up until today we have exclusive rights to him.  If he was part of the plan, my guess his deal would be done.  

[GASabresIUFAN]

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

This is the statement I thought was premature:

it’s becoming clear that KA either has no game plan or lacks the ability to create a coherent plan.

Maybe, but while other GMs add guys like Domi, Murray etc and the teams around us in the standings like Ottawa (who has added Murray and Gudbranson in recent days) seem to be aggressively pursuing improvement, we've done nothing with our glut of RHD.  All the holes in this lineup remain except Staal as the 2C/3C.

That said given the re-signings, the cap situation and the Staal move, the roster is kind of full

Skinner Eichel Reinhart (RFA)

VO (RFA) Staal Cozens

?????  Mitts (RFA)?  Thompson

Girgensons Lazar KO

Dahlin Jokiharju

McCabe Risto

Montour (RFA) Miller

Ullmark (RFA) Hutton

This is not a playoff roster.  Something has to give if this team is going to succeed.  

Edited October 9, 2020 by GASabresIUFAN

[dudacek]

12 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Maybe, but while other GMs add guys like Domi, Murray etc and the teams around us in the standings like Montreal seem to be aggressively pursuing improvement, we've done nothing with our glut of RHD.  All the holes in this lineup remain except Staal as the 2C/3C are still here.

Montreal has jumped out. Who else is anywhere close to finalizing their roster? Most have yet to even start.

Tampa has done nothing. Boston nothing. Toronto dumped Kapanen's contract and still has no defencemen. Florida made a lateral trade and acquired a depth D, but still has to replace Dadanov and Hoffman, let alone make improvements, Ottawa and Detroit added depth defencemen on terrible contracts.

If Staal isn't the biggest acquisition made so far in the division, he's right there with Anderson. How many teams around the league are clearly improved already?

Edited October 9, 2020 by dudacek

[GASabresIUFAN]

24 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Montreal has jumped out. Who else is anywhere close to finalizing their roster? Most have yet to even start.

Tampa has done nothing. Boston nothing. Toronto dumped Kapanen's contract and still has no defencemen. Florida made a lateral trade and acquired a depth D, but still has to replace Dadanov and Hoffman, let alone make improvements, Ottawa and Detroit added depth defencemen on terrible contracts.

If Staal isn't the biggest acquisition made so far in the division, he's right there with Anderson. How many teams around the league are clearly improved already?

In our division alone, 2 teams we are trying to surpass in the standings, Montreal and Ottawa, have been the most aggressive teams in the off-season so far.  Montreal has added depth at G, D, and F with Allen, Edmundson and Anderson.  Plus Montreal is pushing hard for Taylor Hall.  Ottawa has improved their G and D with Murray in goal and Josh Brown and Gudbranson on D.  

Guys who could really help us long-term like Anderson, Domi, Murray, Bonino etc have already been moved this off-season.  Yes we have added a 36 year old Staal.  A smart trade, but not one with likely impact beyond next season.   

FYI:

The cost for the roster, using Chad D's RFA estimates, is 69.275 million for 18 players (10F, 6D and 2G) and includes CoHo's money and the bonus overage from last season.  That doesn't leave much room for KA to work with.  

Edited October 9, 2020 by GASabresIUFAN

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

What does "Here is the plan so far" mean to you.  So far except the Staal move, everything is just status quo for a team that can't do status quo any longer.  That doesn't mean he can't make a big impact in free agency or through a trade, but as I and others have pointed out, his cap space will be down to 10 mill or less given the internal cap after re-signing RFAs Reinhart, Ullmark, Montour, and VO etc.. 

And no the off-season hasn't just started.  Ours started months ago.  KA has had plenty of time to move on from Montour, Risto and/or Miller through trade.  He has time to buyout Hutton and move on.  All we have to show so far is Staal, a move I love.  This isn't about JBot.  It's about being aggressive now and improving this team.  

Also now that we are a budget team, regardless of whether it's 76mill or 72 mill or even less, the tighter the budget the more important it is to make every penny count.  The Thompson and Z contracts may represent that the budget constraints aren't a much as feared, or a symptom of our inexperienced rookie GM or both.  I'm inclined to believe it's the latter.

Although this may be true our trading partners were very limited.

Wouldn't you rather pluck a player off Tampa roster than Detroit's. Plus, QO for RFA's and free agency just arrived.

[GASabresIUFAN]

2 minutes ago, MakeSabresGrr8Again said:

Although this may be true our trading partners were very limited.

Wouldn't you rather pluck a player off Tampa roster than Detroit's. Plus, QO for RFA's and free agency just arrived.

That hasn't stopped Mon, Pitt, Ott, Min, and many others from getting deals done.

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

6 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

That hasn't stopped Mon, Pitt, Ott, Min, and many others from getting deals done.

Many of the trades weren't made months ago.

On a separate note...some are pointing to Mitts as the 3C as of now. I think that could be that we might be forgetting we might have an upgrade to Mitts in Routsalainin(sp). I'd like to see what he's got. 

I also wonder if Z won't be moved up to 3rd line and 4th line be Asplund/Lazar/KO.

Skinner/Jack/Sam

VO/Staal/Cozens

Z/Routs/Tage

Asplund/Lazar/KO

Any upgrades to bottom six would be welcome but this is better than depending on Mitts.

[LabattBlue]

I’m in favor of penciling Lazar in as the 13th forward and try to upgrade the 4C position. 
 

3 things to improve in the standings(make the playoffs)...

- better goaltending

- better PK

- more 3rd line production

Re-signing a bunch of guys that were already here is not the answer.  I hope KA has a plan..whether it is F/A or trades.  The things above are not getting fixed from within...at least not this year. 

Edited October 9, 2020 by LabattBlue

[dudacek]

To me, this is the roster depth chart right now (guys in brackets are pencilled in)

Skinner Eichel Reinhart

Olofsson Staal (Thompson/Cozens)

Girgensons _____ Okposo

____  _____  (Thompson/Cozens)

Lazar

 

Dahlin (Ristolainen)

_____ (Montour)

McCabe Jokiharju

_____ (Miller)

 

Ullmark (Hutton)

 

Maybes: MIttelstadt, Asplund, Ruotsalainen, Borgen

Edited October 9, 2020 by dudacek

[GASabresIUFAN]

How much is Reinhart’s contract given the contract just given to Anderson?

[dudacek]

6 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

How much is Reinhart’s contract given the contract just given to Anderson?

I think that contract helps the Sabres. You can make an argument that their value is pretty similar around the league.

Sam's clearly more talented, but Anderson's skillset is more rare, and is a huge draw for NHL GMs.

[Thorny]

4 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I think that contract helps the Sabres. You can make an argument that their value is pretty similar around the league.

Sam's clearly more talented, but Anderson's skillset is more rare, and is a huge draw for NHL GMs.

Except, Reinhart never misses games and is 2 years younger. 

Anderson played 26 games last year. 

Reino's career high is also 18 points higher

Edited October 9, 2020 by Thorny

[Thorny]

 

 

The "zero chance he gets traded" bit is not sarcasm, fyi

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by Thorny

[Norcal]

Just wing it

[Thorny]

On ice, on Oct. 9 at this moment I'd project us to be ~ break even compared to last year, so far. Staal in, Larsson, Kahun out. This assumes the Staal from last year. 

Lots more to come. 

Edited October 9, 2020 by Thorny