Sabres Announce They Signed Filip Cederqvist to a 2 Year ELC

[matter2003]

18 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

So is that a 2 way deal or are the Sabres paying him that much against the cap even if he is in Rochester?

[Taro T]

31 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

So is that a 2 way deal or are the Sabres paying him that much against the cap even if he is in Rochester?

All ELCs are 2 way deals.

If he is in Ra-cha-cha his salary will not count against the cap.  (Even if it were a 1 way deal, his AAV is below the threshold to have any portion of it count against the cap.)  The only realistic way his salary will count against the cap this year is if he is injured in camp & doesn't get sent down until he recovers.

 

[shrader]

3 hours ago, Taro T said:

And it also is the annoying thing about message boards.  One types something brief such as "not sure how that works" as a shorthand for "that goes against everything that we've heard of how the new SHL/NHL Transfer agreement works because we've been told he has a contract w/ a top tier SHL squad for the upcoming season, wonder how they got Djursgarden to buy into that option or if they even need to buy in" and then somebody who hasn't been around since COVID hits reads that shorthand post & tries to tell you what you already knew thinking you were referring to something different than you were. 😉

Welcome back.  🍺

 

I don't get it.

[Brawndo]

On 6/13/2022 at 7:51 PM, Contempt said:

This year's goaltending plan says otherwise. Maybe they'll do better at it this year but until I see an actual NHL goaltending plan on the NHL team the front office can't be called competent no matter what else they do. 

You can build a helluva submarine, if you design in a screen door you aren't a competent naval architect no matter how good the rest of the boat is.

I would be more upset if Adams and Company’s Original Plan for Goaltending had been Anderson, Tokarski, Dell and UPL.

Per Lance Lysowski the team did reach out to the Top UFA Goaltenders on the market and the Team was rebuffed by all of them. The Sabres were not and probably still are not a destination for most UFAs. 

Lysowski also mentioned they were not willing to Ullmark’s Demands, however Ullmark’s Camp kept moving the goalposts giving a strong indication that Linus didn’t want to be here. This comes after all indications at the TDL that Ullmark was 

They didn’t have a goaltender to include in a trade with Arizona for Adin Hill.

They weren’t trading a First and a D Prospect for One Year of Darcy Kuemper 

And they were not a contender for Alex Nedeljkovic. 

Yes the results of His Goaltending Plan were horrible, but not for lack of trying. 
 

I do believe that the Organization realized that there was going to be a huge drop in attendance and revenues, resulting in the directive of economic, efficient and effective being implemented.  However Adams was allowed to expand the Front Office namely The Analytics and Scouting Department, which should put the team in a much better position moving forward. 
Adams has begun restocked the prospect pipeline and The Front Office appears to have better development plan for prospects particularly in Rochester. All signs pointing to competency in the organization. 

The highest priority this offseason is stabilizing the goaltending, if it’s not done correctly then concerns about the competency of the Front Office will grow exponentially. 

 

And if You want to compare where this team is to building a submarine, it’s not even close to being a finished product, so I wouldn’t worry about whether or not the plans still contain a screen door until TC in September. 

 

 

[Taro T]

8 hours ago, Brawndo said:

I would be more upset if Adams and Company’s Original Plan for Goaltending had been Anderson, Tokarski, Dell and UPL.

Per Lance Lysowski the team did reach out to the Top UFA Goaltenders on the market and the Team was rebuffed by all of them. The Sabres were not and probably still are not a destination for most UFAs. 

Lysowski also mentioned they were not willing to Ullmark’s Demands, however Ullmark’s Camp kept moving the goalposts giving a strong indication that Linus didn’t want to be here. This comes after all indications at the TDL that Ullmark was 

They didn’t have a goaltender to include in a trade with Arizona for Adin Hill.

They weren’t trading a First and a D Prospect for One Year of Darcy Kuemper 

And they were not a contender for Alex Nedeljkovic. 

Yes the results of His Goaltending Plan were horrible, but not for lack of trying. 
 

I do believe that the Organization realized that there was going to be a huge drop in attendance and revenues, resulting in the directive of economic, efficient and effective being implemented.  However Adams was allowed to expand the Front Office namely The Analytics and Scouting Department, which should put the team in a much better position moving forward. 
Adams has begun restocked the prospect pipeline and The Front Office appears to have better development plan for prospects particularly in Rochester. All signs pointing to competency in the organization. 

The highest priority this offseason is stabilizing the goaltending, if it’s not done correctly then concerns about the competency of the Front Office will grow exponentially. 

 

And if You want to compare where this team is to building a submarine, it’s not even close to being a finished product, so I wouldn’t worry about whether or not the plans still contain a screen door until TC in September. 

 

 

To further your points regarding the hockey department moves, the development staff also was expanded.  And Adams would like to add 1 more scout & 1 more development coach to what they currently have.  (The analytics department is fully staffed.)  And the different groups now apparently interact more.  They worked in silos for the most part under the previous regime.

There's a lot to like about the way Adams has been enacting his plan (it pushing relevancy out a couple of additional years not withstanding 😉 ) but he's taken care of the easier parts of the plan; the tougher part - choosing the right guys to keep as they become more expensive and bringing in the right replacements will be trickier.  And, for whatever reasons, and in large part they can be things that were beyond his control, he has failed at fixing the goaltending 2 years in a row and even his 3 lottery tickets for the future plan is looking like there may be 2 busts out of the 3.  He HAS to fix the goaltending to have any realistic chance and not just a 'well it could work if every single item falls their way' sort of way.

In fairness to him, this is only his 3rd year and the previous 9 aren't on him.  But WE'RE entering year 12 - one 1 /2 of a generation of irrelevancy and just about the entirety of the 2nd longest ownership tenure this franchise has ever had.  Good on him that he's sticking to the plan, but he can still stick to the plan while throwing ridiculous $'s (though not ridiculous term) at a goalie or 2.  Like the movie slogan said, if he builds it they will come.  The fans are still willing to come back, he needs to make this happen & sooner rather than Levi. 😉

 

[Weave]

5 minutes ago, Taro T said:

In fairness to him, this is only his 3rd year and the previous 9 aren't on him.  But WE'RE entering year 12 - one 1 /2 of a generation of irrelevancy and just about the entirety of the 2nd longest ownership tenure this franchise has ever had.

Not really pertinent to the primary discussion….

1/2 of a “classic definition” of a generation, and more importantly, a full generation + in the perspective of a professional athlete.  There are few players left in the league that played when Buffalo was relevant.  For practical purposes, the league only knows the Sabres as bumbling and irrelevant.

Hell of a hill we constructed and now have to climb.  No wonder FA goalies won’t sign here.

[tom webster]

On 6/14/2022 at 11:06 PM, Brawndo said:

I would be more upset if Adams and Company’s Original Plan for Goaltending had been Anderson, Tokarski, Dell and UPL.

Per Lance Lysowski the team did reach out to the Top UFA Goaltenders on the market and the Team was rebuffed by all of them. The Sabres were not and probably still are not a destination for most UFAs. 

Lysowski also mentioned they were not willing to Ullmark’s Demands, however Ullmark’s Camp kept moving the goalposts giving a strong indication that Linus didn’t want to be here. This comes after all indications at the TDL that Ullmark was 

They didn’t have a goaltender to include in a trade with Arizona for Adin Hill.

They weren’t trading a First and a D Prospect for One Year of Darcy Kuemper 

And they were not a contender for Alex Nedeljkovic. 

Yes the results of His Goaltending Plan were horrible, but not for lack of trying. 
 

I do believe that the Organization realized that there was going to be a huge drop in attendance and revenues, resulting in the directive of economic, efficient and effective being implemented.  However Adams was allowed to expand the Front Office namely The Analytics and Scouting Department, which should put the team in a much better position moving forward. 
Adams has begun restocked the prospect pipeline and The Front Office appears to have better development plan for prospects particularly in Rochester. All signs pointing to competency in the organization. 

The highest priority this offseason is stabilizing the goaltending, if it’s not done correctly then concerns about the competency of the Front Office will grow exponentially. 

 

And if You want to compare where this team is to building a submarine, it’s not even close to being a finished product, so I wouldn’t worry about whether or not the plans still contain a screen door until TC in September. 

 

 

I just read this and it’s spot on. The only thing I would add is they the thought the price on Kuemper would go down until Seattle signed Grubauer.

As always, Brawndo nails it.

[JohnC]

12 minutes ago, tom webster said:

I just read this and it’s spot on. The only thing I would add is they the thought the price on Kuemper would go down until Seattle signed Grubauer.

As always, Brawndo nails it.

As @Brawndo in detail lays out it became apparent that Ullmark was reluctant to re-sign with the Sabres unless the organization was going to pay him a premium price. The GM was determined not to go beyond his contract parameters. As it turned out the organization was stuck with mostly unappealing options. And considering where this franchise was in its rebuild the GM was not going to use some of its precious assets for a temporary fix. He was in a tough spot and decided to focus on the rebuild and at a later time address the issue in a more serious way. 

The GM knows what the situation is with respect to that critical position. There are no end of season and offseason surprises. He knows that the goaltending situation is untenable and that there has to be an upgrade. Most of us will acknowledge that even in this offseason there isn't likely to be a permanent fix to the position. But that doesn't mean that it can't be adequately addressed. There is simply no excuse for it not to be. If he has to pay a more extravagant contract price for a goalie than he wants to, he should still do it. He has more than enough cap space to outbid other suitors for a competent goalie. Another season with a gaping hole at that position undercuts the good work that has been done in upgrading the roster. 

[PerreaultForever]

On 6/14/2022 at 8:06 PM, Brawndo said:

I would be more upset if Adams and Company’s Original Plan for Goaltending had been Anderson, Tokarski, Dell and UPL.

Per Lance Lysowski the team did reach out to the Top UFA Goaltenders on the market and the Team was rebuffed by all of them. The Sabres were not and probably still are not a destination for most UFAs. 

Lysowski also mentioned they were not willing to Ullmark’s Demands, however Ullmark’s Camp kept moving the goalposts giving a strong indication that Linus didn’t want to be here. This comes after all indications at the TDL that Ullmark was 

They didn’t have a goaltender to include in a trade with Arizona for Adin Hill.

They weren’t trading a First and a D Prospect for One Year of Darcy Kuemper 

And they were not a contender for Alex Nedeljkovic. 

Yes the results of His Goaltending Plan were horrible, but not for lack of trying. 
 

I do believe that the Organization realized that there was going to be a huge drop in attendance and revenues, resulting in the directive of economic, efficient and effective being implemented.  However Adams was allowed to expand the Front Office namely The Analytics and Scouting Department, which should put the team in a much better position moving forward. 
Adams has begun restocked the prospect pipeline and The Front Office appears to have better development plan for prospects particularly in Rochester. All signs pointing to competency in the organization. 

The highest priority this offseason is stabilizing the goaltending, if it’s not done correctly then concerns about the competency of the Front Office will grow exponentially. 

 

And if You want to compare where this team is to building a submarine, it’s not even close to being a finished product, so I wouldn’t worry about whether or not the plans still contain a screen door until TC in September. 

 

 

It's not surprising really that UFAs and UFA goalies "rebuffed" them last year. We were trading away our big names, we had the Jack problem, and we looked like a tank team. Who wants to be part of that? Hence they should have made a trade with one of those 3 goalie teams. There were options. BUT, the interesting thing will be whether or not the perception has changed yet. The team is different now. It feels like it's ready to rise. Will UFAs out there feel the same way as we do, or will they still see us as what we've been and go anywhere else? That's the big question I guess. 

[shrader]

22 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

It's not surprising really that UFAs and UFA goalies "rebuffed" them last year. We were trading away our big names, we had the Jack problem, and we looked like a tank team. Who wants to be part of that? Hence they should have made a trade with one of those 3 goalie teams. There were options. BUT, the interesting thing will be whether or not the perception has changed yet. The team is different now. It feels like it's ready to rise. Will UFAs out there feel the same way as we do, or will they still see us as what we've been and go anywhere else? That's the big question I guess. 

What I don’t understand is why the 40 year old wanted that. I get that some guys just don’t want to walk away from the game, but there have to be some limits. Maybe the situation wasn’t as unwanted as we might think. 

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, shrader said:

What I don’t understand is why the 40 year old wanted that. I get that some guys just don’t want to walk away from the game, but there have to be some limits. Maybe the situation wasn’t as unwanted as we might think. 

He stepped back from the game some when his wife was battling cancer and that sort of thing often has a tendency to cause people to see "big picture" sorts of things as does having kids.  If Wikipedia is reliable in this one instance, he's also run a goalie camp for ~20 years.

He had an opportunity to help lay a foundation properly & influence both UPL & guys like Dahlin.

Why WOULDN'T the 40 yo want that given his background?

[woods-racer]

9 minutes ago, shrader said:

What I don’t understand is why the 40 year old wanted that. I get that some guys just don’t want to walk away from the game, but there have to be some limits. Maybe the situation wasn’t as unwanted as we might think. 

Because Adams promised him a stress free environment that put growth over winning and that sounded more appealing to him at this stage in his career. He had a blast last year. He's quite possibly could be the best ambassador for the Sabres this summer.

[Curt]

1 hour ago, shrader said:

What I don’t understand is why the 40 year old wanted that. I get that some guys just don’t want to walk away from the game, but there have to be some limits. Maybe the situation wasn’t as unwanted as we might think. 

The situation was pretty clearly unwanted.  The 40 year old goalie took the job because it was his last opportunity to be an NHL starter.

The guy who ended up with the job was a 40 yr old who was almost out of the league and you are trying to use that as evidence that maybe it wasn’t an undesirable job?

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, Curt said:

The situation was pretty clearly unwanted.  The 40 year old goalie took the job because it was his last opportunity to be an NHL starter.

The guy who ended up with the job was a 40 yr old who was almost out of the league and you are trying to use that as evidence that maybe it wasn’t an undesirable job

The hope is that what was an unappealing situation last year with the clear intention of uprooting the old core has changed to the point where the franchise has been stabilized and is now on an upward trajectory. The performance of this team the last third portion of the season should demonstrate that this is now a competitive team with serious aspirations. (side note: a good debate is whether the team play of the last third of the season meant much for the upcoming season????)

The hope is that Tuch becomes the model that other players are willing to follow. He was dealt from an upper tier team to a lower tier team that was in a rebuilding mode. He embraced the challenge of coming to this new team and enthusiastically led it. The end result for him as a player was that his role was expanded and he ended up having his best year.

I'm hoping that a goalie like Campbell (or other goalies on the market) can see that if he comes here he will not only be able to garner a generous contract but also be with a competitive team. Our roster is disproportionately loaded with a lot of young talent with a lot of upside. Compared to the team's outlook last year the situation is so much better for goalies interested in finding a good situation for themselves from a business and professional standpoint. 

[Brawndo]

7 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

It's not surprising really that UFAs and UFA goalies "rebuffed" them last year. We were trading away our big names, we had the Jack problem, and we looked like a tank team. Who wants to be part of that? Hence they should have made a trade with one of those 3 goalie teams. There were options. BUT, the interesting thing will be whether or not the perception has changed yet. The team is different now. It feels like it's ready to rise. Will UFAs out there feel the same way as we do, or will they still see us as what we've been and go anywhere else? That's the big question I guess. 

They probably will have to pay the bad team tax and offer higher AAV and/or longer term for a goalie. 
And I will be perfectly happy with them doing so to stabilize the position for a few years. 

 

5 hours ago, Curt said:

The situation was pretty clearly unwanted.  The 40 year old goalie took the job because it was his last opportunity to be an NHL starter.

The guy who ended up with the job was a 40 yr old who was almost out of the league and you are trying to use that as evidence that maybe it wasn’t an undesirable job?

I think this was a big reason for Him Returning this Season, getting to 300 wins 

 

 

[PerreaultForever]

7 hours ago, shrader said:

What I don’t understand is why the 40 year old wanted that. I get that some guys just don’t want to walk away from the game, but there have to be some limits. Maybe the situation wasn’t as unwanted as we might think. 

Well I think we were his only offer, simple as that. It's a pretty good pay cheque so yes, some will keep going until they really can't.   I hear Jagr wants to try the NHL again. Doubt there's any takers but you never know. See if anyone wants Chara next year too. bet you he'd come if we offered. It's simply good money to play a game. 

59 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

They probably will have to pay the bad team tax and offer higher AAV and/or longer term for a goalie. 
And I will be perfectly happy with them doing so to stabilize the position for a few years. 

 

I think this was a big reason for Him Returning this Season, getting to 300 wins 

 

 

That's true too. The 300 wins mattered to him for sure. 

You're absolutely right I think on the higher AAV and term. We still should though. We need a goalie. 

[shrader]

18 hours ago, Curt said:

The situation was pretty clearly unwanted.  The 40 year old goalie took the job because it was his last opportunity to be an NHL starter.

The guy who ended up with the job was a 40 yr old who was almost out of the league and you are trying to use that as evidence that maybe it wasn’t an undesirable job?

Taro nailed it.  Everyone wants different things.