Eric Comrie Completes Conditioning Stint

[Porous Five Hole]

In his first conditioning start, Comrie was named first star today in Toronto.  Nice!

[PromoTheRobot]

16 hours ago, Doohickie said:

I think it's likely that they keep three goalies.

I think they have to. UPL gets most of the starts, then Comrie, and Anderson with spot duty.

Edited January 1, 2023 by PromoTheRobot

[Doohickie]

14 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I think they have to. UPL gets most of the starts, then Comrie, and with spot duty.

Shannon The Hockey Guy seems to think they will trade Comrie.  "I think Comrie ends up on the market.  I don't think you move on from Luukkonen and  certainly don't think you move on from Anderson.  They've both played really, really well."

 

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

Shannon The Hockey Guy seems to think they will trade Comrie.  "I think Comrie ends up on the market.  I don't think you move on from Luukkonen and  certainly don't think you move on from Anderson.  They've both played really, really well."

 

I thought the same thing. But Anderson is likely not around next year. So then we're short another goalie next season. 

I think Adams wants Comrie and UPL as the tandem going forward with Levi and Subban in Rochester.

Maybe Anderson is the one traded, or retires. But if the Sabres make the playoffs you want Anderson to be available, a savvy experienced netminder to further set the example to the young guys.

I'm starting to think the Sabres have no choice but keep all three goalies.

Edited January 1, 2023 by PromoTheRobot

[Doohickie]

11 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I thought the same thing. But Anderson is likely not around next year. So then we're short another goalie next season. 

I think Adams wants Comrie and UPL as the tandem going forward with Levi and Subban in Rochester.

Maybe Anderson is the one traded, or retires. But if the Sabres make the playoffs you want Anderson to be available, a savvy experienced netminder to further set the example to the young guys.

I'm starting to think the Sabres have no choice but keep all three goalies.

I see it that way too, but was just sharing what a "disinterested party" thought.

[dudacek]

I think the question remains UPL’s level of play.

He keeps the net if he keeps playing like this, goes down if it drops off.

“Worst” case scenario, you waive or trade Asplund or Hinostroza, but that only happens if UPL is playing as #1.

Who wouldn’t trade Vinnie or Ras for a #1?

As a team improves, the guys at the bottom of the roster fall away. The fact that those players now have value is simply evidence that we’re finally icing a competitive team.

Edited January 1, 2023 by dudacek

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

Shannon The Hockey Guy seems to think they will trade Comrie.  "I think Comrie ends up on the market.  I don't think you move on from Luukkonen and  certainly don't think you move on from Anderson.  They've both played really, really well."

 

 

Hamilton was making the same trade Comrie suggestion in the radio post-game show yesterday.  Can't see it happening.

Really expect the move they make being risking losing Hinostroza to waivers unless somebody else is injured in the next couple of weeks.  Hopefully making $1.7 MM is too much for a good team to add & he's too good for a Bedard sweepstakes team to risk getting a few more W's by stealing him.  The waiver pickup of Jost kind of screwed both Asplund & Vinny.  Asplund as he lost that PK & 3rd line role & Vinny as he moved from 13 to 14 (due to age & fit moving forward, he's played better than Asplund when given an opportunity) & thus at risk of going to the A should they want 8 D or 3 Gs.

 UPL is playing too well to send him down.

[Taro T]

31 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I think the question remains UPL’s level of play.

He keeps the net if he keeps playing like this, goes down if it drops off.

“Worst” case scenario, you waive or trade Asplund or Hinostroza, but that only happens if UPL is playing as #1.

Who wouldn’t trade Vinnie or Ras for a #1?

As a team improves, the guys at the bottom of the roster fall away. The fact that those players now have value is simply evidence that we’re finally icing a competitive team.

Even if UPL ends up 1B or 2 to Comrie's 1A/1 can't see sending him down.  He has the physical tools, but mentally couldn't get beyond the hip surgeries.  Now that he's finally believing in himself would not risk messing w/ his head by sending him down.  And really can't see this management team sending him down when he's earned a spot on the roster.  Realize he needs to play, but thought the same thing about Krebs & that was not correct.  Expect getting 1/3 or 2/5 of NHL starts will be enough.

The question becomes, w/ 3 goalies, how do they get Levi a game in the spring.  Not positive they can any longer.

[Porous Five Hole]

5 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Even if UPL ends up 1B or 2 to Comrie's 1A/1 can't see sending him down.  He has the physical tools, but mentally couldn't get beyond the hip surgeries.  Now that he's finally believing in himself would not risk messing w/ his head by sending him down.  And really can't see this management team sending him down when he's earned a spot on the roster.  Realize he needs to play, but thought the same thing about Krebs & that was not correct.  Expect getting 1/3 or 2/5 of NHL starts will be enough.

The question becomes, w/ 3 goalies, how do they get Levi a game in the spring.  Not positive they can any longer.

It’ll be the rescheduled Columbus game in April & it’ll be meaningless in the standings because the Sabres will have already clinched a playoff birth. 🤞

[Doohickie]

7 minutes ago, Taro T said:

The question becomes, w/ 3 goalies, how do they get Levi a game in the spring.  Not positive they can any longer.

Why not?  After the trade deadline, even if we have 3 goalies the 23-player roster limit is lifted.  Let him play a game or 5 depending on where you can slot him in.

[Taro T]

23 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Why not?  After the trade deadline, even if we have 3 goalies the 23-player roster limit is lifted.  Let him play a game or 5 depending on where you can slot him in.

With the playoffs on the line, you're going to give a rookie his 1st NHL game?

Could see letting him be the backup for 1 game if that'll burn an ELC year, but if the playoffs are on the line wouldn't bench either Comrie or UPL if they're on their games.

[JustOneParade]

18 hours ago, Doohickie said:

If UPL is the better choice, and the Sabres are in (or very close to) a playoff spot, I think you need to keep him up.  I think they carry 3 goalies on the roster until they know who's gonna stay with the team.  Don't be surprised if Andy "suffers an injury in practice."

Agree with all of this. No way the Sabres should trade Comrie. Can you imagine if they did and we get 'early' UPL instead of 'recent' UPL? Royally screwed. And it also short circuits the 23-24 plan. Who then shares the net with UPL next year? Hope Levi is ready? Sign another FA? The Sabres have wandered in the goalie desert long enough, no?

Lots of games remaining to be played in a more compressed schedule. Let's keep UPL up and evaluate his body of work at the end of February.  If he regresses before that, send him down then.

[erickompositör72]

Is there any universe where UPL and Comrie show us they are our future, and we trade Levi at the deadline?

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, erickompositör72 said:

Is there any universe where UPL and Comrie show us they are our future, and we trade Levi at the deadline?

Can't see any.  But if Portillo has any value at all could see his rights being moved.  (That's a big if.)

[PromoTheRobot]

3 minutes ago, erickompositör72 said:

Is there any universe where UPL and Comrie show us they are our future, and we trade Levi at the deadline?

No.

[Freeezo]

53 minutes ago, erickompositör72 said:

Is there any universe where UPL and Comrie show us they are our future, and we trade Levi at the deadline?

Yep. For Montreal's 1st

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

With the playoffs on the line, you're going to give a rookie his 1st NHL game?

Could see letting him be the backup for 1 game if that'll burn an ELC year, but if the playoffs are on the line wouldn't bench either Comrie or UPL if they're on their games.

Let's see what the situation is then.

Whether they're in a playoff position or not is a different question than how do you fit a game or so in for a 4th goalie.

[shrader]

I can’t see there being any Anderson interest out there. I could see him floated through waivers at some point and sent to Rochester. 

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, erickompositör72 said:

Is there any universe where UPL and Comrie show us they are our future, and we trade Levi at the deadline?

It depends.  Levi is still likely a season+ away from being relevant at the NHL level.  Excellent play by UPL or Comrie, and good play by the other, could make Levi somewhat expendable.  He's also not playing at the same level he as last season.  So if I'm Kevyn I listen to any offers for him but only listen hard if it's something that benefits the Sabres more than Levi *might*.  I also don't think they trade him at the deadline; it will be over the summer if they decide to move him.  I think it's more likely they trade Comrie than Levi in either case though.

[Taro T]

19 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Let's see what the situation is then.

Whether they're in a playoff position or not is a different question than how do you fit a game or so in for a 4th goalie.

If they aren't in contention for a playoff spot either Comrie isn't getting it done or more likely UPL had a setback.  If UPL has a set up back they aren't carrying 3 goalies.

The 2 issues are highly related.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Taro T
Friggin' autocorrect

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, shrader said:

I can’t see there being any Anderson interest out there. I could see him floated through waivers at some point and sent to Rochester. 

No way would Adams do that to him.  Far more likely he suffers an "injury" putting him on IR for the foreseeable future.

Doubt that happens either.

Should the Sabres not suffer an injury at F before the conditioning assignment is over, Hinostroza goes to waivers & hopefully Ra-cha-cha.  (Or Adams works out a courtesy trade for him if 1 is available.)

[Doohickie]

2 minutes ago, shrader said:

I can’t see there being any Anderson interest out there. I could see him floated through waivers at some point and sent to Rochester. 

He's cheap goalie insurance for a team on a playoff run.  I could see a fair amount of interest but not a ton of return if they move him.  I believe he was offered the choice last season and expressed a preference to stay with the Sabres.  They will probably make the offer this season and if he really intends on retiring I could see him getting moved to a serious contender.  Or not.

4 minutes ago, Taro T said:

If they aren't in contention for a playoff spot either Comrie isn't getting it done or more likely UPL had a setback.  If UPL has a set up they aren't carrying 3 goalies.

The 2 issues are highly related.

I'm talking about the other situation where they've clinched a playoff spot and aren't likely to change their position based on one or two games late in the season.

[Taro T]

8 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

He's cheap goalie insurance for a team on a playoff run.  I could see a fair amount of interest but not a ton of return if they move him.  I believe he was offered the choice last season and expressed a preference to stay with the Sabres.  They will probably make the offer this season and if he really intends on retiring I could see him getting moved to a serious contender.  Or not.

I'm talking about the other situation where they've clinched a playoff spot and aren't likely to change their position based on one or two games late in the season.

If they're in a playoff spot can't see them giving Levi a start.  (Like mentioned, could see him getting to vack up a game to burn an ELC year if that would do it.)  Why F w/ their other goalies heads?

[...]

This is just an exercise to put all of the moving parts on the table to see if the most logical/rational move here can be determined. Feel free to correct my thinking, fill in knowledge gaps, etc.

@GASabresIUFAN provided this list of Waiver-exempt roster players:

OFFENSE
Peterka
Quinn
Krebs

DEFENSE
Power
Samuelsson

GOAL
Luukkonen

They must dress 20. IMHO, none of these players have earned being sent down. 

Assuming they keep UPL up, do you split the last two roster players 1 each D and O?

The trade deadline is March 3. So we have two full months before they can have an unlimited active roster, which I think is one key to the decision-making process.

Can they survive two months swapping D and O men out as needed? They would have to swap out players that are contributing to their success now. 

IMHO opinion they might be able to make this work but it would be sloppy and disruptive. I would not want them to take this option if it can be avoided.

Moving UPL down seems the least disruptive move on the surface (meaning, we really don't know the mentality of the players and other inner dynamics).

UPL is a smart kid, I think he could appreciate the circumstances and mentally deal with moving back and forth - as needed - until March 3. However, DG has said UPL needs to play. I agree with that. 

Frankly, although I do not like taking the gamble, moving UPL down seems to involve less long-term risk.

Outside of waiver-exempt moves we have trades and waivers.

For myself, I see Mittelstadt, Olofsson, Asplund and Hinostroza from the offense and Bryson (and maybe Fitzgerald) from the defense as trade bait. None of our goalies should be trade bait for the reasons litigated in this and other threads.

Since we don't have depth on D, I will exclude the D from the remainder of this exercise.

If KA can find a trade partner for any of these guys, the return would necessarily need to be a pick, prospect and/or a waiver-exempt player (or a player that for the next 2 months can be moved back and forth however that works).

If KA can find a trade partner for any single player named above can the team survive? 

I do not know Hinostroza's story and why he is here, but he is a player I do not at all notice on the ice. Looking at his career, he looks like a journeyman roster-gap-filling type of guy. So, I think his presence would not be missed.

Asplund I don't have enough info to determine his value. Can he, say, fill Mittelstadt's role if Mittelstadt were traded?

I think Olofsson's loss would be effectively inconsequential.

As much as I hate to say it, without a deep dive into the fancy-stats, I think of the offense Mittelstadt's loss would be the most consequential unless any of the remainder can effectively fill in. I don't have the insight to offer an opinion on that other than to say I don't believe Olofsson can fill in for Mittelstadt.

Finally we get to waivers. With Hinostroza's >$1M cap hit can he survive the waiver wire? He seems like the best candidate for a waiver move.

It seems to me there are 2 options completely within the control of the Sabres:

1. UPL goes down.
2. Waive Hinostroza.

A third, ridiculous option would be an "accident" putting someone on LTIR until March 4. But that kind of thing doesn't happen in the virtuous world of the NHL.

The Hockey-Gods possibility is a decent trade. 

The Desperation-DGAF move would be to trade someone for a crappy return.
 

[Marvin]

We can send UPL to Rochester and let him know he will be back up no later than the TDL.