The Johnson watch has started

[Eleven]

48 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Johnson signing or not should have 0 impact on the Sabres draft strategy. If it does, we should be deeply concerned. 

Are you sure about that?  If he signs, the team has a D who can flip between AHL and NHL as necessary.  If he does not, the team should trade for someone who, at a minimum, can do that.  Draft picks might be part of such a trade.  

Edited April 22, 2023 by Eleven

[Archie Lee]

I still hope Johnson signs with the Sabres.  It now seems unlikely though.  All he needs to do is wait a few months and he can pick his spot. At this point, if he is not 100% in on the Sabres, then he might as well wait. 

I don't feel slighted by this. If he does sign with the Sabres it will be because he wants to be here.  If he doesn't, it won't mean that Buffalo was 35th on his list behind every NHL franchise and 3 teams in the KHL. It will just mean that he was in the somewhat rare situation of having actual options and he did not find the Sabres to be the best of those. He could have many good reasons, including some that have nothing to do with hockey.

    

[French Collection]

Hire a private investigator and make sure there is no tampering going on by other clubs. They cannot talk to him until August 15th.

[Bangarang]

14 minutes ago, French Collection said:

Hire a private investigator and make sure there is no tampering going on by other clubs. They cannot talk to him until August 15th.

Hiring a private dick to watch our Johnson is a brilliant idea. Things could get sticky.

[kas23]

KA should had shipped his ass out like he did with Portillo. Maybe nobody wanted him. 

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Archie Lee said:

I still hope Johnson signs with the Sabres.  It now seems unlikely though.  All he needs to do is wait a few months and he can pick his spot. At this point, if he is not 100% in on the Sabres, then he might as well wait. 

I don't feel slighted by this. If he does sign with the Sabres it will be because he wants to be here.  If he doesn't, it won't mean that Buffalo was 35th on his list behind every NHL franchise and 3 teams in the KHL. It will just mean that he was in the somewhat rare situation of having actual options and he did not find the Sabres to be the best of those. He could have many good reasons, including some that have nothing to do with hockey.

    

I don’t think so.  If he does sign with Buffalo, it will be because it was his best option of the team’s interested in him.  If he wanted to be here, he would have signed already.  He could settle for Buffalo.  

[LabattBlue]

27 minutes ago, kas23 said:

KA should had shipped his ass out like he did with Portillo. Maybe nobody wanted him. 

You think he could have done better than an end of the 2nd round pick which they will end up getting if he doesn’t sign?

[K-9]

14 hours ago, Pimlach said:

I doubt that he will be in camp without a signed contract.  There is a risk of injury that might be a concern.  

Sabres and other NHL teams have had several unsigned players at their development camps over the years. Two of the more notable ones just last year with Levi and Portillo. There are insurance policies that indemnify them against injury and I’d bet every unsigned prospect has one.

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Eleven said:

Are you sure about that?  If he signs, the team has a D who can flip between AHL and NHL as necessary.  If he does not, the team should trade for someone who, at a minimum, can do that.  Draft picks might be part of such a trade.  

No it doesn't. This team should use that pick in a trade anyways to get a younger top 4 defender. If they don't make that trade it has no impact on draft strategy. You're conflating draft strategy with other non related things. 

[kas23]

11 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

You think he could have done better than an end of the 2nd round pick which they will end up getting if he doesn’t sign?

I don’t know. I didn’t speak to any GMs about him. But if a 2nd was available, I would’ve taken it. The comp pick we get back is at the end of the round, so any 2nd would’ve been earlier. There’s also the possibility he could’ve been moved as part of a package for a player. 

[mjd1001]

8 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

No it doesn't. This team should use that pick in a trade anyways to get a younger top 4 defender. If they don't make that trade it has no impact on draft strategy. You're conflating draft strategy with other non related things. 

If it was possible to do that I agree with you.

There are just a lot of things we don't know about this situation though., One possibility is he wasn't/insn't going to sign with Buffalo and he knows the team he will sign with (and that may be somewhat common knowledge around the league.).

If you are ANY team other than the one he is likely to sign with, you won't give up anything because odds are he won't sign with you.

If you are the team he does want to sign with, again, you won't give up anything because once the Summer gets here, you get him for free.

[Archie Lee]

6 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I don’t think so.  If he does sign with Buffalo, it will be because it was his best option of the team’s interested in him.  If he wanted to be here, he would have signed already.  He could settle for Buffalo.  

I don't think the phrase "wants to be here" applies only to things like the weather, community spirit, great food or affordable cost of living. When current players say this is where they want to be, I think they are also referencing organizational culture and the opportunity for team and personal success that currently exists on this version of the Sabres. In some cases, that may be primarily what they are referencing. 

There is probably not a single NHL team who would not take Johnson for free on an entry-level contract.  He is the rare young player who has positioned himself where he can pick whatever NHL team / situation he wants to sign with.  When he signs, it will be with the team he wants to be with...even if "the team he wants to be with" means the team that presents him with the best professional opportunity (by his assessment).

[Buffalonill]

2 hours ago, French Collection said:

Hire a private investigator and make sure there is no tampering going on by other clubs. They cannot talk to him until August 15th.

Meh who cares anymore  just take the pick and be done with him 

[Eleven]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

No it doesn't. This team should use that pick in a trade anyways to get a younger top 4 defender. If they don't make that trade it has no impact on draft strategy. You're conflating draft strategy with other non related things. 

The 63d pick in 2024 is not the only draft pick that can be used in a trade.  If the team wants to use a 2023 pick in a package to acquire an existing defenseman, then that is part of draft strategy for 2023.  They need to know what they have in advance of the draft so they can decide whether to use draft picks to acquire a defenseman who will play sooner rather than later, and which draft picks to use in the event of such a trade.  I don't know that I can make it plainer than this.  Don't dig your heels in, just read it and let it sink in.

Edited April 22, 2023 by Eleven

[Doohickie]

3 hours ago, kas23 said:

KA should had shipped his ass out like he did with Portillo. Maybe nobody wanted him. 

With Johnson he gets a compensatory pick, so it's not all bad if he signs elsewhere.  Other teams know that and probably wouldn't/won't offer more than that.

3 hours ago, Pimlach said:

If he wanted to be here, he would have signed already.

Not sure he knows enough about Buffalo, or any city/team for that matter, to really know which one to go "all in" with.

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

 

Not sure he knows enough about Buffalo, or any city/team for that matter, to really know which one to go "all in" with.

Maybe, but if true he is not very bright. 

If he bases it on hockey, then his agent can tell him every team's roster and prospect pool.  They should have an honest assessment of where he stands in the prospect pool.  Together they can evaluate his odds to make a certain NHL and in what time frame.  That could have been done prior to the start of his last college season and then refined and updated throughout the season by his agent.  

If he bases it on non-hockey variables then he should know what he likes and his priorities.  A college student should be clever enough to research those things. 

He has been to Buffalo several times, he knows the GM and the coaches and some of the other prospects and players.  

 

[PromoTheRobot]

3 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

You think he could have done better than an end of the 2nd round pick which they will end up getting if he doesn’t sign?

Sorry. Tim Murray isn't a GM in the NHL anymore.

[Doohickie]

4 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Maybe, but if true he is not very bright. 

You've never interviewed for/taken a job in another city, or had to choose between competing job offers in different cities?  I have, and even with as much intel as I could get, it's hard to know what it's like to live in a city until you live there; it's hard to know what it's like to work for a company until you work there, even if you have friends on the inside.  And there's nothing wrong with keeping your options open until you know what all the alternatives are.

[Doohickie]

Of course maybe the Sabres have decided he's not what they're looking for and don't plan to sign him and just take the compensatory pick.  It might not really be on him at all.  But if no one else signs him then the Sabres will and try to move him later.

[K-9]

2 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Of course maybe the Sabres have decided he's not what they're looking for and don't plan to sign him and just take the compensatory pick.  It might not really be on him at all.  But if no one else signs him then the Sabres will and try to move him later.

I suspect the Sabres told him he is not NHL ready, that he needs AHL seasoning, and it didn’t sit well with his camp. 

[Pimlach]

35 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

You've never interviewed for/taken a job in another city, or had to choose between competing job offers in different cities?  I have, and even with as much intel as I could get, it's hard to know what it's like to live in a city until you live there; it's hard to know what it's like to work for a company until you work there, even if you have friends on the inside.  And there's nothing wrong with keeping your options open until you know what all the alternatives are.

Yes, I have interviewed for many jobs, and lived in several cities, states and countries.  I did not have an agent, a father in the business, and 4 years to figure it out either.  

You are talking about taking a risk.  A calculated risk.  My experience is that people that take a few calculated risks usually end up better for it.  

There is nothing wrong with keeping options open and evaluating alternatives.   All I am saying is that at every step of the way he has not shown he wants to play for the Sabres.  He actions, or inactions, indicate that he will go somewhere else come 15 August.  

He will get paid.  He will get paid enough to not have to live in the city that he plays for year round.  Most players do not.  

 

 

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, Eleven said:

The 63d pick in 2024 is not the only draft pick that can be used in a trade.  If the team wants to use a 2023 pick in a package to acquire an existing defenseman, then that is part of draft strategy for 2023.  They need to know what they have in advance of the draft so they can decide whether to use draft picks to acquire a defenseman who will play sooner rather than later, and which draft picks to use in the event of such a trade.  I don't know that I can make it plainer than this.  Don't dig your heels in, just read it and let it sink in.

Signing or not signing Ryan Johnson has no impact on the 2023 Sabres Draft strategy. Your point makes no logical sense, Ryan Johnson being signed isn't changing the Sabres draft list. 

4 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

If it was possible to do that I agree with you.

There are just a lot of things we don't know about this situation though., One possibility is he wasn't/insn't going to sign with Buffalo and he knows the team he will sign with (and that may be somewhat common knowledge around the league.).

If you are ANY team other than the one he is likely to sign with, you won't give up anything because odds are he won't sign with you.

If you are the team he does want to sign with, again, you won't give up anything because once the Summer gets here, you get him for free.

I don't understand your response at all. Ryan Johnson does not impact the 2023 draft in any way. 

[Carmel Corn]

4 hours ago, K-9 said:

Sabres and other NHL teams have had several unsigned players at their development camps over the years. Two of the more notable ones just last year with Levi and Portillo. There are insurance policies that indemnify them against injury and I’d bet every unsigned prospect has one.

This is where my wishful thinking comes in.....I do wish that he signs with the Sabres still.  If he does not announce his intentions for a while, I do hope he participates in the next development camp.  From there, I do hope he likes what he see's (including the other talent around him) and finally decides this is where he wants to be.

[LGR4GM]

@Eleven you're using the term draft strategy wrong. It's like when anyone says tank anymore, no meaning, just a buzzword. 

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, Carmel Corn said:

This is where my wishful thinking comes in.....I do wish that he signs with the Sabres still.  If he does not announce his intentions for a while, I do hope he participates in the next development camp.  From there, I do hope he likes what he see's (including the other talent around him) and finally decides this is where he wants to be.

It's entirely possible he wants to how development camp goes prior to making his decision.