A Top 4 Defenseman is Adams Top Priority per Lebrun

[thewookie1]

How is Travis Sanheim?

[Flashsabre]

 

[dudacek]

24 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

 

Flames fans want Krebs and/or 13.

I think Calgary seems like a good destination for Olofsson.

No idea Conroy would want.

Value to me would be somewhere between Lindholm (pick 22, 2 2nds) and Provorov (pick 22, 1 2nd that likely paid for salary retention)

Personally, I think Hanifin is a great fit 

Edited June 20, 2023 by dudacek

[French Collection]

3 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

 

KA should be in on every Dman, that is a weakness that we all agree on, he sees it first hand.

By being in on a bunch of them he’s got to land a good one from somewhere. I would love to know what his pecking order is.

Pesce, Hanifin, Graves, Dumba, Mayfield, Gudas, Clifton……

[Zamboni]

40 minutes ago, French Collection said:

KA should be in on every Dman, that is a weakness that we all agree on, he sees it first hand.

By being in on a bunch of them he’s got to land a good one from somewhere. I would love to know what his pecking order is.

Pesce, Hanifin, Graves, Dumba, Mayfield, Gudas, Clifton……

No, he shouldn’t be in on literally every available Dman. Only those who can be a consistent top 4 who will fit in well with the group.
 

And I am comfortable saying KA most likely has a lot of conversations with GM’s and agents. But it takes two to make a deal happen. Not landing someone isn’t necessarily always the fault of KA. Although some like to live in that world.

[French Collection]

38 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

No, he shouldn’t be in on literally every available Dman. Only those who can be a consistent top 4 who will fit in well with the group.
 

And I am comfortable saying KA most likely has a lot of conversations with GM’s and agents. But it takes two to make a deal happen. Not landing someone isn’t necessarily always the fault of KA. Although some like to live in that world.

The guys I named are all upgrades to half of the Sabres D. There are more out there that are capable 4-5 Dmen.

With the assets available, cap space and the knowledge that the D is a weakness, he needs to land someone better than Joki, Boosh, Stillman, Bryson and Clague.

He’s pretty much brought back the entire forward group, which I can live with. He needs to get a 4-5 Dman. I will lose faith in his ability to address weaknesses if he rolls back the same group.

[Quint]

This clip about Ryan Graves is from The Hockey News. They're evaluating what are the three top signings the Penguins could make in the offseason. Sounds just like what the Sabres need. Add in Tyler Myers on a reduced rate as well as drafting Reinbacher and we're all set. Hey, I can dream can't I?

Quote

 

Ryan Graves

Contract Projection: 5 Years x $5.1 Million

Speaking of statement signings, Ryan Graves should be the top name on the Penguins' wish list entering free agency. Graves is a massive defense-first defenseman with solid puck-moving ability and a phenomenal track record at the NHL level. He led the NHL in +/- in the 2019-20 season as a pillar of the Colorado Avalanche defense and would slide right into Brian Dumoulin's spot atop the Penguins' blue line.

The 6'5", 220-pound blue liner finished last season with nearly identical underlying numbers to Marcus Pettersson, who enjoyed a breakout season. However, Graves played over 70 more minutes on the penalty kill and would become the Penguins' top option on that unit. He will be the premiere name on several teams' wish lists, but if the Penguins want to make a splash, Ryan Graves should be the first call they make.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by Quint

[LGR4GM]

29 minutes ago, Quint said:

This clip about Ryan Graves is from The Hockey News. They're evaluating what are the three top signings the Penguins could make in the offseason. Sounds just like what the Sabres need. Add in Tyler Myers on a reduced rate as well as drafting Reinbacher and we're all set. Hey, I can dream can't I?

 

I don't think they'll target Myers but maybe. 

Reinbacher will be gone before 13 I think. 

[dudacek]

Athletic did a piece on perfect trade fits:

Buffalo's was Pesce.

Price was Östlund and pick 39, assuming a fair contract extension was in place

[Scottysabres]

54 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Athletic did a piece on perfect trade fits:

Buffalo's was Pesce.

Price was Östlund and pick 39, assuming a fair contract extension was in place

I do believe it's going to come down to Murphy from Chicago or Pesce.

Murphy's 3 yrs left @ 4.4 AAV fits the Financials I can see Adams liking. And I can see Chicago wanting futures without a massive overpayment. I am just unaware of Murphy's game, would it be the right fit? I'll leave that to others to answer.

Pesce on the other hand, that contract extension....I'm not hopeful. Not to mention the assets most likely to acquire him.

The conversations on D are entertaining though, so there's that 😀

[Brawndo]

Something interesting that Lance Lysowski brought up on the Jeff Marek, the Sabres are in position to offer free agent short term deals with the expectation that we give the player a chance to have career seasons, as multiple players have career seasons under Granato, and this would allow them to hit free agency again, in short order with higher point totals and a salary cap that is expected to increase dramatically. He named Matt Dumba as a perfect example playing next to either Dahlin or Power.

 

In addition, it does appear that many vets in Calgary such as Lindholm, Hanifin and even Backlund have told the team you’re not interested in signing long-term deals. This does open up the possibility that Brandon Tanev will be move as well as it does appear Calgary will need to go through a slight rebuild. Even if Tanev is moved to Toronto where he’s from, that might open up the possibility of TJ Brodie being available as it doesn’t appear. He is a favorite of Brad Treliving.

 

These options on deals with one year left and it even possible short term contract extensions might be more palatable than trading for Brett Pesce, or Connor Murphy.

[nfreeman]

56 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Something interesting that Lance Lysowski brought up on the Jeff Marek, the Sabres are in position to offer free agent short term deals with the expectation that we give the player a chance to have career seasons, as multiple players have career seasons under Granato, and this would allow them to hit free agency again, in short order with higher point totals and a salary cap that is expected to increase dramatically. He named Matt Dumba as a perfect example playing next to either Dahlin or Power.

In addition, it does appear that many vets in Calgary such as Lindholm, Hanifin and even Backlund have told the team you’re not interested in signing long-term deals. This does open up the possibility that Brandon Tanev will be move as well as it does appear Calgary will need to go through a slight rebuild. Even if Tanev is moved to Toronto where he’s from, that might open up the possibility of TJ Brodie being available as it doesn’t appear. He is a favorite of Brad Treliving.

These options on deals with one year left and it even possible short term contract extensions might be more palatable than trading for Brett Pesce, or Connor Murphy.

I can see this being attractive to a FA (and to KA!) but only as a fallback if a long-term deal doesn't materialize.  I don't think anyone is going to turn down, say, 5 years x $4.5MM in favor of 2 years x $6MM from the Sabres because he thinks he'll be able to get 5 years x $7MM after 2 years with the Sabres.

Dumba turns 29 next month.  I'd guess that he wants a long-term deal right now -- not to wait a couple of years and hope someone gives him his dream contract in 2 years.  If someone offers him twice as much guaranteed money as the Sabres do, I think he's going to take the bigger guarantee.

Fortunately for the Sabres, it looks like there are a decent number of quality defensemen who are going to be available this summer.  I expect KA to reel one in, although I don't think he's going to give anyone a huge contract (and I'd guess that Pesce is going to want more than KA is willing to pay).

[dudacek]

I think the Gavrikov LA deal kinda set the template for what Lance is referring to.

There will be players who want to wait in order to open up bigger opportunities for themselves when more money is available.

[bob_sauve28]

 

[Brawndo]

On 6/22/2023 at 1:06 PM, nfreeman said:

I can see this being attractive to a FA (and to KA!) but only as a fallback if a long-term deal doesn't materialize.  I don't think anyone is going to turn down, say, 5 years x $4.5MM in favor of 2 years x $6MM from the Sabres because he thinks he'll be able to get 5 years x $7MM after 2 years with the Sabres.

Dumba turns 29 next month.  I'd guess that he wants a long-term deal right now -- not to wait a couple of years and hope someone gives him his dream contract in 2 years.  If someone offers him twice as much guaranteed money as the Sabres do, I think he's going to take the bigger guarantee.

Fortunately for the Sabres, it looks like there are a decent number of quality defensemen who are going to be available this summer.  I expect KA to reel one in, although I don't think he's going to give anyone a huge contract (and I'd guess that Pesce is going to want more than KA is willing to pay).

 

On 6/22/2023 at 1:13 PM, dudacek said:

I think the Gavrikov LA deal kinda set the template for what Lance is referring to.

There will be players who want to wait in order to open up bigger opportunities for themselves when more money is available.

Exactly, with the cap being flat for one more year, the larger deals for players may not be available 

[Scottysabres]

What's the story in Tampa? Looking at capfriendly, they're roughly 450k under the cap with 17 contracts for next season. Cernak's contract has no ntc / mod-ntc until after July 1st. Any chance they'd move him given their void of draft picks and current up coming cap situation?

[kas23]

5 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

What's the story in Tampa? Looking at capfriendly, they're roughly 450k under the cap with 17 contracts for next season. Cernak's contract has no ntc / mod-ntc until after July 1st. Any chance they'd move him given their void of draft picks and current up coming cap situation?

Just like always, some chumpy teams will come to their rescue and take on their garbage for pennys on the dollar. That said, I think Tampa’s reign of terror is over and due to the NMCs, will be for awhile. 

Edited June 25, 2023 by kas23

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, kas23 said:

Just like always, some chumpy teams will come to their rescue and take on their garbage for pennys on the dollar. That said, I think Tampa’s reign of terror is over and due to the NMCs, will be for awhile. 

Thought that the year after the post-lockout year.  And it finally could be.  But will believe that wraith is finally dead when it's been burned and had its ashes scattered.

[kas23]

13 hours ago, Taro T said:

Thought that the year after the post-lockout year.  And it finally could be.  But will believe that wraith is finally dead when it's been burned and had its ashes scattered.

They can’t scatter the ashes though, they all have NMCs. Seriously though, they’ll be playoff contenders for a bit, but they’re an aging team with serious cap issues. If all these players didn’t have NMCs, I could see them retooling and turning it around quickly, but they can’t. 

[TRIP65]

I want to Clone Power

[SwampD]

We’re going to end up with either Scott Mayfield or OEL.

I also think that either one will thrive here, making the team better.

I have no reason to think this other than I do.

 

[Scottysabres]

9 minutes ago, SwampD said:

We’re going to end up with either Scott Mayfield or OEL.

I also think that either one will thrive here, making the team better.

I have no reason to think this other than I do.

 

It's possible. I keep coming back to cost. Adams strategy of setting up for long term success, which he's repeatedly said, has to take cost in to consideration, no?

We could see a revolving door on Powers partner on that 2nd pairing. Affordable, 3, maybe 4 year term? 

I'm thinking Adams views Dahlin, Samuelsson and Power as his core d men.

[Buffalonill]

22 minutes ago, SwampD said:

We’re going to end up with either Scott Mayfield or OEL.

I also think that either one will thrive here, making the team better.

I have no reason to think this other than I do.

 

Please  God no 

[LGR4GM]

8 hours ago, SwampD said:

We’re going to end up with either Scott Mayfield or OEL.

I also think that either one will thrive here, making the team better.

I have no reason to think this other than I do.

 

Why anyone wants OEL I'll never understand. 

Is he big? No, but average

Is he a gritty player? No

Is he a rhd? No

Does he play a shutdown game? No

Is he young with runway to improve? No

What's the appeal? "I've heard of him before." 

[SwampD]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Why anyone wants OEL I'll never understand. 

Is he big? No, but average

Is he a gritty player? No

Is he a rhd? No

Does he play a shutdown game? No

Is he young with runway to improve? No

What's the appeal? "I've heard of him before." 

Ftr, I didn’t say I wanted him. I just that that’s who we are are going to end up with.

Edited June 27, 2023 by SwampD