Sabres Sign Defenseman Erik Johnson to One Year 3.25 Million Dollar Contract

[Randall Flagg]

Just now, dudacek said:

6’6” 215

6’4 225

6’4” 225

6’3 215

6’2 205

6’0 200

Is our starting 6 at the moment. That’s a large D-core

Wait til Graves joins it

[LabattBlue]

How were Johnson’s fancy stats last season?

[GASabresIUFAN]

3 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

How were Johnson’s fancy stats last season?

Not great.

[Brawndo]

3 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

How were Johnson’s fancy stats last season?

Better not to look 

[thewookie1]

How were his analytics prior to the Cup Win?

[Thorny]

22 minutes ago, dudacek said:

6’6” 215

6’4 225

6’4” 225

6’3 215

6’2 205

6’0 200

Is our starting 6 at the moment. That’s a large D-core

Going to have to be careful to not screen Levi 

[dudacek]

Posted this in another thread, but it better fits here.

Dont think he’s slated to be Power’s partner, at least not on a regular basis.

I kinda expect him to be a 6/7 guy who can PK and move up the lineup in a pinch in a way Clague and Bryson could not.

[Eleven]

3 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Posted this in another thread, but it better fits here.

Dont think he’s slated to be Power’s partner, at least not on a regular basis.

I kinda expect him to be a 6/7 guy who can PK and move up the lineup in a pinch in a way Clague and Bryson could not.

I hope Adams didn't just spend 3.25M on a "6/7 guy."  I don't think he did.  I think Johnson's still a stud.

[Turbo44]

I think he’s a great 5/6/7 playing 11 minutes a night. 

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

1 hour ago, freester said:

He’s old, but he’s big. 

So will big Johnson play hard or soft?

Edited July 1, 2023 by \GoBillsInDallas/

[triumph_communes]

Amazing upgrade over Bryson. Former #1OA to mentor our pair.  By no means does Granato have to pick which struggling rookie to give 10 minutes a night.  Great signing even if he’s spent, he isn’t going to be relied upon. 

[Rasmus_]

This guy is toast.  I hate this signing so much.  He literally does nothing, and is not an upgrade over what we have.  Sorry.  This is a ***** L.  Where the ***** is the management team trying to progress with signings like this.  

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

Where does he fit?

 

He fits the 6/7 role and can plug holes up the roster if needed.  A savvy vet insurance  guy - I hope he provides the James Partrick kind of help they need back there.  

With Anderson gone it appears Adams found another vet presence for the group.  

One year and we see about next year.   

Edited July 1, 2023 by Pimlach

[Randall Flagg]

4 minutes ago, Rasmus_ said:

This guy is toast.  I hate this signing so much.  He literally does nothing, and is not an upgrade over what we have.  Sorry.  This is a ***** L.  Where the ***** is the management team trying to progress with signings like this.  

He really was awful every second I saw of him last year 

[Rasmus_]

7 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

He fits the 6/7 role and can plug holes up the roster if needed.  A savvy vet insurance  guy - I hope he provides the James Partrick kind of help they need back there.  

With Anderson gone it appears Adams found another vet presence for the group.  

One year and we see about next year.   

A sixth or a seventh defensemen for a guy who is washed, and you're giving this clown 3.25M.   Eh, I'd rather allocate this money elsewhere.  Johnson is an injury prone bag of meh.  He belongs on waivers. 

Edited July 1, 2023 by Rasmus_

[Pimlach]

4 minutes ago, Rasmus_ said:

A sixth or a seventh defensemen for a guy who is washed, and you're giving this clown 3.25M.   Eh, I'd rather allocate this money elsewhere.  Johnson is an injury prone bag of meh.  He belongs on waivers. 

He is not known as a "clown" around the league, actually quite the opposite.  It is a one year deal, a bit expensive but we have the cap space this year and he will be valuable if we have injuries, which we had lots of last year.  

I can see our 5/6 pair rotating a new player in almost every game.  It is called depth.  

[Rasmus_]

1 minute ago, Pimlach said:

He is not known as a "clown" around the league, actually quite the opposite.  It is a one year deal, a bit expensive but we have the cap space this year and he will be valuable if we have injuries, which we had lots of last year.  

I can see our 5/6 pair rotating a new player in almost every game.  It is called depth.  

 Depth isn't 3.25M per season.  Sorry.  Depth is someone you bring to camp on a tryout deal. We have depth already.  Clifton is the upgrade to the top six.  

[Randall Flagg]

2 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

He is not known as a "clown" around the league, actually quite the opposite.  It is a one year deal, a bit expensive but we have the cap space this year and he will be valuable if we have injuries, which we had lots of last year.  

I can see our 5/6 pair rotating a new player in almost every game.  It is called depth.  

The thing is that the good teams don't add depth that plays like the erik Johnson I saw last year. Assuming that your depth is going to have to be players that played at that level is a huge reason why the Sabres were bad for 12 years. 

The signing isn't that big of a deal. There are a million offseason iterations that replace it with something else and leaves us better off though. 

[Pimlach]

Just now, Rasmus_ said:

 Depth isn't 3.25M per season.  Sorry.  Depth is someone you bring to camp on a tryout deal. We have depth already.  Clifton is the upgrade to the top six.  

You are wrong.  You don't bring in tryout players with our current defense.  We had the kind of depth that gets you in 9th or 10th place in the conference.  We had poor depth year (Clague and Bryson) and it didn't work.   

Look at our W/L record when Muel was hurt.  Look at the minutes lost by Lybushkin to injury.  Look at the losing streak that happened when half our defense went down.  Look at how many games Dahlin played injured - hampering his ability to recover.

You really want tryout players and misfits like Clague and Bryson for depth?  Then we will repeat last year.  

Sure we are paying a lot, but for one year.   Talk to Adams.  Perhaps he and Granato see him as a 4/5.  I see him as 6/7 and depth unless they plan on moving some other players.  

[thewookie1]

9 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

The thing is that the good teams don't add depth that plays like the erik Johnson I saw last year. Assuming that your depth is going to have to be players that played at that level is a huge reason why the Sabres were bad for 12 years. 

The signing isn't that big of a deal. There are a million offseason iterations that replace it with something else and leaves us better off though. 

I think he’s here primarily to be a vet presence on the D. He’s also has a solid bit of career clout and a Cup ring 

[Randall Flagg]

4 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

I think he’s here primarily to be a vet presence on the D. He’s also has a solid bit of career clout and a Cup ring 

I understand this idea, but that doesn't change that we are hoping for a real bounce back here 

[Buffalonill]

This guy sucks

 

[Curt]

I’m not entirely sure how Johnson will fit into the D group.

He seems kinda washed, but maybe he will be ok on the 3rd pair.  Maybe they can strategically rest him and rotate the bottom pair a bit.  It’s good to have depth in the group.

Apart from his actual play, I love bringing in a guy who brings tons of playoff experience.  He joined Colorado as a 23 year old when they were not very good.  He went through lots of ups and down with a young team as they grew up over the years, culminating in a Stanley Cup win.  Johnson’s whole career has basically been Colorado’s journey to becoming Stanley Cup Champions.  I would imagine that through the type of career he has had, he’s learned a lot of lessons that directly apply to the current position that the Buffalo Sabres are in.  I feel like that might be almost as valuable as anything he will actually do on the ice.

Its a 1 year deal, so the salary just doesn’t matter.

Edited July 1, 2023 by Curt

[Pimlach]

12 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

The thing is that the good teams don't add depth that plays like the erik Johnson I saw last year. Assuming that your depth is going to have to be players that played at that level is a huge reason why the Sabres were bad for 12 years. 

The signing isn't that big of a deal. There are a million offseason iterations that replace it with something else and leaves us better off though. 

Well we aren't a good team yet.  Especially on the blueline.   If he is better than Clague/Bryson/Stillman then we improved the group.   We don't have to rush Ryan Johnson into the lineup either.  

He is big and tough and he has a veteran presence that we could use back there. He deserves more respect than some of you guys are giving.  I hope he is not washed up and I actually trust Kevyn Adams to know this more about this than the experts on Sabresspace such as me and you.  

[Buffalonill]

41 minutes ago, Rasmus_ said:

This guy is toast.  I hate this signing so much.  He literally does nothing, and is not an upgrade over what we have.  Sorry.  This is a ***** L.  Where the ***** is the management team trying to progress with signings like this.  

Meh  It's a 1 year deal he will probably be on waivers by Christmas