GASabresIUFAN Posted January 1 Author Report Share Posted January 1 (edited) 2 hours ago, Sidc3000 said: With who? What players that isn’t washed up or a scrub WANTS to play for the Sabres? This theory that no one wants to play here needs to end. Clifton and EJ signed here, guys who get traded to the Sabres like Buffalo and many Ontario players like being close to home. Do some (Most?) big-time UFAs not want to come? Sure, but it's not Buffalo but the fact that the franchise isn't winning. However, Johnny Hockey signed in Columbus. KA (or his replacement) can fix that roster through trade. I think most people would agree that we have 4 top-notch forward prospects. We also are going to have another top 8 draft picks. There are valuable assets that can be traded for immediate help. We also will have a ton of cap space heading into next season even after re-signing Mitts. Will certain trade targets have us on their no-trade list? Probably, but there are 600+ players in the NHL, and while 200 or so players have some kind of NMC/NTC most are limited, and many with the clauses will wave them to come to a team with the right opportunity for them. Edited January 1 by GASabresIUFAN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewookie1 Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 23 minutes ago, Pimlach said: Couture is 34. How is he better at 35 than Mitts or Cozens? He won't be. Greenway is not a guy I trade when I am looking to improve the size and grit factor on this team. We have a load of talented forwards, more than we can absorb, that we could package for vets in their prime. Personally I put Krebs in over Greenway I don't need Couture to be better than Cozens or Mitts I'm just looking for a competent 3C who isn't a train wreck in his own zone but isn't looking for 9mil+ like Lindholm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimlach Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 50 minutes ago, thewookie1 said: Personally I put Krebs in over Greenway I don't need Couture to be better than Cozens or Mitts I'm just looking for a competent 3C who isn't a train wreck in his own zone but isn't looking for 9mil+ like Lindholm Krebs over Greenway? We have bunches of prospects that are similar or better than Krebs. Who do we have with Greenway's size and defensive game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#freejame Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 59 minutes ago, thewookie1 said: Personally I put Krebs in over Greenway I don't need Couture to be better than Cozens or Mitts I'm just looking for a competent 3C who isn't a train wreck in his own zone but isn't looking for 9mil+ like Lindholm Couture is locked in at $8m for three seasons after this. I don’t think he meets your own criteria. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewookie1 Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 2 hours ago, Pimlach said: Krebs over Greenway? We have bunches of prospects that are similar or better than Krebs. Who do we have with Greenway's size and defensive game? I meant the trade, I'd include Krebs over Greenway. 2 hours ago, #freejame said: Couture is locked in at $8m for three seasons after this. I don’t think he meets your own criteria. He had 2mil retained in the offer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 On 12/28/2023 at 3:28 PM, GASabresIUFAN said: Here is what should happen with this roster if our GM is truly serious about winning. Forwards Benson TNT Tuch JJP Cozens Quinn Mitts ???? Skinner ???? ???? Greenway Defense Dahlin ???? Power Ryan Johnson Mule Clifton Goalies Levi Veteran?? I think there are 5 slots that should be filled with outside talent: Veteran Goalie, 3rd line center, 4th line center, a 4th line winger, and a top 4 D. Admittedly bringing in that many established players would probably blow KA’s budget. In addition, at least one of top 3 forward prospects will make the team. It will be easier to incorporate one of the kids by moving Mitts to center and opening a winger slot for the rookie. I can see at least one of the 3 top forwards prospects being included in a trade to get a top 4 D. Why don't you have Mitts playing center? Regardless, who he is playing with he should be at center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidc3000 Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 (edited) 5 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said: This theory that no one wants to play here needs to end. Clifton and EJ signed here, guys who get traded to the Sabres like Buffalo and many Ontario players like being close to home. Do some (Most?) big-time UFAs not want to come? Sure, but it's not Buffalo but the fact that the franchise isn't winning. However, Johnny Hockey signed in Columbus. KA (or his replacement) can fix that roster through trade. I think most people would agree that we have 4 top-notch forward prospects. We also are going to have another top 8 draft picks. There are valuable assets that can be traded for immediate help. We also will have a ton of cap space heading into next season even after re-signing Mitts. Will certain trade targets have us on their no-trade list? Probably, but there are 600+ players in the NHL, and while 200 or so players have some kind of NMC/NTC most are limited, and many with the clauses will wave them to come to a team with the right opportunity for them. Clifton and EJ have been a huge additions to the roster 🙄. ***** every game people on here are bitching and moaning on how ***** they are. it’s not the players on the ice or the “area” that keep others in the league from wanting to come to the Sabres, it’s the organization as a whole. It has been dysfunctional for years and isn’t getting better. Some would say it appears to be getting worse. I don’t care what people think of Kane or if he would have been good or bad for this team. To me, that was a very telling situation. A guy who grew up a Sabres fan didn’t sign with the Sabres. If players don’t think the organization is in a good place, they won’t want to come. Plain and simple. Plus with Adams recent comments saying that he is basically sticking with the team the way it is, says a lot. He’s sticking with the youth movement come hell or high water. Oh and BTW Adams won’t be going anywhere. He is the perfect GM for Pegula. A homer who is a kid in a candy store working for his hometown team. Adams will do anything to keep his job including openly supporting the current ***** product on the ice. the Sabres haven’t made the playoffs in 12 years and it’s becoming more likely that it will be 13 years soon. You’re going to have players stumbling over themselves to play for this team 🙄 Edited January 1 by Sidc3000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerreaultForever Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 Stop dreaming. KA won't add anybody of note and won't make any blockbuster trade either. They might even be stupid enough to try to roll Kulich and Rosen as part of a 4th line. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorny Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 (edited) 22 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said: Stop dreaming. KA won't add anybody of note and won't make any blockbuster trade either. They might even be stupid enough to try to roll Kulich and Rosen as part of a 4th line. Pretty soon we won’t have any of these top prospects left to cycle in - the best ones (Benson, Quinn, Levi, Johnson) are already here and as we’ve seen, due to the over influx of youth and lack of a properly built roster, it’s made little difference. I’d expect less of an impact from the Savoie Kulich Rosen Östlund tier and we can’t add them all at once anyways - even if they were all ready, and they’re not. We aren’t going to get better just by cycling in young players: we wouldn’t be seeing the death-spiral we have been this season if that were possible and the young players coming aren’t better than the ones we’ve recently graduated. I thought maybe it would be possible, on my most positive days when particularly bullish on Levi, that we could join the rest of the league by simply cycling in prospects, in this manner: but it doesn’t work. At least, it appears unlikely to. It takes such a long time to improve in this way and the ground we make up is thus negated by the better teams who use the time to cycle in the far fewer young players than we need to. Other teams’ young players improve, too. We have plenty of ammo and workable base: no actual excuse to not be good - that’s the shining positive. We just need a GM to get to work. Edited January 1 by Thorny 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerreaultForever Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 2 hours ago, Thorny said: Pretty soon we won’t have any of these top prospects left to cycle in - the best ones (Benson, Quinn, Levi, Johnson) are already here and as we’ve seen, due to the over influx of youth and lack of a properly built roster, it’s made little difference. I’d expect less of an impact from the Savoie Kulich Rosen Östlund tier and we can’t add them all at once anyways - even if they were all ready, and they’re not. We aren’t going to get better just by cycling in young players: we wouldn’t be seeing the death-spiral we have been this season if that were possible and the young players coming aren’t better than the ones we’ve recently graduated. I thought maybe it would be possible, on my most positive days when particularly bullish on Levi, that we could join the rest of the league by simply cycling in prospects, in this manner: but it doesn’t work. At least, it appears unlikely to. It takes such a long time to improve in this way and the ground we make up is thus negated by the better teams who use the time to cycle in the far fewer young players than we need to. Other teams’ young players improve, too. We have plenty of ammo and workable base: no actual excuse to not be good - that’s the shining positive. We just need a GM to get to work. There are two things which make the number of prospects irrelevant though (unless they are used as trade capital). 1. The team can't/doesn't play team defense and thus doesn't win no matter who it is in the line up. Johnson pointed this out a few games into the season but it hasn't changed. 2. There are simply too many of the same guys and no good role players (maybe Greenway, but not really). We need DIFFERENT players coming up not more of the same. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GASabresIUFAN Posted January 2 Author Report Share Posted January 2 By the way, the cap cost for the status quo roster in the original post on this thread is approx 72,834,404. That includes $6,000,000 for Mitts, 1.5 for Krebs and UPL. It is also for only 20 players and includes Rousek, Rosen, and Novikov making the team full-time. I don't have RFA Jokiharju returning. If the cap goes to 87+, there is a whole lot of cap space available to KA to improve this team. IMHO I'd move on from RFAs Krebs and UPL in addition to Jokiharju. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewookie1 Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/4786008 So this is what I thought of in regards to a Couture acquisition and some smaller depth signings. We’d have a hair over 8 mil for a 2RHD, a 1G and 2 extras. The biggest issue are the vast majority of UFA goalies are either extremely old or no more experienced/reassuring than the present guys. Plus teams don’t tend to have much bulk in net aside from maybe targeting Markstrom in CGY. Defense is also a concern with a lack of quality pieces on the market that are either 33+ or likely looking for absurd numbers for a contract. Otherwise there isn’t much there to pick through. From a quick glance over the best analytically seems to be TJ Brodie from the Leafs but for all his analytics he’d not exactly fix anything particularly on the D in regards to size. At this point, besides Mitts depending on his ask, I’d look to deal off the RFAs barring UPL going ham over the stretch. You find a handful of players known to play for grimy goals, even if they’re on the downside of their careers with the idea that a new coach can use their experience and grit to help inspire and compliment and far more finesse based Top 6 who do have minor spurts of aggressive play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seer775 Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 On 12/28/2023 at 2:39 PM, GASabresIUFAN said: Capfriendly lists our team’s average age as 25.5. Nearly all the Sabres UFAs are among the oldest players on the roster. In fact, the only Sabre under contract older than 28 is Skinner who is currently 31. Clifton is currently 28. Here are the Sabres UFAs (current age) : Okposo 35, Eric Johnson 35, Olofsson 28, Girgensons 29, Robinson 28, and Comrie 28. I’m not expecting any of them back. Here are possible internal replacements (age next season) : Kulich 20, Novikov 21, Rosen 21, Savoie 20, and Rousek 25. RFA’s who may not return (age next season) Krebs 23, Jokiharju 25, and UPL 25. Honestly, I don’t want any of them back either, but I expect at least Krebs to return. Given KA’s stubborn adherence to his “plan,” here is what the team might look like. Forwards: Skinner TNT Tuch Benson Cozens Quinn JJP Mitts Rosen Rousek Krebs Greenway Defense: Dahlin Samuelsson Power Ryan Johnson Novikov Clifton Goalies: Levi, UPL Anybody think this roster has a snowballs chance in hell of making the playoffs? No playoffs expected. We are still in the rebuild phase. Bring up Kulich, Novikov, Rosen, Savoie, Rousek. We need to know sooner than later who has the NHL pedigree. Bring back Krebs, Joker, and UPL. In the event of a trade, we need them to play to bump their value. We need to find a way out of Skinner. He still has scoring in him (maybe 3 years left). Find a buyer and sell. See what the market is for a 1A goalie, a bottom 4 Dman, and bottom 6 Fwds. There's a lot of restructuring going on in the league with the cap bump. Prepare to make a move, but don't sell the house for anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 33 minutes ago, seer775 said: Bring up Kulich, Novikov, Rosen, Savoie, Rousek. Please, no. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#freejame Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 35 minutes ago, seer775 said: No playoffs expected. We are still in the rebuild phase. Bring up Kulich, Novikov, Rosen, Savoie, Rousek. We need to know sooner than later who has the NHL pedigree. Bring back Krebs, Joker, and UPL. In the event of a trade, we need them to play to bump their value. We need to find a way out of Skinner. He still has scoring in him (maybe 3 years left). Find a buyer and sell. See what the market is for a 1A goalie, a bottom 4 Dman, and bottom 6 Fwds. There's a lot of restructuring going on in the league with the cap bump. Prepare to make a move, but don't sell the house for anything. None of those players, to my knowledge, has an NHL pedigree. Pretty sure Samuelson and Ryan Johnson are the only ones in the organization at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doohickie Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 On 1/1/2024 at 2:15 PM, thewookie1 said: On 1/1/2024 at 11:58 AM, #freejame said: Couture is locked in at $8m for three seasons after this. I don’t think he meets your own criteria. He had 2mil retained in the offer Do we want Couture for three more seasons after this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#freejame Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 14 minutes ago, Doohickie said: Do we want Couture for three more seasons after this? Just think of all the Bills games he can go to with Tuch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doohickie Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 8 minutes ago, #freejame said: Just think of all the Bills games he can go to with Tuch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#freejame Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 22 minutes ago, Doohickie said: Oh, were you not aware this is another presumed “wants to be here” kinda guy. https://www.marinij.com/2021/01/20/for-diehard-buffalo-bills-fan-logan-couture-loyalty-is-paying-off/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewookie1 Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 1 hour ago, Doohickie said: Do we want Couture for three more seasons after this? To me it all depends on retention and how he looks this season when he returns. As of last year he was still putting up 60pts and had possession numbers near 50% in nigh 50/50 deployment and just shy of 50% on face offs. He has quite the pedigree of playoff performances and leadership and at 5 to 6 mil per wouldn’t be a terrible contract. Otherwise there aren’t many guys out there that have 3C/W skills in a manner we need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doohickie Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 1 hour ago, thewookie1 said: To me it all depends on retention and how he looks this season when he returns. As of last year he was still putting up 60pts and had possession numbers near 50% in nigh 50/50 deployment and just shy of 50% on face offs. He has quite the pedigree of playoff performances and leadership and at 5 to 6 mil per wouldn’t be a terrible contract. Otherwise there aren’t many guys out there that have 3C/W skills in a manner we need. He will be 39 at the end of his contract. Only Jagr was Jagr. 1 hour ago, #freejame said: Oh, were you not aware this is another presumed “wants to be here” kinda guy. https://www.marinij.com/2021/01/20/for-diehard-buffalo-bills-fan-logan-couture-loyalty-is-paying-off/ Nope, first I heard about that. I went so far as to check- he's from Guelph, Ont. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunomatic Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 We’d better not be younger. KA already screwed the pooch on that this season. This lineup already needs a couple experienced vets at pretty much any position to help the kids out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewookie1 Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 3 hours ago, Doohickie said: He will be 39 at the end of his contract. Only Jagr was Jagr. Nope, first I heard about that. I went so far as to check- he's from Guelph, Ont. don’t need Jagr, Pavelski would be great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doohickie Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 1 minute ago, thewookie1 said: don’t need Jagr, Pavelski would be great Guys like that are few an far between. Maybe Couture is one of them but chances are he's not. I see 3+ years of him to be pretty risky; in year we might be complaining about him the way we complain about Okposo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabreFinn Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 Bring in Granlund from SJS, kan play both C and W, plenty of routine and responsible two way play, BP and PP. Bunting in Carolina might be for sale also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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