Could the Sabres be even younger next year? Projected Roster for 2024-25.

[PASabreFan]

16 hours ago, Doohickie said:

 

14 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. 

Merlot? Never heard of it. Did they just invent it?

[mjd1001]

This may not be a possibility, but I'd be willing to throw a few prospects and a roster play to Toronto for Mitch Marner. Vet, right age...Toronto has no cap room and might want to keep Nylander/sign to a long term deal.  You give them some young guys, some of the valued prospects...get Marner who is KNOWN for good defensive play....I'd think about giving up a lot to make that deal at this point.  Maybe its not an 'in season' thing but maybe you can swing it in the offseason.

[Doohickie]

2 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

This may not be a possibility, but I'd be willing to throw a few prospects and a roster play to Toronto for Mitch Marner. Vet, right age...Toronto has no cap room and might want to keep Nylander/sign to a long term deal.  You give them some young guys, some of the valued prospects...get Marner who is KNOWN for good defensive play....I'd think about giving up a lot to make that deal at this point.  Maybe its not an 'in season' thing but maybe you can swing it in the offseason.

I doubt they'd go for, especially within the division, but it would be spicy, wouldn't it?

[mjd1001]

3 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I doubt they'd go for, especially within the division, but it would be spicy, wouldn't it?

Toronto needs cap space, and are losing a Center (Likely) in Tavares soon. Start with Mitts or Cozens in the offer,  and work from there with other assets that the team probably overvalues

Edited January 3 by mjd1001

[Doohickie]

I'd be very careful about trading Mitts.  He is one of our more versatile and tenacious forwards.  I think if we traded him to TO we'd regret it.

[LGR4GM]

19 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I'd be very careful about trading Mitts.  He is one of our more versatile and tenacious forwards.  I think if we traded him to TO we'd regret it.

Mitts scored the most points on the team in the 2023 calendar year. He was also top 5 in 5v5 points for the last calendar year. 

 

[thewookie1]

No chance I make any trades with Toronto

[GASabresIUFAN]

…. and Mitts is on pace for his first 20+ goal season.  

[pi2000]

There's no trade or set of trades that will fix how they defend as a team while not sacrificing too much offensively.  

[Pimlach]

23 hours 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.

First two comments in bold is the exact kind of thinking that is wrong with the Sabres.  

1.  Why not expect the Playoffs next year?  Every good team the Sabres have ever had came up with a big year that surprised every one.  That happens to most teams (Philly/Kings this year, Devils last year).  

Talent-wise they are close right now- get a coach, get a goalie, get a veteran top 4 D that is already in his prime.  Then add few vet forwards that bring defense, muscle, and grit to round out the bottom 6 - this does not cost a lot or "block anybody".    We have lots of assets to work with, including a prime draft pick coming, plus we have cap room.  

2.  Lets stop giving tryouts to players that everyone knows are not ready.   Savoie needs a year in the AHL and he really has to get stronger.  He literally looked not ready out there in his few NHL minutes.  Novikov is not ready.  Walhberg and Östlund will also be not ready.   Rousek will never be ready to do much in the NHL, he is a call up spare forward at best.  

Kulich/Rosen should get another look next year but given nothing for free.  We have guys like them right now.  We should be adding the missing elements.  

You want to get better?  Make some decisions on Savoie, Östlund, Kulich, Rosen. With the emergence of Benson/Peterka/Quinn do we need all 4?  No, start adding a few players that are proven NHL players and in their prime right now.  

I would be shopping Skinner too.  

[Pimlach]

45 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

There's no trade or set of trades that will fix how they defend as a team while not sacrificing too much offensively.  

Need  a coach.   

You can bring in 3 Selke winners and it wont help much given the way they play.  Their style reminds me of a team put together for a tournament.  Limited time to put in a system, you rely on talent.  

Whatever system we have is well known and even the worst teams can beat it.  

 

[Weave]

32 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Need  a coach.   

You can bring in 3 Selke winners and it wont help much given the way they play.  Their style reminds me of a team put together for a tournament.  Limited time to put in a system, you rely on talent.  

Whatever system we have is well known and even the worst teams can beat it.  

 

Interesting observation.

[pi2000]

53 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Need  a coach.   

You can bring in 3 Selke winners and it wont help much given the way they play.  Their style reminds me of a team put together for a tournament.  Limited time to put in a system, you rely on talent.  

Whatever system we have is well known and even the worst teams can beat it.  

 

It's like watching beer league....  passive defense, lots of puck watching, countless one-and-dones on zone entries with the vast majority of shots coming from the perimeter trying to snipe instead of just getting pucks and bodies to the net.   

It's easy to defend against and easy to play against with the puck.

[Thorny]

So frightening because dollars to donuts not only is this similar to the approach we underwent this past offseason, you can’t tell me this probably isn’t *exactly* what we hear from management heading into next season. So, just a preview:

 

Edited January 3 by Thorny

[Thorny]

 

[seer775]

13 hours ago, Pimlach said:

First two comments in bold is the exact kind of thinking that is wrong with the Sabres.  

1.  Why not expect the Playoffs next year?  Every good team the Sabres have ever had came up with a big year that surprised every one.  That happens to most teams (Philly/Kings this year, Devils last year).  

Talent-wise they are close right now- get a coach, get a goalie, get a veteran top 4 D that is already in his prime.  Then add few vet forwards that bring defense, muscle, and grit to round out the bottom 6 - this does not cost a lot or "block anybody".    We have lots of assets to work with, including a prime draft pick coming, plus we have cap room.  

2.  Lets stop giving tryouts to players that everyone knows are not ready.   Savoie needs a year in the AHL and he really has to get stronger.  He literally looked not ready out there in his few NHL minutes.  Novikov is not ready.  Walhberg and Östlund will also be not ready.   Rousek will never be ready to do much in the NHL, he is a call up spare forward at best.  

Kulich/Rosen should get another look next year but given nothing for free.  We have guys like them right now.  We should be adding the missing elements.  

You want to get better?  Make some decisions on Savoie, Östlund, Kulich, Rosen. With the emergence of Benson/Peterka/Quinn do we need all 4?  No, start adding a few players that are proven NHL players and in their prime right now.  

I would be shopping Skinner too.  

We only got close last year when we had 5 20+ goal scorers. Our depth is awful. Our goaltending is awful. Our special teams are awful. Our defense is awful. We've got a few young stars in the making, a ton of prospects, and a ton of draft picks.

A playoff appearance relies on KA making moves on every weak position between now and next season and hitting on most of them. The odds of that are very low, especially given KA's aversion to bringing in talent from external sources. We are likely to remain the youngest team next year. Not playoff material, yet.

Keep rebuilding. Shed what is unnecessary. Be patient and discerning. I highly doubt KA has anything else in mind.

Edited January 4 by seer775

[LGR4GM]

should probably think about signing Mitts instead of trading him. 

 

[Archie Lee]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

should probably think about signing Mitts instead of trading him. 

 

The good news is there are comparable players on that list who are not among the games most highly paid. Mittelstadt, as an RFA whose overall #’s don’t quite match his 5v5 #’s, should slot in below Thomas/DeBrincat and above the current Guentzel and Hyman deals. 
 

The bad news is, based on how the 1st half of this season has gone, we will likely go into next season as a bottom 10 team with our highest paid 8 players (current roster) making nearly 70% of the cap and with only one of them, Mitts, coming off a good season. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

17 hours ago, pi2000 said:

There's no trade or set of trades that will fix how they defend as a team while not sacrificing too much offensively.  

This organization has a choice to make similar to the one Wash made a few years ago. The choice is do we stay a free wheeling team and try to win 5-3 each night or do we fire the coach and bring in a new coach with a defensive first system?  Wash chose the latter and won a Cup because their O talent was enough to counter punch off the defensive transition.

I’d like to see a similar change in Buffalo, but we need buy in like Wash received from Ovie.  

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

This organization has a choice to make similar to the one Wash made a few years ago. The choice is do we stay a free wheeling team and try to win 5-3 each night or do we fire the coach and bring in a new coach with a defensive first system?  Wash chose the latter and won a Cup because their O talent was enough to counter punch off the defensive transition.

I’d like to see a similar change in Buffalo, but we need buy in like Wash received from Ovie.  

We don’t have anywhere near the physical players or the veteran leadership that Washington had.  You don’t survive a playoff run without both. 

[Warriorspikes51]

19 hours ago, Thorny said:

 

 

This is pathetic.   GET AN NHL GOALIE. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

We don’t have anywhere near the physical players or the veteran leadership that Washington had.  You don’t survive a playoff run without both. 

I’m going it have to disagree.  We currently have 3 players at or near 1000 games.  We have physical players as well.  Greenway, Dahlin, Clifton, Tuch Eric Johnson and Girgensons are all physical players.  We even have a pest is Skinner.  What we don’t have is proper coaching and goaltending.

We also don’t have defensive buy in from the forwards.  
 

 

[Berg]

On 12/28/2023 at 10:28 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.

Sabres GM is too stupid to make such decisions..

[Berg]

21 hours ago, Thorny said:

 

Yes..We feel really good...What a shame

[Pimlach]

4 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I’m going it have to disagree.  We currently have 3 players at or near 1000 games.  We have physical players as well.  Greenway, Dahlin, Clifton, Tuch Eric Johnson and Girgensons are all physical players.  We even have a pest is Skinner.  What we don’t have is proper coaching and goaltending.

We also don’t have defensive buy in from the forwards.  
 

 

That Caps team had a .640 winning percentage, they won their division,  Barry Trotz as coach.

Looked at that Caps line up and it is completely opposite of the team we have. It was built more like the Bruins team, or the Blues SC Team.  

Their size, their experience, their willingness to play physical, plus they had skill.  We are not even close to that level. 

Our 1000 game players are done.  I doubt they hold up in the playoffs past one round, and they are the ones everyone here wants to get rid of. 

Our physical players like Greenway and Tuch could not match what Washington brought.   Just Wilson and Oshie alone would handle these two, and they had much more.  

You are comparing a rough and tough veteran team that had been together a long time and eventually were Cup Champions, to a team that has not made the playoffs on 12 years, still does not hit anybody, and is playing .460 hockey.   

Edited January 4 by Pimlach