Summer 2025: NHL Offseason

[Richard Noggin]

On 7/15/2025 at 10:42 PM, thewookie1 said:

Here's a random idea that could be a clever way to get another scorer

Max Pacioretty, he's still unsigned and still wants to play

Played very solid in the playoffs for the Leafs and even increased his hitting. In lieu of trading for a more assured upgrade; I'd throw him a 1mil contract with a few incentives and just see how it goes

But would he really want to throw his 36 year old self around the ice one more time in Buffalo? Think of how Leafs players/org must view the entire pro hockey vibe in Buffalo given the way their own fans consistently take over Buffalo's arena when the Leafs are in town. Guy with Pacioretty's pedigree would have to be carrying around a serious chip on his shoulder to go to hockey hell. 

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

He wouldn’t of been a good pick up due to Greenway being retained however had he been traded or walked I would of approved

I wish him great health and zero NHL success for the next 3 seasons 😉

What? You're acting like Greenway is everything? You have one guy who might hit somebody once in a while and that's it? That's all you need? 

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

We already added a younger version of him, Doan. I don't see much value in adding Joshua at this point unless you're able to move Greenway out, which I doubt they can. 

Just like Wookie you guys seem to think one guy is all you need. Just absurd. 

I'm reserving any judgement on  Doan until I see him actually play for us. I didn't see much Utah hockey so I have no idea what his if anything. Don't get caught up into thinking he's his dad. 

[thewookie1]

2 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

What? You're acting like Greenway is everything? You have one guy who might hit somebody once in a while and that's it? That's all you need? 

 

That wasn't at all my point

Our lineup presently:

Benson-Norris-Tage

Zucker - Kulich - Tuch

Quinn - McLeod - Doan

 ??? - ??? - ???

 

To fill those 4th line role we already have Greenway, Krebs, Danforth, Malenstyn and Kozak.

Let's put Krebs at 4C and Greenway at a wing

So now Danforth, Malenstyn and Kozak have a singular spot to play

[LGR4GM]

5 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Just like Wookie you guys seem to think one guy is all you need. Just absurd. 

I'm reserving any judgement on  Doan until I see him actually play for us. I didn't see much Utah hockey so I have no idea what his if anything. Don't get caught up into thinking he's his dad. 

We have more than one guy. Who are you subtracting from the roster to add Joshua?

Anytime a player gets moved that you think is "tough" you do this. I didn't mention Doan because we only need guy, I mentioned Doan because you get Joshua that's Doans spot in lineup. 

I don't think Doans his dad, what a silly statement. 

2 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

 

That wasn't at all my point

Our lineup presently:

Benson-Norris-Tage

Zucker - Kulich - Tuch

Quinn - McLeod - Doan

 ??? - ??? - ???

 

To fill those 4th line role we already have Greenway, Krebs, Danforth, Malenstyn and Kozak.

Let's put Krebs at 4C and Greenway at a wing

So now Danforth, Malenstyn and Kozak have a singular spot to play

See, Wookie gets it. Where does Joshua play, who's he better than? Quinn? Doan? Greenway? 

Edited 18 hours ago by LGR4GM

[LGR4GM]

I suppose Joshua is better than Greenway but they like Greenway's leadership.  They already added Danforth which could also be Joshua role. I could be convinced Joshua might be better but idk by now much. 

[Flashsabre]

If Mason McTavish is available in Anaheim what is your best offer to acquire him? And no, Mule, Rosen and a 2nd isn’t going to get it done.😁

[LGR4GM]

6 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

If Mason McTavish is available in Anaheim what is your best offer to acquire him? And no, Mule, Rosen and a 2nd isn’t going to get it done.😁

Quinn, Rosen, Strbak

[ponokasabre]

5 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

If Mason McTavish is available in Anaheim what is your best offer to acquire him? And no, Mule, Rosen and a 2nd isn’t going to get it done.😁

That’s a good question, boy with not an easy response, I don’t know what they would want 

Östlund/Helenius and a top 5 protected first? They would probably want a guy like Krebs back 

I do also think I would put Kulich in the package if needed too, but with him I’m likely sending less pieces back

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Quinn, Rosen, Strbak

I think that’s light, I could see them liking Quinn as a piece and then we could move Kulich to the wing 

If KA can pull off McTavish….this off season look waaaaay different 

[Archie Lee]

49 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Quinn, Rosen, Strbak

Honestly, I’m not sure that would get us Rust. 

I like all three players. But I think that would be like getting McTavish for a 2nd and two 3rds. Or maybe two 2nds and a 3rd. 

The two young roster forwards that we have with real trade value, are probably Kulich and Benson. If we are upgrading at centre, which we should be trying to do, then Kulich should be on the table in my view. 

[steveoath]

Is Kuznetsov worth a punt?

https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2025/07/18/evgeny-kuznetsov-agent-nhl-teams-contract-early-august/ 

 

[PerreaultForever]

9 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

 

That wasn't at all my point

Our lineup presently:

Benson-Norris-Tage

Zucker - Kulich - Tuch

Quinn - McLeod - Doan

 ??? - ??? - ???

 

To fill those 4th line role we already have Greenway, Krebs, Danforth, Malenstyn and Kozak.

Let's put Krebs at 4C and Greenway at a wing

So now Danforth, Malenstyn and Kozak have a singular spot to play

No I see that but I think you also miss my point. The composition of the team isn't going to work. Those lines won't work. I want some grit in the top 6, not just the bottom 3. 

In the playoffs, Edmonton had Hyman with McJesus. When Hyman got hurt who did they put there? Jeff Skinner? No. Corey Perry. and it worked until they ran up against Florida who are even better at that. This is the kind of thing I'm thinking about. Balanced roster. 

6 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

We have more than one guy. Who are you subtracting from the roster to add Joshua?

Anytime a player gets moved that you think is "tough" you do this. I didn't mention Doan because we only need guy, I mentioned Doan because you get Joshua that's Doans spot in lineup. 

I don't think Doans his dad, what a silly statement. 

See, Wookie gets it. Where does Joshua play, who's he better than? Quinn? Doan? Greenway? 

This is easy. I'm trading Quinn. I hate that lazy soft piece of crap. 

[JohnnyK]

You need Grit who can play in the top 6 and make everyone else a little safer!!!

 

Go Sabres!!!

 

 

[Eleven]

23 minutes ago, JohnnyK said:

You need Grit who can play in the top 6 and make everyone else a little safer!!!

 

Go Sabres!!!

 

 

Yeah, that was supposed to be Alex Tuch.

[thewookie1]

55 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

No I see that but I think you also miss my point. The composition of the team isn't going to work. Those lines won't work. I want some grit in the top 6, not just the bottom 3. 

In the playoffs, Edmonton had Hyman with McJesus. When Hyman got hurt who did they put there? Jeff Skinner? No. Corey Perry. and it worked until they ran up against Florida who are even better at that. This is the kind of thing I'm thinking about. Balanced roster. 

This is easy. I'm trading Quinn. I hate that lazy soft piece of crap. 

Joshua isn't a Top 6 forward; Perry was used for 3 reasons. Grit, vet savvy, and the fact that in his prime he was a Top 6 player. You can't just stick a random tough guy in the Top 6 and expect it to actually achieve anything. Most players in Joshua's category aren't skilled enough to keep up. 

Additionally physicality means more in the playoffs than the regular season. 

[dudacek]

14 hours ago, dudacek said:

I was kinda down on the zucker and Greenway signings as meh over pays at the time.

But looking at what the free agent market ended up being and what players moved over the summer they look a little wiser.

Not seeing guys like Joshua and Marchment as big upgrades - roster or contract - and no guarantee we could have got them.

Curious what you dislike there @Thorny

Do you think we should have let those guys walk?

[Thorny]

4 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Curious what you dislike there @Thorny

Do you think we should have let those guys walk?

No I just didn’t find your logic very internally congruent towards the end there relative to the other post of yours I gave the thumbs up to

i realize they are different situations contextually but I much preferred the “help where you can get it” take 

Rather than the one that leaned towards “probably wouldn’t help much” 

Edited 11 hours ago by Thorny

[dudacek]

7 minutes ago, Thorny said:

No I just didn’t find your logic very internally congruent towards the end there relative to the other post of yours I gave the thumbs up to

i realize they are different situations contextually but I much preferred the “help where you can get it” take 

Rather than the one that leaned towards “probably wouldn’t help much” 

OK, my intent was more “maybe it wasn’t sucha bad idea keeping these guys” than “market sucks”.

Basically, I think it was in line with “help where you can get it” 🤷

[Thorny]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

OK, my intent was more “maybe it wasn’t sucha bad idea keeping these guys” than “market sucks”.

Basically, I think it was in line with “help where you can get it” 🤷

Fair enough 

[Thorny]

 

[LGR4GM]

here's the breakdown

 

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

Joshua isn't a Top 6 forward; Perry was used for 3 reasons. Grit, vet savvy, and the fact that in his prime he was a Top 6 player. You can't just stick a random tough guy in the Top 6 and expect it to actually achieve anything. Most players in Joshua's category aren't skilled enough to keep up. 

Additionally physicality means more in the playoffs than the regular season. 

I know, but that's been an ongoing thing with me forever. Don't build a regular season roster that you know will fail in the playoffs. Start with the idea of building a playoff type roster and keep upgrading talent until you get there and stay there and compete there. 

We need players who open up space for the other skill players and players who are on the ice when somebody rocks Thompson or maybe this year it'll be Dahlin. We need grit on every line not just the bottom 3. Joshua isn't Tom Wilson (the ideal version of top 6 grit) or Sam Bennett etc. but he has shown enough skill at times that he could succeed in an elevated role. 

Again, I just think they construct the roster in a bad and always failing way. Insanity. Just doing the same thing over and over again. 

[That Aud Smell]

 

[Taro T]

3 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

 

So, the next time the Sabres miss the playoffs, let the league slip them the mystery lottery win which has never happened when they haven't been the league's worst team and only happened 2 out of 4 times they were the league's worst team.