The offseason so far - Are the Sabres better?

[LGR4GM]

Just now, GASabresIUFAN said:

Wasn't Savoie his center most of his Jr career?

I don't remember how they ran lines in Winnipeg. That team also had Geekie.

[Thorny]

[LGR4GM]

28 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Skinner is 4.44mil, idk how they are mathing but there's 7.39mil in cap space before Timmins deal gets done. Idk what the 10million number is or how accounting for skinner puts you at 8. You still have to pay Jeff Skinner whether you're a serious or crappy owner. around 5.5-6mil will be left after Timmins is signed, that's accurate. 

 

 

[Flashsabre]

31 minutes ago, Thorny said:

It’s amazing they always want to leave cap for guys that have never won anything here. Atleast that’s how they spin it.

Reality is it’s an internal cap

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, Flashsabre said:

It’s amazing they always want to leave cap for guys that have never won anything here. Atleast that’s how they spin it.

Reality is it’s an internal cap

nah you see, we had to leave cap in case of a mythical offer sheet for Byram or something

[Thorny]

3 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

It’s amazing they always want to leave cap for guys that have never won anything here. Atleast that’s how they spin it.

Reality is it’s an internal cap

Definitely. The biggest thing for them that worked in their favour and made the suggestion of the “plan” possible was that “long form rebuild, sacrifice now to build your future!” fit in so snuggly with not spending to the cap.

The spending is the dictator of strategy. The relaying of the strategy is simply messaging 

[Demoted]

 

 

[JohnC]

21 minutes ago, Demoted said:

 

 

The general point that the commentators seem to be making is that beyond the talent level, which they find within a competitive range, is a mindset and belief that they are a worthy team. It just seems that the psychology of losing has overshadowed this franchise for a very long time. It is said every year but maybe just more so this year is to have a good start and stay in the mix and not have to have the added stress of playing a catch-up game. For me, the most important issue for this team is its goaltending. If it can be at a consistently solid level, then we should vying for a playoff spot. If that doesn't materialize, then this will be another sunk season. 

[DarthEbriate]

It's why the only way out of this mess is for Pegula to publicly state that EEE is finished and the mission is back to winning Cups. (And then blowing Adams out of the  ######## airlock!)

(wrong franchise)

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, Demoted said:

 

 

They think Zac Jones is going to make the Sabres roster and be a difference maker?  LMAO.  At best he's beating out Bryson and or Johnson for the 7/8 D slot.  

They seem to have missed the Sabres piss poor goaltending in their analysis.

[DarthEbriate]

16 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

They think Zac Jones is going to make the Sabres roster and be a difference maker?  LMAO.  At best he's beating out Bryson and or Johnson for the 7/8 D slot.  

They seem to have missed the Sabres piss poor goaltending in their analysis.

Of all the acquisitions to mention, Zac Jones seems the most important. It's just a matter on whether he can be as happy as Bryson to just be in the press box. Because if not, he's headed to waivers and Rochester.

I want to see that competition in training camp: who is better conversation for Adams in the press box?

[Thorny]

2 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

It's why the only way out of this mess is for Pegula to publicly state that EEE is finished and the mission is back to winning Cups. (And then blowing Adams out of the  ######## airlock!)

(wrong franchise)

In space, no one can hear you spend 

[LGR4GM]

3 hours ago, Demoted said:

 

 

Lhd Zac Jones was buried on the Rangers where their top D shoots right but will have a better chance on the Sabres where they have 2 first overall lefties, a 4th overall lefty, Bryson who they love because... vibes? And Ryan Johnson who's been waiting 3 years. 

Yea sure, Jones has a shot.

Oh and Samuelsson... I suppose he counts 

[GASabresIUFAN]

8 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Lhd Zac Jones was buried on the Rangers where their top D shoots right but will have a better chance on the Sabres where they have 2 first overall lefties, a 4th overall lefty, Bryson who they love because... vibes? And Ryan Johnson who's been waiting 3 years. 

Yea sure, Jones has a shot.

Oh and Samuelsson... I suppose he counts 

Absolutely.  Jones is the savior of the Sabres inept defense.  It was the signing of the century.  Didn't Adams give Johnson a 3 year deal?  I think Metsa has a better shot of making the Sabres then Zac Jones.

[Thorny]

2 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Absolutely.  Jones is the savior of the Sabres inept defense.  It was the signing of the century.  Didn't Adams give Johnson a 3 year deal?  I think Metsa has a better shot of making the Sabres then Zac Jones.

NOTICE

the above in bold has been found to be an infringement on citizen Thorny’s trademarked sarcasm gimmick 

CEASE AND DESIST to avoid further action 

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

NOTICE

the above in bold has been found to be an infringement on citizen Thorny’s trademarked sarcasm gimmick 

CEASE AND DESIST to avoid further action 

I wasn’t being sarcastic.  I was being dead serious.  After all two genius talking heads on the NHL network said Jones is great.  Why shouldn’t I believe them?  

Of course it does raise the question is if Jones is so great why didn’t he have better options then signing here?

Edited Saturday at 12:35 AM by GASabresIUFAN

[dudacek]

Are the Sabres harder to play against?

In/out since trade deadline 2024, when they seemed to start thinking this was a thing:

• Granato for Ruff
• Christie for Appert
• Cozens for Norris
• Mittelstadt for McLeod
• Skinner for Zucker
• Peterka for Doan
• Olofsson for Kulich
• Girgensons for Danforth
• Okposo for Malenstyn
• Erik Johnson for Byram
• Jokiharju for Kesselring 
• Clifton for Timmins

Im thinking incrementally but not dramatically?

To my eyes Olofsson and Mittelstadt are two of the least edgy players we’ve had and Peterka and Skinner among the least  diligent defensively.

But it’s not like they’ve added a ton of edge with the guys they’ve brought in.

Also, Peterka Cozens Mittelstadt and Skinner represent a pretty significant exodus in terms of “running it back” up front.  New coach plus Cozens, Girgensons and Okposo all wore letters marks a real leadership shift. Half the D is new.

This might not be a better hockey team, but these are not Donnie Granato’s Sabres.

Edited 8 hours ago by dudacek

[DarthEbriate]

12 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Are the Sabres harder to play against?

In/out since trade deadline 2024, when they seemed to start thinking this was a thing:

• Granato for Ruff
• Christie for Appert
• Cozens for Norris
• Mittelstadt for McLeod
• Skinner for Zucker
• Peterka for Doan
• Olofsson for Kulich
• Girgensons for Danforth
• Okposo for Malenstyn
• Erik Johnson for Byram
• Jokiharju for Kesselring 
• Clifton for Timmins

Im thinking incrementally but not dramatically?

To my eyes Olofsson and Mittelstadt are two of the least edgy players we’ve had and Peterka and Skinner among the least  diligent defensively.

But it’s not like they’ve added a ton of edge with the guys they’ve brought in.

Also, Peterka Cozens Mittelstadt and Skinner represent a pretty significant exodus in terms of “running it back” up front.  New coach plus Cozens, Girgensons and Okposo all wore letters marks a real leadership shift. Half the D is new.

This might not be a better hockey team, but these are not Donnie Granato’s Sabres.

They have to really, really hunker down defensively (the roster should be better at it than in years previously. Instead of Granato teaching them to play defense, it's a bunch of new guys.) However, none of these moves are goalies, which probably makes the greatest impact by an individual in terms of being hard to play against.

What I do see in that list is that in nearly every instance it's a downgrade in points scored, the exceptions being Danforth, Byram (EJ never got 1st pair/Dahlin time), and Kesselring.

[dudacek]

6 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

.

What I do see in that list is that in nearly every instance it's a downgrade in points scored, the exceptions being Danforth, Byram (EJ never got 1st pair/Dahlin time), and Kesselring.

Generally agree with your point, but McLeod and Zucker did outpoint Mitts and Skinner, Norris did outscore Cozens and Kulich matched Olofsson

[Drag0nDan]

31 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

They have to really, really hunker down defensively (the roster should be better at it than in years previously. Instead of Granato teaching them to play defense, it's a bunch of new guys.) However, none of these moves are goalies, which probably makes the greatest impact by an individual in terms of being hard to play against.

What I do see in that list is that in nearly every instance it's a downgrade in points scored, the exceptions being Danforth, Byram (EJ never got 1st pair/Dahlin time), and Kesselring.

So many "if's" on this roster

• If they can get the PP into the top half of the league, that would probably = another 10ish goals.  
• If they do the same with the PK, that's probably another 10ish saved.  They were -20 in goal differential, so that alone is very important.
• If UPL/Lyon/Levi can go from bottom 2 or 3 in the league to league average - that'd probably be 30 or so goals fewer ( i used .902 as the team SV% vs. .888)

If all those things happen, i think they're playoff bound regardless of the loss of some of the 5on5 scoring.  Doing better than 6-13-3 against your own division (other than ottawa), would probably help jump a bit up the standings.