Sadly, Jarmo's offseason gameplan.

[mjd1001]

12 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

Krebs is the most easily replaceable of the three, so therefore he is the lowest priority and least worth overpaying for.

It might be a matter of what degree are you overpaying? For example, lets say the Sabres put a 'fair value' on all the guys up for contract. They all want/demand an overpayment over that number.  Tuch wants $3m over the number the Sabres have for him, Benson wants $2m over the number for him....yet a guy like Krebs wants $0.5m over what you have him 'fair valued' at. IT might still be an 'overpay' but at some point, how much of an overpayment each want does matter.

[TheAud]

7 hours ago, tom webster said:

They don’t even have to unload Norris. Greenway is the only necessity annd probably Beck. Anyone else will only be moved if it’s an upgrade.

I am sorry. I have a lot of respect for some of the posters in here and their knowledge but trading one of the league’s best 2/3 center who is on a great team friendly contract is utter nonsense.

 I like McLeod but at the end of the day he's a passenger, not a driver. Which makes him replaceable. Not replaceable with just anyone of course, but on a team with Östlund, Kulich, and Helenius in the wings it's not "utter nonsense" to consider him a reasonable option for cap management purposes, should it be necessary and a good trade could be had.  For example if he was part of a package with UPL that brought back Robert Thomas I'd be all over that. 

Edited May 8 by TheAud

[stinky finger]

On 5/7/2026 at 2:00 PM, GASabresIUFAN said:

Greenway comes off the books after next season, also so does $4 mill of the Skinner penalty.  Cap will also rise.  That’s plenty to re-sign Byram.

I hope the bolded is true. To me, he is a MUST HAVE long term. He has become something special. 

 

 

[Archie Lee]

What’s clear, not surprisingly, is that there is no fan consensus on which of the mid-priced veterans (aside from Greenway) should go to make room for keeping Tuch. For me, as much as I like him, Zucker would be next on my list after Greenway. No easy choices here. 

A couple of additional thoughts on the off-season:

1) I wonder if the Sabres could still get an asset for Tuch in trade?  Marner was sent to Vegas in a sign and trade for Nic Roy who was later traded for Colorado’s 1st in 2027.   I know Tuch doesn’t have Marner’s pedigree, but the abundance of cap space combined with the lack of players to spend the money on, could lead to teams getting creative.  Likewise with…

2) RFA’s.  I wonder if the calculus on Benson is changing.  His regular season health and production pointed to a bridge, but his playoff performance has been next level and he is garnering a lot of media attention.  A $7 million offer sheet would only cost a contending team a late 1st and a 3rd.  Could a lack of UFA’s unlock some RFA interest?  

 

Edited May 8 by Archie Lee

[stinky finger]

11 hours ago, triumph_communes said:

I think we trade Power if we sign Tuch

I think Power could very well be traded. A good player with a good contract. That said, Lord Byram is clearly my preference. Moving Power might be necessary to re-sign others. 

[Eleven]

I'd like it if they looked like contracts from Looney Tunes.  With the big gothic lettering that says "CONTRACT" at the top and a gold seal and ribbon at the bottom.  Maybe even rolled up so it can dramatically scroll toward the end of the cartoon.

 

Other than that, this is May and the Sabres are playing hockey, and who cares?  This is late June talk!

[tom webster]

1 hour ago, TheAud said:

 I like McLeod but at the end of the day he's a passenger, not a driver. Which makes him replaceable. Not replaceable with just anyone of course, but on a team with Östlund, Kulich, and Helenius in the wings it's not "utter nonsense" to consider him a reasonable option for cap management purposes, should it be necessary and a good trade could be had.  For example if he was part of a package with UPL that brought back Robert Thomas I'd be all over that. 

That’s different. That’s a hockey trade and has nothing to do with cap management. My point is good teams don’t dump him to replace him with still unproven prospects. 

Östlund is a perfect example. Most scouts thought he was at least capable of what he’s doing although they might not have given him high enough marks for his hockey IQ. The question was could his body type hold up to the rigors of the NHL. And we still don’t know. Kulich may never play again. Obviously we hope he does but no one can be sure st this point. Helenius has still proven nothing.

[Brawndo]

6 minutes ago, tom webster said:

That’s different. That’s a hockey trade and has nothing to do with cap management. My point is good teams don’t dump him to replace him with still unproven prospects. 

Östlund is a perfect example. Most scouts thought he was at least capable of what he’s doing although they might not have given him high enough marks for his hockey IQ. The question was could his body type hold up to the rigors of the NHL. And we still don’t know. Kulich may never play again. Obviously we hope he does but no one can be sure st this point. Helenius has still proven nothing.

I agree wholeheartedly. I would be very hesitant moving McLeod, I love what Östlund brings, but he has missed between 20-30% of his games each year going back to his SHL Days. Depending on Norris and Östlund, both who have injury history could be disastrous.

Also not that they have to move him, but there would be a market for Norris this offseason 

[Night Train]

Jarmo

 

[Archie Lee]

14 hours ago, Brawndo said:

I agree wholeheartedly. I would be very hesitant moving McLeod, I love what Östlund brings, but he has missed between 20-30% of his games each year going back to his SHL Days. Depending on Norris and Östlund, both who have injury history could be disastrous.

Also not that they have to move him, but there would be a market for Norris this offseason 

I agree that there would be a market for Norris. Four years of Norris at $7.95 million per, is still a risk, but it is not in the "do not consider" category that it would have been in the recent dead-cap-era.  There are multiple teams that could take Norris and have so much cap-space left-over that they can't find players to spend it on.  

[SabreFinn]

My wishes for the offseason, and how Jarmo should prioritize are:

1. Extend Tuch, no matter what 

2. Bridge Benson to an as affordable deal as possible. Under 6m would be ideal. 

3. Get Robert Thomas if the rumors that he is on the market were true. He is exactly what we need. The deal should be for Norris and picks and prospects but we probably need to include Krebs in the deal to make it interesting enough. 

Everything else is secondary. If there's any possibility to keep Malenstyn do it. I just don't think there's any room left by then, not guessing any numbers, and they might still be rising if we make it to the conference finals. 

[sabrefanday1]

I totally am on board with the reasoning that we simply cannot give Tuch 7 years. We have been there done that with long contracts to older players and 100% regretted them all. I was goo dwith trading Tuch at the deadline and still am good with a sign and trade ala Marner. We have young guys that need to be signed and need to clear up cap space. Big question is can we get anyone to take Norris? Oh and yes we can trade Power if there is a good offer like Thomas? 

[Scottysabres]

Benson is pushing for one of those 7.5+ mil contracts.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Anyone still not ok with moving on from Zucker in favor of Östlund?  

[Eleven]

1 minute ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Anyone still not ok with moving on from Zucker in favor of Östlund?  

I want to know the extent of his injuries first.  He's a valuable member of this team.

[Wyldnwoody44]

Tuch really playing himself out of that top $$ contract. 

I'm not sure if they are going to negotiate mostly based on regular season, but he has not been very stellar overall in the playoffs and if I'm Jarmo, I'm using that in negotiations. 

Not sure how to play this hand. 

[Weave]

1 hour ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Tuch really playing himself out of that top $$ contract. 

I'm not sure if they are going to negotiate mostly based on regular season, but he has not been very stellar overall in the playoffs and if I'm Jarmo, I'm using that in negotiations. 

Not sure how to play this hand. 

I thought Tuch wad a beast in the Boston series.

[Eleven]

2 minutes ago, Weave said:

I thought Tuch wad a beast in the Boston series.

He was.

[Wyldnwoody44]

2 hours ago, Weave said:

I thought Tuch wad a beast in the Boston series.

Fair enough, but for 10 mil+ I need to see something this series. 

I'm aware the whole team is playing like doo doo, but that's when I should notice more from the top money guys 

[Weave]

Just now, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Fair enough, but for 10 mil+ I need to see something this series. 

I'm aware the whole team is playing like doo doo, but that's when I should notice more from the top money guys 

Tuch has played hard.  His speed is not the advantage against the Habs that it was against Boston.  Montreal is able to minimize his greatest asset.  
 

I think Thompson is the real no-show concern.  And its not his effort.  Its between his ears.

[Brawndo]

Evolving Hockey released their contract projections for this offseason 

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, Brawndo said:

Evolving Hockey released their contract projections for this offseason 

@tom webster, can the Sabres keep all these ones at these salaries without punting Norris for futures?  Hope so.

You usually have good options for them keeping everybody important.  Please work your magic again.  

[BullBuchanan]

On 5/7/2026 at 10:56 AM, GASabresIUFAN said:

I know people may not like this idea, but I'm moving on from McLeod and inserting Östlund in his job, saving $4+ million to help pay for Tuch.  I honestly don't think Norris is tradeable.  I'm also inserting Kulich for Zucker and saving $3+ there.

My thought on Benny is that he won't want to sign long-term until he is a 60 pt player in 2 years.

Rumour has it the blues already wanted him this year. Someone will definitely take him. We should sign 2-3 players instead of Tuch and upgrade Norris instead and we'll be in a better spot than if we keep an old Tuch and a weak Norris.

[inkman]

On 5/8/2026 at 12:18 PM, inkman said:

 

https://forums.hfboards.com/threads/norris-held-up-the-thomas-to-buffalo-deal.3025043/

 

2 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

Rumour has it the blues already wanted him this year. Someone will definitely take him. We should sign 2-3 players instead of Tuch and upgrade Norris instead and we'll be in a better spot than if we keep an old Tuch and a weak Norris.

Read. The. Thread.  
 

 

Otherwise what is the point of this discussion. 🙄

[Taro T]

7 minutes ago, inkman said:

 

Read. The. Thread.  
 

 

Otherwise what is the point of this discussion. 🙄

There's people here that don't even read what THEY themselves write.  You honestly expect people to read what OTHERS have written before reading the single post to which they're responding?  When did YOU develop such faith in humanity?  😉