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Posted
3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I think they match. I'd give him 11 million x7 July 1 without blinking. 

I think they probably match as well but I think there is value in making other teams spend more than they want.

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Posted

Tuch signs with Seattle 

Sabres sign Boone Jenner

Acquire Hellebuyck and D Colin Miller for UPL, Kesselring, Norris, and Quinn

Greenway, Krebs, and Dunne gone 

 

Benson Kulich Thompson

Doan Östlund Zucker

Jenner McLeod Helenius

Malenstyn Carrick Danforth

Extra: Kozak

Dahlin-Samuellson

Power-Byram

Miller-Timmons

Extra: Metsa

Hellebuyck

Lyon

Ellis

Posted (edited)

Tuch - UFA - re-signs 7 years/$9.25M, front-loaded with signing bonuses and partial trade protection in final 3 years

Quinn - trade piece - see below

Norris – trade piece - see below

Kulich - trade piece - see below

McLeod - remains a Sabre

Greenway - trade piece - see below

Benson - RFA - signs at 7 years/$6.75M

Krebs - RFA - rights traded (or is allowed to walk worst case) - see below

Malenstyn - UFA - re-signs 3 years/$2.35M

Kozak - trade piece - see below

Byram -  remains a Sabre (extended after Thomas acquired)

Kesselring - RFA - signs 2 years/$1.85M

Lyon/Ellis - retained

UPL - trade piece - see below

Stanley, Pearson, Dunne, Schenn - gone

Metsa - UFA - signs 2 years/$1.15M

---

Norris + Quinn + Kulich + 1st for Robert Thomas

Krebs' rights + 2027 3rd traded for a mid-tier defensive prospect

Sabres sign A.J. Greer 2 years/$1.6M

UPL + Kozak traded for Connor Zary

Greenway trade for a pick

---

Opening Night Roster

Benson - Thomas - Thompson

Zucker - McLeod - Tuch

Doan - Zary - Östlund

Malenstyn - Carrick - Greer

Helenius


Samuelsson - Dahlin

Byram - Power

Kesselring - Timmins

Metsa

Lyon
Ellis
Levi

Edited by ...
updated 5/29/26
Posted
On 5/25/2026 at 10:39 PM, elijah said:

Benson (unfortunately) bridges 2yr/$4.75M

Byram gets extended 6yr/$7.25M

Krebs walks and gets paid $4M+ AAV

Think I was low on Benson, if it’s a bridge it’s 2x$5.25M, and I wouldn’t necessarily leave out a 1 year deal to be honest just to get Skinner’s buyout off the books 

Also think I was low on Byram, they give him Power’s exact remaining contract. 6x$8.35M

Add Stanley to the $4M+ AAV in FA club

Posted
7 hours ago, ... said:

Greenway - traded for a 3rd or 4th

I think this is extremely wishful thinking, hopefully I’m wrong. I see us needing to attach a 3rd or a 4th to Greenway to trade him for free, rather than getting a 3rd or 4th back. 

If no one in the fan base wants him here and feels a need to clear his cap, I’d imagine that’s how opposing GMs would feel about him as well

Posted
23 hours ago, pastajoe said:

Tuch signs with Seattle 

Sabres sign Boone Jenner

Acquire Hellebuyck and D Colin Miller for UPL, Kesselring, Norris, and Quinn

Greenway, Krebs, and Dunne gone 

 

Benson Kulich Thompson

Doan Östlund Zucker

Jenner McLeod Helenius

Malenstyn Carrick Danforth

Extra: Kozak

Dahlin-Samuellson

Power-Byram

Miller-Timmons

Extra: Metsa

Hellebuyck

Lyon

Ellis

I honestly would hate going into a season with Kulich and Östlund as our top 2 centers. 

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Posted
10 hours ago, ... said:

Tuch - UFA - takes 6 years/$10M, front-loaded with signing bonuses in the first 3 years

Quinn - remains a Sabre

Byram -  remains a Sabre (extended over summer)

McLeod - remains a Sabre

Levi - trade piece - see below

Greenway - trade piece - see below

Benson - RFA - signs at 7 years/$6.75M

Krebs - RFA - rights traded (or is allowed to walk worst case) - see below

Malenstyn - UFA - re-signs 3 years/$2.35M

Kesselring - RFA - signs 2 years/$1.85M

UPL/Lyon/Ellis - retained

Norris – trade piece - see below

Stanley, Pearson, Dunne, Schenn - gone

---

Devon Levi + Peyton Krebs' RFA rights + pick for Cole Sillinger's RFA rights
Sillinger signs bridge 3 years/$3.25M

Sabres sign A.J. Greer 2 years/$1.75M

Norris traded for a 2nd and a prospect

Zucker traded for a 2nd or 3rd + prospect

Greenway - traded for a 3rd or 4th

---

Opening Night Roster


Benson - Thompson - Tuch

Doan - McLeod - Quinn

Helenius - Sillinger - Östlund

Malenstyn - Carrick – Greer

Kulich


Samuelsson - Dahlin

Byram - Power

Metsa - Timmins - Kesselring

 
Lyon/UPL/Ellis

Lots of interesting info here.

Is Cole Sillinger better than Krebs?   I don't see him play much.  They seem like similar players so why trade Levi and Krebs for Sillinger?  

I think you will have give Greenway away with a pick to move him.  

Posted (edited)

So what the hell, go big or go home.

Krebs, Zucker, Greenway, Stanley, Schenn, Persson all gone in minor deals or walk of their contract is up

Tuch gets traded to Seattle for a 3rd.

Levi and Kesserling traded to Pittsburgh for  a second or a third

UPL, Mrtka, McLeod and a 1st traded to St. Louis for Kyrou and Parayko.

Bobrovski signed to two year contract for $5K per year.

Benson signs exact same deal as Doan.

Malenstyn signs for $2.7K 

Byram extends for same contract as Power.

This all comes in at $200K below cap and sets them up for big space next year.

ROSTER:

Thompson/Kulich/Kyrou

Benson/Norris/Doan

Östlund/Helenius/Quinn

Malenstyn/Carrick/Danforth

Kozak

 

Sammy/Dahlin

Power/Parayko

Byram/Timmins

Metsa

 

Bob

Lyon

Ellis

 

Edited by tom webster
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Posted
58 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Lots of interesting info here.

Is Cole Sillinger better than Krebs?   I don't see him play much.  They seem like similar players so why trade Levi and Krebs for Sillinger?  

I think you will have give Greenway away with a pick to move him.  

Greenway has more value that Sabres fans think, IMHO. He had a good playoffs and is "healthy" now.

Sillinger is a higher-upside, more physically imposing middle-six forward with better recent defensive/process improvements. Krebs was "meh" in the playoffs, and while motivated, simply can't provide the grit to manage teams like the Habs or Carolina (as examples).

I may, though, revise my plan. I keep nit-picking at it and am finding some more interesting, realistic options. The weakness in my plan, as posted, is a potential drop in scoring unless the kids continue to improve (which I don't see why they wouldn't). I don't know if Jarmo would take that risk now that I've had a night to think about it.

And I forgot Kozak.

 

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Posted

I’d like to see them get Knies out of Toronto. They need defense. I’d make anyone available outside of Ras. If they want Byrum, he’s got #1 potential so I think it shouldn’t take too much more.  

Posted

This was a tough one. Tuch or no Tuch is the decision that pretty much decide how to do the rest. With Tuch there is everything else at cheapest, possible option. Without him I think there might be talks to swap UPL for Gustavsson or other.

Without Tuch would be a step back, Jarmo is not a guy that take a step back. Ruff would not be coach for two more years if there was any doubts about that. 

Here we go:

Tuch 8x9 plus bonuses

Benson bridge 2x5

Byram 6x9milj AAV 

Levi to Oilers for Josh Samanski and a fourth (-28)

Malenstyn walks 

Norris, Kesselring, Mrtka and -27 and-28(top ten protected) firsts to Stl for Thomas, 1milj retain next season. (Norris traded to Minnesota later)

Krebs to Preds for a 2nd this year, and a third. 

We draft a LW in the first round 

Ville Siren joins his old friend Jarmos team at the Sabres office after the draft. 

We trade Greenway to Calgary with a fourth rounder as a sweetener. 

Jarmo fills out the rest of the roster with Dunne 0,9 AAV and Nick Jensen 1x1AAV.

Benson Thomas Doan 

Östlund Thompson Tuch 

Helenius McLeod Quinn 

Zucker  Carrick Dunne 

Danforth 

 

Samuelsson Dahlin 

Power Byram 

Timmins Metsa 

Jensen 

 

UPL , Lyon, Ellis

Kulich starts season in Rochester 

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, SJSabres Fan said:

I’d like to see them get Knies out of Toronto. They need defense. I’d make anyone available outside of Ras. If they want Byrum, he’s got #1 potential so I think it shouldn’t take too much more.  

Knies is a product of playing with Austin Matthews.  When he is playing with anyone else (even if he has Tavares or Nylander) his production nosedives. Over the last couple years, if he doesn't have Matthews, he is barely a 'teens per 80 games' goal scorer, he is negative in plus minus, and almost all his advanced metrics are WAY negative.

I could excuse that saying that anyone playing with Matthews will be better, but again, even when he is with other top guys on that team, he's been a below average 200 foot player.  And with that contract? I think he is signed long term for just under $8m per year.  MAYBE he will grow and turn into a better player, but right now? No thanks.

Edited by mjd1001
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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

He's going to mortgage the future by trading at LEAST two of:

-Östlund

-Helenius

-Mrtka

-1st round pick

in exchange for a veteran who "plays the right way", but is just a mid level point producer and is an analytical liability.

Posted
2 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

He's going to mortgage the future by trading at LEAST two of:

-Östlund

-Helenius

-Mrtka

-1st round pick

in exchange for a veteran who "plays the right way", but is just a mid level point producer and is an analytical liability.

It's possible.  But, his history of bringing in "big splash" players is one of bringing in guys like Bobrovsky, Panarin, and Gaudreau.  If 2 of those pieces you've listed above are going out the door, they aren't bringing a Kyle Okposo back in.  (Not that Okposo was brought in via trade; just that's the sort of player your post elicited as an example.)

Can't see Knies being brought in, especially at that sort of price tag.

Posted

And to build further on that.  The prospect forward, out of the "big 4" that got traded for stuff was the weakest of the 4 by far.  Losing a piece that was never going to play here to build depth for the playoffs (when it became apparent there weren't upgrades available at the prices Kekalainen was willing to pay, at least none that didn't use their NMCs) would indicate that Jarmo has a reasonable handle on who's worth what from the 50 contracts he has control of.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Taro T said:

And to build further on that.  The prospect forward, out of the "big 4" that got traded for stuff was the weakest of the 4 by far.  Losing a piece that was never going to play here to build depth for the playoffs (when it became apparent there weren't upgrades available at the prices Kekalainen was willing to pay, at least none that didn't use their NMCs) would indicate that Jarmo has a reasonable handle on who's worth what from the 50 contracts he has control of.

I wasn't sad to see Rosen go. I was just sad he went for a guy who'd I'd prefer not to see in the lineup. I really liked watching Metsa and his ability to win 50-50 pick battles and make high vision passes out of the zone. That, and the opportunity cost of maybe packaging him for something else, but I agree he was never going to be part of this team.

I also don't like that he was chasing Parayko. He's a classic "play the game the right way" guy who's not as good as his reputation. As a Canadian, I really hope his Team Canada days are done.

Posted

Coming soon:

  • Tuch signs with a contender for less than $10M AAV
  • Malenstyn also walks, signing a 4-year deal at more then $3M AAV
  • Benson becomes the Sabres highest-paid forward with an 8-year extension of close to $70M.
  • Bo Byram extends for 8 years, $75M
  • Peyton Krebs extends for 4 years, $16M
  • Ryan McLeod, Radim Mrtka, and the Sabres 1st traded to Toronto for Matthew Knies
  • Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Jordan Greenway traded for futures/cap space
  • A veteran tweener goalie and a cheap physical depth winger added.
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Posted

I think he’s a long shot with cap and roster fit as it exists right now.

But if other moves shake out the space I very much see the Sabres and Boone Jenner as a match.

The grit, the faceoffs, the Jarmo history, plus Jenners desire to win and comfort with a Buffalo-type market: too many factors to ignore.

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