Rumor: Owen Power apparently on the trade block

[Darth Vladar]

Multiple outlets reporting on this in the past few weeks. The Sabres seem all but ready to give up on this kid and he’s still only 22. He already has two 30-ish point seasons under his belt, looks poised to crack 40+ this year playing for one of the league’s worst teams, and his underlying stats are actually pretty good. The only downside would be that he’ll be making $8.35M AAV until 2031, but it’s not as though the Flames don’t have the cap space.

Bahl’s injury really exposed how terrible they are on the left side. No disrespect to Hanley, but he should NOT be in our top-four, nor should Bean. Is Owen Power the type of guy Conny should make a play for, and if so, what would it cost?

3 bad contracts the Sabres need to shed at the trade deadline

There are two things we should brace ourselves for once the 2025 trade deadline arrives.

sabrenoise.com

Click to read more...

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

If available we should absolutely be looking at him. It would cost an arm and a leg though

 

[Lunatik]

Multiple outlets reporting on this in the past few weeks. The Sabres seem all but ready to give up on this kid and he’s still only 22. He already has two 30-ish point seasons under his belt, looks poised to crack 40+ this year playing for one of the league’s worst teams, and his underlying stats are actually pretty good. The only downside would be that he’ll be making $8.35M AAV until 2031, but it’s not as though the Flames don’t have the cap space.

Bahl’s injury really exposed how terrible they are on the left side. No disrespect to Hanley, but he should NOT be in our top-four, nor should Bean. Is Owen Power the type of guy Conny should make a play for, and if so, what’s it gonna cost him?

3 bad contracts the Sabres need to shed at the trade deadline

There are two things we should brace ourselves for once the 2025 trade deadline arrives.

sabrenoise.com

I don't think they're giving up on him, I think Adams realizes he's their best trade chip to improve their team.

I'd love to get Power though, I think Huska would be a really good influence on his defensive game. But I think our only chip to land him is Weegar, the Sabres are too scared to trade for Ras because they are always afraid they won't be able to re-sign guys.

 

[Darth Vladar]

I don't think they're giving up on him, I think Adams realizes he's their best trade chip to improve their team.

I'd love to get Power though, I think Huska would be a really good influence on his defensive game. But I think our only chip to land him is Weegar, the Sabres are too scared to trade for Ras because they are always afraid they won't be able to re-sign guys.

I dunno how plugged in this Todd Matthews guy is who wrote the article I linked, just seems like your run-of-the-mill blogger, but I’ve seen multiple other articles suggesting something similar. At any rate, it’s interesting how he chose to position it:

3 bad contracts the Sabres need to shed at the trade deadline

“Owen Power looked like he was poised for a breakout season across the 2024-25 campaign’s first 33 games. He scored five goals, logged 22 points, and snagged a solid 8.2 shooting percentage.

“For a minute, Kevyn Adams signing Power to that long-term deal looked genius. But in the last 11 games, Power hasn’t snagged a single point, and he’s got a minus-5. Yeah, he’s still over 50 percent at even strength in the Corsi, and the Sabres are scoring 11 percent of the time when he’s on the ice.

“But those two numbers are about all Power has going for him, and his overall body of work is nowhere near what we’re looking for in a former first-overall pick. At this point, it might be better to trade Power elsewhere and free up even more cap space. Plus, someone out there will overpay for Power, especially a blueliner-needy team.”

Almost makes it seem more relative to his play than Adams trying to improve their team per se.

 

[RasmusAndersson]

Power would be an ideal fit for us both short term and long term. He’d fit great next to Weegar now and with all our young up-and-coming RD long term.

However, I agree that we don’t have the right pieces to land him. I would easily give up a 1st+ for him though if Buffalo would consider futures but I don’t know why they would

Now that I think about, Power+ for Pettersson would make a lot of sense for both sides.

 

[Darth Vladar]

Power would be an ideal fit for us both short term and long term. He’d fit great next to Weegar now and with all our young up-and-coming RD long term.

However, I agree that we don’t have the right pieces to land him. I would easily give up a 1st+ for him though if Buffalo would consider futures but I don’t know why they would

Now that I think about, Power+ for Pettersson would make a lot of sense for both sides.

Would definitely be a boon to that corps, but $23M tied up in three dmen though.

If you ask me, I think the Leafs should be the ones trying to make a play for him somehow. Rielly and OEL ain’t getting any younger. Power could set them up nicely for the foreseeable future, plus he’s a Mississauga native. Not sure what it would cost them though. Maybe Marner.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Yeah my guess is he goes to Vancouver with one of Helenius/Cozens/Ostlund for Pettersen.

I’d offer up Andersson because I believe that’s exactly the kind of move rebuilding teams should make. Huska would do wonders with that kid.

 

[Darth Vladar]

Yeah my guess is he goes to Vancouver with one of Helenius/Cozens/Ostlund for Pettersen.

I’d offer up Andersson because I believe that’s exactly the kind of move rebuilding teams should make. Huska would do wonders with that kid.

If Adams is offering Power + Cozens for Petey, you have to take that and run.

 

[Lunatik]

I dunno how plugged in this Todd Matthews guy is who wrote the article I linked, just seems like your run-of-the-mill blogger, but I’ve seen multiple other articles suggesting something similar. At any rate, it’s interesting how he chose to position it:

3 bad contracts the Sabres need to shed at the trade deadline

“Owen Power looked like he was poised for a breakout season across the 2024-25 campaign’s first 33 games. He scored five goals, logged 22 points, and snagged a solid 8.2 shooting percentage.

“For a minute, Kevyn Adams signing Power to that long-term deal looked genius. But in the last 11 games, Power hasn’t snagged a single point, and he’s got a minus-5. Yeah, he’s still over 50 percent at even strength in the Corsi, and the Sabres are scoring 11 percent of the time when he’s on the ice.

“But those two numbers are about all Power has going for him, and his overall body of work is nowhere near what we’re looking for in a former first-overall pick. At this point, it might be better to trade Power elsewhere and free up even more cap space. Plus, someone out there will overpay for Power, especially a blueliner-needy team.”

Almost makes it seem more relative to his play than Adams trying to improve their team per se.

It looks like nothing but an opinion piece, and not a very good one... dipshit is using corsi and a tiny sample size.

 

[Some Other Flame]

Yeah, that's not a rumor, just your run-of-the-mill idiot blogger venting.

Granted Power would definitely be nice but don't see how the Flames pull this off short of Adams pulling a Sweeney and letting him go for just picks a la Dougie Hamilton.

Power, like most of the Sabres young high end talent, struggles because they lack any sort of quality veteran leadership. He could learn a lot from a Weeger or Andersson (if he re-signs).

 

[ValJamesDuex]

Sabres side:
I don't think he is available or being shopped. But for Pettersson (Van), maybe he could be a main piece. He played great per the charts last night vs the Bruins so perhaps he has heard something as well? Byrum is a player thought to be of interest to Van for there need for PMD and being from the area. He will need to be extended.

The main criticism for POwer is he does not use his size, plays soft, and is weak in front of his own net and perhaps has lower hockey IQ.

Most Sabres fans like Weeger for ie his uncle Craig Rivet still lives in the area here as well and Andersson too.

 

[herashak]

This team has the assets to make a run at one big piece, and that should be an (ideally) right hand center

 

[Figgy44]

Power reminds me of Dougie. A heck of a player, but not a guy you might be consistently happy with as "the guy". If we have the right pieces that do not derail our rebuild/retool, sure. But tearing down what we've built so far to shoehorn him in, that's a mistake. He's a luxury, not a need.

Cozens is the type of guy we should target.

 

[crackdown44]

I don't think they're giving up on him, I think Adams realizes he's their best trade chip to improve their team.

I'd love to get Power though, I think Huska would be a really good influence on his defensive game. But I think our only chip to land him is Weegar, the Sabres are too scared to trade for Ras because they are always afraid they won't be able to re-sign guys.

Yeah unless they knew for sure Ras would extend with them it would be Weegar and then Conroy is looking at having to hire a guy to approach Weegs about potentially waving for Buffalo unless he is okay with getting slapped across the face

 

[Flames Fanatic]

I think even if Power is on the table, the same issue that arose about Cozens comes up. We simply don't have what moves the need for them. Not great trade partners.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Dougie Hamilton trade 2.0

Andersson (Dougie)
Coleman (Ferland)
Mews (Flight risk Fox)

For
Power (Hanifin)
Cozens (Lindholm)

Flames give up the better players on better contracts. Buffalo gives up upside. Flames take on some risk with $$.

 

[Mobiandi]

This team needs to stop trading for Dmen and trust the process.

Hamilton, Hanifin, Hamonic, and all the rental 3rd pairing guys. None of them were worth the trouble or the assets and aren’t missed now that they’re gone.

This team’s problem has and continues to be their ability to stock their team with skilled centres and right wingers. That’s where they should focus their attention

 

[Figgy44]

This team needs to stop trading for Dmen and trust the process.

Hamilton, Hanifin, Hamonic, and all the rental 3rd pairing guys. None of them were worth the trouble or the assets and aren’t missed now that they’re gone.

This team’s problem has and continues to be their ability to stock their team with skilled centres and right wingers. That’s where they should focus their attention

Disagree with your premise somewhat, but not entirely.

The difference between Hamilton trade and picks was basically Chabot. We still got Andersson and Kylington via draft with those picks out. Picks weren't really high enough to aim at anything specific in that late first to early 2nd area.

We sold high on Dougie, Ferland and Fox to get Lindholm and Hanifin. Keeping those guys vs Lindholm and Hanifin would have made us worse off.

The assets we got for Lindholm and Hanifin weren't what we hoped, but going back to the raw value of those guys as RFA with no contracts, what we got in the end plus what we paid to give up wouldn't be considered a bad cost at all. IMO we came out ahead in assets and what we could deploy on the ice.

The other piece that should be mentioned, Bahl and Weegar. We acquired those guys and they're mainstays in our top 4.

I agree we need to focus on centres since our scouts are pretty damn good at finding good personnel. But I'm not opposed in getting good value in top 4 dmen with the caveat that it doesn't affect our asset mix and roster mix in acquiring a top line C.

Hamonic scenario was brutal. No disagreements with you there.

If the price and asset type is right, I don't have an issue with the team acquiring someone like Byram, Power, Dobson etc. whose nearly guaranteed floor/ceiling is what you're wishing for anyways for a mid first ish or even second round type pick anyways. This especially when we do this via leveraging high values on declining value assets (ie: Vets).

 

[crackdown44]

Pretty sure Fox was just a throw in in that deal no? Like Carolina knew he wouldn’t sign there they just wanted to try and pitch him anyway

Also it hurts even more when you realize NYI drafted Dobson with the first from the Hamonic trade

 

[Mobiandi]

Disagree with your premise somewhat, but not entirely.

The difference between Hamilton trade and picks was basically Chabot. We still got Andersson and Kylington via draft with those picks out. Picks weren't really high enough to aim at anything specific in that late first to early 2nd area.

We sold high on Dougie, Ferland and Fox to get Lindholm and Hanifin. Keeping those guys vs Lindholm and Hanifin would have made us worse off.

The assets we got for Lindholm and Hanifin weren't what we hoped, but going back to the raw value of those guys as RFA with no contracts, what we got in the end plus what we paid to give up wouldn't be considered a bad cost at all. IMO we came out ahead in assets and what we could deploy on the ice.

The other piece that should be mentioned, Bahl and Weegar. We acquired those guys and they're mainstays in our top 4.

I agree we need to focus on centres since our scouts are pretty damn good at finding good personnel. But I'm not opposed in getting good value in top 4 dmen with the caveat that it doesn't affect our asset mix and roster mix in acquiring a top line C.

Hamonic scenario was brutal. No disagreements with you there.

If the price and asset type is right, I don't have an issue with the team acquiring someone like Byram, Power, Dobson etc. whose nearly guaranteed floor/ceiling is what you're wishing for anyways for a mid first ish or even second round type pick anyways. This especially when we do this via leveraging high values on declining value assets (ie: Vets).

If there’s anything I trust the Flames on, it’s developing defensemen. In the Gaudreau era, we fixated for years on patching holes in our D to cover up for the fact that we didn’t have the goaltending required for a playoff run.

Hamilton struggles to stay healthy and has never really been dependable in the playoffs. Hanifin never became that top pairing guy that people expect out of a 5th overall pick and is somehow a minus player on Vegas and pacing 35 points. The wheels fell off on Hamonic immediately upon joining.

The only guy that we got that really moved the needle for us was Tanev and he came for free. I’d also say that we got the best years of his career.

I’m not gonna say that our D pairings are solid right now because they’re not. They’re worse than the group we ran heading into the 2015 playoffs. But help is on the way and Conroy did a fantastic job of restocking those cupboards. I also think that this team has quite a good shot at signing Makar the way that things are going for the Avs right now.

The team needs goals and high end playmaking talent. Invest in a Cozens or in a Kakko and don’t let those opportunities pass you by if the cost doesn’t destroy us.

But I really don’t want to see us bleed assets for Dmen again during a rebuild.

 

[Some Other Flame]

Pretty sure Fox was just a throw in in that deal no? Like Carolina knew he wouldn’t sign there they just wanted to try and pitch him anyway

Also it hurts even more when you realize NYI drafted Dobson with the first from the Hamonic trade

He was definitely not a throw in. The Canes really wanted him and believed they could sign him

 

[Figgy44]

If there’s anything I trust the Flames on, it’s developing defensemen. In the Gaudreau era, we fixated for years on patching holes in our D to cover up for the fact that we didn’t have the goaltending required for a playoff run.

Hamilton struggles to stay healthy and has never really been dependable in the playoffs. Hanifin never became that top pairing guy that people expect out of a 5th overall pick and is somehow a minus player on Vegas and pacing 35 points. The wheels fell off on Hamonic immediately upon joining.

The only guy that we got that really moved the needle for us was Tanev and he came for free. I’d also say that we got the best years of his career.

I’m not gonna say that our D pairings are solid right now because they’re not. They’re worse than the group we ran heading into the 2015 playoffs. But help is on the way and Conroy did a fantastic job of restocking those cupboards. I also think that this team has quite a good shot at signing Makar the way that things are going for the Avs right now.

The team needs goals and high end playmaking talent. Invest in a Cozens or in a Kakko and don’t let those opportunities pass you by if the cost doesn’t destroy us.

But I really don’t want to see us bleed assets for Dmen again during a rebuild.

Fair, but at the time, we were in a situation where we needed help and an addition to the top 4 urgently (wasn't our top 4 Gio, Brodie, Russell, Wideman (out) and basically no one else? At the time, Hamilton met both criteria while Chabot was too far out. Hamilton vs Chabot in the long run isn't a huge difference IMO. We had a bunch of bottom pairing options, but I don't recall us to be swimming in top 4 options until Treliving came along. Even then, IIRC the majority of those top 4 guys were acquisitions, not home grown. That may have contributed to Kylington, Brodie's and Valimaki's rapid top 4 downfall, but I don't think it was the sole reason those guys suddenly dropped off.

Treliving and Co just stopped trusting our home grown talent after a period of time. This is something I don't worry about with Conroy and Huska. I think there's reason to pursue a quality top pairing dman so that we can potentially run two top like calibre lines, but I don't think it's guaranteed our guys will develop to top line. I can see justification why Conroy might look into it.

Agreed I don't want them to be wasteful. But I also don't think it makes sense to be against looking into adding a top 4 guy if the situation and cost makes sense.

Pretty sure Fox was just a throw in in that deal no? Like Carolina knew he wouldn’t sign there they just wanted to try and pitch him anyway

Also it hurts even more when you realize NYI drafted Dobson with the first from the Hamonic trade

I think his estimated value at the time was a 2nd (rising up from 3rd). I know @Tkachuk Norris was saying his value was closer to a 1st, but even after the Canes got him, his value hit 2 seconds due to him only wanting to go to the Rangers, not a first. Honestly speaking, the Rags blinked first if they paid that price to pry Fox out of Carolina.

The Dobson picks hurts twice as much because that Hamonic should have helped to strengthen the team. The entire team imploded thus giving NYI a higher pick than expected. I'm pretty sure the expectation was that pick should have been in the 20s.

He was definitely not a throw in. The Canes really wanted him and believed they could sign him

There was definitely debate whether he was a throw in at the time. While Fox's stock was rising, there was only one team that could get him on the roster, if Fox did the NCAA UFA route, the team holding him wouldn't have much of anything to show for it later on due to the fact he was drafted with a 3rd rounder. I don't even know what compensatory pick a team would get if he did that.

In hindsight, I think it's more obvious that it was a special "throw in". He wasn't a throw in because he was valueless. He was a throw in because there was a risk that the team could end up with basically nothing if he decided he wanted to do things in a way to get himself to the Rangers.

Now, also at the time, IIRC @Tkachuk Norris argued that who we had on our dcorps might have contributed to Fox not wanting to sign, feeling that his path to the NHL was blocked. This speculation also contributed towards amplifying the scenario that ended with Fox on the Rangers.

 

[Some Other Flame]

"Throw in" itself is a largely nonsensical term. It implies both teams have agreed to a deal but suddenly one side decides to add another piece just because. I doubt that happens anymore for obvious reasons.

But in this case especially, it's just flat out wrong

The Flames knew Fox would never sign with them. Treliving didn’t want to include him in the Hurricanes deal because he wanted to trade Fox in a separate deal and get more for him. But Waddell insisted on Fox being part of the deal because he met the player’s agent, Matt Keator, at the draft and was at least told the Canes would have a chance with Fox.

“We were told that the player did not want to sign for a Canadian team,” Waddell said of his chat at the time with Keator.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3323066/2022/05/19/lebrun-elias-lindholm-flames/?source=emp_shared_article

 

[Figgy44]

"Throw in" itself is a largely nonsensical term. It implies both teams have agreed to a deal but suddenly one side decides to add another piece just because. I doubt that happens anymore for obvious reasons.

But in this case especially, it's just flat out wrong

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3323066/2022/05/19/lebrun-elias-lindholm-flames/?source=emp_shared_article

When was this revealed in relation to the trade?

From a fan POV, throw in isn't incorrect. You can see the old threads about it.

From this revealed POV, then you're correct that Fox's rights wasn't a throw in.

Thanks for the link BTW. Prior to this, I don't think I've seen information confirming that Fox wasn't a throw in and that the team wasn't certain (the possibility he might not sign was known at the time IIRC, not confirmed he wouldn't sign). It's good to know.