Roster thread: Get To Work (2022-2023 Season)

[TheBarnIsElectric]

Hey Sabres fans! One of the stories of the NHL that I've been enjoying the most this year has been the surge of the Buffalo Sabres. I have a soft spot for underdog teams (being a fan of a team that was awful for most of the past 15 years), and am pumped up to see the Sabres doing so well.

Looking ahead to the trade deadline, and knowing that Buffalo has more cap space than anyone else to play with, are you expecting big moves? Are the Sabres ready to go big game hunting to try to push ahead of the other teams fighting for a wild card spot? Are they looking to "weaponize" their cap space? Is it still too early to tell given how close that race is? What is the general feeling among Sabres fans?

Thanks for the replies!

Hi there, I think the jury is still out on what they'll do. Could see them making a couple big moves, or nothing at all. They seem to be in on everything but Adams has yet to swing a major hockey trade so caution and discipline seem the most likely to me.

Many fans are loving this team and want big pieces added asap, though. Patience is understandably thin after literally a decade of pain.

We'll see.... Seems like it'll be an exciting rest of the year regardless.

 

[Dingo44]

Interesting topic.

Who are some obvious cap dumps?

Can we pair some of the three 2nds with a cap dump to upgrade to 1st round assets, this draft or next?

I'd like us to use cap space as a third party in another deal - original team retains 50%, sends to us where we retain another 50% on that and move to the third team. Nothing longer than this year or next. We don't have to put anyone on our roster, we pick up assets, and it costs us just cap space we don't need now or next year.

 

[debaser66]

Is that five or six years for $8M AAV?

Because Meier isn't signing for $6M AAV.

i guess it doesnt work no matter how you turn the numbers
if the deal is shorter than maxyears, the AAV will be def. higher than 8mil

 

[Dirty Dog]

I think Jokiharju might be one of those guys that Adams and Granato like more than fans do and they aren't looking to move him.

There’s no doubt this is the case. He isn’t getting traded

 

[debaser66]

How many other times has that ever happened in NHL history. Unreal.

plus a rookie D scoring in all 3 of them as well

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

On ice Meier is just Quinn and you pay a 1st to guarantee he develops.

Ice time, cap hit, role. Meier will take all of those from someone slotted into the top 6. So Peterka or Quinn are getting pushed out of that role for the future plans. Makes sense to include 1 in the deal because you’re already committing to not keep 1 long term.

Now if you can get him cheaper by making it a prospect with a much longer journey from the NHL that’s fine. But I’d be more hoping that I could keep the 1st rounder than the player, specifically on this deal. Quinn + 2nd + leaves this years first to add to the blue line or replace the prospect you move to add to the blue line.

Might as well just add, shop Joker + 1st rnd asset for a dman.

 

[Beerz]

Hey Sabres fans! One of the stories of the NHL that I've been enjoying the most this year has been the surge of the Buffalo Sabres. I have a soft spot for underdog teams (being a fan of a team that was awful for most of the past 15 years), and am pumped up to see the Sabres doing so well.

Looking ahead to the trade deadline, and knowing that Buffalo has more cap space than anyone else to play with, are you expecting big moves? Are the Sabres ready to go big game hunting to try to push ahead of the other teams fighting for a wild card spot? Are they looking to "weaponize" their cap space? Is it still too early to tell given how close that race is? What is the general feeling among Sabres fans?

Thanks for the replies!

Hmm. Good questions. I think we can rule out "rentals" No matter where we are I can't really see Adams spending assets on pure rentals.
He may do something that is both for a playoff push and long term.. like a Meier or Chychrun. I will believe it when I see it.

I can only see us "weaponizing our cap space" if it's an offer too good to turn down or that we have fallen out of a playoff push. I think they are determined to allow the young guys to continue to develop

 

[Dingo44]

NHL Power Rankings: Here come the Avalanche

We have a new, old face in the top 10 and some shuffling in the mushy middle.

theathletic.com

15. Buffalo Sabres​

Last Week: 18
Record: 26-19-3
Sean rank: 15
Dom rank: 16

Five straight wins and the vibes are once again immaculate in Buffalo. The Sabres have had a very long playoff drought and while the odds still aren’t in their favor, the possibility of the drought ending looks more and more real by the day.

More games like Thursday night’s effort against the Jets would be a major plus toward achieving that goal. The Sabres haven’t been a dominant scoring chance team this season, but they absolutely crushed the Jets winning the xG battle 3.2 to 1.1 at five-on-five, a 74 percent share. According to Evolving Hockey, it’s the team’s 10th most dominant performance by expected goals since 2007. That game and this streak are the kind of performance that a young team can really build upon. This Sabres team feels like a team of destiny right now.

 

[debaser66]

Evaluating a potential Timo Meier trade between Flames and Sharks

Meier is exactly what the Flames need but the Sharks will have no shortage of suits before the deadline.

theathletic.com

I think Meier is sort of a blend of Tuch and Skinner.

He is closer to Skinner than Tuch size-wise. He is more of a goal scorer than a playmaker like Skinner.

But, he has a better defensive game like Tuch.

Ultimately, I think Meier would potentially be a great winger for Cozens and the two of them could be very complimentary to each other.

The interesting conversation is whether Peterka or Quinn gets moved off of the Cozens line if they do add Meier.

he has the same weight as Tuch, Skinner is 20 lbs lighter, so I would say size wise closer to Tuch

 

[Perry Tegula]

I'd like us to use cap space as a third party in another deal - original team retains 50%, sends to us where we retain another 50% on that and move to the third team. Nothing longer than this year or next. We don't have to put anyone on our roster, we pick up assets, and it costs us just cap space we don't need now or next year.

Good stuff. I'd like to target 2024 picks and have a comfortably in the playoffs Sabres own next season's trade deadline.

 

[Mattilaus]

Hey Sabres fans! One of the stories of the NHL that I've been enjoying the most this year has been the surge of the Buffalo Sabres. I have a soft spot for underdog teams (being a fan of a team that was awful for most of the past 15 years), and am pumped up to see the Sabres doing so well.

Looking ahead to the trade deadline, and knowing that Buffalo has more cap space than anyone else to play with, are you expecting big moves? Are the Sabres ready to go big game hunting to try to push ahead of the other teams fighting for a wild card spot? Are they looking to "weaponize" their cap space? Is it still too early to tell given how close that race is? What is the general feeling among Sabres fans?

Thanks for the replies!

I think the general consensus is that the Sabres are unlikely to make many major moves. The management group has preached patience and our performance this year seems quite a bit ahead of schedule. Could we trade for help? Of course, but are we likely to blow major assets to tool up? I would say it is unlikely.

 

[debaser66]

Did Barkov get more votes than Dahlin cause he replaced the injured Matthews?
I thought the Sabres fans would outvote Florida easily, since their fanbase is quite smaller?

PS just a semantics, I am glad he isnt going, needs the rest

 

[Paxon]

Watching Meier, but it's splash plays. Is he a true power forward, or more of a skilled power forward, a la Tuch? Seems to me to be the later based on what I watch.

My first thoughts on Meier were that he could have a Tuch-level impact, minus the special mojo Tuch has. Seems like he would have a positive impact in most all areas of the game. He's pretty well-rounded from what I've seen. So, yeah, he's absolutely someone Adams should be looking at. At the same time, I'm not holding my breath that the right deal for the Sabres exists here.

 

[Chainshot]

Did Barkov get more votes than Dahlin cause he replaced the injured Matthews?
I thought the Sabres fans would outvote Florida easily, since their fanbase is quite smaller?

PS just a semantics, I am glad he isnt going, needs the rest

Matthews has the Ovechkin flu.

 

[Mattilaus]

I assumed Nylander would get the nod.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Evaluating a potential Timo Meier trade between Flames and Sharks

Meier is exactly what the Flames need but the Sharks will have no shortage of suits before the deadline.

theathletic.com

I think Meier is sort of a blend of Tuch and Skinner.

He is closer to Skinner than Tuch size-wise. He is more of a goal scorer than a playmaker like Skinner.

But, he has a better defensive game like Tuch.

Ultimately, I think Meier would potentially be a great winger for Cozens and the two of them could be very complimentary to each other.

The interesting conversation is whether Peterka or Quinn gets moved off of the Cozens line if they do add Meier.

With the last line of your comment, I continue to see more and more 2005-06 parallels. Adding Meier may push one or both wingers to a new line, depending on if Granato wants to keep them together.

Either way, the Sabres may be in that same type of situation where they don't have situational lines, and just lines. Next season, illustratively:

Skinner - Thompson - Tuch
Krebs - Cozens - Meier
Mittelstadt - Jost - Olofsson
Quinn - Asplund - Peterka

 

[old kummelweck]

Broken Eichel under contract got Tuch, Krebs, 1st round pick, 2nd round pick. If a contract is in place for $8.5m or less, it would take an A prospect, a B prospect/young roster player, and 2 picks.

Quinn/Sovie
Huglen
2023 First (protected)
3rd

You would need to make room on the roster, so it's either Peterka or Quinn out.

 

[Chainshot]

Broken Eichel under contract got Tuch, Krebs, 1st round pick, 2nd round pick. If a contract is in place for $8.5m or less, it would take an A prospect, a B prospect/young roster player, and 2 picks.

Quinn/Sovie
Huglen
2023 First (protected)
3rd

You would need to make room on the roster, so it's either Peterka or Quinn out.

Balance that against 40-goal scorer DeBrincat for a first (top 10), a 2nd (39th) and a third in 2024. Vegas seems to have overpaid for cracked merchandise.

 

[Jim Bob]

With the last line of your comment, I continue to see more and more 2005-06 parallels. Adding Meier may push one or both wingers to a new line, depending on if Granato wants to keep them together.

Either way, the Sabres may be in that same type of situation where they don't have situational lines, and just lines. Next season, illustratively:

Skinner - Thompson - Tuch
Krebs - Cozens - Meier
Mittelstadt - Jost - Olofsson
Quinn - Asplund - Peterka

Krebs with Cozens and Meier is certainly something I thought about. If they have Cozens and Meier together, I do think that they would benefit from a playmaking LW. That could also be Mitts or someone that is not on the roster who I will not name right now.

 

[Chainshot]

Meier doesn't necessarily have to have a traditional setup man. He's pretty good at entries on his own and also off the forecheck putting pucks on net that he wins. Him with someone like Cozens though would be a mass of humanity given Meier is a fireplug at 220 lbs. and Cozens is 6'3".

 

[alehman42]

You would need to make room on the roster, so it's either Peterka or Quinn out.

This last bit isn't necessarily true. My preference would be Olofsson out (probably in a separate deal, admittedly) and Quinn shifting to play on the Jost-Mittelstadt line.

 

[Der Jaeger]

The beauty of where the Sabres are at in terms of their youth and prospect pipeline is that the team could survive two major trades without really touching the core of the team. Using Meier and Ekholm as example.

Meier:
Rosen
2023 1st (top 4 protected)
Portillo
Flyers' 2023 2nd

Ekholm:
2024 1st (unprotected)
Vegas' 2023 2nd
Bloom
Rights to Johnson

Don't fixate on the trades or the targets, but these are trades Adams could offer and not touch the NHL roster.

 

[Djp]

Meier is a fascinating target but I'm not exactly interested in him if it costs Peterka or Quinn and I'd want full lottery protection with the 1st. Not to mention he'd need an AAV under 8.5mil in order to it to make long term sense on the cap.

Im not giving up Quinn and lose the team controlled salaried years.

A quick wishlist for faceoff strong centers:

Columbus - Boone Jenner. Probably unrealistic, signed long term, team captain.
Montreal - Dvorak. Signed for next 2 years at under 4.5M per. NTC kicks in next year.
San Jose - Nico Sturm. Signed 2 more seasons at 2M per
Anaheim - Henrique 5.85M with 1 year remaining. 10 team NTC.

none of the above

Another random thought: I wonder if there would be any interest around a Joker for Savard swap. Montreal gets notably younger, we get a veteran RHD to play with Power and who can help the PK. Salaries are close-ish (Savard 3.5, Joker 2.5).

Joki is much better than Savard

Hey Sabres fans! One of the stories of the NHL that I've been enjoying the most this year has been the surge of the Buffalo Sabres. I have a soft spot for underdog teams (being a fan of a team that was awful for most of the past 15 years), and am pumped up to see the Sabres doing so well.

Looking ahead to the trade deadline, and knowing that Buffalo has more cap space than anyone else to play with, are you expecting big moves? Are the Sabres ready to go big game hunting to try to push ahead of the other teams fighting for a wild card spot? Are they looking to "weaponize" their cap space? Is it still too early to tell given how close that race is? What is the general feeling among Sabres fans?

Thanks for the replies!

after this year Buffalo has about a 2-3 yr window to utilize cap space before they are going to be up near the cap ceiling after seeing young players signed to high contracts.

At the deadline would buffalo be a pass thru retain team in trades---likely. They will not go beyond expiring contracts. People on HF think you can get a team to do a pass through retention for multiple years an it only costs 3rd.

right now they control their own fate for a playoff spot. They have 3 games in hand on washington and 3 pts behind.

I am skeptical on them acquiring 1 yr rentals at the deadline. If they do aquire a player it would be one with at least a full year left

their needs are

1. a D who can play top 4 minutes and who can play on both sides under contract the next 1-3 yrs.
2. They need a young RD who is more of a prospect now who would spend next year in AHL and possibly be NHL ready in 24/25 when Lyubushkin is a UFA for a 3rd pairing role
3. They need to add prospect at D to their system who are ready in future years when the cap is tighter in 26/27 or 27/28 season
4. I expect them to keep their 23 1st and draft a RD wit it or their 1st pick in the 2nd round

They need a missle pair D who can play 20+ minutes who can then have Power pay 3rd pair minutes. Im concerned on his conditioning for 80+ games after coming from college.

in the prospect pool form 2020-2022 drafts besides Peterka and Quinn, there are also 8+ more young Forwards drafted (6 of those in 1st and 2nd rounds). Why go out an aquire a winger long term like aquiring say Meier and then signing him long doesnt make sense. If he was 23 then i would look at it.
Do they make major moves??

more likely in the summer.

The current roster players they could move are Mittlestadt, Olofssson, Jokiharju, and Bryson. I see Jokiharju+ traded for a better RD but around the same age but the team has control on for 3+ years An example would be with Calgary for Rasmus Anderssen. The concern I see around Chychrun is he only has 2 more full years on contract left so resigning him could be a major issue

The beauty of where the Sabres are at in terms of their youth and prospect pipeline is that the team could survive two major trades without really touching the core of the team. Using Meier and Ekholm as example.

Meier:
Rosen
2023 1st (top 4 protected)
Portillo
Flyers' 2023 2nd

Ekholm:
2024 1st (unprotected)
Vegas' 2023 2nd
Bloom
Rights to Johnson

Don't fixate on the trades or the targets, but these are trades Adams could offer and not touch the NHL roster.

so ROR and Kane/Bogosian all over again

Ekholm is too old and I dont think Meier is better than him when he fully develops. Buffalo needs prospect D. giving up those picks will hurt that.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Im not giving up Quinn and lose the team controlled salaried years.


none of the above


Joki is much better than Savard


after this year Buffalo has about a 2-3 yr window to utilize cap space before they are going to be up near the cap ceiling after seeing young players signed to high contracts.

At the deadline would buffalo be a pass thru retain team in trades---likely. They will not go beyond expiring contracts. People on HF think you can get a team to do a pass through retention for multiple years an it only costs 3rd.

right now they control their own fate for a playoff spot. They have 3 games in hand on washington and 3 pts behind.

I am skeptical on them acquiring 1 yr rentals at the deadline. If they do aquire a player it would be one with at least a full year left

their needs are

1. a D who can play top 4 minutes and who can play on both sides under contract the next 1-3 yrs.
2. They need a young RD who is more of a prospect now who would spend next year in AHL and possibly be NHL ready in 24/25 when Lyubushkin is a UFA for a 3rd pairing role
3. They need to add prospect at D to their system who are ready in future years when the cap is tighter in 26/27 or 27/28 season
4. I expect them to keep their 23 1st and draft a RD wit it or their 1st pick in the 2nd round

They need a missle pair D who can play 20+ minutes who can then have Power pay 3rd pair minutes. Im concerned on his conditioning for 80+ games after coming from college.

in the prospect pool form 2020-2022 drafts besides Peterka and Quinn, there are also 8+ more young Forwards drafted (6 of those in 1st and 2nd rounds). Why go out an aquire a winger long term like aquiring say Meier and then signing him long doesnt make sense. If he was 23 then i would look at it.
Do they make major moves??

more likely in the summer.

The current roster players they could move are Mittlestadt, Olofssson, Jokiharju, and Bryson. I see Jokiharju+ traded for a better RD but around the same age but the team has control on for 3+ years An example would be with Calgary for Rasmus Anderssen. The concern I see around Chychrun is he only has 2 more full years on contract left so resigning him could be a major issue


so ROR and Kane/Bogosian all over again

Ekholm is too old and I dont think Meier is better than him when he fully develops. Buffalo needs prospect D. giving up those picks will hurt that.

Except Timo Meier has no red flags as a teammate or human being that stick out. Nor is he a bad influence on young teammates.

Ekholm is a steadying force for Dahlin and Power. Bogosian was and still is a dumb hockey player that got by with sheer physicality. Ekholm is who we hope Samuelsson becomes. A better comparison in terms of effect on the team would be Numminen, who was a steadying force for the Sabres.

 

[Jim Bob]

The beauty of where the Sabres are at in terms of their youth and prospect pipeline is that the team could survive two major trades without really touching the core of the team. Using Meier and Ekholm as example.

Meier:
Rosen
2023 1st (top 4 protected)
Portillo
Flyers' 2023 2nd

Ekholm:
2024 1st (unprotected)
Vegas' 2023 2nd
Bloom
Rights to Johnson

Don't fixate on the trades or the targets, but these are trades Adams could offer and not touch the NHL roster.

The problem with giving up that many futures is that giving up 4 top 64 picks and two forwards that appear to be high probability NHLers is that it could create a problem of not much coming up in 3 or 4 years.

They will need to have a steady flow of NHL capable players on ELCs in that window that the 23 and 24 picks would likely be NHL ready.

You could make those two deals and not see the negative impact for a while. But, I do think that day would come.

Plus, I think you are overpaying on both those by a significant margin. I would bet that they could get those two guys without do as much damage to the pipeline.