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

[Ace]

This dude is still trying to make a fetch a thing.

Maybe it's a generational thing, but I feel like we used to want to cheer for the guys that wore our crest, we embraced their imperfections. Maybe I spent too many years loving Rayzor because he was willing to bleed for the logo.

It seems these days most just can't wait to trade every roster imperfection away. So much recency bias and hyperbole around every performance.

I'm in no hurry to make any trades, really enjoying the ride these kids have taken us fans along for so far, all of them...

I don’t think the job of someone breaking down stuff and offering opinion is to be rah rah about players.

He didn’t write it as a fan of the team…he wrote it as someone who covers the team for people who subscribe to read coverage of the team.

Has Mittelstadt earned a commitment to be part of this team for years to come? I don’t even know how anyone could possibly argue the answer is just “yes”.

 

[Fezzy126]

I don’t think the job of someone breaking down stuff and offering opinion is to be rah rah about players.

He didn’t write it as a fan of the team…he wrote it as someone who covers the team for people who subscribe to read coverage of the team.

Has Mittelstadt earned a commitment to be part of this team for years to come? I don’t even know how anyone could possibly argue the answer is just “yes”.

It seems to me he's got a long history of bashing Mitts, it's tired.

"Mitts is struggling, so we should trade him because I don't think he's part of the long term core"
"Mitts is playing well, but here are some underlying metrics that tells me he's not playing as well as you might think, so we should trade him because I don't think he's part of the long term core"
"Mitts is playing really well, but I still don't think he's part of the teams long term core, we should still use him as a trade chip"

He's fishing for clicks. I get it, it's his livelihood and I appreciate that.

My point is there's a really good story brewing here in Buffalo, there are other ways to get your clicks. He's sinking into Sully-esque media quality, analytics version. You don't have to be a "cheerleader" to write a good article.

 

[Ace]

It seems to me he's got a long history of bashing Mitts, it's tired.

"Mitts is struggling, so we should trade him because I don't think he's part of the long term core"
"Mitts is playing well, but here are some underlying metrics that tells me he's not playing as well as you might think, so we should trade him because I don't think he's part of the long term core"
"Mitts is playing really well, but I still don't think he's part of the teams long term core, we should still use him as a trade chip"

He's fishing for clicks. I get it, it's his livelihood and I appreciate that.

My point is there's a really good story brewing here in Buffalo, there are other ways to get your clicks. He's sinking into Sully-esque media quality, analytics version. You don't have to be a "cheerleader" to write a good article.

Mitts has a long history of not being a very good player.

Covering it with rose colored glasses would make two people bad at their job

 

[Fezzy126]

Mitts has a long history of not being a very good player.

Covering it with rose colored glasses would make two people bad at their job

Mitts has a small history of bad development, followed by another small period of good development, then good progress in the NHL, then the only real injury of his career, followed by this year.

Kudos to Lysowski, who's been the only one to report the actual facts about the performance of guys like Mitts and Comrie.

 

[BuffaloGooner]

I mean…is not okay to say Mittlestadt has had a run of good play while also not wanting him to be a part of the future? I’m on record saying he and Krebs could make 2/3 of a decent enough 3rd line but he’s absolutely upgradable.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

I feel fairly confident in saying Mitts will be a solid middle 6 player in his career.

I am not convinced he is a core player on this team. He's not a guy I'd sign to a long term deal when his current contract ends.

He is absolutely a part of the short term though. Quinn and Peterka's uneven rookie season demonstrate how you can't expect young players to immediately step into the NHL. There will come a time to move on from Mitts, but it isn't now. When our bevy of prospects actually make it to the big league and start producing, that's when guys like Mitts and Olofsson truly become expendable.

 

[TehDoak]

Mittelstadt is very much a guy who will have a long term spot in the NHL. he is offensively skilled, a decent skater, and works hard. That being said, he needs to work on being great at something if he wants to not bounce team to team. He isn’t good enough to be in a to be a top line guy, isn’t a great PKer, isn’t good on faceoffs, isn’t a shutdown guy, isn’t a physical guy. He’s depth guy who doesn’t actively hurt you. You don’t give those guys big or long term contracts. His best case scenario at this point is Justin Bailey where he has one very good season than is on a regrettable contract the rest of his career.

We don’t have to trade him but I think we probably need to consider replacing him with a more well defined role player who can help the PK. With the draft capital we’ve spent on forwards the last two seasons, we shouldn’t be married to any non core forward beyond a bridge deal, which mittelstadt will be off next year.

 

[Jacob582]

Savoie likely will not be ready next season and back in the CHL

I agree about Savoie. But they could make room for him if they want to do the development of prospects in the NHL thing again.
(by not qualify Jost and have Savoie center the 3rd/4th line)

I'm fine if they qualify Jost. I rather they find an upgrade though.

 

[Jacob582]

In my opinion, Mitts is our best backchecker. Cozens is pretty close as well. When Mitts is busting ass back into the defensive zone, he sees lanes REALLY well and can get himself in position there.

Tuch?

 

[Bendium]

I agree about Savoie. But they could make room for him if they want to do the development of prospects in the NHL thing again.
(by not qualify Jost and have Savoie center the 3rd/4th line)

I'm fine if they qualify Jost. I rather they find an upgrade though.

Please...I beg the Sabres. Stop doing this!

 

[Chainshot]

Please...I beg the Sabres. Stop doing this!

Yeah, they don't need to be doing it. If Savoie surprises and is one of their 12 best skaters breaking camp, great. But if he's not, there is nothing wrong with going back to the Ice, dominating, going off to the U20's (which this administration has talked about as being great for development) and then crushing the end of the season/WHL playoffs.

 

[Bendium]

I've been saying it all year, but I really like Mitts with Quinn. Even when Quinn looks off they always seem to have positive results

View attachment 651308

Could it be Casey's random sh*t and Quinn's random sh*t are creating some kind of crazy cross mojonation sh*t? Is there a scenario here where two wrongs really do make a right? Give it an extended look. Can't hurt.

 

[SundherDome]

Could it be Casey's random sh*t and Quinn's random sh*t are creating some kind of crazy cross mojonation sh*t? Is there a scenario here where two wrongs really do make a right? Give it an extended look. Can't hurt.

The crazy thing is people think it is crazy when Mitts is putting passes in high danger areas. Dude does miracles to get the puck into high danger it just usually gets picked off because our team is allergic to it.

 

[TehDoak]

So I had a bit of fun at cap friendly.

An idea that came out:

Move Lybushkin at 50% retained for a 2nd (2024)
Package prospect + 2023 2nd for Fabbro (or Bryson if they want a warm body)
Try to sign a decent LHD this summer (for this example I signed graves to a 3x4 deal)

Samuelsson-Dahlin
Power-Fabbro
Graves-Joker

For forwards, I flipped Mittelstadt for Greenway, Olofsson for Sturm+ Pick, signed Fast (2x2.5) and Leivo (1x1). Re-upped Girgensons at 3x1.75. Jost wasn't QO'd

Skinner-Thompson-Tuch
Greenway-Cozens-Quinn
Peterka-Krebs-Fast
Girgensons-Sturm-Leivo

In goal, I bought out Comrie and signed Raanta to a 3 year, 4.5M per deal.

 

[Matt Ress]

Yeah, they don't need to be doing it. If Savoie surprises and is one of their 12 best skaters breaking camp, great. But if he's not, there is nothing wrong with going back to the Ice, dominating, going off to the U20's (which this administration has talked about as being great for development) and then crushing the end of the season/WHL playoffs.

It's kind of an unprecedented situation so there may be unprecedented action. The team definitely likes to keep their prospects close. Would it be crazy to have him make the squad as a 13th then release him to the U20s? A little crazy.

Sure, you burn a year but that's not a big deal. Allows him to acclimate to the team and lifestyle as well as the grind and speed of the game. He should have no problem keeping up. But also not a full time guy with high expectations. Eh I just think it's a bit lazy and wasteful to let him rot. Crazy times, crazy measures.

 

[Djp]

I agree about Savoie. But they could make room for him if they want to do the development of prospects in the NHL thing again.
(by not qualify Jost and have Savoie center the 3rd/4th line)

I'm fine if they qualify Jost. I rather they find an upgrade though.

They can do both and have depth. They can resign Jost for below is QO.

Given the option of Ekholm with 4 years left or Weegar with 8?

Give me Weegar every day and twice on Sunday. His cap hit will look better as the cap eventually goes up.....and if the last 2 years prove onerous, we ditch the contract.

guess you can have him for 4 yrs then an 8 yr buy out over 8 yrs of about $2M per….thr last 4 yrs are around ehat Ekholm is st now.

I wish Olofsson could get his game to a consistent level, when he's on he's such a valuable piece to this team but when he's playing in a funk he's useless. If he could play like he was playing in the middle of the season when he popped off like 8 goals in 9 games or something insane like that he would a very valuable piece towards winning a cup. Even without the points, just bringing that level of play all the time.. that would be fantastic.

All goal scorers go through periods of hot and cold. He’s been getting points during this time.

 

[Chainshot]

It's kind of an unprecedented situation so there may be unprecedented action. The team definitely likes to keep their prospects close. Would it be crazy to have him make the squad as a 13th then release him to the U20s? A little crazy.

Sure, you burn a year but that's not a big deal. Allows him to acclimate to the team and lifestyle as well as the grind and speed of the game. He should have no problem keeping up. But also not a full time guy with high expectations. Eh I just think it's a bit lazy and wasteful to let him rot. Crazy times, crazy measures.

Botterill run vs. Adams run Sabres are not the same. If he makes the team, he'll be playing. If he doesn't, he'll be back with the Ice. There is no need to try to rush this. They have recent history with f***ing around with two forward prospects they tried this with in Thompson and Mittelstadt and it's taken years for them to unf*** themselves.

 

[BFLO]

For the folks who have mentioned Orlov, this article is interesting:

Negotiations to extend Dmitry Orlov are ‘proving to be a challenge’

Washington Capitals defender Dmitry Orlov will see his six-year, $5.1 million AAV deal expire this summer. As the team struggles for playoff…

russianmachineneverbreaks.com

And that graphic of his fall off this year at the end of it is kind of scary.

I'm not too worried about Orlov's downturn this year, or Gavrikov's. They're both filling in as #1 Dman while their team's true #1 are out injured.

If anything, it helps keep their aav and term down in a contract year.

I'm still very much on the Orlov or Gavrikov train as a 1st/2nd pairing upgrade.

+ Nick Jensen as a 2nd/3rd pairing upgrade.

 

[Djp]

It's kind of an unprecedented situation so there may be unprecedented action. The team definitely likes to keep their prospects close. Would it be crazy to have him make the squad as a 13th then release him to the U20s? A little crazy.

Sure, you burn a year but that's not a big deal. Allows him to acclimate to the team and lifestyle as well as the grind and speed of the game. He should have no problem keeping up. But also not a full time guy with high expectations. Eh I just think it's a bit lazy and wasteful to let him rot. Crazy times, crazy measures.

if Covid didn’t happen killing thrir CHL season he would be outputs entirely

or…go back in time and order mom to pop him out 24 hrs earlier…

 

[Dirty Dog]

Mitts has a long history of not being a very good player.

Covering it with rose colored glasses would make two people bad at their job

So does covering something with shit colored glasses. People don’t laugh at chad for not being positive. People laugh at him when his bosses come out

 

[Bendium]

It's kind of an unprecedented situation so there may be unprecedented action. The team definitely likes to keep their prospects close. Would it be crazy to have him make the squad as a 13th then release him to the U20s? A little crazy.

Sure, you burn a year but that's not a big deal. Allows him to acclimate to the team and lifestyle as well as the grind and speed of the game. He should have no problem keeping up. But also not a full time guy with high expectations. Eh I just think it's a bit lazy and wasteful to let him rot. Crazy times, crazy measures.

He will be a small sized 19 year old at camp next year. "Letting him rot?" He is still in the early phase of fruit growth. He needs to stay on the vine with sun and nutrients to continue to mature and grow before ripening. He is a long way away from rotting on the vine.

Its like the tomatoes you by at the store. You look at it and think, "what a beautiful red tomato!" In reality you have a green tomato that was sprayed with ethylene to make its skin turn red. That tomato was never allowed to ripen naturally, it was fast tracked for sale, and will never have the sweetness and complex flavor it would have gotten if it was allowed to ripen on the vine.

It is unfortunate that the juniors rules are the way they are, and players that could make the jump to the AHL in their second year cannot, but that's the way it is.

Keeping Savoie in juniors one more year is letting him "ripen" on the vine, not rot on it.

 

[Jacob582]

They can do both and have depth. They can resign Jost for below is QO.

Jost can be next year's Hinostroza.

 

[Matt Ress]

Botterill run vs. Adams run Sabres are not the same. If he makes the team, he'll be playing. If he doesn't, he'll be back with the Ice. There is no need to try to rush this. They have recent history with f***ing around with two forward prospects they tried this with in Thompson and Mittelstadt and it's taken years for them to unf*** themselves.

I get it and we all wish we could just set him up in Rochester. But I don't think Mitts or Thompson are comparable.

Mitts was a skilled guy that was seemingly not putting in effort. I don't think that's the case with Savoie and they had completely different paths also.

Thompson clearly needed time for his brain to catch up to his body. He also spent time in the A which, at the time didn't even seem impactful on his NHL ice time until he eventually figured things out. Again, totally different player because this is an unprecedented situation. There's not a comparable.

He will be a small sized 19 year old at camp next year. "Letting him rot?" He is still in the early phase of fruit growth. He needs to stay on the vine with sun and nutrients to continue to mature and grow before ripening. He is a long way away from rotting on the vine.

Its like the tomatoes you by at the store. You look at it and think, "what a beautiful red tomato!" In reality you have a green tomato that was sprayed with ethylene to make its skin turn red. That tomato was never allowed to ripen naturally, it was fast tracked for sale, and will never have the sweetness and complex flavor it would have gotten if it was allowed to ripen on the vine.

It is unfortunate that the juniors rules are the way they are, and players that could make the jump to the AHL in their second year cannot, but that's the way it is.

Keeping Savoie in juniors one more year is letting him "ripen" on the vine, not rot on it.

Maybe the tomato reference got off track a bit lol. I just don't know what else the kid needs to do in the W and frankly, I doubt he would be happy about staying. Take that for what it's worth but it is meaningful. I knew the post wouldn't be received with cheers but it comes down to what is best for him and his development.

What is he going to get better doing in the W? He's a responsible, rounded out junior player already and again, I doubt he'd be excited to go back again. As a depth player, he's going to have some lumps and I wouldn't expect much in the NHL next year but there's a lot to learn from that. I just think the situation is more complicated than stay or go and the solution should be more complex as well.

 

[TehDoak]

They can do both and have depth. They can resign Jost for below is QO.

Why on earth would Jost take a nickel below his QO? He'd get to be a UFA at age 25 if he doesn't get a QO from us. It's not like we are a year away from a championship and are too close to the cap to re-up him.

Now, might he test the market at circle back? Sure. But I have to think he would see what the market has for him before taking an offer below his QO.

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

This dude is still trying to make a fetch a thing.

Maybe it's a generational thing, but I feel like we used to want to cheer for the guys that wore our crest, we embraced their imperfections. Maybe I spent too many years loving Rayzor because he was willing to bleed for the logo.

It seems these days most just can't wait to trade every roster imperfection away. So much recency bias and hyperbole around every performance.

I'm in no hurry to make any trades, really enjoying the ride these kids have taken us fans along for so far, all of them...

No this is basically just you looking back with rose colored glasses. My first sports memory is listening to my coaches argue about turgeon v lafontaine, that grant fuhr was a bum, satan v sanderson, the bickering bills, every time Kelly got hurt the radio was filled with reich should be the starter.

“These days” is just signifying that you’re now old enough to not remember that those days were exactly the same.

Part of why everyone loves rayzor is because they never let him on the ice long enough for you to form negative opinions. He went out, punched domi, hit the showers.

There’s a reason why fans love backup QBs.