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

[Jim Bob]

You’ve listed one bottom pairing NHL D and three players that shouldn’t have a role in the NHL on a team trying to win.

If you look around the league at teams like Winnipeg, Colorado, Pittsburgh, and plenty of others, their 5/6/7 D look similar to what the Sabres have today.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

The only way I want to see any of Stillman/Bryson/Clague on the roster is because Buffalo carries 8 Dmen and KA just couldn't find another good addition to bump all of them off the roster.

Is Borgen a 2nd pair or 3rd pair guy? He plays about 16 mins/gm so that would say 3rd pair, but he's been great in Seattle and maybe could be an upgrade for Buffalo. He is at least an upgrade over Lyubushkin, but we need a guy that can without-a-doubt pair with Power and play 20 mins +, and send Jokiharju to 3rd pair, and Lyubushkin to fill-in duty.

Edit - I've already suggested trading for Borgen, hoping that the other RFAs Seattle has to pay make him expendable. Olofsson for Borgen with whatever adds on either side sounds great to me.

 

[Bendium]

Isn't Lybushkin/Stillman/Bryson/Clague already the 6/7 role. Bottom pair is something we have a lot of on D.

Most of those are 8/9th dmen and would not make the roster on any legit playoff team. We have to get better players if we want to be better.

 

[Bendium]

If you look around the league at teams like Winnipeg, Colorado, Pittsburgh, and plenty of others, their 5/6/7 D look similar to what the Sabres have today.

I disagree. Here is the problem with our group. NONE of them are good at anything that adds specialty value. Your bottom pair are supposed to do that. Are ANY of our 4-9th dman good penalty killers? No. Not one.

Hell, even our top 3 are not great penalty killers. Do we have a 4-9 dman that blocks a ton of shots? Is physical and gets a lot of hits? What do any on those guys provide besides a luke warm body filling a spot?

Please, we need both this board AND KA to raise the bar here.

 

[Sabre the Win]

I'm officially done with Bryson. He has absolutely no IQ and that pass rather than attempting the shot last night on the island really made me throw in the towel.

How in the hell does a player opt to pass rather than take the shot on a wide open lane or hit the player standing alone directly in front of him to the side of the net. Instead he makes a cross ice pass where 4 Islander players are as if the player he passed it to would have a clear lane.

f*** this player.

 

[Jim Bob]

I disagree. Here is the problem with our group. NONE of them are good at anything that adds specialty value. Your bottom pair are supposed to do that. Are ANY of our 4-9th dman good penalty killers? No. Not one.

Hell, even our top 3 are not great penalty killers. Do we have a 4-9 dman that blocks a ton of shots? Is physical and gets a lot of hits? What do any on those guys provide besides a luke warm body filling a spot?

Please, we need both this board AND KA to raise the bar here.

Pittsburgh's 5-8 D:

Kulikov, Rutta, PO Joseph, and Ruhwedel

Winnipeg's 5-8 D:

Samberg, Schmidt, Stanley, and Capobianco

Colorado's 5-8 D:

MacDermid, Jack Johnson, Hunt, and Manson

There are not a lot of guys that any of these teams wanting to get serious minutes in the NHL for extended periods of time.

And honestly, Stillman is a guy that is supposed to be that PK & physical type D.

 

[Chainshot]

If you look around the league at teams like Winnipeg, Colorado, Pittsburgh, and plenty of others, their 5/6/7 D look similar to what the Sabres have today.

Ask Pens fans about the presence of Rutta in the lineup and see what they say. He's very much on a level or more beyond what the Sabres have in their bottom three. Kulikov is as well, clearly a level above Bryson/Clague/Stillman for on-ice impact - the issue there is term. Joseph is still a well-regarded puck mover and Ruh has been a solid 7 for the Penguins since they brought him over... from Buffalo. All of your folks picked out there have an advantage over what Buffalo ices in those same positions.

Argument can be made that Dahlin and Makar are close but no one is going to be able to argue Power or Samuelsson are close to Toews and Byram. The Avs defense from 2-4 is better than what Buffalo puts on the ice so yes, they can get away with being close to the Sabres in terms of talent except in their group, they have Josh Manson. There is no analog in the Sabres defense for Manson in the 5-7.

Schmidt and Samberg in Winnipeg? I'd take either over Jokiharju, let alone the 5-7 in Buffalo.

 

[Jim Bob]

Ask Pens fans about the presence of Rutta in the lineup and see what they say. He's very much on a level or more beyond what the Sabres have in their bottom three. Kulikov is as well, clearly a level above Bryson/Clague/Stillman for on-ice impact - the issue there is term. Joseph is still a well-regarded puck mover and Ruh has been a solid 7 for the Penguins since they brought him over... from Buffalo. All of your folks picked out there have an advantage over what Buffalo ices in those same positions.

Argument can be made that Dahlin and Makar are close but no one is going to be able to argue Power or Samuelsson are close to Toews and Byram. The Avs defense from 2-4 is better than what Buffalo puts on the ice so yes, they can get away with being close to the Sabres in terms of talent except in their group, they have Josh Manson. There is no analog in the Sabres defense for Manson in the 5-7.

Schmidt and Samberg in Winnipeg? I'd take either over Jokiharju, let alone the 5-7 in Buffalo.

Sabres fans that were happy to see Kulikov and Ruhwedel move on would likely not feel that most of those guys make the Sabres better once they see them on the Sabres.

For instance, is there really a huge difference between what Boosh brings to what Rutta would bring on the 3rd pair?

Personally, if they get a legit upgrade to pair with Power, I can live with Jokiharju, Boosh, and Stillman at 5-7. And if they want to move Jokiharju for a more veteran guy, I won't object.

The two highest priorities this off season for me is finding a solid answer at 4D and getting a real answer at 1G to bridge to Levi as I have no real faith that UPL+Comrie will give them what they need in net next season when they should be expected to make the playoffs.

 

[Chainshot]

Sabres fans that were happy to see Kulikov and Ruhwedel move on would likely not feel that most of those guys make the Sabres better once they see them on the Sabres.

For instance, is there really a huge difference between what Boosh brings to what Rutta would bring on the 3rd pair?

Personally, if they get a legit upgrade to pair with Power, I can live with Jokiharju, Boosh, and Stillman at 5-7. And if they want to move Jokiharju for a more veteran guy, I won't object.

To be blunt, my experience for decades has been that many Sabre fans wouldn't know an effective defenseman if the player fell from the sky and landed on them.

 

[Zman5778]

I disagree. Here is the problem with our group. NONE of them are good at anything that adds specialty value. Your bottom pair are supposed to do that. Are ANY of our 4-9th dman good penalty killers? No. Not one.

Hell, even our top 3 are not great penalty killers. Do we have a 4-9 dman that blocks a ton of shots? Is physical and gets a lot of hits? What do any on those guys provide besides a luke warm body filling a spot?

Please, we need both this board AND KA to raise the bar here.

Lyubushkin, when healthy, is a good penalty killer. He's the one willing to get dirty in front of the net and wipe players out.

 

[Duddy]

Lyubushkin, when healthy, is a good penalty killer. He's the one willing to get dirty in front of the net and wipe players out.

Problem is, he just never is healthy for more than a handful of games.

 

[zenthusiast]

By my estimation Lyubushkin has a place on an NHL roster, even if it’s on the bottom pair. I think a good team can have him getting 15 a night.

 

[Beerz]

I prefer to upgrade the D via trade more so than UFA ... tend to get better contracts.

 

[Chainshot]

I prefer to upgrade the D via trade more so than UFA ... tend to get better contracts.

Same preference for the top 4 - more value out of a trade than trying to outbid others on UFA.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

Directly or indirectly, KA needs to parlay Olofsson, Bryson (or Stillman but I doubt KA trades the guy he just got), and even Rosen or another lesser prospect into a top-4 D (preferably RHD). If any/all those pieces don't work, then you go scorched earth and offer up the Nashville 2025 7th rd pick to seal the deal.

 

[TehDoak]

You’ve listed one bottom pairing NHL D and three players that shouldn’t have a role in the NHL on a team trying to win.

In the end though, the issue isn't that our 7th D is bad. It's that D 3-4-5 aren't good enough.

Dahlin

(big gap)

Power

(gap)

Sameulsson

(huge cliff)

Joker
Lybushkin

(gap)

....the rest of them


Samuelsson and Power (and at some level Joker, but less at this point) have upside and should improve. The rest of them have pretty limited upside and likely are more dependent on system fit to be effective more than anything else. So the imperative is finding a top 4 D-man that will keep the 'meh' d-men out of our top 4 and our 'bad' d-men out of our top 6. Adding a top 4 RHD and a solid 5 would have an injury fortifying effect that would keep us a solid D group against a single injury. A solid LHD for the bottom pair could sub in for Samuelsson when he struggles a bit, which I think would help him improve as well.

To add two d-men would likely require us taking losses on the bottom pair d-men under contract (Joker, Lybushkin, Stillman, Bryson). I think that volume of change isn't likely something Adams has an appetite for...but it's the kind of improvement could pay off massive dividends, especially if done in tandem with a goalie upgrade.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Every time I see his name I hear horses neighing in my head. I don’t even know if the pronunciation is even close or not.

Teodors Blugers in Latvian. I will Google what neighing means .

 

[TehDoak]

Now that the trade deadline has passed, I think it's time to revisit an idea I had previously.

One....Erik Karlsson

He has 4 years, 11.5M left on his deal. He is due a 10M signing bonus on 7/1.

Consider:

1. If you were to sign Power, who is on a 10.2c RFA next summer, to a 3 year extension similar to what McAvoy had gotten in the past, you would line up his big extension with Karlsson's contract falling off.
2. We could, in theory, take on his deal with zero retention needed, something no other team save Arizona could do.
3. A defense of:

Samuelsson-Dahlin
Power-Karlsson

I mean...if you want to take a big swing this summer....this is the kind of swing to take. Just need to convince him to waive his NMC for Buffalo.

 

[Jim Bob]

Same preference for the top 4 - more value out of a trade than trying to outbid others on UFA.

If it is a significant player that you are adding, getting a younger player via trade is almost always a better move than paying for an older UFA and outbidding the market.

The UFA market is where you try and get depth guys ala Boosh that you can sign to shorter term deals at lower cost per.

 

[joshjull]

Teodors Blugers in Latvian. I will Google what neighing means .

From Young Frankenstein

around the 14 second mark.

 

[Jim Bob]

Now that the trade deadline has passed, I think it's time to revisit an idea I had previously.

One....Erik Karlsson

He has 4 years, 11.5M left on his deal. He is due a 10M signing bonus on 7/1.

Consider:

1. If you were to sign Power, who is on a 10.2c RFA next summer, to a 3 year extension similar to what McAvoy had gotten in the past, you would line up his big extension with Karlsson's contract falling off.
2. We could, in theory, take on his deal with zero retention needed, something no other team save Arizona could do.
3. A defense of:

Samuelsson-Dahlin
Power-Karlsson

I mean...if you want to take a big swing this summer....this is the kind of swing to take. Just need to convince him to waive his NMC for Buffalo.

I do not see Karlsson as a great fit given that the Sabres already have Power and Dahlin.

I would see someone like Andersson or Weegar from Calgary as a better fit.

 

[Gabrielor]

Now that the trade deadline has passed, I think it's time to revisit an idea I had previously.

One....Erik Karlsson

He has 4 years, 11.5M left on his deal. He is due a 10M signing bonus on 7/1.

Consider:

1. If you were to sign Power, who is on a 10.2c RFA next summer, to a 3 year extension similar to what McAvoy had gotten in the past, you would line up his big extension with Karlsson's contract falling off.
2. We could, in theory, take on his deal with zero retention needed, something no other team save Arizona could do.
3. A defense of:

Samuelsson-Dahlin
Power-Karlsson

I mean...if you want to take a big swing this summer....this is the kind of swing to take. Just need to convince him to waive his NMC for Buffalo.

I'd be interested.

Hyper leans into what our identity is.

What will Mr. Karlsson cost us in assets?

 

[CaliSabresfan24]

I do not see Karlsson as a great fit given that the Sabres already have Power and Dahlin.

I would see someone like Andersson or Weegar from Calgary as a better fit.

Would love to add Weegar. I know the contract sucks but he is a perfect fit to what we need on the back end. I would try to make an offer that includes VO and Joki for him.

Sammy-Dahls
Power-Weegar
Stillman/Johnson-Boosh

 

[K8fool]

I was actually considering the possibility of Gus/Krebs remaining together and replacing Okposo with Greenway. From the posts I've seen, part of Greenways issues this season has been getting him going so to speak. Well that energy line worked to get Krebs going, perhaps it works to get Greenway going now. Greenway also played the bulk of last season as a RW so he can play both sides effectively given how good he was last year.

we're lucky and a playoff team w okposo as our 13th Forward . if he'll humble himself.. if he played 40 games he might be close to 30 pts . while pushing the Savoie and kulich to perform hungry w right attitude..
we'll see but Greenway doesn't give vibes like he's thrilled he's here..and we need psychotic buy in and no giving up to go 14 5 and 1 to keep playing.. i Hope I'm wrong.. These last games will determine next year. it Will show everyone's strength weaknesses etc.. We ran into good goalie w EDM. and we should have smoked nyi. guys places are not guaranteed .. Our D blows without Sammy and power is great against 4 D, he'll develop shot and snarl. not there yet to prevent debacles..

the idea KA fooks up is laughable , no GM will help make us unbeatable.. no way w give up kuluch or Savoie for that me first TOOL chichyryn.. He's an eichel all the way unless around vets that won't tolerate , then he'd get injured and take his toys home.. He fix this.. a not happy Greenway proves nothin was out there that wouldn't destroy what he's building.. it sucks. i need playoffs now. we'll see

 

[K8fool]

Would love to add Weegar. I know the contract sucks but he is a perfect fit to what we need on the back end. I would try to make an offer that includes VO and Joki for him.

Sammy-Dahls
Power-Weegar
Stillman/Johnson-Boosh

This∆ is who we need.. We'd be able to weather injuries and the high flying amazingly gifted..then. NOTHING.. Bryson would play elsewhere

joki might flourish on third pair as he's creative and sits on Stillman nights.. We're close..maybe Johnson is better than many college heros