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

[Matt Ress]

Of course it's revisionist history. We are talking about things that didn't happen.



You ever get tired of this?

You can't simply list out all of the transactions and say: SEE, SEE, THERE WEREN'T ANY OPTIONS!

We have zero idea who was available last summer via trade. Here are the facts:

1. The Sabres had 8 top 2 round draft picks in 22/23 in the summer to spend on immediate improvement, they spent 0
2. The Sabres had 25M+ in cap space to spend on free agents/add salary via trade. They spent around 8.5M (Hino, Comrie, Anderson, Lybushkin, Pilut)

And yes, they added Jost later and eventually used a pick on Greenway.

However, given the multitude of needs and the resources available, to spend as little as they did to help the immediate team is unacceptable. It was being cheap and shortsighted. It was going into the season, and it's even more egregious in hindsight because of the breakout performances of Thompson, Cozens, Tuch, and Dahlin. Another wasted season. Not because the players didn't play well, they did. Another season punted away because the front office and ownership wanted to spend the minimum possible this year.

You can simultaneously have a 'development' year while improving the roster both now and in the future. Just because you have a bunch of players on ELCs doesn't mean you can't spend to improve the roster.

Are we not in a season now where we're simultaneously having a development year while improving the roster both now and in the future?

With that, I don't think anyone would be mad if we went out and got a goalie or top 4 D. It's been ultra conservative which has been fine but we're definitely moving into the next stage.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Of course it's revisionist history. We are talking about things that didn't happen.



You ever get tired of this?

You can't simply list out all of the transactions and say: SEE, SEE, THERE WEREN'T ANY OPTIONS!

We have zero idea who was available last summer via trade. Here are the facts:

1. The Sabres had 8 top 2 round draft picks in 22/23 in the summer to spend on immediate improvement, they spent 0
2. The Sabres had 25M+ in cap space to spend on free agents/add salary via trade. They spent around 8.5M (Hino, Comrie, Anderson, Lybushkin, Pilut)

And yes, they added Jost later and eventually used a pick on Greenway.

However, given the multitude of needs and the resources available, to spend as little as they did to help the immediate team is unacceptable. It was being cheap and shortsighted. It was going into the season, and it's even more egregious in hindsight because of the breakout performances of Thompson, Cozens, Tuch, and Dahlin. Another wasted season. Not because the players didn't play well, they did. Another season punted away because the front office and ownership wanted to spend the minimum possible this year.

You can simultaneously have a 'development' year while improving the roster both now and in the future. Just because you have a bunch of players on ELCs doesn't mean you can't spend to improve the roster.

I'll get tired of it when critics stop conflating the theoretical ability to do something with the actual ability to do something.

Adams had a trade ready to go with Ottawa that sent the 16th pick in 2022 to Ottawa for Matt Murray and pick #7. Adams actually completed a trade which added a goaltender as well as getting a higher pick. What a genius! The Sabres come away from day 1 of the draft with Kasper, Savoie, a starting goaltender, and probably Kulich.

Except reality plays in that Murray won't drop his NTC.

What could he have done? That trade? Sign Campbell as a goalie? Sign Nick Paul as the 3C? Sign Jan Rutta as a defenseman? High end stuff that likely was pursued but those players aren't coming to Buffalo.

Adams was pursuing Chychrun. But the deal from Armstrong for Buffalo was a lot higher than what he got from Ottawa. The same Bill Armstrong that got ROR for two bad roster players, a draft pick, and a prospect. You don't think he's going to try to fleece the same organization out of Savoie or Kulich? Adams rightfully walked away from that deal.

Just because it's possible doesn't mean it's probable. Just because Adams didn't do something doesn't mean he wasn't pursuing it. Just because a deal was available doesn't mean it was the right one to make.

 

[joshjull]

We’re leading the way in one league trend.

 

[debaser66]

As for the bolded-

The team let Pysyk, Miller, Butcher, and Hagg go and planned to run Power and Lyubushkin as new additions in the top six. There was also the addition of Clague and Pilot, two players that on paper everyone last season thought could be feasible depth and who we hoped would clear waivers (clague).

With how the team played down the stretch last season, it legitimately fit Granato's plan to develop the younger guys and give them the bulk of the responsibility.

You said just yesterday that injuries were not an issue, which is pretty out of touch. This team has had an Old Testament Locust level disaster with the D core injuries this season. Half of their top 6 defensemen have often been out or playing injured all year.

There were guys that weren't healthy enough to practice playing regular season games - do you know how nuts that actually is?

Players that should be capped at 20 minutes playing 30. Even Dahlin is playing poorly, he has nothing left in the tank because injuries have forced him to log unsustainable minutes. . Everyone is saying depth was the issue, but when you are playing your tenth D, there is no team in the league that has the kind of depth to survive that.

Don't get me wrong, I am not pretending their depth was good, but it was amplified by their injury luck. but the reality is that there was not an easy solution that people seem to assume must have been out there - the problem is there were absolutely no depth D available last off-season that would have made a difference that would have cleared waivers. Teams don't trade capable waiver exempt defenders so there really weren't options there.

There really are multiple factors contributing to this years pitfalls, but looking around the league, there are some teams whose top four have missed less than 10 games combined. If Buffalo's D had that kind of injury luck, (like their forward core has had), it is likely this team would be in a vastly different place right now.

they were quite lucky with D injuries this year and their top guys in general, Dahlin was quite healthy till recently.
the issue is there is no depth on D, Bryson & Clague played mostly regular roles despite not even shouldnt be considered depth D, it was a bad idea in the first place, to have so many small D as depth.
they re all mostly useless on the PK, so Dahlin had to be overworked.
its not just injuries that forced Dahlin to get overworked, its a bad composition of the D corp in general, with useless players like Joker, who are good at nothing in particular.
the only important D that was out a bit longer was Cobra.
lets say they certainly weren't set up for success at the back end.

 

[Der Jaeger]

So if the Sabres are stuck having to develop from within.... especially goaltenders...... then acquire the best frickin' position coaches possible.

Spend the money there versus on free agents, etc.. (I don't think that expense counts against the cap.... chuckle)

The Sabres need for (at a minimum) a new defense coach, special teams coach AND goaltending coach is obvious.

Last time I checked, Mitch Korn was on staff with Lindy in NJ...... How much does that suck....?!

This idea I can get behind.

 

[TehDoak]

I'll get tired of it when critics stop conflating the theoretical ability to do something with the actual ability to do something.

Adams had a trade ready to go with Ottawa that sent the 16th pick in 2022 to Ottawa for Matt Murray and pick #7. Adams actually completed a trade which added a goaltender as well as getting a higher pick. What a genius! The Sabres come away from day 1 of the draft with Kasper, Savoie, a starting goaltender, and probably Kulich.

Except reality plays in that Murray won't drop his NTC.

What could he have done? That trade? Sign Campbell as a goalie? Sign Nick Paul as the 3C? Sign Jan Rutta as a defenseman? High end stuff that likely was pursued but those players aren't coming to Buffalo.

Adams was pursuing Chychrun. But the deal from Armstrong for Buffalo was a lot higher than what he got from Ottawa. The same Bill Armstrong that got ROR for two bad roster players, a draft pick, and a prospect. You don't think he's going to try to fleece the same organization out of Savoie or Kulich? Adams rightfully walked away from that deal.

Just because it's possible doesn't mean it's probable. Just because Adams didn't do something doesn't mean he wasn't pursuing it. Just because a deal was available doesn't mean it was the right one to make.

Again you are bringing up specific deals that 'fell through'

It doesn't change the fact we didn't utilize our draft capital and cap space to improve the team.

In fact we added a dead money contract so we could be BELOW the cap.

This isn't really a discussion.

It is a fact that the team had resources to improve the team and address issues and they chose not to. We can talk about HOW they could have to the cows come home, but we aren't privy to the players that were potentially available. In the end, it doesn't change the fact that they didn't. This season represents a missed opportunity to really move the franchise forward, but cheapness and a lack of coherent plan from the front office prevented that.

 

[DeletedUser539]

Dahlin goal less since Jan 23rd.

Only 2 assists in March and a -15.

Should have just let him recover from whatever the injury is rather than have him play through it. Record wouldn’t be much different without him. And maybe he’d be recovered by now after 2 to 3 weeks off.

That TBL, FLA, TBL stretch at the end of February, beginning of March is when he got hurt.

Who knows maybe our attempts to be competitive have been seen by the hockey gods and they will reward us with lottery luck... Please please please

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

Again you are bringing up specific deals that 'fell through'

It doesn't change the fact we didn't utilize our draft capital and cap space to improve the team.

In fact we added a dead money contract so we could be BELOW the cap.

This isn't really a discussion.

It is a fact that the team had resources to improve the team and address issues and they chose not to. We can talk about HOW they could have to the cows come home, but we aren't privy to the players that were potentially available. In the end, it doesn't change the fact that they didn't. This season represents a missed opportunity to really move the franchise forward, but cheapness and a lack of coherent plan from the front office prevented that.

but because you wont engage in any discussion of what opportunity was missed its equally valid to say that opportunity was less valuable than giving young players the experience of shouldering this season, and then you hand wave that it was cheapness and lack of a plan, which is the part that most have an issue with

this isnt really a discussion because you wont engage in the part that is up for debate

we are all well aware of what wasn't done, we were there

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

Who knows maybe our attempts to be competitive have been seen by the hockey gods and they will reward us with lottery luck... Please please please

I honestly hope they somehow win the draft lottery, not even specifically for Bedard but more because the top prospects are all forwards, and many are centers. It would almost force KA to look at either trading the pick or finally letting go of a few prospects to improve the team in the present.

 

[TehDoak]

but because you wont engage in any discussion of what opportunity was missed its equally valid to say that opportunity was less valuable than giving young players the experience of shouldering this season, and then you hand wave that it was cheapness and lack of a plan

this isnt really a discussion because you wont engage in the part that is up for debate

I'm not sure how a team spending below the cap floor two years in a row can be characterized as anything but 'cheap', The players I've advocated for (starting goalie, defensive center, top 4 d-man) would not have taken ice time or opportunity away from any of our top prospects. It simply would have prevented things like trading for Stillman, claiming Jost, signing Comrie/Anderson.

Adams attempted to resolve the issues, but he did a half measure. He choose the cheapest path (both in asset wise and cash wise). So when I say 'the team was cheap', it's not me hating on the front office, or hand waving anything. The team under Adams for the past two seasons has consistently gone the cheapest path possible rather than actually try to improve the team.

As far as a coherent plan, please point me to any sort of commentary from Adams that details what his plan is, other than some feigning of fidelity to his 'plan' or 'process'. Because so far, as far as I can tell it involves:

Hoarding draft picks
Using those draft picks
Something about having everyone in the same age group (this never made any sense to me, but he's repeated it multiple times)

But there has never been any converting assets to tangible players (other than the Greenway trade) or really, any sort of roster shaping to fit a certain system or to address a need.

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

I'm not sure how a team spending below the cap floor two years in a row can be characterized as anything but 'cheap', The players I've advocated for (starting goalie, defensive center, top 4 d-man) would not have taken ice time or opportunity away from any of our top prospects. It simply would have prevented things like trading for Stillman, claiming Jost, signing Comrie/Anderson.

Adams attempted to resolve the issues, but he did a half measure. He choose the cheapest path (both in asset wise and cash wise). So when I say 'the team was cheap', it's not me hating on the front office, or hand waving anything. The team under Adams for the past two seasons has consistently gone the cheapest path possible rather than actually try to improve the team.

As far as a coherent plan, please point me to any sort of commentary from Adams that details what his plan is, other than some feigning of fidelity to his 'plan' or 'process'. Because so far, as far as I can tell it involves:

Hoarding draft picks
Using those draft picks
Something about having everyone in the same age group (this never made any sense to me, but he's repeated it multiple times)

But there has never been any converting assets to tangible players (other than the Greenway trade) or really, any sort of roster shaping to fit a certain system or to address a need.

It’s almost literally in every post responding to you and mentioned in every press conference Adams has given.

Develop young players by giving them the responsibility and ice time, not block their development with veterans that don’t fit the timeline, not sign mercenaries for the sake of filling roster spots unless they bring veteran leadership, and not spend assets on pieces that don’t fit the above.

If you can’t get there, well it’s basically just you in that boat.

 

[TehDoak]

It’s almost literally in every post responding to you and mentioned in every press conference Adams has given.

Develop young players by giving them the responsibility and ice time

Ok

, not block their development with veterans that don’t fit the timeline

Oh boy

not sign mercenaries for the sake of filling roster spots unless they bring veteran leadership.

You started out strong, but really went off on a tailspin here.

The very problem is, they DID bring in veterans to fill roster spots.

They just did it very very shittily.

Jost, Hinostroza, Anderson, Comrie, Pilut, Stillman, Lybushkin, I'll add Olofsson as a guy they could have moved out last summer.

These were all 'well they didn't cost much asset wise and we need to get to the cap floor' moves. And the jost claim only happened because of a run of injuries.

If they would have invested some capital (cash or assets) and filled these gaps in with quality instead of below replacement level or worse, we'd be talking about our 1st round matchups rather than debating what went wrong.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Again you are bringing up specific deals that 'fell through'

It doesn't change the fact we didn't utilize our draft capital and cap space to improve the team.

In fact we added a dead money contract so we could be BELOW the cap.

This isn't really a discussion.

It is a fact that the team had resources to improve the team and address issues and they chose not to. We can talk about HOW they could have to the cows come home, but we aren't privy to the players that were potentially available. In the end, it doesn't change the fact that they didn't. This season represents a missed opportunity to really move the franchise forward, but cheapness and a lack of coherent plan from the front office prevented that.

There is a vast difference between having a plan to add to the team (Matt Murray, Chychrun, etc) and things failing through...... and choosing not to act.

Adams had a deal with Ottawa and Murray vetoed it. That's not choosing not to act. Adams was able to meet the price for Chychrun but Armstrong elected to make Buffalo's price higher in an attempt to fleece the Sabres.

You say Adams didn't use his draft and cap assets. There's plenty of evidence that he made attempts that fell through.

 

[BFLO]

Some revisionist history here.

Which big time goalie was coming here this off-season?
- Casey DeSmith re-signed
- MAF re-signed
- Husso was traded for and isn't playing well behind a team similar to Buffalo.
- Georgiev was traded for and playing well behind a good Colorado team.
- Campbell wasn't signing here
- Kuemper wasn't signing here.
- Vanecek was traded for. Playing well behind a good NJD team.
- Samsonov is playing well behind a good Toronto team.

The only comparable is Husso. Everyone is mad Adams didn't trade for him. But he's not pulling the Red Wings along. Husso on Buffalo isn't getting them to the playoffs.

Which big time defenseman did the Sabres have a shot at?
- Edler re-signed in LA.
- Troy Stecher was available.
- Leddy re-signed
- Ruuta signed with the Pens. Probably not signing with Buffalo.
- Brendan Smith signed with the Devils.
- Ian Cole signed with the Lightning.
- Manson re-signed with the Avs, was never coming to Buffalo.
- Justin Schultz signed with the Kraken.

Which of these defenseman was coming to Buffalo without an overpayment and fixing things? Ruuta would've been a huge addition, but he wasn't coming to Buffalo. Over 30 and a 2 time Cup winner. He's going to the Pens to keep trying to win.

Which center did Buffalo have a change to bring in to anchor the 3rd of 4th line?
- Nick Paul wasn't leaving Tampa.
- Bjugstad wouldn't have changed anything.
- Domi could've been signed and had a huge year.
- Colin Blackwell was available but he's not turning anything around.
- Ryan Strome isn't a bottom 6 center.
- Darren Helm isn't coming to a team like Buffalo at this stage of his career.
- Curtis Lazar was available but probably not wanting to come back to Buffalo.
- Trocheck wasn't coming to Buffalo and isn't a 3 or 4C.
- Andrew Copp was available.
- Nico Sturm was available.

So, the best Adams gets this off season was a trade for Husso, signing Copp or Sturm, and maybe bringing in Schultz, Smith or Cole on the back end. That isn't turning the ship around. And, those players have to want to come to Buffalo unless isn't a trade.

We can hammer Adams for not bringing in Sturm or Copp or one of the defenders, but they have to want to sign in Buffalo. For all we know, Adams did reach out, but got a deal like he got from Armstrong in Arizona. Overpay big time or the player isn't coming.

The state of the team is such where free agents have to be overpayed to come to Buffalo. Adams has to trade for additions primarily. We know he tried to get Chychrun but the price was way too steep.

We can use hindsight all we want, but you can't force a player to sign just because he'd make the Sabres better. And you can't make another GM give Adams a good deal for Buffalo. So the team is left with development internally and trading for projects.

Looks like the Sabres could have beaten the price paid for Husso, Georgiev, Samsonov or Vanacek without breaking the bank or compromising the future.

Could have offered Schultz +$1m aav over what he got and had a decent 2nd paring RHD.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Looks like the Sabres could have beaten the price paid for Husso, Georgiev, Samsonov or Vanacek without breaking the bank or compromising the future.

Could have offered Schultz +$1m aav over what he got and had a decent 2nd paring RHD.

True, but would they make a difference? Look at Husso. He's not buoying the Red Wings.

 

[yasky]

My question is of the upcoming UFA's who should the Sabres be targeting? Dumba? Orlov? Soucy?

 

[Chainshot]

they were quite lucky with D injuries this year and their top guys in general, Dahlin was quite healthy till recently.
the issue is there is no depth on D, Bryson & Clague played mostly regular roles despite not even shouldnt be considered depth D, it was a bad idea in the first place, to have so many small D as depth.
they re all mostly useless on the PK, so Dahlin had to be overworked.
its not just injuries that forced Dahlin to get overworked, its a bad composition of the D corp in general, with useless players like Joker, who are good at nothing in particular.
the only important D that was out a bit longer was Cobra.
lets say they certainly weren't set up for success at the back end.

Injury exposed the poor composition, agreed. And that they have depth defensemen who the staff does not trust in defensive situations or penalty killing is exposed, leaving a shrinking number of possible candidates who then wind up more fatigued/less effective over time. Samuelsson is their top PKing defenseman and primary shutdown guy by impact. Missing him for as much as they have exposes how poor the rest of the unit is at soaking what he does.

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

Ok



Oh boy



You started out strong, but really went off on a tailspin here.

The very problem is, they DID bring in veterans to fill roster spots.

They just did it very very shittily.

Jost, Hinostroza, Anderson, Comrie, Pilut, Stillman, Lybushkin, I'll add Olofsson as a guy they could have moved out last summer.

These were all 'well they didn't cost much asset wise and we need to get to the cap floor' moves. And the jost claim only happened because of a run of injuries.

If they would have invested some capital (cash or assets) and filled these gaps in with quality instead of below replacement level or worse, we'd be talking about our 1st round matchups rather than debating what went wrong.

here's the plan:

-identify the capabilities of young players on the roster, and ensure they have the opportunity to do that (KA and Don have both said this)
-identify remaining holes in the roster
-identify players that fit the age group, have talent, and match the desired mental characteristics they want
and what value they attach to that player (KA has said this multiple times)
- pursue those players who have a positive cost/talent ratio (theyve been linked to several players that could be considered to fill this step)
- back fill roster while tieing up the least assets that can be used in the future for the previous step (signing cheap, fringe nhlers)

what we get to see as fans:

-KA and Don talking to the media
-back fill roster while tieing up the least assets that can be used in the future

what you have to assume for that plan to be possible:

-the sabres believed the most valuable outcome of this season was player development

which isnt a hard conclusion to come to with the youngest team in the NHL, its not largely contradicted by any league events this season (can list them all but generally the team has behaved the entire season like they believed it was a dev season), its in line with everything that league analysts said preseason (that the sabres were a year away from being ready to compete and arent ready to make big moves using futures), and its consistent with them buying young, fringe nhlers to fill roster positions that are largely absent on the greater roster

and the only real way to distinguish what we've seen this season from the very real possibility that our owner said to KA "my family is sick, we are heading for a recession, my daughter is a ranked tennis pro heading into her prime, and we are about to break ground on a new palace for a football team that just spectacularly shit the bed again, I dont want to worry about how much money my hockey team is losing, keep it tight" is to discuss the things you refuse to discuss, has KA been cheaping out on chychrun/meier/ekholm or is he following the plan or is he doing both, he has free reign until his costs hit a certain point and then the clock starts ticking

you've chosen to say there is no plan and you dont want to talk about the examples of him following the plan, what do you want?

 

[Asymmetric Solution]

My question is of the upcoming UFA's who should the Sabres be targeting? Dumba? Orlov? Soucy?

Some guys I think we should check in on with guesstimate price. I think we need to tinker immensely with our bottom 6 and bottom 3 to become much harder to play against. I like these guys the most out of the UFA crop.

Fantasy Post!

Defensemen:
Dumba RHD - 5.5M?
Orlov LHD 6M?
Severson RHD 6M?
Graves LHD 4M?
Mayfield RHD 5M?
Soucy LHD 4M?
Gavrikov LHD 5M?
Gustafsson LHD 2M?

Forwards:
Hathaway RW 2M?
Wood LW 3M?
Compher C 3.5M?
Barbashev C 3.5M?
Fast RW 2M?
Bjustad C 2M?

Goalie:
Jarry 5M

Skinner-TT-Tuch
Mitts-Cozens-Quinn
Peterka-Krebs-Greenway
Wood-Barbashev-Hathaway
(Olof)

Orlov-Dahlin
Power-Severson
Sammy-Mayfield
(Boosh, Gustafsson)

Jarry
UPL
(Levi)

This team is ECC finalists

We’d also be right at the cap if I had to guess.

 

[StrompTroller]

Some guys I think we should check in on with guesstimate price. I think we need to tinker immensely with our bottom 6 and bottom 3 to become much harder to play against. I like these guys the most out of the UFA crop.

Fantasy Post!

Defensemen:
Dumba RHD - 5.5M?
Orlov LHD 6M?
Severson RHD 6M?
Graves LHD 4M?
Mayfield RHD 5M?
Soucy LHD 4M?
Gavrikov LHD 5M?
Gustafsson LHD 2M?

Forwards:
Hathaway RW 2M?
Wood LW 3M?
Compher C 3.5M?
Barbashev C 3.5M?
Fast RW 2M?
Bjustad C 2M?

Goalie:
Jarry 5M

Skinner-TT-Tuch
Mitts-Cozens-Quinn
Peterka-Krebs-Greenway
Wood-Barbashev-Hathaway
(Olof)

Orlov-Dahlin
Power-Severson
Sammy-Mayfield
(Boosh, Gustafsson)

Jarry
UPL
(Levi)

This team is ECC finalists

We’d also be right at the cap if I had to guess.

No team let alone ours is turning over EIGHT roster spots on UFA's.
Adding Wood and Hathaway on forward alone and slotting girgs back at center would be an amazing off-season despit the fact it doesnt address our biggest needs at all. Adding Mayfield alone would be huge.

 

[Asymmetric Solution]

No team let alone ours is turning over EIGHT roster spots on UFA's.
Adding Wood and Hathaway on forward alone and slotting girgs back at center would be an amazing off-season despit the fact it doesnt address our biggest needs at all. Adding Mayfield alone would be huge.

I know, if I were GM for a day. 7 with the goalie. I guess Joker could take Gus’s 7th D spot.

 

[StrompTroller]

I know, if I were GM for a day. 7 with the goalie. I guess Joker could take Gus’s 7th D spot.

8 with Gust in the pressbox. 3 forwards, 3 dmen, a goalie and one in the pressbox.

I get having fan goggle visions though, it's a fun exercise. I like your targets for the most part if that helps lol

 

[Asymmetric Solution]

8 with Gust in the pressbox. 3 forwards, 3 dmen, a goalie and one in the pressbox.

I get having fan goggle visions though, it's a fun exercise. I like your targets for the most part if that helps lol

Natural attrition on the 4th line. I love Gus, but it is time. I like Jost but I think we can do better.

On D, Joker and Stillman belong in the press box. So I do foresee 2 spots on the bottom 4 there. Last but not least, running back Comrie and UPL should be considered open treason against the fanbase and met with dire consequences. So I think we need an upgrade there. Not totally far fetched for a GM with some balls.

 

[StrompTroller]

Natural attrition on the 4th line. I love Gus, but it is time. I like Jost but I think we can do better.

On D, Joker and Stillman belong in the press box. So I do foresee 2 spots on the bottom 4 there. Last but not least, running back Comrie and UPL should be considered open treason against the fanbase and met with dire consequences. So I think we need an upgrade there. Not totally far fetched for a GM with some balls.

hey like I said I agree with most of your targets, not bashing that at all just know we won't add 8 NHL level UFA's lol. No more no less.

Hathaway and Wood would be huge additions. Barbashev is one realistic target over the line.
Mayfield would be awesome. Adding orlov and severson is two steps ove the line. Arguably the top 3 dmen signing all with the same team is just not realistic. Jarry does absolutely nothing for me personally.

Furthermore adding that many bodies especially at forward blocks Kulich and Savoie especially. Those guys arent signing here on 1 or 2 year deals. They are cashing in on idiotic checks for 4th liners. Just doesnt add up being that aggressive.

 

[Asymmetric Solution]

hey like I said I agree with most of your targets, not bashing that at all just know we won't add 8 NHL level UFA's lol. No more no less.

Hathaway and Wood would be huge additions. Barbashev is one realistic target over the line.
Mayfield would be awesome. Adding orlov and severson is two steps ove the line. Arguably the top 3 dmen signing all with the same team is just not realistic. Jarry does absolutely nothing for me personally.

Furthermore adding that many bodies especially at forward blocks Kulich and Savoie especially. Those guys arent signing here on 1 or 2 year deals. They are cashing in on idiotic checks for 4th liners. Just doesnt add up being that aggressive.

Oh 100%, not arguing my dabbling is realistic as far as bringing in all those guys. Just saying technically, I can see 6 spots open depending on how you look at it. How we fill those, bring in return guys or UFAs is TBD. If I were GM though (obviously likely fired immediately) this is something I’d try haha.