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

[TheMistyStranger]

Not arguing next years cap implications but Parayko has like what 7 years left on his deal? Graves will probably want 4-5 years. What happens when you need to pay Quinn, Peterka, Levi, Tuch, Power, Dahlin, Krebs, and other prospects coming off their ELC before those deals are up?

Edit: not to mention having some cap flexibility when we’re supposed to be good

That's the impulsive part. Para's deal is rough, but shit man, Pittsburgh is falling down, Washington is falling down, the Bruins might be losing some key pieces to retirement...maybe it's time to push now. NJ had, what, a 40 point improvement from last year to this year? Putting that defense corps in front of UPL/Comrie/Levi would be game-changing.

And even if those moves aren't made, there will be painful and difficult decisions in the next few years. Kulich, Ostlund, and Savoie will all be NHLers. Rosen has been very good and could push before any of them. The point is if you need to move a 4-6m forward out for cap relief, you can do that because of the tremendous prospect depth up front. Buffalo doesn't have anything close to that on the blue line.

 

[Chainshot]

I'd be up for doing that with Dumba as well, as we know Dumba is more than capable of being a solid partner for a great to good defenseman (Spurgeon).

Dumba's mostly with Brodin and Middleton is with Spurgeon this year (and the last four per MoneyPuck's line combos).

 

[MOGlLNY]

Dumba's mostly with Brodin and Middleton is with Spurgeon this year (and the last four per MoneyPuck's line combos).

Ah yes I meant Brodin, not Spurgeon.

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

Not arguing next years cap implications but Parayko has like what 7 years left on his deal? Graves will probably want 4-5 years. What happens when you need to pay Quinn, Peterka, Levi, Tuch, Power, Dahlin, Krebs, and other prospects coming off their ELC before those deals are up?

Edit: not to mention having some cap flexibility when we’re supposed to be good

I played around with it on capfriendly and it can work without losing players you want to retain even while still keeping a few million in space. Krebs isn't getting much on his next deal unless he has a Cozens type of season next year. Quinn, Peterka and Levi are still unknowns on what they'll earn. Tuch can get an increase, but if I was going to peg any guy on the team to be willing to take a hometown discount it would be him.

The very worst case if you foresee a cap issue for a season or 2 you can bridge a Peterka or a Quinn until the Skinner deal ends. Teams do it all the time. Either way I bet there's a player on the team right now that may not be on the team in 3 or 4 seasons that might surprise us all. It's just how things work. You aren't going to have 15 core players for 4 straight seasons.

 

[Chainshot]

I've tried to make this point in the defense thread but finding a good partner for Power doesn't seem like a UFA sort of thing. There are very few defensemen, complimentary or otherwise in the top 4 of the Eastern Conference playoff teams who are UFA signings - Hamilton in NJ, Cole is surprisingly third in minutes for TB on a unit that is fairly undermanned, and MStaal in Florida who I don't think they wanted to pull down the minutes he has.

 

[Jim Bob]

A bit of a rough draft here:

UFA:

Sign Severson to a 4 year, 6.5M per deal
Sign Jesper Fast to a 3 year, 2.5M per deal


Trades:

Olofsson to Chicago for a 2024 3rd
Joker to San Jose for Sturm
UPL and Philly's 2023 2nd, our 2024 2nd for Carter Hart

Goals Achieved:

Upgraded Goaltending
Improved Defense
Improved PK
No top prospects touched.
Plenty of cap space/assets available to add to bottom pair defense if needed.

View attachment 686797

I have a feeling that Flyers fans would loath UPL & 2 2nds for Hart.

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

I have a feeling that Flyers fans would loath UPL & 2 2nds for Hart.

Seems like he's young enough that even if they rebuild he can be a part of it.

 

[Jim Bob]

I meant on the roster itself. For example, among the forwards. If they do re-sign Okposo, even if they trade out Olofsson, and let Hino/Jost walk. There's probably not a significant amount of cap being added in the replacement of any of those 3. Unless they get a 2nd line caliber forward and have Peterka on the 3rd line or something like that which is completely reasonable.

There will still be money out/money in when replacing or upgrading players. Not sure they'd sign someone for 4 or 5 million to play in Josts role for example.

Absolutely.

They have no big money RFAs left to sign.

They have two big contracts (Okposo & Bishop) coming off the books to offset some of the 3 big extensions.

I think the trade route is the much better way to use the cap space that they have given the cap issues around the league.

 

[TehDoak]

Eh, not really.

That thought process resulted in massive growth for many of our young players.

For example, if we signed a couple of vet forwards then it would have resulted in less ice time for Quinn, Peterka, and Krebs. There were very loud cries for them to be sent to to Rochester earlier in the season while they were struggling. Who knows of they they develop into the middle 6 forwards that they became by the end of the year. Yet, they kept getting quality ice time and there was very real development through the struggles.

Alternatively, guys like Jokiharju and Bryson showed very real potential in brief spurts over the past few years. If we didn't throw them into the fire for an entire season with this staff, we might have pushed Joker into a lower role and still be wondering if he can handle a higher work load. From my perspective we have a much clearer picture about who these guys are.

The same applies to Comrie and UPL. You have to take the good with the bad in these cases.

My only issue will be if we depend on Joker as a top 4 piece again next year. As @Gabrielor has pointed out, we'd be one injury from disaster again next year. I think they need both a quality top 4 and top 6 dmen added.

The thought process of internal development is great....when you are starting at the ground floor. Post finishing dead last....you have a lot of young players, you don't know quite what you have, it's fine. You also have a lot of needs.

You took a development year in 21-22, you get some good progression. With a full season to observe the players, you should have a pretty good idea of what you have (and what you don't). Adjusted for the shortened season, you get a 21 point jump between between the 20-21 season and 21-22 season.

The issue becomes, when you KNOW you have specific needs....when is it time to stop waiting for issues to be solved internally and when is it time to start actively looking for solutions.

Personally, I think the time to start that was, at the latest, last summer. I don't think you try to solve EVERYTHING, but you at least try to prevent it from tanking a season if things go well.

Simply put, at some point, there are going to be skill sets and experience you don't have in house, so hoping they magically develop is futile. Given that we still have, essentially, the same needs this summer as last, it really makes this year feel like a missed opportunity, especially when you factor in the vast draft capital and cap space available last year.

 

[TehDoak]

I have a feeling that Flyers fans would loath UPL & 2 2nds for Hart.

I don't think a team is going to trade for and extend him long term, which is where his value would be. If a team was getting a starting goalie for the next 5 years....there is value in that. he's an average starter with some upside still given his age. The market is going to be pretty lukewarm for him, at least IMHO.

 

[Beerz]

No thanks on Parakyo .. that contract is going to age poorly. He was on the 3rd pair for St Louis earlier this year. And I'd rather not have another 6'6 guy who is soft as butter.

 

[Irie]

As much as I hate on Adams, he doesn't set the budget.

I am very curious to see what happens this summer. I do think its important to remember that the Pegulas, Terry especially, was a fan first. I'm curious if the on ice improvements will lead to a wallet opening. It would be pretty trivial to make this a cap floor team again next year, if they wanted to. Move out Olofsson and replace them with some cheaper contracts would keep us at or below the floor again. I certainly don't think we will be near the cap....I'm hoping we'll see us closer to the midpoint (75 million-ish)

I think this TDL said a lot about the team's budget. Having all three retention slots and not spending a dime to facilitate pass through retention trades for draft capital was disappointing.

While it is true that we shouldn't rule out the possibilities of "wallet opening" due to the past history, I think it is equally fair to be legitimately concerned based on the recent financial trends of the organization and all the red-flags that are popping up.

 

[RefsIdeas]

A bit of a rough draft here:

UFA:

Sign Severson to a 4 year, 6.5M per deal
Sign Jesper Fast to a 3 year, 2.5M per deal


Trades:

Olofsson to Chicago for a 2024 3rd
Joker to San Jose for Sturm
UPL and Philly's 2023 2nd, our 2024 2nd for Carter Hart

Goals Achieved:

Upgraded Goaltending
Improved Defense
Improved PK
No top prospects touched.
Plenty of cap space/assets available to add to bottom pair defense if needed.

View attachment 686797

I've been doing some homework on Severson, and while he's good - Devils fans seem to have mixed opinions about him. He seems to suffer from the occasional big blunder defensively which will lead to a goal, but puts up good offensive numbers. Reminds me a lot of Owen Power in that way, which makes me think they wouldn't be a good fit together. As far as UFA's go, I think Scott Mayfield would be my target. Matt Roy is my top trade target.

 

[Sabreality]

No thanks on Parakyo .. that contract is going to age poorly. He was on the 3rd pair for St Louis earlier this year. And I'd rather not have another 6'6 guy who is soft as butter.

Yeah blows my mind people are advocating for that deal. The eye test shows he's already in decline.

 

[Gras]

I think this TDL said a lot about the team's budget. Having all three retention slots and not spending a dime to facilitate pass through retention trades for draft capital was disappointing.

While it is true that we shouldn't rule out the possibilities of "wallet opening" due to the past history, I think it is equally fair to be legitimately concerned based on the recent financial trends of the organization and all the red-flags that are popping up.

The market wasn't there, AZ only got a 3rd for eating some of Kanes contract
MTL got a 5th for Bonino
MIN got a 5th for Orlov
MIN got a 4th for ROR

Nothing really game breaking for us.

And I doubt we wanted to help TML, NYR, PIT and BOS get better.

 

[BUCKSHOT]

I think this TDL said a lot about the team's budget. Having all three retention slots and not spending a dime to facilitate pass through retention trades for draft capital was disappointing.

While it is true that we shouldn't rule out the possibilities of "wallet opening" due to the past history, I think it is equally fair to be legitimately concerned based on the recent financial trends of the organization and all the red-flags that are popping up.

Budget ?

They have 4 goal tenders on the roster

 

[CaliSabresfan24]

Really wonder what KA is gonna do in net. I feel like he might move on from both Comrie and UPL.

-Comrie for anything. 5,6,7th round pick, future considerations, I don't really care.

-Lance was on Marek's pod and discussed the possibility of moving UPL to SEA since Botts drafted UPL and was really high on him plus they don't have young "somewhat promising" goaltenders. I know its somewhat wishful thinking, but if you can work a deal out with SEA that involves UPL and Borgen I am in!

-Sign either Raanta, Varlamov or Korpisalo to split starts with Levi?

 

[Chainshot]

The market wasn't there, AZ only got a 3rd for eating some of Kanes contract
MTL got a 5th for Bonino
MIN got a 5th for Orlov
MIN got a 4th for ROR

Nothing really game breaking for us.

And I doubt we wanted to help TML, NYR, PIT and BOS get better.

Guerin per some reporting right after pissed some other GM's off by taking so little to facilitate the deals.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

Really wonder what KA is gonna do in net. I feel like he might move on from both Comrie and UPL.

-Comrie for anything. 5,6,7th round pick, future considerations, I don't really care.

-Lance was on Marek's pod and discussed the possibility of moving UPL to SEA since Botts drafted UPL and was really high on him plus they don't have young "somewhat promising" goaltenders. I know its somewhat wishful thinking, but if you can work a deal out with SEA that involves UPL and Borgen I am in!

-Sign either Raanta, Varlamov or Korpisalo to split starts with Levi?

If UPL is getting traded (I'd rather trade Comrie), getting Borgen from Sea would make it work for me.

 

[Chainshot]

Really wonder what KA is gonna do in net. I feel like he might move on from both Comrie and UPL.

-Comrie for anything. 5,6,7th round pick, future considerations, I don't really care.

-Lance was on Marek's pod and discussed the possibility of moving UPL to SEA since Botts drafted UPL and was really high on him plus they don't have young "somewhat promising" goaltenders. I know its somewhat wishful thinking, but if you can work a deal out with SEA that involves UPL and Borgen I am in!

-Sign either Raanta, Varlamov or Korpisalo to split starts with Levi?

I was wondering what LL covered in that segment. I haven't gotten to that episode yet but now I'll be dialing it in later.

 

[CaliSabresfan24]

I was wondering what LL covered in that segment. I haven't gotten to that episode yet but now I'll be dialing it in later.

Marek was the one that threw out the idea about Seattle. Lance said it was a legit possibility but thinks a lot of teams would be interested in UPL

 

[ValJamesDuex]

-Lance was on Marek's pod and discussed the possibility of moving UPL to SEA since Botts drafted UPL and was really high on him plus they don't have young "somewhat promising" goaltenders. I know its somewhat wishful thinking, but if you can work a deal out with SEA that involves UPL and Borgen I am in!

-Sign either Raanta, Varlamov or Korpisalo to split starts with Levi?

 

[Irie]

Budget ?

They have 4 goal tenders on the roster

They spent a combined 4M on all four goalies this season.

They added a little more than a million (this season) in Greenway and Stillman, but moved out almost three-quarters of a million with Asplund and Bjork before adding it. .

We justified it as doing solids to good soldiers, (myself included), but if I am being honest, there was financial motivation behind those moves as well.

By all indications, the Pegula purse strings are extremely tight at the moment. While Pegula's asset values have rebounded, he took a giant hit from the pandemic when oil around the world was sitting on tankers out at sea and no one had any space to store it and barrels were trading for absolutely nothing for an extended period.

The Sabres prior to this season were something like 30M in the hole during the Pegula's tenure of ownership. The Franchise's value has done well, although it has been dropping a bit recently, but there is an Arena problem and no tax-payer money to address it and an expiring agreement in a couple of years, which is likely going to require massive investment from the team owner.

COO Roth(Lex Luthor) likely has a 5 year budget that is including estimated renovation expenses, and that ledger has got to look like a financial horror story.

 

[Irie]

The market wasn't there, AZ only got a 3rd for eating some of Kanes contract
MTL got a 5th for Bonino
MIN got a 5th for Orlov
MIN got a 4th for ROR

Nothing really game breaking for us.

And I doubt we wanted to help TML, NYR, PIT and BOS get better.

I agree with this and have mentioned it here in the past (God Damn Guerin ; )

It was not a big loss, but that does not mean that doing absoutely nothing with the extra cap and then moving out cap from Rochester does not indicate a pattern. We can dismiss all the signs with secondary reasons, but at a certain point, we have to accept that financial constraints are playing a part in the decision making process.

 

[thewookie1]

Wonder what Lindholm would cost? He’d be a super pickup to give us a defensively responsible center