Sabres in good spot

[TehDoak]

I think you're completely lost on this part.

Maybe? I just think having a veteran with some experience of what is needed to be top tier NHL d-man would have been a good fit. Dahlin is still someone who is figuring stuff out and probably isn't a great mentor for Power, but maybe I'm 100% off base.

Subban might have been a better fit than Lybushkin in terms of veteran presence, but I think our D is pretty much set now, so its a moot point. However, Lybushkin's role as a stay at home physical guy was needed too. But it's a young defense which I think is going to probably be a bit uneven as the season goes on. Combine that with mediocre goaltending, I think there's potential for some snowballing and extended issues that could have been avoided with a bit more of a veteran blueline presence.

 

[Bobby Bottle Service]

The Sabres are in a good spot. The second half of the season was an improvement with Buffalo winning key games down the stretch and it wasn't down to puck luck. They earned those wins.

It's the talented youth movement and cap flexibility that are key to my optimism.

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

Maybe? I just think having a veteran with some experience of what is needed to be top tier NHL d-man would have been a good fit. Dahlin is still someone who is figuring stuff out and probably isn't a great mentor for Power, but maybe I'm 100% off base.

Subban might have been a better fit than Lybushkin in terms of veteran presence, but I think our D is pretty much set now, so its a moot point. However, Lybushkin's role as a stay at home physical guy was needed too. But it's a young defense which I think is going to probably be a bit uneven as the season goes on. Combine that with mediocre goaltending, I think there's potential for some snowballing and extended issues that could have been avoided with a bit more of a veteran blueline presence.

There may still be a possibility of them adding another Dman depending on how things shake out with teams shedding cap. It might not be a RD to pair with Power but possibly a LD that pushes Bryson into more of a 7th D kind of role. They ran with 8 Dmen last season not counting Fitzgerald. Maybe Boston or someone decides they need to shed a Reilly, Grzelcyk or Forbort for example.

 

[jmelm]

Roster set. No need to make moves. Lots of salary cap. Lots of teams need salary cap.

But if we don’t trade then it’s okay. Maybe Sabres can benefit from this. Easy to say no to proposals until more desperation from other yeams

No NEED to make moves, but it's really hard to see us not making any moves given the cap situation across the league.

I've been a proponent of grabbing FLA's 2nd for Hornqvist. He can play on the 4th line for all I care (doesn't need to take away prime ice time from anyone). He would do wonders in the locker room.

If it's not him, it will be someone. It could also be that we use the 3 retention spots to help be a middleman for other teams, between now and the deadline, in which case there would be no effect on the roster personnel.

 

[Jim Bob]

No NEED to make moves, but it's really hard to see us not making any moves given the cap situation across the league.

I've been a proponent of grabbing FLA's 2nd for Hornqvist. He can play on the 4th line for all I care (doesn't need to take away prime ice time from anyone). He would do wonders in the locker room.

If it's not him, it will be someone. It could also be that we use the 3 retention spots to help be a middleman for other teams, between now and the deadline, in which case there would be no effect on the roster personnel.

They already have plenty of forwards, especially wingers. I can't see them adding a cap dump winger.

The only potential roster moves I see are 4C and/or RHD.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

They already have plenty of forwards, especially wingers. I can't see them adding a cap dump winger.

The only potential roster moves I see are 4C and/or RHD.

Hornqvist will be our new 4C and RHD.

 

[jmelm]

They already have plenty of forwards, especially wingers. I can't see them adding a cap dump winger.

The only potential roster moves I see are 4C and/or RHD.

I know, and I wouldn’t care if Hornqvist was the 13th forward.

In any event, I don’t think any cap dump moves would occur to fill a “need”. They would occur because the sweeteners would be too significant to pass up.

 

[Jim Bob]

I know, and I wouldn’t care if Hornqvist was the 13th forward.

In any event, I don’t think any cap dump moves would occur to fill a “need”. They would occur because the sweeteners would be too significant to pass up.

Given how Kevyn Adams has done things to date, I would be surprised if that was something he did.

 

[jmelm]

Given how Kevyn Adams has done things to date, I would be surprised if that was something he did.

I kind of agree, but I also think we’re in such an unprecedented state with the flat cap and so many teams above it, I think we might be in a situation where we can’t predict what might happen over the next 1-2 seasons based on past behaviour.

 

[Montag DP]

I think the overall direction is right, but I'm not convinced they've done enough to be in playoff contention this year. We're counting on a lot of young players taking a big step forward and/or being able to make an impact in their rookie season. The goaltending situation is still a gamble as well. I wouldn't say I'm more optimistic about 22-23 today than I was in April. I think it's going to be another "trust the process" type of year where we make an incremental step forward in the standings. I hope I'm wrong and all the youngsters exceed expectations, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[Jim Bob]

I kind of agree, but I also think we’re in such an unprecedented state with the flat cap and so many teams above it, I think we might be in a situation where we can’t predict what might happen over the next 1-2 seasons based on past behaviour.

I thought the conversation was making a move like that ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Even next summer, I would be mildly surprised given the RFAs he has to deal with. There will be more open F roster spots next summer. But, likely a less cap space to play with.

And then you have the questions about what the internal payroll budget will be next summer.

 

[jmelm]

I thought the conversation was making a move like that ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Even next summer, I would be mildly surprised given the RFAs he has to deal with. There will be more open F roster spots next summer. But, likely a less cap space to play with.

And then you have the questions about what the internal payroll budget will be next summer.

I'm saying -- and this is without the internal knowledge of what ownership is willing to spend -- that I could see a cap dump move anytime literally between today and trade deadline 2024 because of the flat cap environment that the league & teams are stuck in right now.

Even Seattle has taken themselves out of the cap-dump equation given their acquisitions of Burakovsky and Bjorkstrand. I know ANA has always had a strict internal budget, so that leaves only 3 teams as potential cap dump destinations: Chicago, Arizona, and Buffalo.

While I would expect the Sabres to be at the bottom of the list -- because they're further along in the competitive cycle to just have scraps on the roster, and they may not be willing to spend as much money as ARI and CHI overall -- there may be some situations that arise that are just too good to pass up.

The fact that the team was willing to take 2 years of Murray to move up from #16 to #7 says a lot. Although we needed a goalie, Murray was still a lot more expensive and riskier than Comrie. So if we were offered the Isles 2023 1st round pick to take on Josh Bailey, we'd have to think about that really hard even if that means we were to flip him at the deadline with 50% retention or buy him out next summer.

In other words, there may be offers that are just too enticing that cause us to deviate from our plan for this year, and/or for next year.

 

[Jim Bob]

I'm saying -- and this is without the internal knowledge of what ownership is willing to spend -- that I could see a cap dump move anytime literally between today and trade deadline 2024 because of the flat cap environment that the league & teams are stuck in right now.

Even Seattle has taken themselves out of the cap-dump equation given their acquisitions of Burakovsky and Bjorkstrand. I know ANA has always had a strict internal budget, so that leaves only 3 teams as potential cap dump destinations: Chicago, Arizona, and Buffalo.

While I would expect the Sabres to be at the bottom of the list -- because they're further along in the competitive cycle to just have scraps on the roster, and they may not be willing to spend as much money as ARI and CHI overall -- there may be some situations that arise that are just too good to pass up.

The fact that the team was willing to take 2 years of Murray to move up from #16 to #7 says a lot. Although we needed a goalie, Murray was still a lot more expensive and riskier than Comrie. So if we were offered the Isles 2023 1st round pick to take on Josh Bailey, we'd have to think about that really hard even if that means we were to flip him at the deadline with 50% retention or buy him out next summer.

In other words, there may be offers that are just too enticing that cause us to deviate from our plan for this year, and/or for next year.

And I'm saying that I don't see it.

The Murray situation wasn't a pure cap dump. It was also a potential move to address the team's #1 hole. And when they were talking to Ottawa about the move, they didn't know if they could sign Comrie, or if Comrie would even hit UFA.

And as far as risk goes, I would not say that Comrie is less risky an option in goal given his less than 30 games of NHL experience and Murray looking much improved after his recall from the AHL last season.

 

[jmelm]

And I'm saying that I don't see it.

The Murray situation wasn't a pure cap dump. It was also a potential move to address the team's #1 hole. And when they were talking to Ottawa about the move, they didn't know if they could sign Comrie, or if Comrie would even hit UFA.

And as far as risk goes, I would not say that Comrie is less risky an option in goal given his less than 30 games of NHL experience and Murray looking much improved after his recall from the AHL last season.

I know, I have a hard time seeing it as well, and if I were a betting man I'd put the odds or something happening below 50/50.

But as I said, we're in such an unprecedented spot around the league that if the value equation was just too good to pass up, we could see something "unexpected". We should at least brace ourselves for the possibility.

p.s. I understand the distinction of needing a goalie with Murray, but it's hard to imagine that Adams would have had ANY interest in him if it didn't come with the sweetener of jumping up to the 7th overall pick. His handful of good games after the AHL demotion does not compare to the multiple years of both subpar play and injury concerns. He's also a guy who has struggled mentally/psychologically over the last several years and with all of that said, he definitely would not have seemed like the guy we would expect Adams or this team to acquire or inject into the locker room & culture. But there was a willingness to do it anyway. This is all to say that a move that may be an exception to the norm or what we expect could still be possible.

 

[Jim Bob]

I know, I have a hard time seeing it as well, and if I were a betting man I'd put the odds or something happening below 50/50.

But as I said, we're in such an unprecedented spot around the league that if the value equation was just too good to pass up, we could see something "unexpected". We should at least brace ourselves for the possibility.

p.s. I understand the distinction of needing a goalie with Murray, but it's hard to imagine that Adams would have had ANY interest in him if it didn't come with the sweetener of jumping up to the 7th overall pick. His handful of good games after the AHL demotion does not compare to the multiple years of both subpar play and injury concerns. He's also a guy who has struggled mentally/psychologically over the last several years and with all of that said, he definitely would not have seemed like the guy we would expect Adams or this team to acquire or inject into the locker room & culture. But there was a willingness to do it anyway. This is all to say that a move that may be an exception to the norm or what we expect could still be possible.

Adams had someone with first hand knowledge of Murray in that Mike Bales coached Murray with the Penguins.

If there were any concerns about how Murray would fit in the room, they would know about it and likely wouldn't have agreed to a trade for him.

The injury concern is real. But, part of Murray's struggles in his first year in Ottawa was that he was in the midst of a serious overall of his technical game (he changed from a really wide and locked in stance to a much narrower stance that relies more on skating ability to defend against all the East-West plays that have become the norm in the NHL recently). The pandemic really hurt his ability to make those changes and the Sens fired their goalie coach that was working with him on it mid-process.

It would appear that Bales felt that those changes were far enough along that the strong finish to last season was not a mirage.

Yes, the trade up from 16 to 7 was really attractive. But, I do not believe the Sabres would have had the interest they did if Murray wasn't a player in a position of need.

We have seen the Sabres not be in the mix for a bunch of players that could have netted them a nice return for taking on a cap hit over the past 18 months or so.

So, I am going to just not expect it to happen and be pleasantly surprised if it were to occur.