Speculation: Sabres Roster Speculation - Pre-season 2023 Edition

[DapperCam]

Here is the issue. We went into last season needing a starter.

Anderson was balls in 2021-22. He was 58th in goals saved above average. 58th.

Not only did Adams bring him back, he gave him a raise.

Who did he sign to play WITH anderson, a guy who shouldn't be playing in the NHL?

A backup who was regularly on waivers the past two seasons.

And yes, his numbers were fine with Winnipeg...but when the goalies in the system are:

- A young goalie struggling at the AHL level
- An old goalie who was, to be blunt, one of the worst goalies in the league the year before

And your choice is to sign a guy with 27 career starts?

I'd be fine with signing Comrie if your other goalie pickup was someone like Husso or a Vanacek/Samsonov type who was a tandem goalie previously and you wanted to give Comrie a shot at more starts....that would have been fine.

But when your current goaltending is struggling AHL goalie and aspiring retiree, you need someone who will be able to start some games.

So no, what Adams did with the goalies last year wasn't constructive. It was cheap, shortsighted, and cost this team the playoffs.




I'm hopefully they bring in someone from outside to be the starter next year....but lets be blunt:

Adams has needed a goalie every single year he's been a GM. And he has not once made a significant move to address it. 3 full offseasons of needing to add a goalie....and 3 seasons of doing nothing or the absolute bare minimum. He spent half his press conference talking about how wonderful and amazing Levi is.

I don't have any faith he's going to suddenly start addressing the goalies in a meaningful way when he's ready to give Levi the starting job

I’m going to guess none of the good UFA goalies wanted to come here, so I give him a little bit of a pass. The best he could do was hope Comrie had some upside. Campbell and Husso were the top goalie UFAs, and they didn’t even outperform our goalies anyway.

 

[The Blunder Years]

Couple thoughts:

1. Olofsson 50% retained should return around a late 2nd or a B level prospect. New idea I had was sending him in package with Johnson to Anaheim for Noah Warren. Johnson grew up in Anaheim and will need winger help to add to Zegras/McTavish/23’ 1st. Think we could squeeze out a mid to late pick in this deal too.

2. I like the idea of sending Joker to a rebuilding team for a veteran dman. A rebuilding team could take the chance on getting Jokers development back on track and have a player that aligns more with their window. Honestly sending him back to Chicago with a 2nd or 3rd for Connor Murphy makes some sense to me.

If you can pull off 1 and 2, you turn Olofsson, Johnson, and Joker into Connor Murphy and Noah Warren. You get a steady top 4 option now and a potential shutdown dman of the future.

3. I would like to sign a Clifton/ Mayfield/Soucy to provide depth. This would bump Stillman or Boosh to the #7 role and would allow for us to ice 6 competent defenders with an injury.

4. Recoup an asset for UPL or do what I suggested with Joker and find a team that has a veteran goalie they would prefer to ship out for a young player that has growth potential. I could see him going to Seattle for a 2nd due to the Botteril connection and them not having an answer to goaltender long term. They are pretty structured and defensive which would allow for UPL to have more structured growth.

5. If you can’t flip UPL for a veteran goalie, just grab one of Varlamov/Raanta/Andersen

 

[Chainshot]

I think this board is way underestimating Olofsson's trade value. Sure, he doesn't drive play at ES. We know that. But he scored 21 ES goals and 28 overall. That's not a player you need to retain on to get something of value for in return.

Finding comparable guys though, Vatrano was rented for a 4th at the deadline in '21-'22. Gustav Nyqvist who has some similar raw point totals was half retained at the deadline for a 5tth round pick. Since there is usually some inflation on player cost at the deadline based on demand, not sure he's getting a higher pick.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

VO is essentially our 13th forward. A healthy scratch who everyone wants off the team unanimously.

He's worth a mid round pick. I'd be happy with a R3...

 

[SundherDome]

That's the GMs job though. 3 offseasons needing a goalie. Three. One off season you might be able to make an excuse the market sucked, etc. But 3 offseasons (and now 3 full seasons) The most significant signings were a goalie that was on a practice squad the year before and a career backup who was regularly waiver bait.

The part of the GM job that Adams has been absolute dogshit at is identifying problems with his current roster and fixing them. He's done well at gathering assets and developing players. But in terms of roster construction, identifying issues, and actually resolving the issues? Horrid record.

I mean I can dm Scarlet Johansson all day for three years to get a date but she still wouldn't give me the time of day. The issue is that goalies don't want to sign here because the defense has been terrible and goal support wasn't really a thing until this season. Imagine if he gave Up the contract to Kuemper or Campbell, he would have been killed.

The other option is the trade market, which he tried and Murray said no. Other goalies that were traded haven't been any better than what we have had. What if Adams traded a second for Ned or Husso? This place would be livid that we traded a premium pick for the same production.

The reali

 

[Jim Bob]

I’m going to guess none of the good UFA goalies wanted to come here, so I give him a little bit of a pass. The best he could do was hope Comrie had some upside. Campbell and Husso were the top goalie UFAs, and they didn’t even outperform our goalies anyway.

At best, Comrie was plan B after Murray used his NTC to block the trade to Buffalo.

And Chad D says that he was plan C after another UFA goalie was approached and he opted to sign elsewhere. I wonder if it was Samsonov, but that is a pure guess as he won't give any hints as to who it was.

 

[Jim Bob]

I don't know if he can handle top 4 minutes, but I would like Gudas over Jokiharju.

Power-Dahlin
Samuelsson-Gudas
Stillman-Lyubushkin
Jokiharju

 

[Der Jaeger]

Couple thoughts:

1. Olofsson 50% retained should return around a late 2nd or a B level prospect. New idea I had was sending him in package with Johnson to Anaheim for Noah Warren. Johnson grew up in Anaheim and will need winger help to add to Zegras/McTavish/23’ 1st. Think we could squeeze out a mid to late pick in this deal too.

2. I like the idea of sending Joker to a rebuilding team for a veteran dman. A rebuilding team could take the chance on getting Jokers development back on track and have a player that aligns more with their window. Honestly sending him back to Chicago with a 2nd or 3rd for Connor Murphy makes some sense to me.

If you can pull off 1 and 2, you turn Olofsson, Johnson, and Joker into Connor Murphy and Noah Warren. You get a steady top 4 option now and a potential shutdown dman of the future.

3. I would like to sign a Clifton/ Mayfield/Soucy to provide depth. This would bump Stillman or Boosh to the #7 role and would allow for us to ice 6 competent defenders with an injury.

4. Recoup an asset for UPL or do what I suggested with Joker and find a team that has a veteran goalie they would prefer to ship out for a young player that has growth potential. I could see him going to Seattle for a 2nd due to the Botteril connection and them not having an answer to goaltender long term. They are pretty structured and defensive which would allow for UPL to have more structured growth.

5. If you can’t flip UPL for a veteran goalie, just grab one of Varlamov/Raanta/Andersen

I like a lot of these ideas.

I think the key for moving Olofsson will be:

- Teams that need a PP and scoring inject for a relatively low cap hit (if the Sabres retain 50%). Nashville, the Islanders, and Minnesota come to mind as playoff teams that could use some help.

- Teams that don't mind taking a scoring forward that doesn't add much physically or defensively. Washington, Montreal, and Pittsburgh come to mind.

I'm not sure that Olofsson is a fit in Anaheim. With 1 year left on his deal, he's likely not a good fit for that group, especially giving up and asset like Warren.

Olofsson was drafted by Tim Murray, but entered the league under Botterill. I wonder if that's a fit.

 

[TehDoak]

I mean I can dm Scarlet Johansson all day for three years to get a date but she still wouldn't give me the time of day.

Yes, because dating an actress and securing a goalie are the same.

The issue is that goalies don't want to sign here because the defense has been terrible and goal support wasn't really a thing until this season. Imagine if he gave Up the contract to Kuemper or Campbell, he would have been killed.

We're 100% a playoff team if we signed Kuemper. .908 SP and a sub 3 GAA? 5 shutouts?

We might be playing Toronto in the 1st round if we had Kuemper.

The other option is the trade market, which he tried and Murray said no. Other goalies that were traded haven't been any better than what we have had. What if Adams traded a second for Ned or Husso? This place would be livid that we traded a premium pick for the same production.

The reali

Again, this has been an issue for YEARS.

If we had a major injury or simply traded for an established starter and it didn't work out, it would be one thing.

But that hasn't been the case. I'd much rather have tried what Yzerman did and it not work out than to do nothing and wonder why the goaltending sucks.

 

[Gras]

True.

But it's the GM that dictates who those other options are...

Considering there was not roster limit at the time he had 4 options, now if GMKA had sent UPL down or waived Comrie at the the time of the signing that would be more dictating it.

I was just thinking maybe they think Eichel will play better with his buddy on his wing so it might be an ideal trading partner. If I am Adams I would at least give Vegas a call.

VO++ for Theodore.

 

[Jim Bob]

VO++ for Theodore.

I don't know what the +s are that would get that to happen.

 

[BFLO]

I mean I can dm Scarlet Johansson all day for three years to get a date but she still wouldn't give me the time of day. The issue is that goalies don't want to sign here because the defense has been terrible and goal support wasn't really a thing until this season. Imagine if he gave Up the contract to Kuemper or Campbell, he would have been killed.

The other option is the trade market, which he tried and Murray said no. Other goalies that were traded haven't been any better than what we have had. What if Adams traded a second for Ned or Husso? This place would be livid that we traded a premium pick for the same production.

The reali

Vanacek? Samsonov? Georgiev? Husso was better than UPL/Comrie and had a couple of really strong runs. He fell apart due to overuse. Played 56 games while missing time to injury.

 

[toddkaz]

I don't know what the +s are that would get that to happen.

13th pick?

 

[Gras]

I don't know what the +s are that would get that to happen.

VO 50% + '24 1st, '23 2nd (PHI) also nets VGK them 2,825,000 in additional cap

 

[Jim Bob]

13th pick?

I think Vegas turns that offer down quite easily.

 

[Jacob582]

Unless Adams has an out of character off season, I expect them to go into camp with UPL, Comrie, and Levi.

And Bryson will be next year's Casey Fitzgerald.

(Start as 7th defensemen. Lose job too call up. Claimed on waivers)

 

[Gras]

Vanacek? Samsonov? Georgiev? Husso was better than UPL/Comrie and had a couple of really strong runs. He fell apart due to overuse. Played 56 games while missing time to injury.

The big assumption when looking at other goalies numbers is that they would be the same playing behind BUF skaters.

 

[Jim Bob]

VO 50% + '24 1st, '23 2nd (PHI) also nets VGK them 2,825,000 in additional cap

I doubt Vegas does that. Theodore was Pietro's partner on their top pairing. They aren't moving him for a winger like VO and picks.

 

[Beerz]

Girgs did that to somebody, was that Detroit? Can't remember. Shit happens.

Yes Detroit. Think it was Kronwall

 

[Rowley Birkin]

I don't know if he can handle top 4 minutes, but I would like Gudas over Jokiharju.

Power-Dahlin
Samuelsson-Gudas
Stillman-Lyubushkin
Jokiharju

Gudas would be a fine target for a limited bottom pair role if Jokiharju & Lyubushkin weren't on the team IMO.

He & Stillman would probably make for a fun, old school type of bottom pairing.

 

[Jim Bob]

Gudas would be a fine target for a limited bottom pair role if Jokiharju & Lyubushkin weren't on the team IMO.

He & Stillman would probably make for a fun, old school type of bottom pairing.

Yeah, he's redundant with Lyubushkin here.

 

[Beerz]

Why does everyone keep saying no player will sign with us that has Brisson as their agent?

 

[Rowley Birkin]

Considering there was not roster limit at the time he had 4 options, now if GMKA had sent UPL down or waived Comrie at the the time of the signing that would be more dictating it.

VO++ for Theodore.

Huh? Adams completely dictated the situation by not giving Granato any viable options:

- a 41 year old who had already retired once & can only play a limited amount of games

- another promising but as yet unproven, inconsistent rookie who didn't set the world alight in the AHL.

- a career backup who had only starting started a small number of games.

If Adams had gone out of his way to add a true starter - it would have made it much more difficult for Levi to walk into the role immediately after signing.


As for Theodore - i really don't think it's happening outside of Vegas absolutely needing to make the move for cap reasons. He's a stud.

I'd expect the deal would be centered around one of our young forwards (Quinn/Peterka/Kulich/Savoie) who could potentially walk into their lineup next season on an ELC - as opposed to the 13OV pick. Plus a guy like Jokiharju @ 50% to give them a cheap body in return for Theodore. Maybe something else too.

 

[Jim Bob]

Why does everyone keep saying no player will sign with us that has Brisson as their agent?

They are overreacting to some things that have happened (he's Johnson's agent) and ignore that Brisson is the agent for Okposo, Power, and Samuelsson.

 

[Zman5778]

Why does everyone keep saying no player will sign with us that has Brisson as their agent?

Recent Sabres who had Brisson as their agent: Eichel, Portillo, Ryan Johnson.