Speculation: Sabres Roster Speculation - Pre-season 2023 Edition

[Matt Ress]

If none of the kids stand out in camp do they bring in a guy?

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

If none of the kids stand out in camp do they bring in a guy?

I doubt it. They'll have Jost or Rousek as the extra while Quinn is out, and if injuries hit they probably go with Murray or Cederqvist. They might go back to Kulich later in the year even if he doesn't stand out in camp.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Savoie is going in a trade long before Peterka and I think this year he will make that evident. Sorry.

And if JJ did go it will be because the team we are trading with wanted him over Savoie.

 

[elchud]

It's too early to move one of these 6 guys (Benson Krebs Peterka Quinn Savoie Kulich). It's why Pesce isn't a Sabre probably.

There's a lot of forward options in the organization. Its another tinkering year and hopefully a playoff year.

Maybe VO can boost his trade value for when Quinn comes back. Effort and hars work and desire aren't the issue with him. Don't count out him getting a final chance in the top 6.

 

[Duddy]

To win the cup you need so many things to go right, you need as many kicks at that can as you can but for some reason people are okay with wairing around. Tage, Tuch aren't getting any younger. You should try and maximize all their good years instead of waiting.

Kevyn should have done more to improve the team this offseason, maybe there is something srill coming but I doubt it. Just gotta pray Levi is up to the task of being a NHL starter right out of the gate.

 

[TehDoak]

It's too early to move one of these 6 guys (Benson Krebs Peterka Quinn Savoie Kulich). It's why Pesce isn't a Sabre probably.

What? That makes zero sense. They are assets. You move them when you want to improve your team immediately rather than hope for a long term return. It’s simply a trade off. There is no ‘too early’

There's a lot of forward options in the organization. Its another tinkering year and hopefully a playoff year.

Maybe VO can boost his trade value for when Quinn comes back. Effort and hars work and desire aren't the issue with him. Don't count out him getting a final chance in the top 6.

VO is a known quantity at this point. I don’t think he will have much value to the trade deadline or another team is struggling on the power play.

 

[elchud]

To win the cup you need so many things to go right, you need as many kicks at that can as you can but for some reason people are okay with wairing around. Tage, Tuch aren't getting any younger. You should try and maximize all their good years instead of waiting.

Kevyn should have done more to improve the team this offseason, maybe there is something srill coming but I doubt it. Just gotta pray Levi is up to the task of being a NHL starter right out of the gate.

Whatever they could have done this past offseason wont get us out of the 1st round. Merely making the playoffs makes this a successful season and is part or the timeline they've sold to Pegula.

I think you have to take the mindset you've laid out next offseason. It's too early to say what 1 or 2 or 3 players you go for, literally every player except Dahlin could significantly progress or regress this season.

What? That makes zero sense. They are assets. You move them when you want to improve your team immediately rather than hope for a long term return. It’s simply a trade off. There is no ‘too early’




VO is a known quantity at this point. I don’t think he will have much value to the trade deadline or another team is struggling on the power play.

They don't want to improve the team immediately, but progressively

VO has had injury and confidence issues. I agree it's time to move on from him, but it's fortuitous for him that Quinn I'd injured. I think PeterkaCozensVO might click

 

[Der Jaeger]

What? That makes zero sense. They are assets. You move them when you want to improve your team immediately rather than hope for a long term return. It’s simply a trade off. There is no ‘too early’




VO is a known quantity at this point. I don’t think he will have much value to the trade deadline or another team is struggling on the power play.

What he’s trying to say is why trade a prospect prior to full development? Sometimes it makes sense, many times it doesn’t.

 

[Djp]

What? That makes zero sense. They are assets. You move them when you want to improve your team immediately rather than hope for a long term return. It’s simply a trade off. There is no ‘too early’

you don’t waste them on short term rentals

you don’t trade them now where they could be worth more in a couple years

you do not trade thrm for rental players.

please cite times in recent times of top picks getting traded for rentals after they got drafted And before they turned 21/ didn’t play a full nhl season?

VO is a known quantity at this point. I don’t think he will have much value to the trade deadline or another team is struggling on the power play.

At 50% he can get a 2nd. I think it might be more of a player for player trade

 

[Aladyyn]

We're not going to be sellers at the deadline.

 

[Matt Ress]

We're not going to be sellers at the deadline.

It'll be weird

 

[Matt Ress]

Savoie is going in a trade long before Peterka and I think this year he will make that evident. Sorry.

And if JJ did go it will be because the team we are trading with wanted him over Savoie.

Savoie will make it evident that he will be traded? Is that by making the team out of camp and then underperforming or only putting up 90 something points in the W? What will Savoie be doing that screams "trade me?"

 

[MOGlLNY]

Savoie will make it evident that he will be traded? Is that by making the team out of camp and then underperforming or only putting up 90 something points in the W? What will Savoie be doing that screams "trade me?"

I meant Peterka will make it evident he will a core piece.

It was more of a positive inflection on Peterka than a negative thought on Savoie. Peterka playing himself out of any future trade talk making it more likely one of Kulich or Savoie is expendable.

I don’t see the Sabres even thinking about moving Quinn.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

What he’s trying to say is why trade a prospect prior to full development? Sometimes it makes sense, many times it doesn’t.

I don't know about "full development", but at least wait until you've got a decent understanding of NHL potential. That's true for Krebs, Quinn, and Peterka.

Kulich, Rosen, and Ohlund have never played an NHL game. Savoie and Benson have never played professionally.

Otoh, we'll soon have too few top-9 spots. Something has to give.

 

[OkimLom]

Savoie is going in a trade long before Peterka and I think this year he will make that evident. Sorry.

And if JJ did go it will be because the team we are trading with wanted him over Savoie.

The sort of trade that would see a prospect like Savoie go the other way, is a trade for a piece that we already the role have locked down (see: 1st pairing defenseman, #1 center). I also think Peterka is going to be an asset in the same way as Savoie after this year. I see him exploding into a must keep player right where Cozens is.

There are ways you want to manage your assets. Trading away premium assets in your organization like JJ and Savoie for roles that are support roles like #4 defenseman, or middle 6 guys, by using those assets is one way to deplete the talent level of the players you can use to fill roles/spots that have worked out to be too expensive to keep. If you are using them to address holes on the team, then that means something went very wrong with a Dahlin and/or Power contract negotiation.

I don’t see any logical reasoning to to move either guy, especially early in the early stages of their prospect/young player status. If the Sabres are taking the path of building from within, to help keep costs down, I don’t see them moving either guy because the signify the next wave of players in the process of this building of the organization.

 

[Matt Ress]

I meant Peterka will make it evident he will a core piece.

It was more of a positive inflection on Peterka than a negative thought on Savoie. Peterka playing himself out of any future trade talk making it more likely one of Kulich or Savoie is expendable.

I don’t see the Sabres even thinking about moving Quinn.

My bad. I read that wrong. This will be a big opportunity for JJ. But I fully expect Adams to let chips fall unless there's a rare opportunity for trade.

 

[MOGlLNY]

The sort of trade that would see a prospect like Savoie go the other way, is a trade for a piece that we already the role have locked down (see: 1st pairing defenseman, #1 center). I also think Peterka is going to be an asset in the same way as Savoie after this year. I see him exploding into a must keep player right where Cozens is.

There are ways you want to manage your assets. Trading away premium assets in your organization like JJ and Savoie for roles that are support roles like #4 defenseman, or middle 6 guys, by using those assets is one way to deplete the talent level of the players you can use to fill roles/spots that have worked out to be too expensive to keep. If you are using them to address holes on the team, then that means something went very wrong with a Dahlin and/or Power contract negotiation.

I don’t see any logical reasoning to to move either guy, especially early in the early stages of their prospect/young player status. If the Sabres are taking the path of building from within, to help keep costs down, I don’t see them moving either guy because the signify the next wave of players in the process of this building of the organization.

I agree for the most part, I was just responding to the discussion about Peterka being moved in the future. If it came to that and we were planning to make a big move, I was expressing how I felt things would go.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I don't know about "full development", but at least wait until you've got a decent understanding of NHL potential. That's true for Krebs, Quinn, and Peterka.

Kulich, Rosen, and Ohlund have never played an NHL game. Savoie and Benson have never played professionally.

Otoh, we'll soon have too few top-9 spots. Something has to give.

I think there’s a happy medium in this situation which Adams will need to cut. Give a prospect too early and you can get burned. Give too late and he might lose value if he doesn’t on out.

 

[elchud]

I think there’s a happy medium in this situation which Adams will need to cut. Give a prospect too early and you can get burned. Give too late and he might lose value if he doesn’t on out.

There really isn't a good comparable for our stacked forward situation. Maybe the Kings but I simply don't think their guys are/were as good as ours.

Turcotte and Byfield have less value now than their draft positions, and maybe they should have pulled the trigger on adding a defenseman sooner that Gavrikov. There's that. Their other guys (Kupari Fagemo Kaliyev et al) were overhyped. Vilardi had the injury stuff but he developed pretty well.

You don't want to stunt development. I think we all mostly agree that Savoie is the concern for this point, much more so than Kulich. Benson needs to get bigger.

I'm more concerned right now about the Rochester glut. It will be competitive which is great. But should Murray and Weissbach be taking some prime spots over Kisakov and Neuchev for example. But that's minor stuff I guess.

Adams thinks he is in the catbird seat with what he has stacked. The only guy who may get stunted minutes this year is Krebs, but he may only be the 8th best forward (at best) on most playoff teams right now. There's no reason he can't get 14 minutes a game on this roster if he plays a wiser game than he did last season. We are in a good spot now to let them all cook.

 

[Djp]

I don't know about "full development", but at least wait until you've got a decent understanding of NHL potential. That's true for Krebs, Quinn, and Peterka.

Kulich, Rosen, and Ohlund have never played an NHL game. Savoie and Benson have never played professionally.

Otoh, we'll soon have too few top-9 spots. Something has to give.

no need to panic now.

skinner contract ends in summer 2027.
plan on Tuch getting resigned in 2036
Thompson snd Cozens start 7 yr contracts
any player doesn’t start their ELC next year will still be an RFA when tage contract ends.

roster projection right noe based on ELC start
summer of 2025 and 2026 is when roster decisions can be made

21/22 Krebs
23/23 Quinn Peterka
23/24 ROSEN.
24/25 Ostlund, Poltapov, Savoie, Kulich
25/26 Benson
26/27

i think one of Savoie/ Kulich starts ELC in 23/24 and benson starts in 24/25

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

Sabres are $8.776 Million under cap, and that's before saving another $1 M or so on Bryson in minors. Cheapo Pegula won't pay to play. It's becoming clear. I know saving money for 2024-25. Last year, I heard we were saving for 2023-24.

 

[Gras]

Sabres are $8.776 Million under cap, and that's before saving another $1 M or so on Bryson in minors. Cheapo Pegula won't pay to play. It's becoming clear. I know saving money for 2024-25. Last year, I heard we were saving for 2023-24.

Bryson in the minors doesnt save any real cash so its not exactly being cheap.

 

[Irie]

Sabres are $8.776 Million under cap, and that's before saving another $1 M or so on Bryson in minors. Cheapo Pegula won't pay to play. It's becoming clear. I know saving money for 2024-25. Last year, I heard we were saving for 2023-24.

It's true, they do not need to save money for this season.

They probably do not need to save money for 24-25 even, but 25-26 is going to likely be a big cap crunch year for this team, so signing overpaid UFAs through that season will almost certainly cost the team some great talent that they will have to trade away to remain cap compliant.

There are two ways to look at this-
1. Go for it now and the future be damned because Thompson, Skinner and Tuch are in their prime and to not do so is wasting their talent along with the cheap young ELC players that will allow the team to spend now.

2. The team is ridiculously young and the core is only going to get better. This group is not going to peak for at least 3 or 4 years, and it is then that they will be most poised to challenge for a cup. Overpaying mediocre UFAs for marginal improvement now, who will likely be in decline when the team should peak, limits the chances of winning the cup. Having that cap space to keep the team together and then adding a needed piece or two when they are a cup contender will give the team much better odds at actually winning it all.

In a perfect world, It would be great to have the best of both worlds - if only some good UFAs would come to buffalo on one or two year deals, but the reality is that those good UFAs willing to do that don't really exist.

I understand the frustration, but I think Adams and Granato are sold on the second path given the difficulty in acquiring good players currently. For me, I am looking forward to watching the improvement each year and am just hoping that they make good decisions when the time comes where they have to make those moves.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

It's true, they do not need to save money for this season.

They probably do not need to save money for 24-25 even, but 25-26 is going to likely be a big cap crunch year for this team, so signing overpaid UFAs through that season will almost certainly cost the team some great talent that they will have to trade away to remain cap compliant.

There are two ways to look at this-
1. Go for it now and the future be damned because Thompson, Skinner and Tuch are in their prime and to not do so is wasting their talent along with the cheap young ELC players that will allow the team to spend now.

2. The team is ridiculously young and the core is only going to get better. This group is not going to peak for at least 3 or 4 years, and it is then that they will be most poised to challenge for a cup. Overpaying mediocre UFAs for marginal improvement now, who will likely be in decline when the team should peak, limits the chances of winning the cup. Having that cap space to keep the team together and then adding a needed piece or two when they are a cup contender will give the team much better odds at actually winning it all.

In a perfect world, It would be great to have the best of both worlds - if only some good UFAs would come to buffalo on one or two year deals, but the reality is that those good UFAs willing to do that don't really exist.

I understand the frustration, but I think Adams and Granato are sold on the second path given the difficulty in acquiring good players currently. For me, I am looking forward to watching the improvement each year and am just hoping that they make good decisions when the time comes where they have to make those moves.

Stop buying into the excuses. Pegula doesn't want to pay to be a cap team, There were loads of decent players signing one and two years deals to go to other teams this year. Tatar is even still out there. This is a team that wouldn't get any d depth last year, it wouldn't use its cap room to get extra picks. It won't sign a short-term goalie. There is nothing that says we have to sign stupid long-term deals. There are plenty of chances for short-term deals. You have to spend money!

 

[MarkusKetterer]

Stop buying into the excuses. Pegula doesn't want to pay to be a cap team, There were loads of decent players signing one and two years deals to go to other teams this year. Tatar is even still out there. This is a team that wouldn't get any d depth last year, it wouldn't use its cap room to get extra picks. It won't sign a short-term goalie. There is nothing that says we have to sign stupid long-term deals. There are plenty of chances for short-term deals. You have to spend money!

Thank you for explaining it for the rest of us, Kevyn. About time someone in Sabres management told us what’s going on.