Speculation: Sabres Roster Speculation - Pre-season 2023 Edition

[Chainshot]

The more I see of the first round the more I see the successful playoff power plays all have a lethal bumper man. We either lack, or just don’t scheme to use the bumper guy enough.

The threat from the bumper forces the PKers to stay in the slot, leaving the slapper from the face off dot wide open.

The threat of the face off slapper gets the PKers cheating to the perimeter, leaving the bumper guy open.

We have the best guy in the league at slapping dingers from the dots. But our over reliance on forcing everything through him neuters the overall effectiveness of our PP. There are usually multiple time per PP where I’m screaming at the TV that the slot is wide open, but we continue to force perimeter passes between Tage and Dahlin until we turn it over, as the PKers cheat further and further away from the slot

If we dig even deeper, it's the guy opposite the slapper guy who is an elite passer to utilize the bumper - Marchand in Boston, Kucherov in Tampa, Marner with Toronto, Rangers have Kane now, Carolina has Aho often in that position as we all too well know. Buffalo has Skinner in that role too often.

 

[thewookie1]

No matter what they do, they must keep the vibes immaculate.

Muel seems like the under appreciated comedic guy. For such a tough type of player he seems to act very loose.

 

[jc17]

Whoever coached our PK needs to be fired into the sun. I'm close to that point with Bales, but am giving him another year.

I'm not qualified to make a judgement, but I don't feel particularly good about having a guy on his last chance coach the potential franchise guy going forward.

Either have to have confidence hes doing things well or look elsewhere.

 

[Uberpecker]

Can you imagine this being your reaction to that video? I can't imagine being that miserable about anything that harmless and fun.

I'm not actually miserable about it, believe it or not. It is more of a general reaction to these efforts that try to sell athletes' private lives in a certain light, which simply feels phony to me.

I've come to know a number of professional athletes in my time and of course there are exceptions to that rule, but as a subjective, non-scientific observation, I'd consider them while usually nice and decent, on average less charismatic or interesting character-wise than the rest of the population.

Which kind of makes sense if you think about what it takes to become world-class in a popular sport: Single-mindedness, endless repetition, conformity, complete devotion of your life to one goal from an early age on. And there's nothing wrong with that, it just doesn't tend to create interesting characters, so why try to sell them as such.

They're good at one thing and that's what I want to see.

 

[joshjull]

I'm not actually miserable about it, believe it or not. It is more of a general reaction to these efforts that try to sell athletes' private lives in a certain light, which simply feels phony to me.

I've come to know a number of professional athletes in my time and of course there are exceptions to that rule, but as a subjective, non-scientific observation, I'd consider them while usually nice and decent, on average less charismatic or interesting character-wise than the rest of the population.

Which kind of makes sense if you think about what it takes to become world-class in a popular sport: Single-mindedness, endless repetition, conformity, complete devotion of your life to one goal from an early age on. And there's nothing wrong with that, it just doesn't tend to create interesting characters, so why try to sell them as such.

They're good at one thing and that's what I want to see.

Fair enough

But I think it’s worth remembering this is an entertainment business at the end of the day. Videos like the one you commented on and Skinner’s ”Between Two Stalls” is done to generate engagement with the wider fan base. Not everyone is dialed into the sport and team as we are on here.

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

I'm not actually miserable about it, believe it or not. It is more of a general reaction to these efforts that try to sell athletes' private lives in a certain light, which simply feels phony to me.

I've come to know a number of professional athletes in my time and of course there are exceptions to that rule, but as a subjective, non-scientific observation, I'd consider them while usually nice and decent, on average less charismatic or interesting character-wise than the rest of the population.

Which kind of makes sense if you think about what it takes to become world-class in a popular sport: Single-mindedness, endless repetition, conformity, complete devotion of your life to one goal from an early age on. And there's nothing wrong with that, it just doesn't tend to create interesting characters, so why try to sell them as such.

They're good at one thing and that's what I want to see.

It's a way for the team to better connect with the fans, especially the young fans who idolize players from that team. It makes fans feel more engaged with the team, and to get a better understanding of what goes on outside of just the games themselves. Some fans like that.

Based on your reactions, you wouldn't be their target audience.

 

[TehDoak]

Even at $10 M, that's a major handicap. It's probably a good idea to use some cap for rookie bonuses and not push them into next year but there is tons of cap to be utilized strategically in 2023-24. I have full confidence Kevyn Adams could do this but he can't only plan based on what he can spend.

I mean, logistically, spending to the cap will be an issue simply because of the sheer volume of RFAs we have coming in '24. Power, Dahlin, Mittelstadt, UPL, Krebs, etc. So, unless we are giving out big 1 year deals or picking up players 1 year out from UFA....

I think a realistic goal is to spend to the midpoint (around 75-ish million) and then be expect to be capped out moving forward.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

I mean, logistically, spending to the cap will be an issue simply because of the sheer volume of RFAs we have coming in '24. Power, Dahlin, Mittelstadt, UPL, Krebs, etc. So, unless we are giving out big 1 year deals or picking up players 1 year out from UFA....

I think a realistic goal is to spend to the midpoint (around 75-ish million) and then be expect to be capped out moving forward.

That's why it made total sense for a couple of two-year deals on D for a little extra depth in 2022-23 and 2023-24. This did not happen. We got Lybushkin and not much else. We got nonsense about "Blocking" guys like Bryson. We got a cheapo depth forward in my cousin Vinny when we needed a centre who could take draws.

All that said, there are obvious moves for cap in 2023-24 and Oloffson is clearly being traded. to Not trade him at $2.375 M cap would be beyond dumb or a money-saving exercise. If someone tells me otherwise, I honestly give up. We can also still look for one-year deals to make the D eight deep and ship Bryson to Rochester as a 9th or 10th guy.

 

[Ace]

Despite low cap the last years I just don’t get this narrative - the reason for the low salary cap is clear logistically for the last two years, which is lots of ELC players. Yes they don’t wanna give away money for third or fourth draft picks for cap dumps but those are not crucial resources anyways. They’ve always spent on the team when they needed to and they showed that money to Taylor Hall, as well as spend a lot of money on the bills - spending close to cap When it is the time to do so it’s small pittance for a billionaire and an NFL owner to boot.

This line of thinking makes perfect sense. If they iced a complete team and didn’t leave massive holes in net and on defense. They went cheap at goal to be cheap. They didn’t address Power’s partner to be cheap. They were in no way set at those positions. it cost them the playoffs. It saved them money.

 

[joshjull]

This line of thinking makes perfect sense. If they iced a complete team and didn’t leave massive holes in net and on defense. They went cheap at goal to be cheap. They didn’t address Power’s partner to be cheap. They were in no way set at those positions. it cost them the playoffs. It saved them money.

This is such a stupid take and I’m pretty sure even you don’t believe it.

They attempted to acquire Murray via trade. The guy with 2yrs left on his deal and the 5th highest cap hit among goalies (6.25mil). They also overpaid Anderson to be a mentor with a restricted workload.

Maybe one day you’ll stop this nonsense. But today is not that day.

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

This is such a stupid take and I’m pretty sure even you don’t believe it.

They attempted to acquire Murray via trade. The guy with 2yrs left on his deal and the 5th highest cap hit among goalies (6.25mil). They also overpaid Anderson to be a mentor with a restricted workload.

Maybe one day you’ll stop this nonsense. But today is not that day.

Wasn't he supposedly kicking the tires on Gibson last year also? I don't recall if it was just speculation or if there was actual traction to it, but I do think Adams was willing to spend money on goalie if he could.

 

[Jim Bob]

Wasn't he supposedly kicking the tires on Gibson last year also? I don't recall if it was just speculation or if there was actual traction to it, but I do think Adams was willing to spend money on goalie if he could.

I think the Gibson stuff was more fans saying Adams should call on Gibson more than reports that he was calling on Gibson.

 

[TehDoak]

This is such a stupid take and I’m pretty sure even you don’t believe it.

They attempted to acquire Murray via trade. The guy with 2yrs left on his deal and the 5th highest cap hit among goalies (6.25mil). They also overpaid Anderson to be a mentor with a restricted workload.

Maybe one day you’ll stop this nonsense. But today is not that day.

I don't remember the retention on that deal? 25%? That'd make it 4.7M-ish. They spent 3.3 on on Anderson/Comrie combo. It probably just means don't don't sign Hinostroza or maybe they don't claim Jost and the budget is roughly the same

You really can't get upset at people calling a team that has spent below the cap floor 2 years running cheap. They have been cheap.

 

[Dingo44]

2022-23 Highlight Video from the Royal Report

 

[joshjull]

 

[CowbellConray]

I don't remember the retention on that deal? 25%? That'd make it 4.7M-ish. They spent 3.3 on on Anderson/Comrie combo. It probably just means don't don't sign Hinostroza or maybe they don't claim Jost and the budget is roughly the same

You really can't get upset at people calling a team that has spent below the cap floor 2 years running cheap. They have been cheap.

The results are cheap, but to say they have been cheap to be cheap is based on the result, not the nuance of the process.

They were active to acquire a goalie, but ultimately went with an option that was cheap. That doesn’t mean they TRIED to be cheap

 

[Jim Bob]

For those that prefer Spotify.

 

[debaser66]

That last mission went swimmingly

did they find the wreck of twitter down there?

 

[debaser66]

For those that prefer Spotify.

is there chance to watch the actual video instead of audio only

 

[toddkaz]

Sounds like Winnipeg could make a good trade partner. I am sure its a knee jerk reaction to their loss but it sounds like the Jets are gonna do some roster shuffling

 

[Chainshot]

is there chance to watch the actual video instead of audio only

After searching around, I haven't found any of Seravalli's previous episodes in video format either. I think he does a clip just for his social media and that's it.

 

[Team Cozens]

Sounds like Winnipeg could make a good trade partner. I am sure its a knee jerk reaction to their loss but it sounds like the Jets are gonna do some roster shuffling

Sounds like there are a few problem players in that Jets dressing room. Need to be careful who you want to acquire.

 

[debaser66]

After searching around, I haven't found any of Seravalli's previous episodes in video format either. I think he does a clip just for his social media and that's it.

podcasts are for moving; videos are for home seems like my habits are not the norm otherwise why not release it its already recorded

 

[debaser66]

Sounds like there are a few problem players in that Jets dressing room. Need to be careful who you want to acquire.

I am not sure its that simple; its the whole situation; that's why players who have been a problem around the Sabres in recent years are saints elsewhere.
if leadership&identity are strong a single player would be simply absorbed unless its a Kane type but there aren't many.

 

[Jacob582]

Sounds like Winnipeg could make a good trade partner. I am sure its a knee jerk reaction to their loss but it sounds like the Jets are gonna do some roster shuffling

The first hockey thing I did this morning was go to the Jets capfriendly page.