Speculation: Sabres Roster Speculation - Pre-season 2023 Edition

[Irie]

It’s not contradictory at all. Adams won’t spend because Pegula is cheap. Adams has that job because he’s a yes man. Thankfully he was smart enough to understand what he doesnt know and he hired smart people who he listens to. That’s why the drafts have gone well. But the team building? It’s been about recouping Pegula’s pretend losses as the value of the franchise has more than tripled since he bought it. Value he pretends doesn’t count. So yes…Adams wont spend, because…Pegula is cheap.

Your speculation is to the point of insane conspiracy theories. Do you really believe this stuff? You listen to way too many crazy podcasters who are poisoning your mind with ridiculousness....

Drafts have gone well because Adams knows he's dumb?

As for operating costs and revenues, I own a rental property down in the California Bay Area. It's value has increased a ton, but my income and the rents I receive are not increasing at the rate of management, maintenance, and materials costs, so it is pretty much a loss for me most years. But but but.... the equity! Yep. I am earning a ton in equity that I will realize when I eventually sell (if the capital gains don't kill me), but I can't just go out and spend any of the money from the increased valuation, because I DON'T HAVE IT.

the alternative is that Adams is so dumb he is the only Gm in history to not see the value in spending while your best players are on super value contracts. The time everyone else looks at as the opportunity to win. Adams has convinced people their window opens…after he hands out the big contracts? For real. That’s a thing you believe? And I don’t believe Adams is stupid. I believe Adams won’t spend. Wanna know why?

Imagine an organization having Tage, Cozens, Dahlin and Power signed for less than 10 million total…and saying we’re gonna have the most cap space in the league instead of build a team to compete. That’s what we did. A year that real ownership looks at as an opportunity. Not just to save money.

well…that year is gone. Now we have one more year where Dahlin and Power make 7 total...before they more than double that. Another opportunity year. Let’s pretend to not know what’s going to happen

Your reality is kinda delusional.

First of all, the offseason hasn't even started yet, and you are making proclamations like it is over and Adams did nothing.

Second, come back to reality. Thompson and Power are really pretty terrible on the defensive side of the puck right now. They will both improve, but they aren't guys that are going to help in playoff hockey until they learn how to defend as an NHL center and an NHL top 4 D - give them time. Cozens and Dahlin just turned 22 and 23. They are just getting started. Samuelsson has not even played a season and a half in the NHL. He has so much to learn.

The window is not open. The coaching staff has "not had time to install their defensive system yet". How can a team compete if there is no defensive strategy. That is hopefully coming.

The complimentary players are undersized kids. Let them mature and fill out before you start measuring them for a playoff resume.

Learning to be playoff caliber effective players takes time. The kids are all learning. Even Tuch is learning how to play a better two-way game and PK. You want to skip their NHL development years and say they have to challenge for a cup now, while most of them can't even grow playoff beards yet.

Let them all develop organically. Have patience in evaluating all of them so you don't trade away the best prospects before they breakout. Give the coaching staff the time they are asking for to install their systems, and then evaluate the players in the final team product so you actually know what you have.

Maybe this year the defensive system comes together. Maybe Quinn and Peterka are able to hold their own when they are targeted by opposing teams. Maybe Krebs, Thompson, Quinn and Power all make solid defensive strides. Those things happen and this team is a solid playoff team without any personnel changes.

Mostly, let's see what happens this summer and what the roster looks like as camp opens before making crazy proclamations.

 

[Chainshot]

I mean....his buyout is reasonable.

5M of dead cap is probably worth more than moving two spots though.

Myers probably doesn't get moved until September when his $5M bonus is paid and a team is only on the hook for $1M for the season. For a RHD, that probably holds value for a team.

 

[SundherDome]

If we don’t do the first two at minimum the third one needs to be revisited

 

[Dingo44]

Watching the Peterborough Petes vs Kamloops Blazers Memorial Cup game on the NHL Network. Riley's younger brother Chase Stillman just leveled this guy on the Blazers and then kicked the crap out of the guy's teammate. Lucky for us to get the brother who can't win fights.

 

[HOOats]

If Chad is right and Vic isn't getting much interest, I wonder if using him for a move up at the draft might work. A team might not want to subtract an actual 2nd or 3rd for him, but maybe we could get up from 39 with 50% retention.

Vegas might be able to stomach dropping 7 spots for a budget PP2 specialist @ $2.375m and no messy term.

 

[Der Jaeger]

It’s not contradictory at all. Adams won’t spend because Pegula is cheap. Adams has that job because he’s a yes man. Thankfully he was smart enough to understand what he doesnt know and he hired smart people who he listens to. That’s why the drafts have gone well. But the team building? It’s been about recouping Pegula’s pretend losses as the value of the franchise has more than tripled since he bought it. Value he pretends doesn’t count. So yes…Adams wont spend, because…Pegula is cheap.

the alternative is that Adams is so dumb he is the only Gm in history to not see the value in spending while your best players are on super value contracts. The time everyone else looks at as the opportunity to win. Adams has convinced people their window opens…after he hands out the big contracts? For real. That’s a thing you believe? And I don’t believe Adams is stupid. I believe Adams won’t spend. Wanna know why?

Imagine an organization having Tage, Cozens, Dahlin and Power signed for less than 10 million total…and saying we’re gonna have the most cap space in the league instead of build a team to compete. That’s what we did. A year that real ownership looks at as an opportunity. Not just to save money.

well…that year is gone. Now we have one more year where Dahlin and Power make 7 total...before they more than double that. Another opportunity year. Let’s pretend to not know what’s going to happen

Or 3rd, he’s got a plan which is actually working. Last off season, you railed against Adams because he didn’t get Copp or Husso. Still finished ahead of Detroit.

What if his plan was to force the team to improve internally? Sun Tsu’s killing ground concept. Be your own rescuer. There’s a ton of merit and development which comes out of that situation.

I’d argue the last 10 games of the season the Sabres, with their backs against the wall, did a lot of growing.

What are we doing with Myers? If he sucks then we don't need him as a top 4 D, at this stage I would prefer quality over just up to 11.

Myers would be a fine stay at home defender on a 1 year contract.

 

[Chainshot]

Watching the Peterborough Petes vs Kamloops Blazers Memorial Cup game on the NHL Network. Riley's younger brother Chase Stillman just leveled this guy on the Blazers and then kicked the crap out of the guy's teammate. Lucky for us to get the brother who can't win fights.

See below.

Bankier eating fists -



Stillman cleared of wrongdoing on the hit after review. It was a beauty.

 

[Ace]

From an athletic article today on all teams best contracts. Where they end up saying the same thing I said last summer…as if we couldn’t see it coming.


Best contract in 2022-23: Tage Thompson

When the Sabres signed Tage Thompson to a seven-year, $50 million extension before the start of this season, it generated polarizing responses. Eight months later, that decision is looking like a stroke of genius. Thompson went off for 47 goals and 94 points on a $1.4 million cap hit this year and will continue to be on an excellent deal once his $7.14 million per year extension kicks in next season.

On the back end, Rasmus Dahlin was a top-10 defenseman despite raking in just $6 million. Owen Power played at a legitimate top-four level on his ELC.

Alex Tuch potted 36 goals on the top line making under $5 million and Dylan Cozens notched 68 points in the final year of his ELC.

It’s a shame the Sabres were short of a bona fide starter and one more top-four defender because they had some excellent value pieces this year.

 

[dkollidas]

Does Rousek’s performance this season kind of make a Girgensons redundant?

I think depending on performance in pre-season he’s making a strong case for the 4th line LW spot.

A nice part about drafting so many forwards is that we should have a few years of guys coming up on ELC’s outperforming a bottom-6 role at a bottom barrel price.

 

[Fjordy]

Myers would be a fine stay at home defender on a 1 year contract.

I don't like him. He is not what we need in our top 4.

 

[Dubi Doo]

I’d argue the last 10 games of the season the Sabres, with their backs against the wall, did a lot of growing.

I don't think anyone can successfully argue against this. It was a grind. Their top tier guys were either injured or playing injured.

It seemed like they were going to crash and burn, but they nutted up and turned it around. It was awesome to see, and a good change of pace from years past.

 

[Jim Bob]

https://theathletic.com/4566374/2023/06/01/nhl-best-value-contracts-2022-2023/

Buffalo Sabres​

2022-23 Best Performers Relative to Cap

PLAYER	GSVA/82	CAP HIT	YEARS LEFT
Tage Thompson	3.1	$1.4M	$7.14M x 7 extension kicking in
Rasmus Dahlin	3.7	$6M	1
Owen Power	1.6	$0.917M	1
Alex Tuch	3.2	$4.75M	3
Dylan Cozens	1.3	$0.894M	$7.1M x 7 extension kicking in

Best contract in 2022-23: Tage Thompson

When the Sabres signed Tage Thompson to a seven-year, $50 million extension before the start of this season, it generated polarizing responses. Eight months later, that decision is looking like a stroke of genius. Thompson went off for 47 goals and 94 points on a $1.4 million cap hit this year and will continue to be on an excellent deal once his $7.14 million per year extension kicks in next season.

On the back end, Rasmus Dahlin was a top-10 defenseman despite raking in just $6 million. Owen Power played at a legitimate top-four level on his ELC.

Alex Tuch potted 36 goals on the top line making under $5 million and Dylan Cozens notched 68 points in the final year of his ELC.

It’s a shame the Sabres were short of a bona fide starter and one more top-four defender because they had some excellent value pieces this year.

 

[joshjull]

Does Rousek’s performance this season kind of make a Girgensons redundant?

I think depending on performance in pre-season he’s making a strong case for the 4th line LW spot.

A nice part about drafting so many forwards is that we should have a few years of guys coming up on ELC’s outperforming a bottom-6 role at a bottom barrel price.

He doesn’t make Girgs redundant. But he is certainly a good option to replace him if he doesn’t return.

At the very least Rousek makes the team getting Hino’s Roster spot. Then he can put pressure on others to stay in the lineup with him lurking in the pressbox to start the year.

 

[MOGlLNY]

From an athletic article today on all teams best contracts. Where they end up saying the same thing I said last summer…as if we couldn’t see it coming.


Best contract in 2022-23: Tage Thompson

When the Sabres signed Tage Thompson to a seven-year, $50 million extension before the start of this season, it generated polarizing responses. Eight months later, that decision is looking like a stroke of genius. Thompson went off for 47 goals and 94 points on a $1.4 million cap hit this year and will continue to be on an excellent deal once his $7.14 million per year extension kicks in next season.

On the back end, Rasmus Dahlin was a top-10 defenseman despite raking in just $6 million. Owen Power played at a legitimate top-four level on his ELC.

Alex Tuch potted 36 goals on the top line making under $5 million and Dylan Cozens notched 68 points in the final year of his ELC.

It’s a shame the Sabres were short of a bona fide starter and one more top-four defender because they had some excellent value pieces this year.

you said this team stunk all last off-season WHILE needing a goalie and defenseman lol. Everybody on this board knew we need/ed at those positions

Pretending like you knew the whole time every single guy was gonna pop off and all we needed to make playoffs all this team needed was a defenseman and a goalie is such self revisionist history

 

[Der Jaeger]

I wonder if Granato goes back to the lines from most of the season, or to what he ran at the end? With Peterka looking good at the worlds, I wonder if Granato mixes it up and goes with 3 scoring lines.

Skinner - Mittelstadt - Tuch
Quinn - Thompson - Cozens
Greenway - Krebs - Peterka

 

[Jim Bob]

Sabres roundtable: Is a No. 1 goalie on the shopping list? Who is next to break out?

Ahead of another busy summer, News Sabres writers Mike Harrington and Lance Lysowski answer several notable questions in our latest Sabres roundtable.

buffalonews.com

Q: Should the Sabres acquire a veteran goalie to work in tandem with Devon Levi next season?

MH: This is a question of Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen or Levi and Mr. X, who is acquired in a trade that likely sees Luukkonen go the other way. It would be hard to give up on UPL after all the time and effort the Sabres have invested in him, but I can see it happening. He's not a Kevyn Adams draft pick, remember. And this is now about winning and not about development at the NHL level.

The Sabres have a playoff-ready roster for next season. Actually, they had one for the season that ended in April but didn't get nearly enough saves until Levi arrived for the final 10 games.

I need Mr. X, an NHL-caliber goalie to play 35-40 games next season and almost go 50-50 with Levi. But enough about Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck. He'll cost too much as a rental and take too much of Levi's ice time in the future. Levi is your 50- to 55-game goalie in the 2024-25 season, and you need a one-year bridge to get him there.

LL: They should try to acquire Hellebuyck. Yes, the cost is high, especially for a rental. Hellebuyck, 30, is entering the final season of his contract and his next deal might be too expensive for the Sabres’ long-term salary cap. But he’s a Vezina Trophy-winning goalie who could be an ideal role model for Levi. How about a trade package of Noah Ostlund, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and a third-round draft pick for Hellebuyck? It could fit the Winnipeg Jets’ needs. This is the time for Buffalo to make this sort of bold move. Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power are still cheap relative to their production, plus there would be ample money remaining to add a top-four defenseman.

There’s too much talent on the Sabres’ roster to go into next season with two unproven, young goalies if there’s a top option on the market. However, if Helleybuck isn’t available, or the Jets insist that Adams include Jiri Kulich or Matt Savoie, status quo is better than gambling on another team’s backup goalie. The free-agent market is thin, and most trade options have bloated contracts. The Sabres could always acquire someone before the midseason trade deadline if Levi or Luukkonen can’t take the job. They should also re-sign Malcolm Subban or pursue another AHL goalie such as Hershey’s Hunter Shepard because Eric Comrie might be lost on waivers if they try to assign him to the Amerks.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Lance planting the seeds and I feel like the talk about Helly and the Sabres has been "unofficially" heating up with how many writers are talking about it. Makes me think something is actually stirring behind the scenes.

 

[Fjordy]

Apparently Nashville fans want at least Kulich/Savoie + #13 for Saros. I wouldn't do it, I don't think Adams either.

Well, there are still some options.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Apparently Nashville fans want at least Kulich/Savoie + #13 for Saros. I wouldn't do it, I don't think Adams either.

Well, there are still some options.

I'd consider it, definitely. I would preferably do Ostlund + 13th and '24 1st.

Saros contract is sweetheart, the perfect length and he is THE PERFECT mentor for Levi. Then go throw money on the top 4 defenseman in FA without having to worry about paying a goalie any time soon with Levi likely getting a bridge deal once Saros' deal is finished.

 

[Fjordy]

I'd consider it, definitely. I would preferably do Ostlund + 13th and '24 1st.

Saros contract is sweetheart, the perfect length and he is THE PERFECT mentor for Levi. Then go throw money on the top 4 defenseman in FA without having to worry about paying a goalie any time soon with Levi likely getting a bridge deal once Saros' deal is finished.

I would not do this, I do not want to trade either Savoie or Kulich.

My suggestion was Ostlund + #13 as a base, they said no, Ostlund is not so good for them.

 

[MOGlLNY]

I would not do this, I do not want to trade either Savoie or Kulich. I just offer Ostlund + #13 as a base, they said no, Ostlund is not so good for them.

I'm pretty hardline on keeping them too in most trades, but we will not find a better fit for a goaltender than Saros and I'd be willing to pay for it. There's only so much room and we have a gaping sized hole in net.

Either way, I doubt it happens. But Saros is one of the very few players who MIGHT be available that I'd move one of them for.

 

[Fjordy]

I'm pretty hardline on keeping them too in most trades, but we will not find a better fit for a goaltender than Saros and I'd be willing to pay for it.

I think we can find a decent goalie without giving up Savoie or Kulich + #13. I'm fine with Helle or Jarry for example. There are more options. It just goes to show that Saros is basically unavailable and only at a big overpayment.

 

[thewookie1]

I'd consider it, definitely. I would preferably do Ostlund + 13th and '24 1st.

Saros contract is sweetheart, the perfect length and he is THE PERFECT mentor for Levi. Then go throw money on the top 4 defenseman in FA without having to worry about paying a goalie any time soon with Levi likely getting a bridge deal once Saros' deal is finished.

That's insane, no way I'd trade 3 1sts for a goalie

 

[MOGlLNY]

I think we can find a decent goalie without giving up Savoie or Kulich + #13. I'm fine with Helle or Jarry for example. There are more options. It just goes to show that Saros is basically unavailable and only at a big overpayment.

Not even for Saros' performance alone, but you're getting the goalie your future goalie idolizes and studies on top of it. It's the perfect person to let Levi cook behind is also part of my logic. It is the perfect bridge.

That's insane, no way I'd trade 3 1sts for a goalie

That's fine

 

[Fjordy]

Not even for Saros' performance alone, but you're getting the goalie your future goalie idolizes and studies on top of it. It's the perfect person to let Levi cook behind is also part of my logic. It is the perfect bridge.

This is a controversial argument. Each player has some idol and players they look up to, but this does not mean that we should trade for them. I do not think that the conditional Helle will be a mentor for Levi worse than Saros, the same goes for other goalies. I like Saros, but I won't trade for him at that price.