Speculation: Sabres Talk - Proposals, Speculation, Roster-shaping

[BuiltTagonTough]

Same way we hate Tucker. Yes he has value but a bunch of fans would have reservations. Also their player is still out last I knew. It would be a difficult discussion.

"It's in the past, kiss and makeup you're on the same team now and the fans will live with it. Anyone can't live with that, ride the pine pony."

That was pretty easy.

And when he could still play, I would have LOVED Tucker on this team.

 

[WYFR]

Anyone interested on ROR?

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/...-want-roster-player-top-prospect-for-oreilly/

he's a young promising center, plays tough and physical, good play maker with offensive zone awareness, good size and speed, and does a good job on the PK. i don't know how much he's wanting for a new deal but would anyone think he'd make a fit addition to the team? if so who'd you trade for his rights?

 

[czarin]

I hope Darcy is going hard after this. Brings all those intangibles that we need and lack terribly....

 

[EichHart]

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/...-want-roster-player-top-prospect-for-oreilly/

he's a young promising center, plays tough and physical, good play maker with offensive zone awareness, good size and speed, and does a good job on the PK. i don't know how much he's wanting for a new deal but would anyone think he'd make a fit addition to the team? if so who'd you trade for his rights?

Not sure how much they would want. Stafford, McNabb, 1st Rounder for him?

 

[JThorne]

Stafford, Pysyk, and 2nd rd 2013 or 2014

If they want Sekera then they can have a lower level prospect like Sundher and a 3rd rd pick

Sabres must move some cap space out don't they?

So our unwanteds for a highly coveted by the league player? You sound like a Leaf fan.

 

[Sean McG]

Pretty much the only players I wouldn't give up for O'Reilly are Hodgson and Grigorenko. He'd be an absolutely amazing get for the Sabres, it's ridiculous that the Avs let it get to this point. He's a guy that is renowned for his work ethic, one of the best two way forwards in the entire league, and he turned 22 less than a week ago. It feels like he's older because he's been in the NHL since he was 18, but trading a guy like Ennis for him would actually make the Sabres younger.

It's about money and not playing time, so it's not identical to the Hodgson situation, but it's similar in the fact that a really young, talented center that should never be available somehow is available. It'd cost a pretty penny, like it did for Hodgson, but getting O'Reilly on this team (and assuming if they'd trade for him they'd agree to a contract pretty quickly) makes Buffalo better short and long term. I really hope Darcy is tirelessly working the phones on this one.

edit: If they're looking for a "roster player and top prospect", Colorado would probably ask the Sabres about Ennis, Hodgson, Foligno, Sekera as the roster player and Armia, Girgensons, or maybe McNabb/Pysyk as the prospect. We can stop with the Stafford proposals too... literally every team in the NHL would make room for O'Reilly. Most teams don't have the cap space or prospects to pull an O'Reilly trade off (and then meet his contract demands), but Colorado isn't accepting some low-ball offer centered around Drew Stafford for him. Seriously doubt the Avs would take on Stafford's $4M/yr with the way they've penny pinched during the O'Reilly negotiations, especially with a very similar streaky scoring winger (who also signed a 4/16 contract recently) already on the team in David Jones. Plain and simple, Buffalo has absolutely no chance of landing him if the best player they're offering in return is Stafford.

 

[Man of Principles]

I'm just spewing, but here are a few moves I think would help our team.

First, we trade some combination of Sekera and Armia or Pysyk to Colorado for O'Reilly.

Then, knowing that Phoenix would probably look to add offense, we dangle Stafford and Ennis and try to get Yandle. Use Brennan or Gerbe as a sweetener.

For the rest of the year (roughly), we look like:

Vanek-Hodgson-Pominville
Foligno-O'Reilly-Ott
Gerbe-Grigorenko-Kaleta
Scott-McCormick-Ellis

Myers-Yandle
Ehrhoff-Sulzer
Regehr-Weber

In the offseason, we buy out Leino to clear some cap. Then we look to add a top 6 winger to replace Stafford.

Pipe dreams...

 

[tsujimoto74]

I guess the real question when looking at a package is "would the players traded net between a 1st, 2nd and a 3rd Rd. pick and two 1st and a 2nd rd pick?" Because that is what will be received on an offer sheet. So who would you trade for those picks? Ennis + Psysk? Stafford + McCabe? Armia? Also dont forget McNabb has no value to Col as they hate him.

Don't forget this board is for fans not GMs. What their fans think of him really doesn't mean anything.

 

[TehDoak]

Honestly the only player we could dangle of interest at this point would be Ennis. They are thin on LW and their offense is sputtering to say the least. They may be interested in Girgensons as he projects out to the same role, but giving both would be quite the overpayment.

Moving Ennis allows us to put Grigerenko in a scoring role and gives us a legit shutdown, two way center. We still probably aren't a playoff team, but give Grigs 48 games NHL experience + another summer on NHL conditioning program next year we could see some real progress.

 

[Zip15]

Honestly the only player we could dangle of interest at this point would be Ennis. They are thin on LW and their offense is sputtering to say the least. They may be interested in Girgensons as he projects out to the same role, but giving both would be quite the overpayment.

Moving Ennis allows us to put Grigerenko in a scoring role and gives us a legit shutdown, two way center. We still probably aren't a playoff team, but give Grigs 48 games NHL experience + another summer on NHL conditioning program next year we could see some real progress.

One would have to think Sekera would also be of some interest to them. Without looking, can you name Colorado's #2 defenseman? Based on things like zone starts, TOI, and QualComp, it appears to be Matt Hunwick. I'm not even kidding. Their defense features an overrated top-pairing guy (Erik Johnson), an aging defensive defenseman (Hejda), a decent Ryan Wilson, a bunch of castoffs (Hunwick, O'Byrne, Zanon) [some of whom have played their roles decently], and young guys not quite ready (Barrie, Elliott).

We're definitely going to have to give up something that hurts. Personally, I'd prefer a Sekera + Girgensons package because O'Reilly is what we hope Girgensons becomes, and I think Sekera is more easily replaceable than an Ennis or Hodgson--if we gave up one of those centers, the prospect would more likely be in the Pysyk mold.

 

[RattleYourSabre]

Moving Hodgson for O'Reilly doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It would put us in a similar to position to what we're in now, except more prospect/draft pick light.

In order to have an O'Reilly trade make a difference, you have to give up assets that might sting a little, but leave us in a better position. I'm not sure what that is, but moving CoHo wouldn't do that. In my opinion, anyways.

 

[stokes84]

Honestly the only player we could dangle of interest at this point would be Ennis. They are thin on LW and their offense is sputtering to say the least. They may be interested in Girgensons as he projects out to the same role, but giving both would be quite the overpayment.

Moving Ennis allows us to put Grigerenko in a scoring role and gives us a legit shutdown, two way center. We still probably aren't a playoff team, but give Grigs 48 games NHL experience + another summer on NHL conditioning program next year we could see some real progress.

Where do you think he is now? He gets by far the easiest minutes and isn't producing. It's not about changing his role, it's that he isn't ready.

 

[Zip15]

Where do you think he is now? He gets by far the easiest minutes and isn't producing. It's not about changing his role, it's that he isn't ready.

He certainly plays easy minutes with a lot of offensive-zone starts, but it's tough to call anything a "scoring role" when your top two linemates are Jochen Hecht and Steve Ott.

 

[sabregoat]

Any shot at ROR would most likely have to include Grigs which I am not opposed to. They would want a center in return. Grigs is a younger version of ROR. Making the trade, you would not have to go threw the growing pains. Its is like getting a trained 2 year old dog instead of a puppy. You don't have the p*ss all over the house.

 

[EichHart]

Any shot at ROR would most likely have to include Grigs which I am not opposed to. They would want a center in return. Grigs is a younger version of ROR. Making the trade, you would not have to go threw the growing pains. Its is like getting a trained 2 year old dog instead of a puppy. You don't have the p*ss all over the house.

Grigs is nothing close to a younger version of ROR. ROR is similar to a Kesler or Bergeron type center that plays a solid defensive game and can chip in 50-60 pts a year. He is an ideal 2nd line center. Grigs projects to be a first line center if he develops to his potential, similar to a Spezza type player.

 

[SabresFan26]

Any shot at ROR would most likely have to include Grigs which I am not opposed to. They would want a center in return. Grigs is a younger version of ROR. Making the trade, you would not have to go threw the growing pains. Its is like getting a trained 2 year old dog instead of a puppy. You don't have the p*ss all over the house.

Grigorenko and ROR have very different styles.

 

[stokes84]

He certainly plays easy minutes with a lot of offensive-zone starts, but it's tough to call anything a "scoring role" when your top two linemates are Jochen Hecht and Steve Ott.

True, but that combo actually has more combined goals than Foligno and Stafford, so how much more of a scoring line is it really?

Any shot at ROR would most likely have to include Grigs which I am not opposed to. They would want a center in return. Grigs is a younger version of ROR. Making the trade, you would not have to go threw the growing pains. Its is like getting a trained 2 year old dog instead of a puppy. You don't have the p*ss all over the house.

Nice. But if I'm trading Grigs, is this a good enough return? We certainly get better now, but long term... I'm uneasy about that deal (actually, I'm uneasy about any of these deals. ROR's body of work doesn't justify the asking price or contract).

 

[tsujimoto74]

Any shot at ROR would most likely have to include Grigs which I am not opposed to. They would want a center in return. Grigs is a younger version of ROR. Making the trade, you would not have to go threw the growing pains. Its is like getting a trained 2 year old dog instead of a puppy. You don't have the p*ss all over the house.

Grigorenko. Girgensons. You are definitely talking about Girgs, not Grigs.

ETA: My apologies if you're dyslexic.

 

[Woodhouse]

Unfortunately I know a lot less about ROR than I'd like to.

Any good comparisons for the type of player he is and/or could develop into...
Current NHL player?
Former NHL player?
Former Sabres player?

Read THIS if you're unfamiliar with O'Reilly.

 

[Fighting Major]

What if ...

the Sabres do not have any chance to clinch a playoff spot close to trade deadline: Are you guys willing to give up Vanek to a real contender to give him a shot at the cup? Who could this be?
what had to come back in return? Should Vanek return at the end of the season?

 

[tsujimoto74]

You know, at first I was more inclined to like a deal for ROR centered around Ennis but the more I think about it, the more I think it makes sense (for both sides) if it's Sekera. I love what he brings to Buffalo, but, IMO, our team outlook is better if we keep Ennis. Adding ROR gives us a real tough defensive match-ups line, and lets him and Grigs pair up to take easy minutes and pick apart 3rd pairing guys.

V-H-P
Ott/Foligno-ROR-Stafford
Ennis-Grigs-Foligno/Ott
Gerbe-Hecht-Kaleta


Our D without Sekera... We'd definitely miss him, but I think Pysyk will be able to fill a similar role in a year or 2, and in the meantime, we just hope that the guys who are underperforming figure it out.

the Sabres do not have any chance to clinch a playoff spot close to trade deadline: Are you guys willing to give up Vanek to a real contender to give him a shot at the cup? Who could this be?
what had to come back in return? Should Vanek return at the end of the season?

Vanek still has another year of contract left, he's not a rental, and he's not that old. He has plenty of time left to think about Cups, and we have plenty of time left on his contract to think about what direction the team is heading. That said, if he is dealt, I'd want a legitimate blue chip prospect + a good roster player.

 

[vcv]

Alright, you guys sold me pretty good on ROR.

C'mon Darcy, pull out Darth Regier and pull in another coveted young center.

 

[Presten]

Not sure how much they would want. Stafford, McNabb, 1st Rounder for him?

I would probably just hand over the roster chart and let them pick whoever they want. It might be hard to replace Sekera, but if Regier keeps Ruff around we might have a shot at Jones

 

[RattleYourSabre]

Leino almost has to be a buy out with the way he's played/been injured on this contract.

Those of you who know more than I do, any reason why we wouldn't buy him out?

 

[stokes84]

Leino almost has to be a buy out with the way he's played/been injured on this contract.

Those of you who know more than I do, any reason why we wouldn't buy him out?

Do you have any idea how bad that would make Darcy look to his boss? That would basically be taking $24 million and lighting it on fire. Pegula can talk about digging new wells all he wants, but if an employee pisses $24 million away on nothing, that's a good way to earn your pink slip in any industry. Even if Pegula can deal with it, anyone with any pride in their job will do anything in their power to not let that happen.