The Roster Thread, Summer 2024

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Jim Bob

RIP RJ
Feb 27, 2002
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My point is we're not sitting on the cash until we go all year without using it. Maybe it makes a good rental at the deadline possible because it won't require money going out. Long way to go.

And overpaying two years on a middling UFA is a nonstarter with our RFA class next summer. The "Pegulas are cheap" narrative will come to a screeching halt when Quinn, Peterka, and Byram put us close to the cap in 12 months.
Adams has talked about this happening for a while and they will still be $6M+ below the cap again this season and likely one of the teams with the most unused cap space at the end of the season.

For a "Win Now" season, that will not be a good look, especially if they miss the playoffs yet again.

The biggest challenge I see is that spending money for the sake of spending money is just dumb. And it is not just about being willing to spend to the cap. The challenge is also getting trades across the finish line that address team needs while using cap space. The only thing that Adams has talked about being on his To Do list this offseason that he hasn't done yet is land a legit top 6 forward.

But, that item is likely held up by the trade asks that rival GMs have. Especially if GMs don't just want picks and prospects and they want a top 4 D or a top 6 forward back for their guys.
 

zenthusiast

cybersabre his prophet
Oct 20, 2009
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The issue of unused cap space is actually very simple:

If it’s a FA, he wouldn’t sign here. Or he would, but he isn’t good. Or he is, but he would want too much money or block the kids. Best to instead trade, where…

If he has an NTC, we’re on it. If he doesn’t, the price is too high. If it isn’t, they want an asset we won’t move. If they don’t, the player’s bad. If he isn’t, he’ll block the kids. If he wouldn’t, we lack a roster spot.

Simply nothing to be done, see you in March for a 7D
 

HOOats

born Ruffian
Nov 19, 2007
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The issue of unused cap space is actually very simple:

If it’s a FA, he wouldn’t sign here. Or he would, but he isn’t good. Or he is, but he would want too much money or block the kids. Best to instead trade, where…

If he has an NTC, we’re on it. If he doesn’t, the price is too high. If it isn’t, they want an asset we won’t move. If they don’t, the player’s bad. If he isn’t, he’ll block the kids. If he wouldn’t, we lack a roster spot.

Simply nothing to be done, see you in March for a 7D
Does this paranoid heuristic also apply to the 20+ teams (including cup contenders) that will enter the season with significant cap space or only us?
 

zenthusiast

cybersabre his prophet
Oct 20, 2009
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Does this paranoid heuristic also apply to the 20+ teams (including cup contenders) that will enter the season with significant cap space or only us?
If it were sincere, paranoia would complement the stockholm syndrome on display pretty well

As we’re both joking, of course, I assume the fact that the Sabres have had a notable amount of space left unused for several seasons is understood to be distinct
 

HOOats

born Ruffian
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If it were sincere, paranoia would complement the stockholm syndrome on display pretty well

As we’re both joking, of course, I assume the fact that the Sabres have had a notable amount of space left unused for several seasons is understood to be distinct
Are we the only team to have had unused space for several seasons?
 

zenthusiast

cybersabre his prophet
Oct 20, 2009
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Are we the only team to have had unused space for several seasons?
Yes. Literally every other team in the league has spent exactly the dollar amount of the cap for every year of their existence. It’s a strange binary but true

If there was room to either spend close to the cap, close to a “cap floor” and everything in between we might have a nuanced review of relative commitment but alas
 

DapperCam

Registered User
Jul 9, 2006
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Does this paranoid heuristic also apply to the 20+ teams (including cup contenders) that will enter the season with significant cap space or only us?

Have 20+ teams missed the playoffs for a decade and a half? We absolutely should be spending to the cap to get this stink off of us. If we make the playoffs, then signing UFAs will get easier and we'll find ourselves on player's NTC less often. At Adams' post-season presser he said this upcoming season we are going all in on making the playoffs. My annoyance is that reality doesn't seem to align with his message.

Also, trading for rentals at the deadline has the cap scaled down to whatever the remainder of the regular season is. So you don't need huge amounts of cap to get a good rental player. I'm hoping a deal is made before the season starts for a top-6 forward.
 

zenthusiast

cybersabre his prophet
Oct 20, 2009
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Also, they’ve only got the sixth most cap space in the league atm. So there’s still room for creative cost cutting
 
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TageGod

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Aug 31, 2022
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We should get Marner so we can make the playoffs, and the leafs get a roster spot for a player that actually contributes in the post season. :nod:
 

Zman5778

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Oct 4, 2005
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I bet he he had the choice between Dowd and Beck, based on what he's saying here. Or another old guy with one year left...but I can't think of many besides Dowd who would equal a 2nd.
Yeah, that's kind of what I got out of that quote. It was either Beck....who's younger and can be with us a while, or an old guy who's got one year left (though might be better right now).

I'm not sure it's Dowd or Beck per se.....but something like that.
 

joshjull

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Aug 2, 2005
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Hamburg,NY
Honestly, I thought, and agreed with the talk that if we were putting our top prospects on the table and draft pick on the table, that Cirelli was a guy we should target. Whether he was available or not, that would be the type of player to do it for. I saw him as a top 6 center, and a guy we could bring in to slide Cozens down, and have a decent top 9 structure. I never envisioned him as a "3C guy". But from my memory, I don't think that discussion about Cirelli, was really about viewing him as a 3C replacement player, unless I missed some posts that focused on that, which case I completely disagree with that assessment of what Cirelli should've been viewed as.


The poster I quoted was angry we used Savoie to get McLeod instead of Cirelli. Who was never available and Savoie wouldn’t be nearly enough to get him even if he was. It’s pointless anger.

Specific to what you posted, they were never looking to bump Cozens down to 3C. They view Tage/Cozens as their 1-2 punch up the middle. Doesn’t matter if you share that view. It’s how they look at it. They were looking for a conventional 3C.

Cirelli, or someone like him, was never in the cards. I also think your overvaluing our pick and those prospects. They wouldn’t be nearly enough to land guys of that caliber. I think that some of you were setting yourselves up for disappointment with that when one got traded.
 
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Jim Bob

RIP RJ
Feb 27, 2002
58,001
38,532
Rochester, NY

There’s no confirmation that an internal cap exists, but we do have evidence that would support such a claim. The full offseason hasn’t played out to safely say the Skinner buyout was more of cash savings than we thought, but it’s trending in that direction.

The argument against spending the last few years has been the core needs their new contracts. Well, Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, Owen Power, and Rasmus Dahlin have their new deals in place. The Sabres are on pace to be $7-8 million under the cap still.

Now, some conversation has shifted to the next wave that needs their new deals (JJ Peterka, Bo Byram, and Jack Quinn) so they have to be responsible for the future. This is cyclical excuse-making for a lack of spending.

According to Puck Pedia, the Sabres will have over $33 million in cap space next offseason with a $92 million cap ceiling. Even if you allocate $25 million of that cap space to the five big players that need new contracts (including Luukkonen) the Sabres would have $8 million in cap space. That’s before they’d remove anyone off the roster to create more.
 
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