The Roster Thread, Summer 2024

[Doug Prishpreed]

11 + Krebs + Joker + a 3rd for Andersson + Mangiapane

Most teams don't give up young players with team control (Krebs and Joki are both RFA) for rentals (Andersson and Mangiapane would undoubtedly leave Buffalo after one season).

 

[Fjordy]

I think Andersson is a really good player, but is he the type of defenseman we need? I'm not sure.

 

[OkimLom]

How can sabres be so bad when they actually have a pretty good top 6 and 3-4 good D .

Peterka Thompson Tuch
Benson Cozens Quinn


Need to fill the bottom 6 positions now, how could the bottom 6 look like ?

Hopefully Skinner trade incoming?

They are not necessarily bad, but they are inconsistent.

And to compete on a consistent level in today's game, you have to have a decent to good top 9 with a functional D lineup. Not many teams can survive with just a top 6 only anymore. And most of those teams tend to have two of the 10 best forwards of the game.

The Team lacks a solid top 9, that produces consistent results. Mainly because of youth up and down their lineup with a lack of any veteran leadership. Okposo shown himself to be pretty useless in providing effective leadership in this regard.

 

[TehDoak]

I have my eye on Lundestrom as someone that Anaheim might be willing to move. He'd be a decent 4th line C, still young with up the lineup potential. Maybe something like Lundestrom+ a pick for Joker?

 

[Aladyyn]

How can sabres be so bad when they actually have a pretty good top 6 and 3-4 good D .

Peterka Thompson Tuch
Benson Cozens Quinn


Need to fill the bottom 6 positions now, how could the bottom 6 look like ?

Hopefully Skinner trade incoming?

Benson is 18, Tage was playing through injuries for most of the season, Quinn was straight up out for most of it, Tuch and Cozens had down years. That's how.

 

[Dingo44]

Benson is 18, Tage was playing through injuries for most of the season, Quinn was straight up out for most of it, Tuch and Cozens had down years. That's how.

Tuch and Cozens had their own injury issues as well. Tough year for our top six but if they can stay healthy next year we will see a huge difference - especially with Ruff coaching.

 

[SundherDome]

As far as roster goes, yes, he was set up to succeed with very little work needed compared to any other team who has ever come out of a rebuild.

Unless you factor in his boss, the owner -- in which case you could argue that he was put in the worst possible situation. But ignoring the owner, yes, he was set up extremely well and STILL doesn't need to do much to get this team over the hump.

Keeping the team the youngest team in the league every year that he's GM, for 5 years straight is a choice. It's something he chooses to do on purpose, and it's keeping the team from improving.


Zegras isn't a bottom 6 player so I'd pass on that. He needs to find good bottom 6 players. Something most GMs don't need 5 years to do, like Adams has needed.

Will it be 6 years.

I am genuinely curious about this, looking back at the team that ended the 19/20 season,l and am hard pressed to find more than 12 NHL players on that roster and Eichel had asked out. He also inherited a prospect pool that had a top 4 of Cozens (just drafted), UPL, Samuelsson and Johnson (just drafted). Imo he was handed an absolute dumpster fire and navigated it well.

 

[Beerz]

A young player was inconsistent!? Oh my god what a shock!

By the time you are 24 or 25 you want your #2 pick to at least show up and act like you care in the first few months of a given season.

 

[Beerz]

Most teams don't give up young players with team control (Krebs and Joki are both RFA) for rentals (Andersson and Mangiapane would undoubtedly leave Buffalo after one season).

Andersson has 2 years of team control.
Mangiapane I could see definitely leaving .. I doubt he would see a place for him in top 6 with all our wingers and are you going to want to give a raise from 5.8 million on a bottom 6 winger.

 

[OkimLom]

By the time you are 24 or 25 you want your #2 pick to at least show up and act like you care in the first few months of a given season.

Sam’s 24 year old season was under Ralph in the season nobody showed up to. Reinhart leading the scoring at the half way point of the season. His 25 year old season he was in Florida.

Sam’s tenure in Buffalo, he was the security blanket for Eichel and his free wheeling game while the team played a disorganized style of game that even ROR struggled to play under. Once Sam was adjusted to what was asked of him he played fine, but what was often asked of him changed season to season.

 

[dickiedunnwrotethis]

I think Andersson is a really good player, but is he the type of defenseman we need? I'm not sure.

In just about every way, yes.

 

[Beerz]

Sam’s 24 year old season was under Ralph in the season nobody showed up to. Reinhart leading the scoring at the half way point of the season. His 25 year old season he was in Florida.

Sam’s tenure in Buffalo, he was the security blanket for Eichel and his free wheeling game while the team played a disorganized style of game that even ROR struggled to play under. Once Sam was adjusted to what was asked of him he played fine, but what was often asked of him changed season to season.

People always think I thought Sam was a bad player.. I never did. He is a very talented player but his faults with us are what I laid out imo. The core of that team was just toxic ...not as so far as behavior .. but just everything about the team overall. Jack and Sam needed to go.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

As far as roster goes, yes, he was set up to succeed with very little work needed compared to any other team who has ever come out of a rebuild.

Unless you factor in his boss, the owner -- in which case you could argue that he was put in the worst possible situation. But ignoring the owner, yes, he was set up extremely well and STILL doesn't need to do much to get this team over the hump.

Keeping the team the youngest team in the league every year that he's GM, for 5 years straight is a choice. It's something he chooses to do on purpose, and it's keeping the team from improving.


Zegras isn't a bottom 6 player so I'd pass on that. He needs to find good bottom 6 players. Something most GMs don't need 5 years to do, like Adams has needed.

Will it be 6 years?

When Adams was hired, the team was shit. Eichel had asked out (then got hurt), Marcus Johansson was the 2C, Mitts and Tage weren’t established NHL players yet, they had nothing on D.

His first signing period he swapped Johansson for Staal (an upgrade seeing Staal just had a 30 goal season, so he made a 2C upgrade [it failed, but you can see the logic]) upgraded the 3C in theory (Eakins, but he fell off hard), added Hall. I can’t blame him for adding established NHL guys for basically free, but they all sucked.

I remember when the Sabres fanbase was excited on what the team did. None of us saw that team shitting the bed.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

How can sabres be so bad when they actually have a pretty good top 6 and 3-4 good D .

Peterka Thompson Tuch
Benson Cozens Quinn


Need to fill the bottom 6 positions now, how could the bottom 6 look like ?

Hopefully Skinner trade incoming?

Forget about last season's injuries. Lets pretend all these guys stay healthy...

Peterka is still inexperienced and not physical, Thompson is a low-IQ player still learning a position he transitioned to just two years ago. Tuch is well-rounded but still doesn't play as physically as he could/should.

Benson is still a Bambi, Cozens is still learning and a relatively low IQ player foe a C, Quinn needs to get consistent and stronger, and none of them play a physical game, even though Cozens can after another 10-15 lbs.

That top-six can be fun to watch in the regular season when playing a team that stinks or isn't on their game, on a back-to-back, etc. When playoffs come around they will get routed...out hit, out-worked, out-disciplined.

Last season I thought for just a blip that the league was trending back to an end-to-end skill game. That was wrong. Regardless of what wins games in the regular season, the playoffs require discipline, defensive responsibility, physicality or the ability to withstand a heavy forecheck, with players willing to play straight ahead and work hard around the boards for the puck, going to the net and taking punishment. The Sabres are about 160 degrees away from that type of team, and I don't think KA realizes that or knows how to get the team closer to that style.

 

[5 Minute Major]

Just reading through the last several pages of this thread. I’m surprised more people aren’t excited to see Power play under a coach that actually will have a structured system. For as fun as the Sabres could be at times under Granato, part of that fun came at a big price. That being way too much loosey-goosey type of play.

 

[Matt Ress]

When Adams was hired, the team was shit. Eichel had asked out (then got hurt), Marcus Johansson was the 2C, Mitts and Tage weren’t established NHL players yet, they had nothing on D.

His first signing period he swapped Johansson for Staal (an upgrade seeing Staal just had a 30 goal season, so he made a 2C upgrade [it failed, but you can see the logic]) upgraded the 3C in theory (Eakins, but he fell off hard), added Hall. I can’t blame him for adding established NHL guys for basically free, but they all sucked.

I remember when the Sabres fanbase was excited on what the team did. None of us saw that team shitting the bed.

That was pretty much the end of the careers of those 3 additions. None bounced back. Wonder why we're presumably a top team in NMC's. Also, I'll never forget the folks that argued coaching was insignificant a few years back. Aged like a fine milk.

 

[Matt Ress]

Forget about last season's injuries. Lets pretend all these guys stay healthy...

Peterka is still inexperienced and not physical, Thompson is a low-IQ player still learning a position he transitioned to just two years ago. Tuch is well-rounded but still doesn't play as physically as he could/should.

Benson is still a Bambi, Cozens is still learning and a relatively low IQ player foe a C, Quinn needs to get consistent and stronger, and none of them play a physical game, even though Cozens can after another 10-15 lbs.

That top-six can be fun to watch in the regular season when playing a team that stinks or isn't on their game, on a back-to-back, etc. When playoffs come around they will get routed...out hit, out-worked, out-disciplined.

Last season I thought for just a blip that the league was trending back to an end-to-end skill game. That was wrong. Regardless of what wins games in the regular season, the playoffs require discipline, defensive responsibility, physicality or the ability to withstand a heavy forecheck, with players willing to play straight ahead and work hard around the boards for the puck, going to the net and taking punishment. The Sabres are about 160 degrees away from that type of team, and I don't think KA realizes that or knows how to get the team closer to that style.

I agree with you but it's not necessarily on Adams to make the team more responsible or physical on a day to day basis. Perhaps ultimately based on hiring but we've talked before about how physicality is more of a mindset than just physical traits. Same goes for defense really and anything else the players should be prioritizing.

 

[OkimLom]

Just reading through the last several pages of this thread. I’m surprised more people aren’t excited to see Power play under a coach that actually will have a structured system. For as fun as the Sabres could be at times under Granato, part of that fun came at a big price. That being way too much loosey-goosey type of play.

Weird, because I really worry about how Power WILL play with structure and accountability. The strength in his game came from the improv nature of his transition game. A guy that struggles with trying to learn the defensive end of the game without the puck and now inundated with thinking the game through a structured lens may not make him as effective, especially since this will be a first time he will have structure at a professional level after years of free reign on the ice through the USHL, College, and the NHL.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Weird, because I really worry about how Power WILL play with structure and accountability. The strength in his game came from the improv nature of his transition game. A guy that struggles with trying to learn the defensive end of the game without the puck and now inundated with thinking the game through a structured lens may not make him as effective, especially since this will be a first time he will have structure at a professional level after years of free reign on the ice through the USHL, College, and the NHL.

Power is a superior player to Luke Hughes and people were gushing about him all year.

Power will be just fine.

 

[OkimLom]

Power is a superior player to Luke Hughes and people were gushing about him all year.

Power will be just fine.

Different players. But Luke had issues in his end as well while being better in the transition and offensive zone, in the limited games I watched.

It’s not a guarantee Power will catch on quickly or at all. He might, and for the Sabres sake, I hope he does, but from what I’ve seen of Power from his college years and on, gives me pause to be so confident in him learning as much as he needs to at the NHL level. Sure as hell don’t have confidence in the organization to be able to coach him up.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

That was pretty much the end of the careers of those 3 additions. None bounced back. Wonder why we're presumably a top team in NMC's. Also, I'll never forget the folks that argued coaching was insignificant a few years back. Aged like a fine milk.

They ended up being terrible decisions, but nobody saw them falling off to the extent they did. The fanbase was excited about Hall, moderate on Staal, and willing to give a chance on Eakin. Instead they all hit the wall hard

 

[Ace]

Was Adams really gifted anything? He started the job being told to fire much of the staff and cut costs. He still had Ralph Kreuger as his head coach still seemingly calling a lot of the shots and Eichel told him before they signed Taylor Hall he already wanted out. They hadn't made the playoffs in nine years already.

You can hate Adams all you want but to say he was "gifted such a great place to start" is disingenuous at best.

Would it make you feel better if it was phrased “put himself in position to build a roster with plenty of picks, prospects and cap space and proceeded to sit on his f***ing hands the last two years instead?”

Guy gave a masterclass on tearing down and making cheaper. And then stopped doing his job.

 

[Ace]

Different players. But Luke had issues in his end as well while being better in the transition and offensive zone, in the limited games I watched.

It’s not a guarantee Power will catch on quickly or at all. He might, and for the Sabres sake, I hope he does, but from what I’ve seen of Power from his college years and on, gives me pause to be so confident in him learning as much as he needs to at the NHL level. Sure as hell don’t have confidence in the organization to be able to coach him up.

Comparing the “issues in his end” of Luke Hughes with Owen Power is like saying Buddy Holly and Sully Sullenberger both had issues with a plane ride.

 

[Krieger Bot]

Chad just brought up Strome from WAS as a target, saying Adams always finds someone who no one is talking about. I brought him up here last month and didn't get much of a response either way. Most people just said they're prefer Dowd.

Have people thought any more about how they'd feel about Strome? I originally hated it, but have grown more comfortable with it as I see the other alternatives, and there aren't many great ones.

I really feel like he's going after someone who will be relatively cheap from an asset perspective, and has 1-3 years left on a deal with no trade protection. So far the only ones besides Strome I can identify is Sturm, Colton, and Laughton, and I don't really love any of them.

I like Strome well enough. He's a natural center in the right age range who plays well enough in all three zones to get ice time here, and help the team out in doing so. I'm also not sure I buy the take that Washington definitely wouldn't deal him, or that the price to acquire would be so high that it's not worth it.

That said, I wonder if Adams is willing to pay the price needed to acquire a player like Strome. There's an opening in the top 9, and I suspect he knows he shouldn't fill it with a rookie. But I wonder if he's thinking more about a high IQ, smurf on the wing (e.g., Conor Garland; Trevor Moore) who can likely be had more cheaply. Then, he can add some size with a 4th line addition, a la Duhaime.

 

[sabremike]

Comparing the “issues in his end” of Luke Hughes with Owen Power is like saying Buddy Holly and Sully Sullenberger both had issues with a plane ride.