The Roster Thread, Summer 2024

[debaser66]

I’m also concerned though to be

Can we at least get them meth?

You want them to get out of the gate like last season?

 

[Dirty Dog]

He performed the best, but only because Savoie injury knocked him out of what was likely his spot. Which leads me to believe Savoie will in fact be one of the best players at camp for a THIRD year and finally get the spot he deserves.

Well, I think Savoie AND benson were going to get a spot last year based on how they looked. I’m not disagreeing with you, my money is on Savoie too (though I really do see him as a winger, but what do I know).

I’m just saying it’s not a zero percent chance of Helenius winning it. I have literally never watched him play that I can remember so I can’t weigh in other than he seems like a far far long shot.

 

[TageGod]

Well, I think Savoie AND benson were going to get a spot last year based on how they looked. I’m not disagreeing with you, my money is on Savoie too (though I really do see him as a winger, but what do I know).

I’m just saying it’s not a zero percent chance of Helenius winning it. I have literally never watched him play that I can remember so I can’t weigh in other than he seems like a far far long shot.

Even Benson was 18, and it's just safe to stash Konsta. You will start having some unhappy prospects if they don't get any looks soon. Last year VO was playing hockey so Kulich can help them make the AHL playoffs. Injuries will happen one of Kulich and Savoie needs to make the team and the other will be the first callup.

Rosen needs to be traded he doesn't have a spot in the team.

 

[Fezzy126]

Ok, enough about the metric.

How good are these players?

Byram
Jokiharju
Samuelsson
Clifton

You want my honest opinion?

Byram - Top 4 defenseman, terrific skating, he reminds me a bit of Montour. I think he can be very good in the right situation. Since his skillset is pretty redundant with Dahlin and Power, I don't think this is a great situation for him to flourish. Big injury risk.

Jokiharju - Bottom 4 defenseman. He's a jack of all trades but king of none. He's not particularly big or physical and tends to float out of position in his own end. Perhaps better coaching can fix some of his issues in his own end, but like Byram, I think he needs the right system, partner, and role to flourish. I don't think that's here. His availability has probably been his best attribute.

Samuelsson - Top 4 defenseman. He does everything right in his own end, reminds me of a better skating Jay Mckee. He should be a staple in our top 4 for the next 10 years. So far he's been a big injury risk.

Clifton - 3rd pair defenseman. He's a physical, hard to play against dude that's perfect as a 3rd pairing guy. Much better skating than your typical physical dman. Can fill in the top 4 for short periods if there's an injury. He's fine for his role and deployment. No availability concerns.

 

[sabremike]

L

Saw some speculation on reddit that the ask for an unsigned Ehlers is 3 of Savoie/Kulich/Ostlund/Rosen and a 1st.

Talk about getting fleeced. GMTM would have taken the deal.

Wouldn't shock me as Cheveldayoff is an absolute fanny. Remember when Travis Hamonik needed to go back closer to home because of family issues and asked the Isles to trade him and classy Chevy leaked this to the media in an attempt to force a trade to Winnipeg for minimal value and put Travis (who didn't want to leave LI but had no choice) in an awful spot. Hope he ends up having to move Ehlers for a conditional 3rd at the deadline.

 

[elchud]

So all they have to do is determine who is the best option for 3C between Krebs/Kulich/Savoie/Ostlund/Helenius. Problem solved!

Sammy-Joker is a really strong 3rd pair. It's like our really strong 4th line! Give Power-Clifton an extended chance...

 

[OkimLom]

Saw some speculation on reddit that the ask for an unsigned Ehlers is 3 of Savoie/Kulich/Ostlund/Rosen and a 1st.

Talk about getting fleeced. GMTM would have taken the deal.

Before or After Murray had to build a main roster. Before, he probably would. After, he was pretty fair in his trade value evaluations.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

I agree with all of this. I just mean that...they certainly explored trades during the draft...for multiple reasons nothing worked...all that was left was finding a quality winger who actually would sign a one-year deal with this team. That is the Skinner replacement for this season.

I know this isn't the KA thread, but if he could have signed Mitts a year ago to $5.5 at decent term (min. 4 years), failure to do so would be the worst decision he has made as GM.

The Skinner/Mitts scenarios also show a real lack of foresight in the front office. By the TDL, they should have already had the same concerns about Skinner long-term that led to the buy-out. Who would be perfect to have around if they ultimately did the buy-out? A guy you already have under team control that can be signed for less than Skinner's contract, able to play both C and LW.

There's just so much failed logic between trading Mitts and the Skinner buy-out/Zucker signing. I can't make any sense of it unless I just accept that KA et al don't have a plan that sees beyond the next couple months...and that's probably being generous.

 

[elchud]

Rosen probably doesn't have a lot of trade value. Like less than 43rdoverall-Malenstyn trade value.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

So all they have to do is determine who is the best option for 3C between Krebs/Kulich/Savoie/Ostlund/Helenius. Problem solved!

Sammy-Joker is a really strong 3rd pair. It's like our really strong 4th line! Give Power-Clifton an extended chance...

It might be a problem solved, but it's going to take a year or so to decide, and then it will take another couple years for that player to reach their prime. It's a crappy scenario to have a bunch of young wingers that need to learn and develop, while playing next to Cs that are also doing the same thing. Thompson is still learning how to be a C, let alone Cozens and whoever finally settles in as a 3C.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Rosen probably doesn't have a lot of trade value. Like less than 43rdoverall-Malenstyn trade value.

I personally like his game a tad batter than Kulich’s from what little I watched of Rochester this year Not a large enough sample size, and I can’t project kids but still…

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

The Pens small forwards are akin to a bag full of meth addled badgers. I don't see much badger in the Sabres stable.

The lack of symmetry in your conclusion implies you may see meth....

 

[Chainshot]

The lack of symmetry in your conclusion implies you may see meth....

Welll…..



Glad someone caught that joke.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

The Skinner/Mitts scenarios also show a real lack of foresight in the front office. By the TDL, they should have already had the same concerns about Skinner long-term that led to the buy-out. Who would be perfect to have around if they ultimately did the buy-out? A guy you already have under team control that can be signed for less than Skinner's contract, able to play both C and LW.

There's just so much failed logic between trading Mitts and the Skinner buy-out/Zucker signing. I can't make any sense of it unless I just accept that KA et al don't have a plan that sees beyond the next couple months...and that's probably being generous.

These two issues are completely unrelated.

Adams didn't want to commit term & dollars to Mitts. Just accept that.

 

[Chainshot]

Two under-the-radar signings are Brannstrom to the Avs and Blankenburg to the Preds. They can afford to have one small defenseman in my opinion and few things that could work, but won’t now.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

These two issues are completely unrelated.

Adams didn't want to commit term & dollars to Mitts. Just accept that.

I don't accept stupid decisions.

Edit - I also don't think the two issues should not be related, not if you're managing a team and trying to construct a playoff roster. If you are doing that job with some foresight, and still ditch that much offensive production, skill and board battle (in Mitts case), and replace it with one year of Zucker and hopes for Krebs or prospects in a couple years, then you're incompetent.

 

[Fjordy]

Adams didn't want to commit term & dollars to Mitts. Just accept that.

What seems like a mistake is we had a Vegas level central ridge.

 

[Chainshot]

I see it in Benson and possibly savoie

Benson yes. I don’t know about Savoie at the next level let alone at the NHL level.

 

[Chainshot]

Are the only true trade candidates left Zegras, Necas and Ehlers? Who else should I be considering as options for top 6 scorer or 3C?

I would take a look at a couple of teams that have spent like Nashville or… Nashville. Lol.

I haven’t gotten the hang of pcukpedias interface to have who is over the cap at my fingertips.

 

[Jim Bob]

I would take a look at a couple of teams that have spent like Nashville or… Nashville. Lol.

I haven’t gotten the hang of pcukpedias interface to have who is over the cap at my fingertips.

CapFriendly - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

CapFriendly is an independent compiler & reliable source for NHL player contracts, draft picks, salary caps, daily cap tracking, Armchair-GM, and NHL CBA information.

www.capfriendly.com

Thankfully CapFriendly is still live until the sale to the Caps closes later in the offseason:

 

[Willgamesh]

Who do you guys see the caps moving to get under cap?

 

[Sabresbyswords104]

KA opposed as well of course.

They are looking to next year clearly. If Quinn/Peterka/Byram/Levi all get pretty decent term on their deals, we could be a capped out team. There *could be* as much as 18 million with those 4, depending on this year's production and how many years on the contracts.

The Skinner buyout may be capitulation, as in, there is no mandate to make the playoffs this year. Let's change the culture, have Ruff right the ship, etc.

If Terry is down with all this, Adams job may actually be safe.

Why give everyone big contracts if they had 1 good season ? Noone else does this . See Mittlestadt

 

[OkimLom]

These two issues are completely unrelated.

Adams didn't want to commit term & dollars to Mitts. Just accept that.

My estimation of what happened, at the TDL, Adams didn't want to commit to Mitts (because of the timeline he had at the time) just as you said. And he probably felt good about that decision as he felt he had time to mature Krebs into the Mittelstadt role (3C), so he felt comfortable making that decision, as he made mention at the time of the TDL of putting more responsibility onto Krebs.

But then I think Terry and Adams talked closer to the end of the year, one of the important games between post-TDL and end of the season, where the leash got extremely tight and Adams seat had a massive increase of heat applied to it. Hence, why the presser of Granato's firing was a completely different tone and had a different sense of urgency to it.

I think if Adams of the TDL had the knowledge that today's Adams had, I think he commits to Mittelstadt and doesn't trade him. I think at the TDL, he most likely thought he had more time, and so he made a hockey trade to get something for Mittelstadt.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

Who do you guys see the caps moving to get under cap?

They'll LTIR Backstrom and ditch a couple mediocre D-men, that's it.

 

[tsujimoto74]

OOF. He is 17, 0 chance. You have multiple prospects above him who are centers knocking on the door.

There have been a bunch of hockey people positing that he’s among the more NHL-ready players from the 2024 draft, I think in large part due to his mature two-way game and performance in Worlds alongside/against NHL players. We had Benson make the team last year and be one of our best two-way forwards, so I wouldn’t so summarily dismiss the idea of Helenius following a similar path.