The Roster Thread, Summer 2024

[Matt Ress]

I'm actually kinda warming on the Laine idea. We can't take on the big number and risk though so if Wads wants to sit on Laine that's fine but he has to know that his seat will be heating up. He'll end up taking the same deal and looking like a dope.

 

[michaelsaas]

I'm actually kinda warming on the Laine idea. We can't take on the big number and risk though so if Wads wants to sit on Laine that's fine but he has to know that his seat will be heating up. He'll end up taking the same deal and looking like a dope.

He was just traded to Montreal.

 

[BUCKSHOT]

I'm actually kinda warming on the Laine idea. We can't take on the big number and risk though so if Wads wants to sit on Laine that's fine but he has to know that his seat will be heating up. He'll end up taking the same deal and looking like a dope.

check out the 'Around the NHL' thread

Laine was traded to Montreal

 

[Matt Ress]

Well derp ditty derp
Interesting move for MON

 

[Sabre the Win]

He was just traded to Montreal.

Another division rival gets better.

 

[MOGlLNY]

AFAIK we could not take on Laine without retention and that’s clearly what Columbus was looking for. Not exactly devastated we didn’t get in on this.

 

[Dingo44]

Another division rival gets better.

Did they though?

 

[Fjordy]

Montreal got a good player for nothing, even with his whole situation in Columbus he had almost PPG stats for the last three years. It is clear that not everyone here likes Laine, but it seems he has never been a jerk or a locker room cancer to not make such a trade. For now Adams is a GM who never takes risks and hopes for internal growth, and also prays that we do not have injuries. Hopefully this will be enough for the playoffs, otherwise he is f***ed.

 

[Mattilaus]

Montreal got a good player for nothing, even with his whole situation in Columbus he had almost PPG stats for the last three years. It is clear that not everyone here likes Laine, but it seems he has never been a jerk or a locker room cancer to not make such a trade. For now Adams is a GM who never takes risks and hopes for internal growth, and also prays that we do not have injuries. Hopefully this will be enough for the playoffs, otherwise he is f***ed.

You see trading one of our top prospects for a 3rd line C as having no risk to it?

 

[HOOats]

I had talked myself into Laine over the past couple weeks, so I'm mildly disappointed. I think we're really talented and have a relatively positive, supportive locker room, so he had a chance to hit the ground running here with a fresh start.

Columbus clearly didn't want to retain salary. For how much lamentation there has been over how much cap space we're sitting on, it's deliciously ironic that we DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH CAP SPACE to make this trade on Waddell's terms (assuming a 23-man roster). Good reminder that teams sometimes keep cap space open for future moves just like this, not just for new roofs (already the most tired chirp in the history of Sabres twitter).

I'd have been fine with Joki or RyJo heading out and foregoing the 2nd if Columbus agreed to retain around $1-2M. Having Laine auditioning for the future of his career at $7M for two years alongside our significant talent was intriguing. And if the season blew up and we had to retain a couple bucks to ship him out at the deadline, we could recoup the assets.

Don't love him coming into the Atlantic, even though he's far from a sure thing. I'm happy to root against him now, hopefully the pressure cooker of Les Habitants jams up their plans.

 

[Jimmybarndoor2]

Oh thank god the habs took laine
Not the player Sabres needed.

 

[Matt Ress]

I had talked myself into Laine over the past couple weeks, so I'm mildly disappointed. I think we're really talented and have a relatively positive, supportive locker room, so he had a chance to hit the ground running here with a fresh start.

Columbus clearly didn't want to retain salary. For how much lamentation there has been over how much cap space we're sitting on, it's deliciously ironic that we DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH CAP SPACE to make this trade on Waddell's terms (assuming a 23-man roster). Good reminder that teams sometimes keep cap space open for future moves just like this, not just for new roofs (already the most tired chirp in the history of Sabres twitter).

I'd have been fine with Joki or RyJo heading out and foregoing the 2nd if Columbus agreed to retain around $1-2M. Having Laine auditioning for the future of his career at $7M for two years alongside our significant talent was intriguing. And if the season blew up and we had to retain a couple bucks to ship him out at the deadline, we could recoup the assets.

Don't love him coming into the Atlantic, even though he's far from a sure thing. I'm happy to root against him now, hopefully the pressure cooker of Les Habitants jams up their plans.

Great post

 

[BFLO]

I thought Laine was going to cost a lot so I wasn’t interested. But for basically free? Sure. Why not

Adams when he took over was during Covid and botts bring fired was unexpected.

I think Adams might have bern a pure temp in yr 1 so he was going to just hold the ship. No big signings, and asked the coach for what players he wanted. Only later did he become something more than interim/temp

Ullmark was very injury prone so that was a big issue in investing starting money on a player who wouldnt be starting was risky. Adams did offer the same as Boston.

Adams never had an interim title.

i’d say it rocked the boat pretty hard when Adams failed to extend Ullmark and Reinhart.

 

[Panthaz89]

Montreal got a good player for nothing, even with his whole situation in Columbus he had almost PPG stats for the last three years. It is clear that not everyone here likes Laine, but it seems he has never been a jerk or a locker room cancer to not make such a trade. For now Adams is a GM who never takes risks and hopes for internal growth, and also prays that we do not have injuries. Hopefully this will be enough for the playoffs, otherwise he is f***ed.

all our opponents can take all the Skinners and Laines they want.....those type of players don't make the difference in the win loss column.

 

[Fjordy]

You see trading one of our top prospects for a 3rd line C as having no risk to it?

And this is the situation where Adams backed himself into a corner and had his arms twisted. Although if you look at it, we have so many prospects, and MacLeod is still young and has good metrics, versatility, a need for the team. Also, as we understand, Savoie was valued in the league in a completely different way, and it seems he did not have the value we thought.

Laine is a completely different type of deal, low risk, high reward. He would not cost anything, but would give us additional productivity in the top 6 and would also be insurance.

all our opponents can take all the Skinners and Laines they want.....those type of players don't make the difference in the win loss column.

Why don't they? They score points, they score goals, that's important too. When we don't have enough scoring to get to the playoffs, then remember this comment.

 

[Panthaz89]

And this is the situation where Adams backed himself into a corner and had his arms twisted. Although if you look at it, we have so many prospects, and MacLeod is still young and has good metrics, versatility, a need for the team. Also, as we understand, Savoie was valued in the league in a completely different way, and it seems he did not have the value we thought.

Laine is a completely different type of deal, low risk, high reward. He would not cost anything, but would give us additional productivity in the top 6 and would also be insurance.


Why don't they? They score points, they score goals, that's important too. When we don't have enough scoring to get to the playoffs, then remember this comment.

They score goals and points and are completely and utterly useless in games where they don't produce anything. I guarantee we won't be remembering either player as a difference maker in the future. Even when he was on Winnipeg he was worse than every other top 6 player when it mattered especially in the playoffs.

 

[Fjordy]

They score goals and points and are completely and utterly useless in games where they don't produce anything. I guarantee we won't be remembering either player as a difference maker in the future. Even when he was on Winnipeg he was worse than every other top 6 player when it mattered especially in the playoffs.

They don't necessarily have to define teams, but they are also needed to score goals and get points. Laine has been almost a PPG forward and generally the best forward in Columbus for the last three seasons, I read the Columbus board. And this is despite his injuries, the death of his father and mental problems. We are missing a top 6 forward, and if one of our top 6 forwards gets injured, we will be missing two. I am talking about this risk Adams, he always takes risks and so far he loses every season.

 

[Dubi Doo]

I had talked myself into Laine over the past couple weeks, so I'm mildly disappointed. I think we're really talented and have a relatively positive, supportive locker room, so he had a chance to hit the ground running here with a fresh start.

Columbus clearly didn't want to retain salary. For how much lamentation there has been over how much cap space we're sitting on, it's deliciously ironic that we DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH CAP SPACE to make this trade on Waddell's terms (assuming a 23-man roster). Good reminder that teams sometimes keep cap space open for future moves just like this, not just for new roofs (already the most tired chirp in the history of Sabres twitter).

I'd have been fine with Joki or RyJo heading out and foregoing the 2nd if Columbus agreed to retain around $1-2M. Having Laine auditioning for the future of his career at $7M for two years alongside our significant talent was intriguing. And if the season blew up and we had to retain a couple bucks to ship him out at the deadline, we could recoup the assets.

Don't love him coming into the Atlantic, even though he's far from a sure thing. I'm happy to root against him now, hopefully the pressure cooker of Les Habitants jams up their plans.

Yup. I was fine with trading for Laine if there was retention. That contract is too rich for my blood.

 

[Jim Bob]

I thought Laine was going to cost a lot so I wasn’t interested. But for basically free? Sure. Why not

That second year of $8.75M against the cap and Waddell not wanting to retain in the deal is why not.

Reportedly, Montreal was the only team interested in Laine that did not want Columbus to retain. So, that was the big reason that they got Laine.

Personally, I am not upset that Adams did not make that trade. I don't see Laine being the 40-50 goal guy he is talking about.

 

[Jim Bob]

Patrik Laine & The Power Law

Digging into the archives to examine how MTL can revive Laine's career

substack.com

One big challenge of the fit with Laine in Buffalo is that a big portion of his goal production has come from Thompson's spot on the PP.

 

[Matt Ress]

Patrik Laine & The Power Law

Digging into the archives to examine how MTL can revive Laine's career

substack.com

One big challenge of the fit with Laine in Buffalo is that a big portion of his goal production has come from Thompson's spot on the PP.

Well there's 2 PP units but it's all moot anyway. I think it will be important to get JJ going on the PP and making him dangerous there if he wants to get to another level. He has to figure out a way to use his shot and IQ with neutralized speed.

 

[DapperCam]

Patrik Laine & The Power Law

Digging into the archives to examine how MTL can revive Laine's career

substack.com

One big challenge of the fit with Laine in Buffalo is that a big portion of his goal production has come from Thompson's spot on the PP.

I’m pretty sure the 2nd PP unit had like 4 goals all of last season. I’m sure we could have slotted him in there.

 

[Jim Bob]

Well there's 2 PP units but it's all moot anyway. I think it will be important to get JJ going on the PP and making him dangerous there if he wants to get to another level. He has to figure out a way to use his shot and IQ with neutralized speed.

The challenge is that over the last three seasons, Thompson (2:54) and Laine (3:19) were in the top 2 on their teams in PP TOI/GP.

Laine at $8.75M AAV on the 2nd PP unit is not going to maximize the return on that investment. But, the same goes for Thompson.

It's like how Thompson or Laine wouldn't be a fit in Washington for instance because that left half wall PP1 spot is spoken for.

I’m pretty sure the 2nd PP unit had like 4 goals all of last season. I’m sure we could have slotted him in there.

Sure, but he would likely go from 3 minutes of PP TOI per game to around 1 minute per game on PP2. And he would be playing with less effective PP teammates.

That would not put him in a position to optimize the return on the investment of $8.75M AAV.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

I think the census is that with Laine off the table there are no more good FAs left to sign, so another off season of sitting on our hands. I am glad we didn't get Laine. Nothing against the guy, but he is bounced around a couple of teams. And that cap hit. Yikes. But I get why many are frustrated about the trade.

 

[joshjull]

I think the census is that with Laine off the table there are no more good FAs left to sign, so another off season of sitting on our hands. I am glad we didn't get Laine. Nothing against the guy, but he is bounced around a couple of teams. And that cap hit. Yikes. But I get why many are frustrated about the trade.

-Fired and replaced our coach
-Bought out Skinner
-Completely revamped our bottom 6 with 4 new players
-Signed a vet middle 6 winger
-added defensive depth

You can want more from this offseason. But there is no way you can describe this offseason as the Sabres “sitting on their hands”.