dudacek

Any conversation tied to Ek or any other new 3C is pure speculation. Mitts turns 26 in November and has played 350 NHL games: he is what he is, a good 2C. Byram turns 23 this month and has played 160 NHL games: he’s the one who has yet to reach his full potential. It was a hockey trade made to strengthen the D corps at the cost of weakening centre spine. How much Byram adds to the D corps matters. How Adams backfills the centre slot matters as well. But it’s not really about winning the trade. How much better the team gets as a result of each move together is what really counts.

Price on the first seems high for me. JJ just put up 28 goals in his 2nd season. We haven’t seen his ceiling yet. Let’s put it this way, at 22, he’s younger yet producing what Tuch was when we got him. Savoie is equal or ahead of where Krebs was. And #11 is certainly well ahead of the 20-something pick Vegas thought they were giving up. Ek is a great player, but does it warrant an Eichel price? I struggle to think of the last player to net a futures package that strong. I can see 2 of those pieces, not 3. The Joki group is more realistic, but if I’m Adams, if I’m giving up Peterka, Minny’s not getting a piece as good as #11 to flesh things out.

Ek’s cap hit is $5M this year, but his salary is $9M. just an example, but any real improvement is going to involve spending more money and could involve eating some real money beyond the cap. Adams says he will get the resources he needs, but we haven’t seen Pegula spending for a few years now.

I’d much rather have Byram and Ek than Mitts and prospects. Ek is better than Mitts and a better fit for this team than Mitts. Thompson Cozens Ek would be a load down the middle; maybe the league’s biggest centre spine with skill. Byram we shall see if he’s more the player we saw the first 5 games or the one who looked lost after that. The organization didn’t acquire him to be a #5 and will put him in a position to succeed. He has more talent than Casey and at least as much compete. Fingers crossed he can change some minds around here.

I see the Wild’s cap situation the same way you do. I didn’t mean rough cap situation in the sense you took it. I meant they are an average team that lacks the cap space to be a real contender in the next 2 years and I wonder where that puts their window. The clock is ticking on Zuccarello, Foligno, Hartman, Brodin; Those guys probably don’t have a role when the team is ready to be good again. They have to re-sign Kaprizov in 2 years. If I’m their braintrust, I’m building toward that summer with a group around Boldy and Faber. Ek becomes an interesting piece in that scenario: the Wild are clearly better on the ice over the next 2 or 3 years keeping him, but they probably won’t be good. The question becomes are you better off with a 30-year-old Ek on the roster in 3 years when you think you’ll be rising again? Or will you be better off with a 23–year-old Kulich, a 26-year-old Krebs and a 21-year-old Eiserman (or some similar package)? Ek’s NTC does not kick in until July 1

I gotta say Im a little pissed at @tom webster. We all know what happens when the Sabres get us a little excited. He’s got me excited for the first time this off-season. 😜

You’d think it would have to be #11 and their favourite from the Savoie/Östlund/Kulich trio as a base. Maybe we toss in Johnson, who can go back to his girlfriend and his buddy Faber in Minny? If he really is on the market for a futures deal, I can’t see anyone beating that offer.

I see 2 things that might make Ek available. The fact that Minnesota is in an awful spot under the cap this year thanks to the Parise buyout The fact that their core has quietly gotten old and they might need to re-focus on a Faber/Boldy window. I could see them trying to do a quick reset by flipping some of their older players for some players in their early 20s. And Ek certainly is someone who could generate the best type of return under that scenario. And the fact that Ek is owed $22.5M over the next few years including $9M next year isn’t insignificant. I guess we’ll see if Terry really is cheap.

Eriksen Ek? I can’t think of a more perfect add. 27, under contract for 5 more years at $5.2, one of the best 2-way centres in the game and his no-movement clause doesn’t kick in until July. Assets like that don’t go on the market unless a team is hitting the reset button. That would be an expensive get.

Not sure what you mean The Rochester model hasn’t done its job of developing future Sabres?

I think what the Canes want is Necas or his equivalent on the blue line for a lot less money. Their ask from the Sabres probably would have been Peterka plus. I wouldn’t do Peterka straight across. Necas is good, but he’s not $6M better than Peterka.

I think Krebs is probably headed for a Cody Eakin-esque career. Unlike @Thorny, I like him; he’s all in. Id like to see him succeed here, but it goes without saying that Mitts was never going to be the only asset that will get flipped on this journey.

It’s not unusual to pick up a #4/5 D or a middle-six forward for a 2nd or 3rd rounder. Id say Krebs’ value is in that range 🤷

Always wondered how much interest a Krebs Jokiharju package would have from Calgary. Backlund would certainly help the Sabres. Ages would make me nervous.

I think the bold is probably the most significant thing in this post. The fact he is in the SHL at all at his age tells where his development is at. But I’m getting from you a sense that you think if you aren’t big, your offence really needs to pop, or you won’t make it. Which is a fair take. The main reason I like Östlund is that every time I watch him, the puck always seems to end up on his stick, kid is everywhere. And when he’s got the puck he doesn’t waste any time getting it where it needs to go.

There’s nothing in Östlund’s statistical profile that suggests he’s a longshot as an NHLer. Peterka and Quinn were outliers. Quinn’s AHL numbers were the best by any prospect his age in 20 years in the AHL and Peterka was not far behind. For what it’s worth, I ran Östlund, Savoie and Kulich through an NHLe calculator a month or so back and their numbers were almost identical: 25-27 points if I remember correctly.

Yes. I brought him up a while back. Not sure what his issues were with Torts, and I’d need to check his health. But healthy and committed he’d be almost an ideal get.

It’s a weird take on Östlund. There were 3 kids in his entire draft class playing regularly in the NHL last year. Östlund played a regular shift in a middle 6 role against men in the best Swedish league and was league’s second-most productive teenager. Tied for 3rd in the WJC in points and looked good doing it. His skill, pace and hockey sense also stood out with the Amerks. He’s progressing nicely from what I’ve seen.

If your point is simply that the Sabres have factors against them when it comes to attracting free agents, nobody has or will disagree with that.

Hope you and/or others are able to go to the event next week and report back.

I'm with Taro here. He's certainly given more emphasis to the bottom 6, but he has directly answered the question of top 6 with a 'yes' (Seravalli interview I think) To me it's been more of (paraphrasing) we will upgrade the bottom 6, we will try to upgrade the top 6.

I'd add opportunity: a chance to play a bigger role and advance your career. But all Webster is saying is most of those things — particularly the bold — are personal and vary dramatically from player to player. Running through the list myself: Money matters, but I'll take less to be where I want to be. Location is important: San Jose, Seattle and Vancouver are close to home and my kind of climate, geography and personality. I'd take Edmonton and Calgary for being adjacent, Western Canadian and smaller hockey towns. Buffalo for my affinity to the franchise and being a smaller hockey town. No way to Winnipeg despite being similar. Too much in the middle of nowhere and crappy geography. L.A., Toronto, Dallas and New York? Keep me as far away from the giant, noisy, self-important cities as possible. Florida likely the same, but I'd look at Tampa and Anaheim. I like the character of Montreal and Ottawa. Carolina seems like a comfortable fit. Not going to go through the league Wife? Fortunately her roots and comfort zone is similar to mine. But she could push me on or off the fence on a few places. Taxes aren't a consideration for me now and wouldn't be as an NHL player either. I pay them when they're owed and grumble when doing it, don't think about them much otherwise. I want to be on a team that I think will win, but it's less about "who has the best chance of winning it all this year" and more about "what direction is this team going and what part can I play?" I would have been far more interested in being a Senator last year than I would this year. And even bigger, how do I fit on the roster? I'm a net-front top-6 LW. I want to play on a team with 2 good top six centres and a lack of scoring on the wings. I'm not interested at all in playing for a roster loaded with good wingers and weak at centre. And the people part is huge: do I want to play with these guys and/or for that coach? Do I trust the GM? What are people I trust saying about the organization? I suspect Johnson picked Buffalo last summer largely because of Okposo, the $ and the fact the team needed a big, veteran RHD who could kill penalties. Those things superceded the fact the team has been bad and Buffalo is cold. Kane was very interested in Buffalo but ultimately didn't come. I suspect that was not because of money or location, but because he didn't feel good about the organization and/or team's chances of winning. We don't really know, but the point is the decision process is far too complex to make sweeping statements.

Pick 11 has value. Recently: 7+ a 2nd ana 3rd got Alex Debrincat, who was then flipped for a lot less. 13 got Romanov and 98 13 and 66 got Dach 17ish and a mid-2nd got Hronek and a 4th 17ish and a 2ndish prospect got Bo Horvat. I'd say given expected progression, Kulich's value has generally improved from his draft slot, Rosen's has slipped, and Östlund's is sorta the same, but each of those would be in the eye of the beholder. Johnson isn't worth a late 1st any more. Krebs either. I would think most teams would certainly give up a 3rd for either though, some might give more. I've always maintained Jokiharju is worth more than this board thinks, simply for what I see people paying for RHD at the deadline. Colin Miller was acquired for a 2nd and a 5th. Andrej Sekera was flipped for a 2nd and Jamie McBain, than flipped again for pick #21. Let me put it this way. You'd have beaten the odds if your 2nd-round pick plays 300 games in his career and Jokiharju has already done that before his 25th birthday. Sam Reinhart went for a package similar to Östlund and 11. So did Kevin Fiala. Sam Bennett was acquired for 2 2nds. The Sabres have the assets to improve their team.

Buffalo News has a lengthy Sabres-focused interview with new COO Pete Guelli. He says the Sabres are expecting a season ticket base of about 10,000 last year to grow about 10-15 %. New roof underway, new scoreboard ready by August, lots of other business-related tidbits, including an answer to everyone’s favourite ownership question. https://buffalonews.com/sports/professional/nhl/sabres/pete-guelli-coo-terry-pegula-buffalo-sabres-nhl-lindy-ruff/article_33306f9c-22a5-11ef-90ca-2b5da1025629.html

Forgot Housley. But in general, I think the only area that shows a clear pattern is when it comes to GMs. Which seems to make sense if you consider how that one is the Pegula hire.