dudacek

Don't get me wrong, I think that: A: the Sabres would have a much more balanced and complete D corps by flipping Jokiharju for a more stay-at-home, physical 4/5 RD B: Jokiharju is done as a Sabre due to the cap and contract situation. I just think he has value the others on your list do not have, particularly as an RD who can skate. Seems like teams are always looking for those..

Do people really consider Jokiharju 'fringe'? The math says there are 192 D positions available in the NHL. Last year Jokiharju was: 105 in points 125 in ice time per game 39 in plus/minus 104 in blocked shots 83 in hits 109 in giveaways per 60 Statistically he seems almost the definition of a 4/5 🤷‍♂️

Another interesting tidbit: Wheeler believes that the top five D in this draft are all better prospects than the two defencemen picked at #5 and #6 overall last year. That's 3 Levshunov, 4 Buium, 5 Parekh, 6 Dickinson and 9 Silayev. His #11 is Lindstrom, a pick that would make a lot of people around here pretty happy if it happens.

Scott Wheeler has his final list out in the Athletic and the most interesting thing to me is how he has it it tiered: #4 is on the same tier as #11, meaning we should see at least one player he’s very high on slide to our spot. The 2nd most interesting thing to me is how the top guys in his 4th tier (12 and 13 overall) are Yakemchuk and Iginla, 2 guys who are very highly touted by a lot of people. Everything I am seeing tells me there are going to be names available at 11 that some teams will be shocked are still available. Which is good news for Buffalo, whether we make the pick, or are trying to trade it.

He's only played 3 college seasons, so he's got one more year. Still a longshot prospect, but he bounced back with some nice numbers in Western Michigan after a terrible D2 season in North Dakota.

To my way of thinking there is such a wide range of potential results for so many Sabres players that they are going to be a very difficult team to predict regardless of who they add. They pretty much have to count on a lot of their roster being better. Given ages and track records that's not a huge stretch. Adding Byram to the top 4 and dumping EJ was their big move on the blueline. But they can't stop there. They have to — at minimum — upgrade the team's overall effectiveness using the slots (likely) vacated by Girgensons, Olofsson, Okposo, Mittelstadt, Jost and Comrie.

I was trying to avoid the "if everything goes right" scenario and focus on the context of what the actual roster needs. Go back to your earlier post of it being a template: most of us like the idea of adding a centre, a physically strong defensive defenceman and hard-to-play against winger. You said the upgrade offered by those three pieces won't get us into the playoffs. How good does our upgrade need to be?

OK. But what if you add Byrum replacing EJ to that context? Thompson and Cozens bouncing back? The health of Quinn and Samuelsson? How much of an upgrade of those 3 departing players do we need to win 5 more games next year?

Two years ago we got: Breakout/career years from Thompson, Skinner, Tuch, Cozens, Mittelstadt, Olofsson and Dahlin And disappointing years from nobody of consequence. Last year we got: Breakout/career years from Luukkonen and Peterka And disappointing years from Thompson, Skinner, Tuch, Cozens, Olofsson, Quinn, Samuelsson and - to a lesser extent - Power. Of course I want Adams to make adds, but in my opinion the success or failure of the coming year rests largely on what versions we get of players already on the roster. Thompson, Cozens, Quinn and Power in particular.

@Brawndo can speak for himself, but I read that exactly opposite of the way you did. I read it that it is Kevyn’s interference that holds Jerry back. If he wasn’t here, Jerry would have more power and influence than he does.

I’m fully prepared for a knee-jerk “not another small, skilled forward”. He’s a better prospect at 18 than Savoie was and goes 3-8 in most drafts. You take him at 11 without hesitation.

This becomes even more interesting if you build it out to include a few more productive Sabre centres Turgeon 40/66/106 Hawerchuk 23/75/98 Hawerchuk 16/80/96 Briere 32/53/95 Thompson 47/47/94 Hawerchuk 31/58/89 Turgeon 34/54/88 Hawerchuk 35/51/86 Eichel 28/54/82 Turgeon 32/47/79 Eichel 36/42/78 Luce 33/43/76 Ruuttu 26/45/71 Luce 21/49/70 Drury 37/32/69 Luce 23/46/69 Thompson 38/30/68 Drury 30/37/67 Ruuttu 23/42/65 Briere 28/37/65 Eichel 25/39/64 Luce 26/35/61 Luce 26/35/61 (yes, he did it twice) Ruuttu 14/46/60 Ruuttu 19/41/60 Briere 25/33/58 Eichel 24/33/57 Thompson 29/27/56 Luce 26/30/56 Eichel 24/32/56 Drury 18/35/53

Andreychuk and Ramsay is an interesting debate for #2 at left wing. One of the best net-front specialists of all time and a hall-of-famer versus one of the best defensive forwards of all-time and a Selke winner. Andreychuk is 2nd all-time in franchise points, Ramsay 4th. Ramsay is 2nd and Andreychuk 6th in franchise games played. While each was dominant on his half of special teams, I’ll take Rammer as the better ES player. That +324 over a career spent lining up against the best the NHL had to offer still blows me away. And my #4 goes to Thomas Vanek, who ranks very high in all the statistical categories, but was also probably the best weapon for a very good run of Sabre teams and showed a ton of courage for the abuse he took in front game in and game out. Without knocking Vanek - who was an excellent Sabre - there’s not many others worthy of consideration.

Seeing Eichel pop up on a few lists makes me wonder how history will compare him and Tage Thompson as Sabres. Eichel had 5 good years to Thompson’s 3 and has a significant lead in career points, but Thompson certainly has time to make up the gap and his recent years stack up pretty well Thompson 47/47/94 Eichel 28/54/82 Eichel 36/42/78 Thompson 38/30/68 Eichel 25/39/64 Eichel 24/33/57 Thompson 29/27/56 Eichel 24/32/56 I think you have to take into account how Eichel may have been robbed of a 90-point year by COVID. It all comes down to how much of an outlier 22/23 was for Thompson. If he has another point-per-game season or two in his holster, history will probably come down on his side.

Ramsay is a nice segue to a best LW post. To me there is only one choice for #1. Rick Martin is 3rd all-time in franchise points and 2nd in goals, 2nd in goals per game and 11th all-time in NHL goals per games played. He’s one of only 2 Sabres to score 50 twice, he finished top 10 in NHL goal scoring 5 times. Eight 30 goal seasons in his first nine, and he had 28 when injuries cut short the ninth. 2-time first team all-star, 2-time 2nd team all-star. Hasek is the only Sabre to dominate his position more on a league-wide basis for such an extended period of time. It’s too bad injuries cut his career short. He should be in the Hall of Fame.

In a cap system, there are only so many players you can commit to long-term. The Sabres are close to that cap already with Dahlin, Samuelsson, Power, Cozens, Thompson (and Skinner). Within the next few years, they will have to make similar calls on Peterka, Quinn, Byram, Tuch and UPL. And they have Benson, Savoie, Kulich, Östlund, Rosen and Levi coming. Your position makes a lot more sense for a team like Calgary, or a team where the Sabres were 3 years ago than it does for the Sabres now.

Step away the value chart for a minute, and look at the big picture: Jokiharju is not someone the team is likely to be able to afford to keep long-term. Given the cap, the Sabres probably will not be able to give him term. There is a very good chance he goes to arbitration this summer and is a UFA next summer. If he’s not traded this summer, this will probably be his last year as a Sabre. Larsson is a better player and a better fit for next year’s team. The future of Krebs is uncertain, but it is increasingly unlikely he will become more than a bottom 6 player. There’s a better chance he is merely a replaceable part than a core piece. There is a very good chance he will be passed on the depth chart and made redundant in the near future by one of the many prospects up front. Gourde is a better player and a better fit for next year’s team. Pick 11 has a ton of asset value. It is also 3 to 5 years before the NHL team will see a return if we invest that value in an 18-year-old, and another 2 before that value is fully realized. Tanev is a better player and a better fit for next year’s team. Johnson, Novikov, Komarov and Strbak - does it really matter if they are replacing Larsson in a year instead of Jokiharju? Savoie, Kulich, Rosen and Östlund - does it really matter if they are replacing Gourde and Tanev in a year instead of Krebs and Girgensons? These are the pieces around the edges, not the core pieces. Good teams are constantly juggling them on a year-to-year basis in order to win now. You accumulate a rich cache of young players like the Sabres have in order to allow you to do that. Would you rather trade Jokiharju and Krebs for draft picks next summer, or a better team right now? I don’t think there’s a debate there for most of us. What this trade idea forces you to weigh is the possibility of #11 becoming a core piece in the future against the possibility of filling in the 3 biggest holes on next year’s roster in order to win now. In principle, it’s really no different than the Canucks trading a hefty bag of futures for pending FAs Hronek, Zadorov and Lindholm. In practice, the Sabres have a much larger cupboard of assets in place to bankroll such trades than the Canucks did. It’s time to spend some of those assets. I agree with @Archie Lee that you might be able to accomplish the same thing at a cheaper cost. I also agree with @PerreaultForever that there are intangible gains to being good next year that should not be ignored.

Czech out this one!

I’ve seen more than one coach refer to this: calm and focus when everyone around you is melting in the moment. Where I’ve seen it applied most is to situations: last minute, up/down a goal. I don’t know that it applies as much to what @PerreaultForever is talking about: sustained excellence over the entire run of a playoff series as opposed to specific moments in it. Drury was a 27-goal, 60-point scorer in the regular season for the Sabres and a 40-goal, 75-point scorer in the playoffs.

I’d be shocked if that move didn’t put us solidly in the playoffs. You bring in the bottom 6 energy winger the team is crying for, upgrade Krebs significantly at 3C, and give Power exactly the partner he needs. Yet the quality returned for those 3 rentals should be enough to make the Kraken seriously consider it if they aren’t planning to re-sign them. They aren’t getting anything near #11 for any of those guys individually and the other 2 pieces have value. It’s exactly in the sweet spot @Thorny has been calling for: make the Sabres better even if you probably lose the trade looking strictly at it from long-term value.

Loved "You've Got Another Thing Coming" blasting out after the goal. Great pump-up goal song.

It was simply that they did not offer him a contract and he became a free agent. He scored 31 goals and 71 points in his post-draft year, slipped back to 18 and 59 in 9 fewer games the following year and Jason Botterill decided there wasn't enough there. https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/news/2021-mwc-hagel-gets-over-the-hump

I have my doubts about Rosen as well, but I'm curious what you mean by the bolded. Statistically, he finished 3rd in AHL scoring this year among U21 players, ahead of several other high picks. https://www.eliteprospects.com/league/ahl/stats/2023-2024?age=u21

Franchise best right winger is a good debate, in my opinion. Nobody can come close to Mogilny’s ridiculous 76 goal-season, but he’s actually just number 6 in all-time scoring, a few points back of Miro Satan (who was too 1-dimensional to deserve consideration.) The other 4 are all within 50 Sabre points of each other. Robert edges Pominville for #4 in a tight race for that 100-point season in otherwise pick-em careers. Mogilny is the most talented and dangerous RW ever to lace them up in Buffalo, but too many of his seasons were disrupted by injury or drama and his career was cut short. He’s #3 for me. #2 is the best power forward in Sabres history. Punishing 40 goal scorers don’t happen very often, especially ones that can chuck the knuckles, backcheck and lead like Mike Foligno could. And #1 is Danny Gare who not only leads the group in career goals, but also is it’s only 2-time 50-goal scorer, who has the # 2, 3, 9 and 11th best all-time single season points for RWs and 2, 3, 4, and 8 for goals. Like Foligno he was tough, diligent defensively and a captain. Like Mogilny, he was a Rocket Richard winner before the trophy existed. He was also clutch.

I’m not much of a Phil Housley fan, but the fact that he has 8 of the top 11 most productive scoring seasons by a Sabre defenceman of all time is pretty incredible. (Even if he played forward for some of those games) Dahlin’s 73 last year was the 3rd best, but the guy holding down #5 and #7 might surprise some people: John van Boxmeer had 69 and 68-point years running the PP in the early 80s.