Curt

It’s a risk. Just like the Thompson, Cozens, and Samuelsson contracts were. Could end up a slight overpay, or could end up a bargain. It is quick, but it’s what you have to do if you want to try for those bargain contracts.

Next trade a package for Elias Pettersson and sign him to a $11M x 8 extension.

Miller is definitely going to be a hall of gamer, so this who conversation is kind of moot.

Top two C’s and top three D locked up for next 7 years at a combined $38M AAV. That’s pretty darn good! I think it’s also significant that each of these guys was signed a year early, before their contracts were up. I think it’s a good sign that both sides are happy with eachother, negotiating in good faith, and really want to continue the project long term. It’s heartening. Now go make the playoffs!

Awesome. This is fair for both sides. So glad that this got done and all these guys want to be Sabres long term. Sabres are going to be in good cap shape for a long time.

I think it’s a fair criticism. It’s great that he is near the top of league in penalties drawn, but he should be able to cut down on minor penalties taken too. It’s an area that could use improvement.

He doesn’t wear a turtleneck….

They had put themselves in a bad spot. They managed their cap poorly, spent too much on UFAs. They couldn’t afford to give him the $10M type of deal that he deserved on a long term contract. They needed the $2.5-3M they saved by bridging him. They are going to pay for it now because he is about to have all the leverage and either force his way out or bend them over on this next deal.

One situation I’ll be keeping an eye on this season is the Elias Pettersson contract situation. His situation is a parallel of Dahlin’s. Both Swedes drafted the same year, both signed a 3 year bridge that they are about to play the last season of, and both had big star breakouts last season. However, unlike the Sabres and Dahlin, the Canucks and Pettersson have publicly put contract talks on hold. Seems like they are having trouble seeing eye to eye and Pettersson may be unsure if he wants to commit to that organization long term. If they ever entertain the idea of trading him, I wouldn’t mind the Sabres taking a run at adding him. He can play either C or W, he is a good defensive forward, and a very dynamic offensive player. If the Sabres are going to make a trade packaging several assets to acquire a sure thing upgrade, he is a good candidate. I’d consider including anyone except Skinner, Thompson, Tuch, Cozens, Dahlin, Power, Samuelsson, Levi, and maybe Benson.

Haha. This is like a survivor bias kind of thing. Is it really that all teams with good players figure out how to successfully navigate the cap and be good teams? Or is it that only the teams that successfully manage their cap actually end up being good teams? I think that it’s the 2nd one. There are plenty of examples of teams with a group of very good players who bungled their cap and struggled to be good as a result.

You can hope that Savoie takes his spot.

I would say close to the AHL, but since a lot of the non Russians left in the past couple years it’s probably a step below now. Still with top end talent better than the AHL, but the worst players are worse than AHL level. Better than the ECHL for sure though.

Benson most definitely did NOT outscore Bedard in the WHL. Nowhere near close. Benson 36 goals 98 points Bedard 71 goals 143 points

Looks like he will be part of a pretty balanced middle 6. JJP-Cozens-VO Greenway-Mitts-Benson I think those lines look pretty equal.

Can we see Schiefle’s for comparison?

Hey, he broke the Eichel trade! But seriously, Peters is not a journalist. He has connections in NHL circles so he sometimes hears or asks people about certain things, but he is not out there doing his due diligence, verifying information through multiple sources or anything like that. He’s just a guy who knows some people. Just take him for who he is. Sometimes he’ll be right. Sometimes he won’t. No sense in getting mad at him about it. (Not saying you are, but some people do.)

My issue is just that, if you see Power as a guy who will be worth $8-9M (in today’s money) in a few years, and you bridge him. 3-4 years from now, that $8-9M is going to be $9.5-10.5M because of the cap increases. For me, if you can sign him to an 8 year extension under $9M, I probably pull the trigger on that.

Semi related question. What was your opinion of Dahlin after his second season? Young players improve. Some of the most common areas of improvement are strength, defensive zone details, and shot.

Capfriendly lists the cap % based on the cap at the time of signing. Dahlin’s contract is 13.17% of the current cap, 83.5, but it is 12.5% of the 88M cap projected for next season.

If you want to get team friendly deals like you described in 1, you need to do what you say what you don’t want to do in 2. You need to make bets on player projection. Thompson, Cozens, and Samuelsson hadn’t proven that they were worth those contracts when they signed them. Adams made those deals because he believed that they would be. So you could probably sign Power long term for $8.5-9M right now, or sign him to a lesser bridge deal, then sign him long term for $11M three years from now.

I honestly don’t think that Dahlin’s deal has any real implications on Power’s next contract. They are in very different situations.

Ok. It’s $0.5M more than I expected, but if it’s going to be a tad high then I’m glad that it is 8 instead of 7 or 6. That was probably just the cost of getting him locked up for the full 8 years. I think he is the future captain. Dahlin under contract for 9 more seasons! Woo hoo!

Short for Jaymes and Frydrych

There are plenty of guys who pass question #1. We’re they saying that Sakic was the only one who did?

In MLB this is definitely happening. Teams are locking up elite young talent to big contracts very early. Sometimes before before they even completed one MLB season. In the NBA, it doesn’t happen after one year because the contract structures don’t really allow for that, but teams often fall all over themselves to pay their top young guys as soon as they can.