LabattBlue Posted March 31, 2008 Author Report Posted March 31, 2008 I went center. We're load with blue line prospects. While we are great at running up scores, we have a hard time scoring pressure goals. Faceoffs are a issue, too. I'd settle though for a hard hitting Dman that can score on a shoot out, though. :) The problem is that while the Sabres are loaded in terms of prospects on the blueline, most of them are in juniors or in college. The other problem is that most of them are finesse players on the blueline which is exactly what this team doesn't need.
Knightrider Posted March 31, 2008 Report Posted March 31, 2008 The problem is that while the Sabres are loaded in terms of prospects on the blueline, most of them are in juniors or in college. The other problem is that most of them are finesse players on the blueline which is exactly what this team doesn't need. Weber, Funk and Brennan are the guys I was thinking of WRT to physical play capability. They have plenty of finesse players, for sure, though. Funk has finesse on his HF bio, but I don't remember thinking finesse player when he was up. The forwards need a leader. I was just thinking, back up goaltender might be even more important than a forward or dman...
spndnchz Posted March 31, 2008 Report Posted March 31, 2008 Cap at 55, get 'er done. backup goalie see ya Max, Kotalik, Kalinin bring in a guy like Hossa I'd keep Connolly, still cheap for his production I'd worry a bit about Paille (.585 now) being the next RFA to get bid up, rumors have him at 2-2.5 million to a team that wants him. I don't think he's worth THAT much yet. If you match a 2 mill offer on him what are you going to pay Goose (.750 now) who's RFA too? TOL EDIT: just looked some more at Hossa's numbers, weak PP, 26% face-off wins, even Vanek is better than that.
Knightrider Posted March 31, 2008 Report Posted March 31, 2008 Cap at 55, get 'er done. backup goalie see ya Max, Kotalik, Kalinin bring in a guy like Hossa I'm not a huge fan of Big Al, but he hasn't had a bad year...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 31, 2008 Report Posted March 31, 2008 Offseason? We have the playoffs to make! I see my thread is a big hit... Go PITT (tonight v. NYR)!!! ;) ;)
Mike Oxhurtz Posted March 31, 2008 Report Posted March 31, 2008 With all of our offensive talent, some help on defense would be great, plus a solid backup goalie.
GoatheadInCT Posted March 31, 2008 Report Posted March 31, 2008 THE MOST IMPORTANT upgrade: Upgrade Jason Pominville's #@!#!! contract!!!!! We need more consistent players on this team, and he deserves to be paid and to remain a Sabre for years. If they can dish out money for Thomas "Yo-Yo" Vanek, then why not Poms?!?! A very simple answer.. #2 would be find defensemen!
spndnchz Posted March 31, 2008 Report Posted March 31, 2008 Offseason? We have the playoffs to make! I see my thread is a big hit... Go PITT (tonight v. NYR)!!! ;) ;) Clarification of my post: "Even after we win the cup, I would......"
Bmwolf21 Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 After the latest round of tension between Jacques Martin and Ollie Jokinen I am reigniting the "Jokinen to Buffalo" grassroots movement. Maybe we can send the little general and Max (swapping headaches) and the Sharks' no.1 to get Ollie out of Sunrise. (This will probably show up as an Eklund e5 rumor on hockeybuzz.com in about an hour or so.) LINK And just as the Maple Leafs have questions about their captain, concerns loom for Olli Jokinen with the Panthers. Jokinen, 29, has two years remaining on his contract, is a minus-20 and there are indications he and Martin aren?t seeing eye-to-eye. Martin was abrupt when asked last week if Jokinen was doing a good job leading by example. The coach/GM said, ?I don?t think that?s the right question at this time. ? It?s probably a good question for after the season. Right now I don?t think I?m prepared to answer that.? In the next game Martin demoted Jokinen to a wing on the third line after he felt a late first-period goal against was Jokinen?s fault. ?He said it was my fault, the first goal,? Jokinen said. ?I haven?t done my job the last couple of games. That?s probably why we?ve lost.? And of his play for the season, Jokinen said, ?I haven?t played to the same level as the last couple of years.? Hmmm. It should be a very interesting offseason in Toronto and Florida.
tom webster Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 Cap at 55, get 'er done. backup goalie see ya Max, Kotalik, Kalinin bring in a guy like Hossa I'd keep Connolly, still cheap for his production I'd worry a bit about Paille (.585 now) being the next RFA to get bid up, rumors have him at 2-2.5 million to a team that wants him. I don't think he's worth THAT much yet. If you match a 2 mill offer on him what are you going to pay Goose (.750 now) who's RFA too? TOL EDIT: just looked some more at Hossa's numbers, weak PP, 26% face-off wins, even Vanek is better than that. Alex Steen, who has done what Paille has done for 3 years running signed for $1.7. Paille and Gaustad should fall well below that. Anything more than that you might let them walk and take a number pick in the Tavares draft.
carpandean Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 If his knee will hold up, I'd say let's try for Mattias Norstrom. He's a big, physical, stay-at-home, veteran defenseman who was Captain of the Kings for several years.
Bmwolf21 Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 If his knee will hold up, I'd say let's try for Mattias Norstrom. He's a big, physical, stay-at-home, veteran defenseman who was Captain of the Kings for several years. And if his knee doesn't hold up we can always suspend him without pay - you know, it's just business. That's for you, tom. ;)
FogBat Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 You really can't rely on Connolly as your second line center but at the same time, the Sabres desperately need a top 4 defensive dman who is willing to block shots, play physical and become the leader of the blueliners. I'm really torn at this point, but I believe the dman is the #1 priority. I'd be willing to move Tallinder or Lydman, the SJ #1 pick and Max or a good prospect(MacArthur??). Throw in another pick or Kotalik if need be depending on the player coming back to the Sabres. Something needs to be done, that's for sure. Other than that, my *high volume* sig sums up my feelings about this past season (and the past two eras of UFAs that have sacked our team of its top notch guys such as McKee, Grier, Drury, Briere, Dumont, etc.).
SabresFan526 Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 I was thinking about this recently. If Darcy could pull this off, I'd consider him the greatest GM ever. I noticed that coming up next year, the Flyers have some big cap problems with of course carrying Briere's contract, Gagne's contract, Richards' new contract, Hartnell, Knuble, etc, they are in a bit of bind next year. And their free agents (UFA and RFA) include Umberger, Jeff Carter, Prospal, Jason Smith, Jaroslav Modry are the bigger names up for free agency this year. All of those players are pretty solid players, but there's no way they can sign all of them. If I'm Darcy, I'd seriously consider trading Buffalo's first rounder and maybe a Stafford or MacArthur for Jeff Carter. There's no way they can keep everyone and Carter is an RFA. And Carter is prime for the picking in terms of offer sheets. I think Darcy should try and trade for Carter at the draft or send an offer sheet his way because he would be the second line centerman that we're looking for. He is young and has superstar potential written all over him. If Darcy could pull this off, I'd consider him a genius. And see if you can get him at $3.5 - $4 million/year and lock him up long term and you've got a young and really good #2 center for a long time.
Sherman Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 I was thinking about this recently. If Darcy could pull this off, I'd consider him the greatest GM ever. I noticed that coming up next year, the Flyers have some big cap problems with of course carrying Briere's contract, Gagne's contract, Richards' new contract, Hartnell, Knuble, etc, they are in a bit of bind next year. And their free agents (UFA and RFA) include Umberger, Jeff Carter, Prospal, Jason Smith, Jaroslav Modry are the bigger names up for free agency this year. All of those players are pretty solid players, but there's no way they can sign all of them. If I'm Darcy, I'd seriously consider trading Buffalo's first rounder and maybe a Stafford or MacArthur for Jeff Carter. There's no way they can keep everyone and Carter is an RFA. And Carter is prime for the picking in terms of offer sheets. I think Darcy should try and trade for Carter at the draft or send an offer sheet his way because he would be the second line centerman that we're looking for. He is young and has superstar potential written all over him. If Darcy could pull this off, I'd consider him a genius. And see if you can get him at $3.5 - $4 million/year and lock him up long term and you've got a young and really good #2 center for a long time. I'm glad you're not Darcy. I like Jeff Carter but that would be to much. The rest of the NHL knows what kind of situation the Flyers are in and if they don't do anything they will still get someone who will sign him to an offer sheet and get extra picks in a deep draft. What I expect to happen is the Flyers will once again be proactive and trade his rights for picks before the begining of free agency. They may get a #1 because of the demand but not a #1 and a player, unless the player is an unknown commodity. Wouldn't it be nice to have a proactive front office? How many RFA's do we have this year?
carpandean Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 A player going from the Flyers to the Sabres?! I didn't know trades could flow both ways. ;) In what I've seen of Carter, he does seem like he's got a lot of potential and would certainly round out our young forward lines. He's pretty big (6' 3", 200 lbs) and has decent hands. I guess the only question is if he is going to become a good top-two lines center or will he just be a good third-line center. I would be OK with picking up someone like him if we are able to bring in a veteran Dman. Otherwise, we might be better off with bringing in a veteran center.
spndnchz Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 For shootouts? <_< For lazy penalties at the wrong time in important games? hmmm oh wait, we've got Vanek for that, Kotalik can go.
LabattBlue Posted April 1, 2008 Author Report Posted April 1, 2008 For lazy penalties at the wrong time in important games? hmmm That would be a 3 way tie between Kotalik, Vanek and Max.
spndnchz Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 not worth it's own thread so I'll stick it here Ruff reflects on disappointing season After winning the Presidents' Trophy last season, the Sabres are in jeopardy of becoming only the third team since the NHL's expansion era began in 1967-68 to miss the playoffs a year after finishing first in the regular-season standings. The New York Rangers missed the playoffs in 1992-93, as did Montreal in 1969-70. note: Rangers won the cup the next year. edit: further investigation into how the Rangers did it (applicable to Sabres or not) netted one less RW and D man, switched two centers and two LW, total of 15 new players in 93-94, 9 of which played in playoffs most possible ? most importantly? got rid of Vanbiesbrouck and let Richter (92-93 back-up) play 68 games that season
Goodfella25 Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 If they trade Max I'll consider this a successful offseason.
X. Benedict Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 Other than that, my *high volume* sig ...is indifferent to board etiquette..
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