Which Defensemen Need To Go?

[WildCard]

Self-explanatory title. I'll start

 

Kulikov and Bogosian unless they are the 3rd pair

 

Franson and Gorges no matter what

[Norcal]

Kulikov

[sabills]

Franson at least has some offensive upside on the PP. Gorges is bringing nothing.

[Brawndo]

Self-explanatory title. I'll start

Kulikov and Bogosian unless they are the 3rd pair

Franson and Gorges no matter what

That's an expensive third pair.

 

I choose choice E All of the above

[WildCard]

That's an expensive third pair.

 

I choose choice E All of the above

Very true. Hadn't thought of that. Still, trying to replace 4 defensemen is going to be impossible

[Doohicksie]

Gorges needs to go.  He's a good guy, a decent physical presence in the corners, but the wheels are gone and his passing is suspect.

 

Kulikov had a pretty brutal game tonight, but I'm not sure he's the next one I would get rid of. 

 

If we wait until the end of the season, Franson will be next one gone; he's in the second year of his two-year contract and I don't see him being re-signed.  If GMTM doesn't show Weber any love, I don't think he keeps Franson either.  To me, they're both 6-7 guys that you don't keep if you've got a better option.

 

I expect Bogo to play better than he's been, but I think he might still be playing with some level of injury.  And maybe that's the knock against him:  He's always playing through some kind of injury.

 

In the end though I think the next two on the chopping block are the slow ones- Franson and Gorges.

 

I know they're not stars, but I've been reasonably impressed by Falk and Fedun.  Both seem to have offensive upside; Fedun was getting PP time if I recall correctly, and Fedun almost never hits the closest shot blocker; he either gets it through or shoots it wide to a spot where there's someone down low that can do something with it.  Either way, the high blocker isn't going to turn his shot into a break the other way.

[thewookie1]

I feel bad for Gorges, you can tell at times he still can play the game mentally but his body just isn't up to it any longer. Just think of the McDavid game, that takes defensive skill to pull off. His problem is he started as an average skater and passer and as he's aged and recovered from leg injuries his speed has become all but non-existent, thus preventing him from skating with the puck a little more thus forcing him to pass it more frequently thus exposing his passing inadequacies. If we can make him the 6-7 guy we can survive his final year of his contract.

 

Franson has never had speed, but has offensive skill. Contract ends at the end of the year. That's fine.

 

Bogo has either little hockey IQ yet a full tool belt, or is so injury riddled that needing pain tolerance has lessened his reaction speeds.   

 

Kulikov has been disappointing, he's everything Pysyk wasn't. Physical, more of a risk taker, puck carrier. But yet prone to stupidity at times and thus not terribly reliable. I get the sense that he's distanced himself from his more conservative play in Florida that he'd been worked into. He trying to do too much and it shows.

 

 

 

If we are out of the hunt come Deadline day I'd see if I can swindle a team into giving us a 1st for Kulikov and maybe a 3rd for Franson 

[Huckleberry]

Worst thing is out of those four, Franson is the one having the best season, he has surprised me a bit.

Still don't want to keep him though, Kulikov is gone if we are out of the playoffs by the trade deadline.

 

Bogo and Gorges we just have to keep because we need bodies on our D next year, unless we can reel in shattenkirk.

Wouldn't mind seeing more of Falk and Fedun as our possible 6/7 though.

Edited December 28, 2016 by Huckleberry

[jsb]

I liked Falk on the left side, not so much on the right

Gorges is a valuable experienced vet but his loss of possession skills are second to none

Bogosian's issues are injury related, when he's healthy he's fine but even I am tiring of waiting him out

Kulikov I'm giving a pass to until the trade deadline, than I'm making a decision

Franson is everything Gorges isn't, slow but he can get the puck out of his own zone, but he's gone I think either at the trade deadline if we aren't competitive

[Brawndo]

Very true. Hadn't thought of that. Still, trying to replace 4 defensemen is going to be impossible

Sorry thought this was over a 2-3 year period.

[Samson's Flow]

If we are talking who is the end goal of a championship roster, than everyone but Risto and McCabe is the answer. None of the other lower pairing guys appear at all reliable to give playoff minutes without the inevitable -up. 

 

I do recognize that multiple cup winning teams (like Chicago) have ridden a top 4 and gave the bottom pair ~10 minutes, but i'm going to say that is the exception not the rule.

[Huckleberry]

Well looks like we got Guhle, Borgen and Fitzgerald as possibilities to fill out our bottom four in 2 - 4 years.

If we want to replace our D, we will need to bring in 1 - 2 players from another team via trade or FA.

[TrueBlueGED]

Kulikov is weird to me. Earlier in the year I was all-in on retaining him, but since returning from injury a few weeks back, he's been miserable. Not ready to commit either way now.

 

I blame Bogosian :p

[Taro T]

Kulikov is weird to me. Earlier in the year I was all-in on retaining him, but since returning from injury a few weeks back, he's been miserable. Not ready to commit either way now.

I blame Bogosian :p

Nope. Not Bogo; Brandon.

 

Cheap hinges on bench doors ruined Kulikov's season & possibly the Sabres' season as well. ;)

[Randall Flagg]

Gorges. Unless he's off the team completely, Dan will keep feeding him top 4 minutes. This needs to stop as soon as possible.

Kulikov has been dreadfully misused. Coming into Buffalo, we were getting a nice player with a tremendous breakout pass and breakout skating ability. We don't do those things, and he only does everything he's bad at. Not a system fit at all. Like Daley in Chicago vs. Daley in Pittsburgh, or Schultz being the worst D-man in the league in Edmonton vs. being a pretty decent transition player in Pittsburgh. But if we're hanging on to Dan B. Kulikov has to go because he has not been good and won't ever play well in our system.

Bogosian is pretty bad at hockey and costs a lot and is always hurt, so he has to go too.

And that Risto kid is a trashcan. Get him outta here. I mean did you see his corsi and plus minus in 2014???

[bob_sauve28]

I don't get Kulikov, he looks like the best athlete of the bunch, skates great, hits and passes well but just makes the worst mental errors

[Samson's Flow]

I don't get Kulikov, he looks like the best athlete of the bunch, skates great, hits and passes well but just makes the worst mental errors

That's because he is asked to play a seemingly very constrained disciplined game, where he is least attributed to play.

 

I would say it would be like Lindy Ruff asking Brian Campbell back in the day to never skate with the puck and play as a stay-at-home guy. He would have looked equally horrible.

 

All aboard the Dreadful Dan^TM bandwagon.

[JohnRobertEichel]

Franson needs to go by the end of this season. Gorges needs to go by the end of next season. Kulikov will get a couple more months to make his case for not being trade bait this season. Thanks to our overrated GM, we are stuck with Bogosian for 3 more years. So we better learn to like him. Maybe he can stay healthy and become an important locker room leader.

 

Ristolainen, McCabe, and Guhle are the future. A strong 2017 draft is badly needed to infuse more defensive talent in the pipeline. One more big trade from Murray may be needed as well.

[WildCard]

I have a feeling Franson and Gorges can be good trade bait

[jsb]

I have a feeling Franson and Gorges can be good trade bait

I'm not sure about good but agreed with the rest of it

[WildCard]

I'm not sure about good but agreed with the rest of it

3rd or 4th is good for me for them ;)

[Robviously]

Franson needs to go by the end of this season. Gorges needs to go by the end of next season. Kulikov will get a couple more months to make his case for not being trade bait this season. Thanks to our overrated GM, we are stuck with Bogosian for 3 more years. So we better learn to like him. Maybe he can stay healthy and become an important locker room leader.

 

Ristolainen, McCabe, and Guhle are the future. A strong 2017 draft is badly needed to infuse more defensive talent in the pipeline. One more big trade from Murray may be needed as well.

So basically everyone needs to go but two guys. It wasn't that long ago that we felt pretty good about our defense long term, but oh well.

 

Hope Guhle can be an NHLer next year, and we have prospects like Fitzgerald, Borgen, and Florentino that probably should all be signed this summer too. After that, hopefully there are college FAs we can sign this season or prospects we can get from trades.

 

Maybe some F's should have been given when constructing this team.

[TrueBlueGED]

So basically everyone needs to go but two guys. It wasn't that long ago that we felt pretty good about our defense long term, but oh well.

 

Hope Guhle can be an NHLer next year, and we have prospects like Fitzgerald, Borgen, and Florentino that probably should all be signed this summer too. After that, hopefully there are college FAs we can sign this season or prospects we can get from trades.

 

Maybe some F's should have been given when constructing this team.

Eh, when Matt Moulson is getting regular top-6 ice time, I can't say I'm super excited to think what we'd look like with fewer capable forwards here and on the way. Welcome back to top-6 duty Nic Deslauriers and Brian Gionta!

[Robviously]

Eh, when Matt Moulson is getting regular top-6 ice time, I can't say I'm super excited to think what we'd look like with fewer capable forwards here and on the way. Welcome back to top-6 duty Nic Deslauriers and Brian Gionta!

Some F's should have been given when all 3 of those guys were brought onto the team too.

[That Aud Smell]

Should go?

 

I'm more thinking about who can go: Everyone but Risto and probably McCabe.