Off-season Gameplan and wish list

[mjd1001]

So do think the GMTM presser clarified the off-season game plan?

 

Is DD in trouble?  GMTM mentioned that he and DD still have three years left on his contracts

 

He said he wants to build a fast possession-transition team and we don't yet have the roster for that.  So who goes?

He said we need better leadership in the locker room and he was going to acquire players with playoff experience to help. So who goes?

He said he like Baptiste, Guhle and Ullmark.  If all 3 make the team who goes? 

He said we need better D, but he likes the development of McCabe and Risto.  So who stays, who comes and who goes?

Carrier, Baptiste, Nylander, and/or Bailey all make this team a lot faster up front.  Which of those make the team and who goes? I don't know.  If Bailey can find more consistency, he is here for sure, and I think Baptiste is likely to be here because Murray seems to speak very highly of him whenever he talks about him.

 

If Ullmark makes the team, Nilsson is gone, easy one there.

 

On D, You aren't going to see as much of a change as everyone thinks.  Risto, McCabe, Guhle and "someone else" make up your ideal top 4...with Bogo and Gorges being your bottom 2.  IF Guhle doesn't stumble, and that "someone else" is good..I'd be happy with that D-corp.

 

I'd love to see Eichel get a long term Deal, and Kane resigned to an extension.  Also I want to see Baptiste make the team and play with Eichel. I really think Baptiste might have the greatest upside on putting the puck in the net of any of the young guys on this team. I can see him putting in 20 next year playing with Eichel.

[North Buffalo]

Revised keep Ennis, hope OK returns to health or sign veteran winger leader and trade for a D top four dump Kuli, use Falk or Austin with Ghule and make Bogo 3rd pair with one of the vets. Bring up young guns, do best to keep Larson and Girgs for checking line and get rid of Moulson and Gionta or make them assistant coaches in Rochester.

[Sabre fan]

for GMTM to teach coach Blysma how to coach and how to get the players on his side and to learn we will see as GMTM put it more working with players to get at their strengths and less Danny's "system" which is awful cause I have no doubt Blysma will be back and we need him to be the biggest change by far next season to have any success

Edited April 13, 2017 by Sabre fan

[tom webster]

It will to interesting to see how he performs this playoffs.  If he sucks again I might change my mind, but I'm wondering if his NHL wandering the last few years may have made him mature as a person. 

Florida made the playoffs?

Edited April 13, 2017 by tom webster

[GASabresIUFAN]

Goaltending:

 

Assuming we don't lose him to expansion, Ullmark in for Nilsson is probably the move that's closest to guaranteed. I just remembered that Johasson is Rochester right now. I'm going to have to assume that if Peterson doesn't sign with us, GMTM will sign Johansson for the Amerks and Kasdorf will also return.

 

Lehner - Bridge deal? 3 years - 12 million. Maybe I'm over interpreting his flippant comment on Lehner's contract, but it made me think we won't be seeing anything like a 6 year 35 mill deal.

 

Defense:

Based on GMTM's comments:

1) he basically confirmed that Kulikov is gone and that Guhle is nearly a lock to make the Sabres next season. He also was pretty clear that the entire D outside Risto and McCabe was lacking (really? Who's fault is that) and that those two wore down in the second half.

2) he said the lockerroom leadership failed and will be replaced. I think that means Franson and Gorges also won't be returning. It also means I might get the Vets I've been calling for.

3) Antipin - His team is down 2-1 in games in the KHL final. Obviously GMTM is following the situation closely. He is a smallish D, but a real puck mover, who can enhance a PP. Seems like a good risk to take. However, with Falk, McCabe, Guhle and Gorges he'd the 5th leftie. Again Gorges looks like the odd a out. Can we sign him before 7/1?

4) I don't think the fans will settle for eliminating Gorges, Franson and Kulikov and only replacing them with Antipin, Guhle, and a couple of cheap vets. TM has said for two years he wants a legit top 4 puck mover. This might be his last chance to get one. If he can work a deal to get one through the expansion process it will give the fans and the returning player hope for next season.

 

Forwards

1) Captain Jack: TM basically said it's Jack team and that a Captain change is in the offing. 2+2 usually equals 4.

2) Gionta returns? I liked blunt 1 yr deal for reasonable money comment. 1yr 2.5mill to 3 mill?

3) Baptiste to make the team: We need scoring and he can provide it. Can he play LW?

4) Veteran Leadership: who can he bring in and where will they play? As we have no UFA's other then Gionta who he wants back?

5) Baptiste is not enough of a scoring improvement. Where will it come from? Who is going to score from the dirty areas?

6) I wondering if Kane might be traded. Sounds crazy given our 5 on 5 woes, but GMTM harped on rules and team structure, something that Kane doesn't think applies to him. I'm not sure how both can co-exist.

7) PK improvement: is this where the outside vets come into play? Can we get some relief for ROR?

Florida made the playoffs?

Florida was in the playoff hunt when they acquired Vanek. It didn't work ouut, but I don't think that was Vanek's fault.

[Mustache of God]

My wishlist is to see GMTM trade our first round pick in return for an immediate impact player on the blue-line.

[GASabresIUFAN]

My wishlist is to see GMTM trade our first round pick in return for an immediate impact player on the blue-line.

These are the type of deals GMTM did that cleared out our D pipeline and left us in the mess we are in right now with blotted contracts to mediocre players all done in the name of accelerating the rebuild. The Sabres had the 6th highest actual payroll last season at 81 mill and had the 5th worst team.

 

It's time to rebuild properly. Draft and develop. If you need immediate help sign a UFA or trade roster players for it, but we can no longer afford to keep sacrificing our prospect pool. Hockey trades only. In fact during GMTM brief tenure he has traded away the equivilent of 3 1st rd picks and 7 2nd rd picks acquired since 2012 and only replaced them with 1st and 3 2nds and Fasching. That's a net loss of 6 quality prospects. Most of those prospects were lost in the ROR, Kane and Lehner deals which cost us over $20 mill in cap last year and will increase to over 22 mill next season.

Edited April 13, 2017 by GASabresFan

[GASabresIUFAN]

Does the firings really change the off-season game plan for the roster? I don't think so! Sure we now have two to three additional steps before we start addressing the roster, but ultimately the new GM will have to fix the defense, dump some bad contracts, get a center to help the PK. The biggest high end roster questions are the fates of Reinhart and Kane.

[nfreeman]

I hate to say this, but offseason plans are going to need to factor in the likelihood (which I've seen in the Snooze and which has been persuasively described to me by a doctor who admittedly only knows what has been made public) that Okposo is not coming back.  So everyone agitating for a Kane or Reino trade should think twice about subtracting another high-end forward.

[GASabresIUFAN]

I hate to say this, but offseason plans are going to need to factor in the likelihood (which I've seen in the Snooze and which has been persuasively described to me by a doctor who admittedly only knows what has been made public) that Okposo is not coming back.  So everyone agitating for a Kane or Reino trade should think twice about subtracting another high-end forward.

Okposo is a huge concern, but if he can't go at least we can get him on LTIR to recover the cap hit. Also RW is our deepest poll of prospects. Also we need to get something out of Ennis

[I-90 W]

I'm not a GM but my hope is that once the front office is re-established we strengthen our defense, improve our pk, dump some dead weight and above all else don't get rid of Sam. This talk about getting rid of Sam really irks me. I'm sure our defense can be improved without trading an essential piece of our new core.