Sabres Signing Marcus Johansson 2 years 4.5 Million AAV

[Doohicksie]

1 minute ago, Gatorman0519 said:

This is where Kruger comes in.... he has a knack for seeing out of the box

Maybe this is a Krueger deal.  Maybe it's something he wanted and JBot obliged.  If that's true, I guess it means that RFK and JBot are working closely together to get RFK the team he wants?

[WildCard]

Or does Reinhart move to 2C?

[Gatorman0519]

1 minute ago, WildCard said:

Or does Reinhart move to 2C?

That, I believe has always been a possibility to consider

[TrueBlueGED]

3 minutes ago, pastajoe said:

It could be a step in the process of freeing up a winger to be traded as part of a deal for a center.

Yea, could definitely be a sweetener from the wings now. Risto+ Sheary/Rodrigues. 

[Curt]

Skinner-Eichel-Vesey

Johansson-Mittelstadt-Reinhart 

Olofsson-ERod-Sheary

Zemgus-Larsson-Okposo

Maybe?  I still think the lineup needs a true 2C though.  That would shift Mittelstadt to 3C, ERod to the 4th and one of Z, Lars, Ok to 13th forward.  I could still see a Risto for 2C type of trade happening when the opportunity presents itself.  Someone on D needs to be moved, so there will definitely be more trades of some sort. 

OR if Reino goes to C,

Skinner-Eichel-Vesey

Johansson-Reinhart-Sheary

Olofsson-Mitts-ERod

Zemgus-Larsson-Okposo

Edited July 6, 2019 by Curt
Reino @ C lineup added

[WildCard]

5 minutes ago, pastajoe said:

It could be a step in the process of freeing up a winger to be traded as part of a deal for a center.

Getting awfully hard to crack this lineup if you're Alex Nylander

[triumph_communes]

In terms of minutes played, Sobotka was our 2C last season. Mittelstadt was our 4C.  Promoting Mittelstadt to 2/3C minutes with Reinhart and Johansson beside him while also giving the GLO line 2/3 line minutes match-up grinding against top lines will do wonders.  At the very least, think of the minutes each line gets as much more balanced. Lots of teams only play 3 lines and put the fourth out there for 6 minutes a game. We don’t have that kind of line up. 

[Doohicksie]

I like the theory of freeing up a winger to trade.

 

Edited July 6, 2019 by Doohickie

[TrueBlueGED]

Just now, triumph_communes said:

In terms of minutes played, Sobotka was our 2C last season. Mittelstadt was our 4C.  Promoting Mittelstadt to 2/3C minutes with Reinhart and Johansson beside him while also giving the GLO line 2/3 line minutes match-up grinding against top lines will do wonders.  At the very least, think of the minutes each line gets as much more balanced. Lots of teams only play 3 lines and put the fourth out there for 6 minutes a game. We don’t have that kind of line up. 

That's only because of special teams. Mittelstadt was second behind Eichel at even strength ice time. 

[triumph_communes]

1 minute ago, TrueBlueGED said:

That's only because of special teams. Mittelstadt was second behind Eichel at even strength ice time. 

Playing with Okposo.  The puck hog

[Scottysabres]

There has to be more moves coming. With these young guys pushing the roster, the over abundance of NHL caliber D and the players that need to gone from the roster (Sobotka comes to mind), it looks like Botterill has his hands on the off season chess game of a lifetime.

[WildCard]

You guys are gonna like this

 

[Curt]

2 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

That's only because of special teams. Mittelstadt was second behind Eichel at even strength ice time. 

This is not true.  Sobotka had more ES TOI than Mittelstadt.  

However, the difference in ES ice time between Buffalo’s 2nd/3rd/4th liners last year was so insignificant that it doesn’t really matter.  Buffalo had a 1st line, then 3 other lines with the same TOI, but playing different roles.

[WildCard]

Botterill moved O'Reilly, supposedly, for locker room stuff. I'm not saying it's everything, but on a younger team with little-to-no playoff experience...

 

[Randall Flagg]

20 minutes ago, dudacek said:

So the theme for this summer continues to be add real NHL players I happen to don’t particularly like at reasonable prices, adding to the overall depth and talent level without properly addressing our biggest issue.

This deal kinda puts us in a position where we can no longer easily weaponize cap space. We have about $7 million left that our RFAs will largely eat up.

Doesnt change the likelihood of making a Risto for a 2C type deal at all though. Makes it easier to add a plus.

With the proper big move we're all waiting for, this offseason becomes an unambiguous positive. 

Let's hope tom webster is right and it's coming. 

[dudacek]

Our depth continues to grow as Botts continues to push his development through competition philosophy up from Rochester to the big club. I count 12 veteran NHLers and another 9 kids threatening to break the ceiling.

Our depth chart, roughly in order:

First-liners:

Eichel

Reinhart

Skinner

NHL vets

Johansson

Sheary

Vesey

Rodrigues

Okposo

Larsson

Girgensons

Sobotka

Wilson

Younger guys with a shot

Mittelstadt

Thompson

Olofsson

Nylander

Smith

Asplund

Lazar

Ruotsalainen (edited to add)*

Elie

 

That’s a ton of competition for the bottom nine spots. Praying Krueger can use that properly.

 

Defence is similar

Dahlin

Ristolainen

Montour

Miller

Bogosian

McCabe

Scandella

Pilut

Nelson

Hunwick

Borgen

Edited July 6, 2019 by dudacek

[Zamboni]

Sabres have acquired a few pieces over the last few weeks. Now be prepared for a few to be moved out.

[TrueBlueGED]

1 minute ago, Curt said:

This is not true.  Sobotka had more ES TOI than Mittelstadt.  

However, the difference in ES ice time between Buffalo’s 2nd/3rd/4th liners last year was so insignificant that it doesn’t really matter.  Buffalo had a 1st line, then 3 other lines with the same TOI, but playing different roles.

Well, according to the skater tables at evolving-hockey, Mittelstadt had 884 minutes at evens and Sobotka had 820. Where are you seeing Sobotka had more? 

[Randall Flagg]

Just now, Zamboni said:

Sabres have acquired a few pieces over the last few weeks. Now be prepared for a few to be moved out.

Where's MODO with the Peter Griffin clip 

[WildCard]

1 minute ago, Randall Flagg said:

With the proper big move we're all waiting for, this offseason becomes an unambiguous positive. 

Let's hope tom webster is right and it's coming. 

@NS if there was ever a time for it....

[bobs0108]

21 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

He, and Reino, may be the training wheels for Mitts.  Two experienced wingers that can play some center.

This is the way I see it. They can all play center in a pinch and Reinhart runs the line from the wing and let Mitts learn on the fly for another season. Love this pickup for the cost and term. 

[Randall Flagg]

Also with Sobotka vs. Mitts, it should be noted that Phil definitely caught on to Vlad about 60 games in. Combining with an injury, he kinda lost his place to maybe Rodrigues. There was a distinct time where I would definitely refer to Vlad as the 2C, and then games after that where he wasn't at all which started to lower his TOI numbers

[DarthEbriate]

2 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Our depth continues to grow as Botts continues to push his development through competition philosophy up from Rochester to the big club. I count 12 veteran NHLers and another 8 kids threatening to break the ceiling.

And Ruotsalainen, too.

[inkman]

One more guy ahead of Sobotka on the depth chart. That's all I need to hear. 

[WildCard]

Just now, inkman said:

One more guy ahead of Sobotka on the depth chart. That's all I need to hear. 

Completely forgot he existed to be honest