Final Roster Cuts

[pi2000]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

I think they are keeping him because of the old veteran leadership cliche. 

Okposo would clear waivers and if not we should all celebrate. 

He likely wouldn't report to Roch and it would look bad for the organization.

[Taro T]

4 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

A couple of thoughts.  Pilut was eligible to be sent down as long as he was “healthy.”  A waiver exempt player like Joker or Thompson being returned to the AHL or sent down is not being “waived”.  

All this doesn’t really matter except a few games as better players return from injuries and other things happen.  Every season about 35 different guys will suit up for the Sabres for various reasons and I’ll wager that the end of season roster and even the most common roster over the season will look substantially different then opening night.

I’m happy for Gilmour and very surprised Lazar got waived.  I thought he earned an opportunity. Moving on from Nelson makes sense as he never really established himself as more then a 7/8 D and with the additions of Joker, Miller and Montour plus the eventual return of Bogo he didn’t really have a slot.

I got poo poo’d in the lineup about Sobotka’s FO ability as a reason they may have kept him.  If he really is going to start with MoJo and Skinner, that skill in the O Zine may end up being important. They may have given him the edge over Lazar.  

Thompson is going to dominate in the A and could pull a Pommers and be a shot on the arm for the team when he forces a recall.

I think there is nearly a week until opening night.  I wouldn’t rule out a trade or a waiver claim if the right player comes along. 

The season opens Wednesday w/ St. Louis hosting the Caps.  Sabres start on Thursday in Pittsburgh.

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 minute ago, pi2000 said:

He likely wouldn't report to Roch and it would look bad for the organization.

So you keep a 6 Milldead weight because it would look bad?  I think it looks just as bad to send him to the press box most nights.

at least in the A he’ll get to play and mentor prospects.  Note to Sabres.  Don’t sign ex-Islanders tonight $ contracts.

I’m a little disappointed in Jbot. He said they’d keep to better guy regardless of contract.  They only did that with Nelson.  Thompson and Lazar being sent down or waived while keeping KO and Sobotka is the opposite of that statement.

By the way we all wanted Z and Larsson gone last year and they proved us wrong. Maybe Scandy and Vlad will do that this year.

 

[erickompositör72]

The nicknames keep coming up, so I'll ask:

Mojo? Are you guys saying it "MO - yo" ?

Joker? Are you guys saying it "YO - ker" ?

 

I don't like the nicknames. These don't work with Scandinavian names!

[...]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

By the way we all wanted Z and Larsson gone last year and they proved us wrong. Maybe Scandy and Vlad will do that this year.

? Who is we?

[shrader]

29 minutes ago, Taro T said:

According to NHL Numbers the team is ~$1.5MM over the cap at present.  If that's correct, then don't be surprised to see Jokiharju and Olofsson waived (temporarily) right before rosters are "set" with the Sabres then having ~$200k in cap space prior to BF-LTIRing Bothwell Hunwick &  Bogosian.  As soon as they are on the LTIR list, the other 2 can be brought back up again.  And the Sabres effective cap would be ~$82.9MM.

It's a bit boring when they all have the same cap hit.  Olafsson's the only obvious one for the paper transaction since he's the only ELC with a lower price tag.  It's much more fun when someone like Dahlin's salary just happens to be equal to the exact amount they need.

[Taro T]

13 minutes ago, erickompositör72 said:

I think I finally get it now. But why do they make the process that way? To keep it from being wildly abused by forcing the "overage" to clear waivers?

Why? No clue on this end why it works that way.  Best guess is that most likely a combination of trying to get some guys that might get forces to be waived onto teams that'd play them (though that isn't applicable to Jokiharju nor Olofsson and their 2 contracts come closest to equaling the amount the Sabres are currently over the cap) and from the PA's perspective, it creates a slight incentive to not bring excessive player salary into the league as all the player salary that gets paid out gets adjusted to fit into that 50% of HRR that the players get; and when teams are over the cap the likelihood that the players league wide will forfeit some of their escrow gets increased.

4 minutes ago, ... said:

? Who is we?

Him.  Obviously. ?

[triumph_communes]

What appears to be the starting line-up:

 

Oloffson-Eichel-Reinhart

Skinner-Johansson-Sobotka

Vesey-Mittelstadt-Sheary

Girgensons-Larsson-Rodrigues

Okposo

 

Dahlin-Miller

McCabe-Ristolainen

Scandella-Jokiharju

Glimour

 

 

IR:  Montour will push out Jokiharju, Gilmour stays.  Bogosian.... we'll see.  Pilut starts in the AHL, but I think he comes up within a month and pushes out Scandella.  A Ristolainen trade resolves any jams, though Jokiharju appears to benefit from some AHL time and can pass through waivers unlike anyone else.

Only waiver wire pick-up I could foresee is Sprong-- given Botterill's history with the kid, and our pretty bad RW depth.  May be the move that kicks Mittelstadt into the AHL for some time.  Not really sure Rodrigues' spot is safe at all with that awful pre-season, though I'd much rather see the Okposo demotion be what happens.

 

Not really excited by 2nd line Sobotka, nor Reinhart with Eichel, but I'll give Krueger benefit of the doubt for a little while at least.  Glad Oloffson is getting the chance, and Vesey makes 3LW somewhat solid, even if he only shows up every few games.  Each line has playmakers, shooters, and some size.  Much better wingers than Mittelstadt had last year.  If Johansson looks like he did in pre-season at 2C for the rest of the season, I feel really good about the team this year.  I thought Thompson earned a spot over every other RW not named Reinhart personally, but he's also the only one who can pass through waivers so maybe that's mostly what it is.  Some extra chances for those other RWs to show whether they've got any gas left or not.

 

 

[Mustache of God]

42 minutes ago, rakish said:

I am big on Sprong, both his 19th year (in the Q) and his 20th year (AHL) he scored more than more than a few prospects who became players. While it's true that last year sucked, for me it's not a close call. First is what I get for the past 10 years of the best Q 19 year old forwards:

1 NICOLAS DESCHAMPS 1698 
2 VITALI ABRAMOV 1623 
3 DANIEL SPRONG 1504 
4 MAXIME COMTOIS 1429 
5 CHARLES HUDON 1335 
6 DMITRIJ JASKIN 1325 
7 IVAN CHEKHOVICH 1234 
8 LUKE ADAM 1167 
9 MIKHAIL GRIGORENKO 1155 
10 MATHIEU JOSEPH 1103 
11 MIKE HOFFMAN 1103

Next is what I get for the past 10 years of the best AHL 20 year old forwards.

1 JOSH BAILEY  2819 
2 NIKITA KUCHEROV  2318 
3 RYAN STROME  2214 
4 LOGAN COUTURE  2110 
5 JACK ROSLOVIC  1870 
6 CHRIS TIERNEY  1672 
7 DRAKE BATHERSON  1597 
8 J.T. MILLER  1557 
9 DANIEL SPRONG  1520 
10 LUKE ADAM AHL 1488

Yes, let's bring on a player who ranks on a list with former Sabre greats Luke Adam and Mikhail Grigorenko.

[nfreeman]

35 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

He likely wouldn't report to Roch and it would look bad for the organization.

 

28 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

So you keep a 6 Milldead weight because it would look bad?  I think it looks just as bad to send him to the press box most nights.

at least in the A he’ll get to play and mentor prospects.  Note to Sabres.  Don’t sign ex-Islanders tonight $ contracts.

I'm with @pi2000 on this -- sending KO down with 4 years left on his deal would look like they are treating him shabbily and would hurt their ability to sign FAs in the future.

[triumph_communes]

1 minute ago, nfreeman said:

 

I'm with @pi2000 on this -- sending KO down with 4 years left on his deal would look like they are treating him shabbily and would hurt their ability to sign FAs in the future.

I feel like they'd mention it to KO and he'd choose to LTIRetire instead.  The concussion just scrambled him.

Edited September 30, 2019 by triumph_communes

[nfreeman]

Just now, triumph_communes said:

I feel like they'd mention it to KO and he'd choose to LTIRetire instead.  The concussion just scrambled him.

Just a guess, but I think he'd rather give it another shot this year under RK than go LTIR.  But I think the most likely outcome is that he doesn't produce much this year, gets healthy-scratched regularly by the 2nd half of the season and then they take the course you suggest next season.

[LGR4GM]

21 minutes ago, Mustache of God said:

Yes, let's bring on a player who ranks on a list with former Sabre greats Luke Adam and Mikhail Grigorenko.

This is the wrong way to look at it. 

[...]

6 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

I'm with @pi2000 on this -- sending KO down with 4 years left on his deal would look like they are treating him shabbily and would hurt their ability to sign FAs in the future.

Doesn't winning solve this?

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Are you saying we don't need to go dumpster diving anymore?? 

I'm not sure about "don't need to" but I don't think we should.

[LGR4GM]

46 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

He likely wouldn't report to Roch and it would look bad for the organization.

I love it when we worry about this. We are a ***** team that hasn't made the playoffs in 8 years but we should be worried if a couple UFA's signed elsewhere because when they can't play anymore we waive them. 

[Randall Flagg]

Organizations that consistently shoot themselves in the foot with roster moves that prevent them from icing the best possible teams at their disposal, making these roster moves with motivations outside of this Belichickean goal, are organizations that go long stretches of time winning fewer hockey games than most others. 

 

Edited September 30, 2019 by Randall Flagg

[Zamboni]

 Raise your hand if you think the coach has the sole discretion and decision making as to who is on the roster and who gets waived, cut, sent down or traded away?

Or give a thumbs up if you think the GM of an NHL hockey team has the sole discretion and decision-making as to who is on the roster and who gets waved, cut, sent down or traded away?

 

 I’m not talking about suggestions or opinions I’m talking about cold hard decision making. 

[LGR4GM]

40 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

By the way we all wanted Z and Larsson gone last year and they proved us wrong. Maybe Scandy and Vlad will do that this year.

I want zemgus gone again this year. He didn't prove anything wrong.

I have always wanted Larsson as the 4th line center because he's good at it. 

 

To the bolded.... 

 

[LGR4GM]

3 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

 Raise your hand if you think the coach has the sole discretion and decision making as to who is on the roster and who gets waived, cut, sent down or traded away?

Or give a thumbs up if you think the GM of an NHL hockey team has the sole discretion and decision-making as to who is on the roster and who gets waved, cut, sent down or traded away?

 I’m not talking about suggestions or opinions I’m talking about cold hard decision making. 

I think Botterill and Kreuger talk about it and reach a consensus. 

[Doohicksie]

54 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

He likely wouldn't report to Roch and it would look bad for the organization.

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't move him without talking about it.  My understanding is that the Moulson move was discussed with Moulson ahead of time.

[Doohicksie]

49 minutes ago, erickompositör72 said:

The nicknames keep coming up, so I'll ask:

Mojo? Are you guys saying it "MO - yo" ?

Joker? Are you guys saying it "YO - ker" ?

 

I don't like the nicknames. These don't work with Scandinavian names!

But 'Murica!

[spndnchz]

The only surprise to me is Tage. He’ll do nicely in Roch though. 

[Ross Rhea]

3 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

Gilmour made it over Nelson, interesting.

Maybe due to his lack of response last year when Jack got head shotted. 

 

IDK maybe things were/are different for him in the room now after that.

[Drunkard]

What happens when playing with Sobotka causes Skinner to lose his love for the game?