2020 Off-season gameplan

[Weave]

31 minutes ago, Thorny said:

A nice, detailed roster breakdown/construction from Chad:

https://www.diebytheblade.com/2020/7/1/21309489/building-the-buffalo-sabres-2020-offseason-projection-2-0-adams-lindholm-fast-kerfoot-lundell

Pretty good read. 

He lost me after justifying two rookie centers in the lineup.

[Thorner]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

He lost me after justifying two rookie centers in the lineup.

Just shift Lindholm to C, he plays both. Or Kahun, or even Johansson. There finally would be options - the point is It's 3C and below, achievable spots to earn. 

The additions of Kerfoot and Fast would give us a balanced top 6. Insulating the kids from top 6 expectations. I think Cozens has a shot at 3C. If he doesn't get it, a Kahun - Johansson - Lindholm 3rd line would look great. 

Edited July 2, 2020 by Thorny

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

A nice, detailed roster breakdown/construction from Chad:

https://www.diebytheblade.com/2020/7/1/21309489/building-the-buffalo-sabres-2020-offseason-projection-2-0-adams-lindholm-fast-kerfoot-lundell

Pretty good read. 

Why would Calgary part with Lindholm?  I can see them dumping Bennett and letting Jankowski walk before moving Lindholm, especially because he is a bargain for them at 4.85 per season

Edited July 2, 2020 by GASabresIUFAN

[Thorner]

14 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Why would Calgary part with Lindholm?  

I can't speak for Chad, but if you read the article, he makes the case for why Ristolainen would be of value to them. I'm assuming he feels the deal he constructed in the article is a fair one. 

- - - 

I would be happy with the idea of adding a Kerfoot level centre to man the 2nd line for now, it's a great term with him for example - 3 more years x 3.5. And it allows us to keep our first, too. 

Edited July 2, 2020 by Thorny

[Thorner]

I like the C flexibility in a proposed line-up like that. It has it's firm top 6 centres with Eichel and Kerfoot, and then 4 centres in the line-up for the remaining 2 spots - good competition with reasonable expecations. 

We know what we have in Johansson and Kahun in the sense that they can adequately hold down the bottom 6 C roles if neither of Cozens or, hypthetically, Lundell (the pick in this case who is apparently NHL ready) are actually ready to man the middle of the ice. Any of the 4 are able to play wing. 

Add in Lindholm who is defensively responsible and can also play C, these seem to be Kreuger type player additions. Like Chad mentions, Lindholm would be a great insulation on the wing for Cozens, if Cozens is playing C. And Kerfoot while not explosive offensively is an ~40 point C who's also the type of defensively responsible C that could aid Skinner. 

- - - 

For the record I'd like to keep Larsson if it's possible. 

Edited July 2, 2020 by Thorny

[Rasmus_]

I don't really get the love for Kerfoot, and Montour should be worth slightly more.  Kerfoot is an interesting buy low option, but other than that, no thanks?  In addition, Lindholm seems like an interesting option to inquire about.  However, let's trade for more players who don't naturally suit up in a center role.  He's played there before, but never really excelled points wise until they "Reinharted" him. 

Edited July 2, 2020 by TheCerebral1

[Rasmus_]

On 6/30/2020 at 11:33 AM, SwampD said:

Is Mitt's development really ***** up, or is his path to the NHL just kinda,... weird?

He's only 21.

He still could come in without pressure if we were to somehow find a way to get a quality centermen and put together an interesting third line combination. 

[thewookie1]

Who is better Max Domi or Phillip Danault?

 

[Rasmus_]

8 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

Who is better Max Domi or Phillip Danault?

 

Danault for me.  I think he's one of the underestimated players in the league and is a valuable two way centermen.   I'd take him in a heartbeat over Domi.  Domi has major holes in his game on the defensive side.  Yes he puts up points, but we have to many players like this.  Team defense is the biggest problem with this team.  Both with and away from the puck.  They have made strides, starting with Eichel, but we need more fundamental players.  I'd draft Lundell in a heart beat over anyone available at 8.  He's my favorite player in the draft.   

Edited July 2, 2020 by TheCerebral1

[LGR4GM]

On 6/30/2020 at 6:41 PM, Randall Flagg said:

I will include all possible centers that meet this criteria for me, no particular order:
Elias Pettersson, Brayden Point, Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Patrice Bergeron, Leon Draisaitl, Anthony Cirelli, Ryan O'Reilly, Sean Couturier, Steven Stamkos, Mark Scheifele, Nazem Kadri (yes, he's good), Max Domi, Dylan Larkin, Anze Kopitar & Toews (though I wouldn't actually pursue them cuz contracts/age), Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Bo Horvat, Tomas Hertl, maybe Couture (has he fallen off?), Tyler Seguin, John Tavares, Claude Giroux, Nick Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Mika Zibanejad, William Karlsson, Mathew Barzal, Sebastian Aho, PL Dubois, Nico Hischier, Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan, Brayden Schenn, Robert Thomas, Aleksander Barkov

RNH would be the threshold, anything above him really. Obviously 96% of those guys are untouchable, which is why this is a difficult thing to do. I'd say one, mayyyyyyyybe two of those skaters have greater than a 2% chance of moving this summer and if they do we need to be the ones to get them

It's also possible that the braintrust uncovers a young player that flourishes in a new role, and avoids having to give up the eighth pick. Maybe Adam Gaudette or someone like that. That type of move would go into the other category for now though. 
 

Mitchell Stephens might do for a year and then you could move him to RW if/when Cozens takes over. 

8 hours ago, TheCerebral1 said:

Danault for me.  I think he's one of the underestimated players in the league and is a valuable two way centermen.   I'd take him in a heartbeat over Domi.  Domi has major holes in his game on the defensive side.  Yes he puts up points, but we have to many players like this.  Team defense is the biggest problem with this team.  Both with and away from the puck.  They have made strides, starting with Eichel, but we need more fundamental players.  I'd draft Lundell in a heart beat over anyone available at 8.  He's my favorite player in the draft.   

Shot creation is the biggest problem with this team and the is tied to puck possession. 

Lundell is maybe my 10th favorite player (this isn't a ranking, I am just saying players I like). He's basically bigger and probably better Larsson. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

https://buffalonews.com/news/which-sabres-would-be-impacted-if-ralph-krueger-has-influence-over-roster/article_06fc1220-ba10-11ea-9122-7b8a33bf8ab9.html

If Lance is correct, RK and KA have zero chance of succeeding.  Nothing wrong with good defensive structure, but there must be a balance especially in today's NHL.  

Barry Trotz couldn't win in the playoffs with D first mentality.  Wash couldn't win with an Offense only mentality.  Merging Trotz with Ovie won a Cup.  

I'm perfectly OK with bringing back Larsson, but not with Girgensons and or Sobotka.  The game plan this off-season must focus on scoring more goals.  Keeping Sobotka, Larsson and Girgensons while jettisoning guys like Miller and Montour is a huge step in the wrong direction.

Also RK needs to adapt his system and allow his puck moving D to move the puck up ice.  Keeping Dahlin, Miller and Montour bottled up is 1993 hockey.  It's time to modernize RK.

I'm becoming more disillusioned with the direction of this club by the day.   PS Ralph, you are no Barry Trotz.

Edited July 6, 2020 by GASabresIUFAN

[Thorner]

If Sobotka is brought back, Botterill, too, needs to be brought back - and fired immediately.

[GASabresIUFAN]

On 7/6/2020 at 1:39 AM, Thorny said:

If Sobotka is brought back, Botterill, too, needs to be brought back - and fired immediately.

The stupid thing about this RK/KA vision that is implied in the TBN article is that it's completely focusing on the wrong problem with the team and that is defense.

This team was on pace for the it's best offensive output in years and guess what the 195 goals was still 22nd in the NHL.  That isn't close to playoff caliber offense. 

The defense, while not stellar was vastly improved and suffered more from a bad PK (we finished 30th) with 47 PP GA and 11 empty nets goals in our 217 goals allowed.   In fact the Sabres were a sparkling 9th overall in goals against 5 on 5 with only 134 allowed.  Of the top 14 teams in 5 on 5 GA only the Sabres were a sub 500 team.  Compare this to our 23rd place ranking in GF 5 on 5.  

Seems to me the biggest issues with the team are offense, PK and backup goaltending.  Bringing the same cast of characters back to kill penalties doesn't seems like the best game plan.  Also sacrificing the offense abilities of the D in house doesn't seem very smart nor does bringing back forwards like Girgensons and Sobotka that add next to nothing offensively.

If I were in charge

1) Get a 2C.  Get me someone with Playoff experience and who can win a draw to help with the PK.  I'm ok with Mitts being sacrificed to get this done, but it has to be an above average 2C with term.  I consider Henrique and Strome as average 2C.  I like the idea of seeing if Colorado is interested in parting with Nazem Kadri.  He would bring attitude, offense more 5 on 5 goal scoring, FO win % and 2 reasonable contract years left at 4.5.  Mitts for Kadri straight up? On the cheaper side I'd look at Namestnikov.    I also like the idea of Tyler Johnson if he is willing to accept a trade to us to get more PT then he receives in TB.

2) Replace Carter Hutton.  I know he fixed his eyes but I think we need to go in another direction.  Cam Talbot comes to mind.  Buy out Hutton and sign Talbot

3) Bring back Larsson for a reasonable contract.  If he won't re-sign then give his job to Lazar and maybe re-sign Girgensons, maybe.  However in no circumstances waste important cap $ on two of Sobotka, Girgensons and Larsson.  I honestly suspect that Asplund and Lazar could do the job of Girgensons and Larsson for alot less.

4) I'm using kids on the 3rd line (C and RW) for cap purposes and to get their feet wet.  

5) We also should sign/acquire someone with NHL center experience in case my 3C experiment fails.  Mark Jankowski comes to mind.  He is much more capable then the terrible season he had last year, needs a change of scenery and should be able to be re-signed cheaply as an RFA.  

6) I do agree with the article that one of Risto or more likely Montour need to go for cap room and better D balance especially if Miller/Dahlin experiment is a pairing for next year.  That means we'd also have to sign or acquire a depth LHD.  Maybe Ben Hutton?

My roster

Skinner Eichel Reinhart (6 x 6)

VO (3 x 3.5) Kadri Kahun (2 x 2.75)

MoJo  Cozens Thompson

Lazar (1 x 800k) Larsson (3 x 2.75) KO

Jankowski (1 x 1.8)

Dahlin Miller

McCabe Risto

Hutton (1 x 2.0) Jokiharju

Borgen

Ullmark (3 x 3.5) Talbot (2 x 2.0) plus Hutton buyout (.925)

TOTAL COST about 74.5 mill.

Edited July 14, 2020 by GASabresIUFAN

[freester]

8 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

https://buffalonews.com/news/which-sabres-would-be-impacted-if-ralph-krueger-has-influence-over-roster/article_06fc1220-ba10-11ea-9122-7b8a33bf8ab9.html

If Lance is correct, RK and KA have zero chance of succeeding.  Nothing wrong with good defensive structure, but there must be a balance especially in today's NHL.  

Barry Trotz couldn't win in the playoffs with D first mentality.  Wash couldn't win with an Offense only mentality.  Merging Trotz with Ovie won a Cup.  

I'm perfectly OK with bringing back Larsson, but not with Girgensons and or Sobotka.  The game plan this off-season must focus on scoring more goals.  Keeping Sobotka, Larsson and Girgensons while jettisoning guys like Miller and Montour is a huge step in the wrong direction.

Also RK needs to adapt his system and allow his puck moving D to move the puck up ice.  Keeping Dahlin, Miller and Montour bottled up is 1993 hockey.  It's time to modernize RK.

I'm becoming more disillusioned with the direction of this club by the day.   PS Ralph, you are no Barry Trotz.

We better not trade our 2021 unprotected 1st.  Its looking like a top 3 pick under the new braintrust.

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, freester said:

We better not trade our 2021 unprotected 1st.  Its looking like a top 3 pick under the new braintrust.

Agree

[DeleteThisAccount]

On 6/30/2020 at 9:19 PM, nfreeman said:

I wonder whether @john wawrow was referring to player contracts or management/scouting/other employees?

believe i clarified that in a follow up post.

employee contracts.

 

jw

[thewookie1]

Would anyone trade Montour for Tierney?

Regardless of Cirelli or another 2C we could certainly use a solid 3C with a bit more scoring touch than Larsson.

[Randall Flagg]

57 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

Would anyone trade Montour for Tierney?

Regardless of Cirelli or another 2C we could certainly use a solid 3C with a bit more scoring touch than Larsson.

I'd definitely do that deal. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

2 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

Would anyone trade Montour for Tierney?

Regardless of Cirelli or another 2C we could certainly use a solid 3C with a bit more scoring touch than Larsson.

 

2 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

I'd definitely do that deal. 

Tierney would certainly be a reasonable pickup for a bridge 2C.  He has player pretty well for a terrible Ott squad including a career high 48 points in 2018-19. Won 51% of his draws last year.  He is an RFA, but why exactly would Ottawa trade him to a division rival.  Those 48 pts put him 54th in center scoring, thus a low end 2C.  It would be interesting to see what he could do with VO and Kahun as linemates.

[sabresparaavida]

What do you guys think about Risto+Mitts+ pick (2nd?) for Monahan+Bennett?

[Curt]

33 minutes ago, sabresparaavida said:

What do you guys think about Risto+Mitts+ pick (2nd?) for Monahan+Bennett?

I think that sounds like a bargain for Buffalo.  

[Thorner]

14 hours ago, sabresparaavida said:

What do you guys think about Risto+Mitts+ pick (2nd?) for Monahan+Bennett?

...and then I woke up. 

Edited July 8, 2020 by Thorny
No Country for Old Men (2008)

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

...and then I woke up. 

I’m curious as to the relative value of Mitts versus Bennett.

Casey had 31 points in 114 NHL games by the time he turned 21. Bennett, 3 years older, put up 39 points in his last 123 games.

[Thorner]

11 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I’m curious as to the relative value of Mitts versus Bennett.

Casey had 31 points in 114 NHL games by the time he turned 21. Bennett, 3 years older, put up 39 points in his last 123 games.

This is definitely going to be a case where there is more factoring in than points. Bennett has an edge to his game that transitions very well to a bottom 6 role, that may be a factor for some as Mittelstadt seems to be a producing-offensively-or-nothing type player. 

The difference between the value Monahan would provide to this team relative to Ristolainen is so considerate that, for me, the amount Mittelstadt is the better asset than Bennett (whether he even is, at all, is highly debatable) combined with a 2nd or whatever, isn't even enough to make me think the offer is in the ballpark, unfortunately. 

Edited July 8, 2020 by Thorny

[dudacek]

3 minutes ago, Thorny said:

This is definitely going to be a case where there is more factoring in than points. Bennett has an edge to his game that transitions very well to a bottom 6 role, that may be a factor for some as Mittelstadt seems to be a producing-offensively-or-nothing type player. 

I think the answer depends on whether you think Mitts will be an NHL player, because Bennett is sorta Zemgus Girgensons West.