Sabres Acquire Center Eric Staal from Wild for Marcus Johansson

[Thorner]

11 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Haven't made the playoffs in a decade lol show me more. Good move, sure. It's not making us a playoff team though. 

Likely agree, but it's probably over 50 percent of the way there, for what we needed, in regards to the forwards. I thought we needed a top 6 C and a top 6 W, and we have half of that, but according to my calculations...the harder half to get. 

5 minutes ago, WildCard said:

A ton that have been discussed on here. Staal is freaking old, he can easily lose a step and not be nearly as productive. He's here for 1 year, so we're back to relying on Cozens to be ready in his sophomore year, something that is so far from a given. It's a stop-gate that is only getting worse, in a condensed season, and there's nothing after him, especially if Larsson is gone.

You think Marcus Johansson just buys legitimate 2Cs? Staal is a fine piece, relying on him to be an integral one with Kahun and Reinhart as his wingers is setting yourself up for failure

Reinhart would be an excellent first piece for a not-quite 2C, considering he's really non quite a 2W himself. 

I like this move because, we are acquiring Eric to fill a role he has, quite clearly, proven himself capable of filling. He could fall off. But this is what a reasonable bet looks like - not without risk - but with enough baked-in positives that, we aren't just hoping for some sort of best case scenario like seemingly every one of the last guy's moves. 

[dudacek]

36 minutes ago, WildCard said:

A ton that have been discussed on here. Staal is freaking old, he can easily lose a step and not be nearly as productive. He's here for 1 year, so we're back to relying on Cozens to be ready in his sophomore year, something that is so far from a given. It's a stop-gate that is only getting worse, in a condensed season, and there's nothing after him, especially if Larsson is gone.

You think Marcus Johansson just buys legitimate 2Cs? Staal is a fine piece, relying on him to be an integral one with Kahun and Reinhart as his wingers is setting yourself up for failure

Can you remember one Sabres trade ever fixing the team?

We improved our 2C position for next season with no long term cost and reduced cap at the same time.

We also added a respected veteran former captain with an Olympic gold medal and Stanley Cup ring to help Jack and Ralph in the room while mentoring Casey and Dylan.

Where's the downside to this one? Incremental steps, man. Another one or two like this one and we are playoff team.

Three or four of them and we're going places.

Edited September 16, 2020 by dudacek

[Cascade Youth]

Jeez it was that easy?  We’ve been chasing a 2C forever and Adams just strolls in and asks, “Well has anyone checked the bargain bin at Kohl’s?”

[Thorner]

4 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

 

he also cleared 1.25mil I believe in cap and salary.

Krueger is kinda weird lol 

2 minutes ago, Cascade Youth said:

Jeez it was that easy?  We’ve been chasing a 2C forever and Adams just strolls in and asks, “Well has anyone checked the bargain bin at Kohl’s?”

As I've maintained all along (and of course, this is only "on paper" so far, but, I'm judging it against other "on paper" Botts moves) the most frustrating thing with Botterill was that he refused to address holes that shouldn't have been as hard to fix as he made them out to be. 

Edited September 16, 2020 by Thorny

[Curt]

6 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Cirelli or Monahan would give you years of viable young talent and offensive production. That would be 80% to making us a playoff team, and with Staal we get what, 25%? Again, good move and all that, but this can't be it for the center position

Yeah, it’s fine to hope there is more.  But they got him for 1 year of Johansson.  Maybe Staal gets a lot worse, but maybe not.  It’s a short term solution, but it’s a reasonable, possible solution

This morning the 2020-21 Sabres had no viable 2C option.  This evening they do.  The cost was minimal.  Net win.

[WildCard]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

OK, totally get how 3 years of Botterill make it seem like this will be the only good move, but it is actually possible for Adams to make another move, possibly even for one of the guys you just mentioned.  And 80% + 25% gives you a smidge of room to spare. 😉

Agreed, and again I do like the move, but I just don't want that to be it and think we're set. 

And those percentages are independent of one another 😉 

Just now, dudacek said:

Can you remember one Sabres trade ever fixing the team?

We improved our 2C position for next season with no long term cost and reduced cap at the same time.

We also added a respected veteran former captain with an Olympic gold medal and Stanley Cup ring to help Jack and Ralph in the room while mentoring Casey and Dylan.

Where's the downside to this one? Incremental steps, man.

Just cause the Sabres don't do it doesn't mean it doesn't happen lol again good trade, gotta be more though. If this is it we're not there yet

We've added respected former captains with leadership and all that before yadda yadda yadda, gotten us nowhere.

Downside? Only downside there can be is Adams and crew thinking this is enough. I hope they won't

[LGR4GM]

I can only hope this is step 1 of about 4. 

[Thorner]

It's not so much that I don't think we need more moves, @WildCard, it's that, merely by making this move has Adams set for me a fairly solidly positive perception for what could happen going forward. 

Edited September 16, 2020 by Thorny

[Andrew Amerk]

The additional plus side, is that if the Sabres are out of a race next season, Staal will have deadline value.

[Gabrielor]

Next step, re-sign Larsson 🙂

[In The Buff]

4 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Can you remember one Sabres trade ever fixing the team?

We improved our 2C position for next season with no long term cost and reduced cap at the same time.

We also added a respected veteran former captain with an Olympic gold medal and Stanley Cup ring to help Jack and Ralph in the room while mentoring Casey and Dylan.

Where's the downside to this one? Incremental steps, man. Three or four of them and we're going places.

Another more or two like this one and we are playoff team.

Dominic Hasek would probably qualify. But outside of that not really.

Agree with all your points

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Agreed, and again I do like the move, but I just don't want that to be it and think we're set. 

And those percentages are independent of one another 😉 

Just cause the Sabres don't do it doesn't mean it doesn't happen lol again good trade, gotta be more though. If this is it we're not there yet

We've added respected former captains with leadership and all that before yadda yadda yadda, gotten us nowhere.

Downside? Only downside there can be is Adams and crew thinking this is enough. I hope they won't

Of course they're independent of each other.  That's why they're additive.  😉

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

It's not so much that I don't think we need more moves, @WildCard, it's that, merely by making this move has Adams set for me a fairly solidly positive perception for what could happen going forward. 

It is a hell of a lot stronger of a move than trading ***** for Frolic. 

[miles]

• this is a great deal for buffalo. staal is old and will probably retire after this season, but he is good. very good. will probably be top 3 on the team

[JohnC]

8 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Haven't made the playoffs in a decade lol show me more. Good move, sure. It's not making us a playoff team though. 

You are right that this move alone doesn't make us a playoff team. But it does make us a better team and addresses the center spot on the second line for the present. What it also does is give us a little more cap room (under the imposed cap) to address some other positions. This isn't a major roster shaking deal but it is a solid deal. And it adds the toughness of a very competitive player to a team noted more for its soft style of play. Even if the team adds another 2C who is younger to the roster there is still a role for Staal to play. This transaction isn't the type of move that one gets excited over but it should give you some satisfaction. It's not a giant leap forward but it is a step forward. 

[WildCard]

Just now, Taro T said:

Of course they're independent of each other.  That's why they're additive.  😉

Cirelli = 80% alone, 70% with Staal

Staal = 25% alone, 10% with Cirelli

However you wanna word that is what I meant lol

[thewookie1]

Staal also had 1g and 4 assists in the Wild's 4 game series in the Qualifiers.

[LGR4GM]

Just now, thewookie1 said:

Staal also had 1g and 4 assists in the Wild's 4 game series in the Qualifiers.

Do you know who his wingers were?

[Gabrielor]

2 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Cirelli = 80% alone, 70% with Staal

Staal = 25% alone, 10% with Cirelli

However you wanna word that is what I meant lol

If we acquire Cirelli, Adams is now my god.

[Thorner]

I'm always less worried about players dropping off due to old age when they've already proven themselves to be very successful as older farts. 

[Eleven]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Do you know who his wingers were?

Looks like Foligno and Fiala.  https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/minnesota-wild/line-combinations/

[LGR4GM]

Sorry, we save 1.25mil in caphit but only 1mil in actual salary. 

Johnsson 4.5 CH and 4 sal

Staal 3.25 CH and 3 sal

[Weave]

30 minutes ago, LTS said:

Eric Stall

• Cheaper
• Bigger
• Veteran
• Former "C"
• Stanley Cup Champion

Cozens is a young 6'3 center.  Staal is 6'4.  I could see similarities in their games and I bet it doesn't hurt to bring him in to help mentor the young kid.

I love this move.

It's the kind of move that we should have been making the last 5 seasons.  Rings all the Jack/Ralph bells.  Bigger, tougher, veteran, winner.  Staal is the kind of player we should have stocked the team with coming out of the Tank.

[Flashsabre]

1 hour ago, sabresparaavida said:

My lineup from what we have now:

Skinner-Eichel-Kahun?

oloffson-Stall-Reinhart

Ruostallainen?-Cozens-Thompson

xxx?-Lazar-Okposo

 

this team still has a lot left to do, adding a top 6 Rw would make a rather large difference though. Pushing Kahun down to line 3 would help significantly. I would like another solid 3rd liner and another solid 4th liner after that, but there’s only so much you can do in one offseason.

How do you think this effects the deal you have been talking about?

[LGR4GM]

Just now, Eleven said:

Looks like Foligno and Fiala.  https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/minnesota-wild/line-combinations/

He was their #1 center... why on earth did Minnesota trade him for peanuts?