Free Agent Frenzy! Oct 9, 2020

[WildCard]

4 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

I agree on targeting AZ, but I'd rather have Risto than Gogo.  And if AZ is dumping a goalie, they want more than $1MM in cap space.  I think they want picks/prospects.  Next year's #2 for Kuemper maybe?

We're already missing draft picks from this year and next year, we need to stop giving those away

[nfreeman]

2 minutes ago, WildCard said:

We're already missing draft picks from this year and next year, we need to stop giving those away

OK, but a good goalie on a 2-year deal will cost something, and I'd rather give up next year's #2 than, say, Borgen or Mittlestadt.

[Andrew Amerk]

5 minutes ago, French Collection said:

Keep in mind the Sabres will need to expose a goalie in the Kraken draft.

If they have a 1A 1B scenario (Korpisalo/Ullmark), may the best man win. I like this setup with internal competition and a potential high number of back to back games.

 

There will also be 30 other teams for the Squid to pick a G from. 

5 minutes ago, WildCard said:

We're already missing draft picks from this year and next year, we need to stop giving those away

This is absolutely true. 

[Thorner]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Guess we can’t afford him, especially if we’re moving for a goalie, but that is a bargain gift-wrapped in gold ribbon.

Also, if that is the price for a good defenceman, I don’t want to be trading Risto or Montour.

It may simply be a scenario where we need to move Montour for something very small, with the return being we are able to grab a goalie for something small. Dumping cap the motivator in both instances. 

If Montour for said goalie is a deal you would have hypothetically made, the maneuver makes sense. 

16 minutes ago, WildCard said:

We're already missing draft picks from this year and next year, we need to stop giving those away

This. 

13 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

OK, but a good goalie on a 2-year deal will cost something, and I'd rather give up next year's #2 than, say, Borgen or Mittlestadt.

I kind of agree in theory but, how valuable is that added gap between when they player needs to be paid? If you are dealing with a team like AZ, maybe you think the pick in the second is going to be reasonably high. Depends how you feel about the prospect in question I guess.

Edited October 13, 2020 by Thorny

[Broken Ankles]

16 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

I agree on targeting AZ, but I'd rather have Risto than Gogo.  And if AZ is dumping a goalie, they want more than $1MM in cap space.  I think they want picks/prospects.  Next year's #2 for Kuemper maybe?

A number 2 is too high.   Especially in the Covid Cap Crunch of 2020.   Lots of UFA's and RFA's still unsigned and teams are rapidly losing cap space.  Listen to Kevyn, errr Billy Ray.  Pork Bellies futures (Market for Goalies) are going down.   The other GM's are out there 'panicking'.  Don't be Mortimer Duke!!

 

[Thorner]

 

anyone post this yet lol

[ExWNYer]

3 hours ago, Eleven said:

This is the end for the Vegas window.  Their vets are already complaining about seeing their names attached to trade rumors, and Vegas cannot possibly squeeze everyone in under the cap.

 

3 hours ago, tom webster said:

I was telling someone how this was bound to happen. Even though they know it’s a business, players don’t like to be treated Like assets.

 

2 hours ago, Eleven said:

Yeah, I think they know they might be traded, but they don't like that being aired publicly.  

This is where my info came from, BTW:  

 

 

So, I guess what happens in Vegas doesn't necessarily stay in Vegas...

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, Thorny said:

It may simply be a scenario where we need to move Montour for something very small, with the return being we are able to grab a goalie for something small. Dumping cap the motivator in both instances. 

If Montour for said goalie is a deal you would have hypothetically made, the maneuver makes sense. 

This. 

I kind of agree in theory but, how valuable is that added gap between when they player needs to be paid? If you are dealing with a team like AZ, maybe you think the pick in the second is going to be reasonably high. Depends how you feel about the prospect in question I guess.

Are you saying the Sabres are actually at a point where they have to dump a good player in order to make room for another good player?

[Thorner]

15 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Are you saying the Sabres are actually at a point where they have to dump a good player in order to make room for another good player?

Sort of. Cause the cap is a big thing here, ideally we'd still have a Kahun on the roster and we could use the 23rd roster spot for that, but in this case, I'd say yes. If we keep everyone we have, we are going to have Montour on the third pair left side or something. It's just not the roster spot I'd want to devote that level of talent to, considering how much more use we'd get from switching the value Montour has a player into a role that'll be utilized 60 mins, 50 percent of the nights. 

If you are playing your third pair third pair minutes, or even 1/3rd of the minutes straight up, I think there's more WAR to be found in the tender upgrade. 

Edited October 13, 2020 by Thorny

[PerreaultForever]

18 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Are you saying the Sabres are actually at a point where they have to dump a good player in order to make room for another good player?

I'd kind of suggest that. The addition of a big FA like Hall does change everything. You don't give anything up (aside from money obviously) and make yourself better instantly. makes us instantly deeper and better and if Cozens is in fact ready for real NHL minutes we are even better and yes, can consider actual hockey trades of good for different good. 

[IKnowPhysics]

If we didn't have a flat cap, we could likely get Kahun back or splurge on a D/G (with a trade).  Even the basic case would be sick:

Hall-Eichel-Olofsson

Skinner-Staal-Reinhart

Girgensens-Eakins-Kahun

Cozens-Lazar-Thompson

Rieder

That's a matchup problem for most teams.  But in the what-if with looser caps, the league-wide quest for Hall might have been more difficult.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

12 hours ago, Curt said:

Nah.  I don’t think he is.  Top 10 winger probably.

Okay.  I disgree, but that's alright, eh.

[Weave]

13 hours ago, nfreeman said:

OK, but a good goalie on a 2-year deal will cost something, and I'd rather give up next year's #2 than, say, Borgen or Mittlestadt.

Man, Mitts has so little value to me right now that I would do that deal without pause.

[WildCard]

13 minutes ago, Weave said:

Man, Mitts has so little value to me right now that I would do that deal without pause.

I'm with you. Either that or just keep him like we did Nylander and ride it out until someone gets desperate or who knows, he improves; don't trade him for peanuts at the very least

[SDS]

15 minutes ago, Weave said:

Man, Mitts has so little value to me right now that I would do that deal without pause.

Cut bait. If he turns out to be some thing then he deserves a huge pat on the back. Be relentless. In the meantime just go.

[Derrico]

14 minutes ago, SDS said:

Cut bait. If he turns out to be some thing then he deserves a huge pat on the back. Be relentless. In the meantime just go.

Depends on the return though.  If we get nothing back then what is the point?  I’m with Wildcard on this one.

[Cascade Youth]

2 minutes ago, Derrico said:

Depends on the return though.  If we get nothing back then what is the point?  I’m with Wildcard on this one.

Opportunity cost.  Not worth investing another $1 of time into his development at this point.  He has literally shown NOTHING.

[LabattBlue]

I'd give Mitts massive minutes in the upcoming AHL season(assuming there is one), he puts up 70-80 points, and in the off-season hope someone makes a decent offer for him, and doesn't realize he is fools gold. 👍

[miles]

I hate to say it but mittlestadt will probably never be a full time nhl player. 

I get the impression that he felt like he was owed his spot and did nothing to earn it. I also think that being sent down will not be enough to get him to hit the gym like he needs to. 

I suspect he was always so much better than the people he played with, without giving the grear efforts.

 

I hope I'm wrong 

[ExWNYer]

19 minutes ago, miles said:

I hate to say it but mittlestadt will probably never be a full time nhl player. 

I get the impression that he felt like he was owed his spot and did nothing to earn it. I also think that being sent down will not be enough to get him to hit the gym like he needs to. 

I suspect he was always so much better than the people he played with, without giving the grear efforts.

 

I hope I'm wrong 

Ditto. I want to like the kid but, man, he does not make it easy.

[Derrico]

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not banking on Mitts for much going forward.  I just don’t see the point in getting rid of him for peanuts either.

[In The Buff]

It could take Mitts years to become a legit NHL player (if it ever happens at all). He's only 21, some players take longer to develop & don't reach NHL status til 24. Can we keep paying him & keep him around that long? If he could be moved for a goalie we need now, i think we'd be crazy not to do so.

[Curt]

2 hours ago, In The Buff said:

It could take Mitts years to become a legit NHL player (if it ever happens at all). He's only 21, some players take longer to develop & don't reach NHL status til 24. Can we keep paying him & keep him around that long? If he could be moved for a goalie we need now, i think we'd be crazy not to do so.

No reason we can’t.  Not that I’m particularly against trading him.

[miles]

5 hours ago, In The Buff said:

It could take Mitts years to become a legit NHL player (if it ever happens at all). He's only 21, some players take longer to develop & don't reach NHL status til 24. Can we keep paying him & keep him around that long? If he could be moved for a goalie we need now, i think we'd be crazy not to do so.

But what kind of goalie are you going to get with mitts. One that's way worse than what we have 

[dudacek]

8 minutes ago, miles said:

But what kind of goalie are you going to get with mitts. One that's way worse than what we have 

I don’t agree at all with this.

Matt Murray - a Stanley Cup winner - just went for the 52 pick in this draft. Lias Anderson - a more disappointing prospect than Casey selected one pick before him in 2017 - went for the 60th.

In this market, a 2nd round pick gets you a goalie, or a tarnished former top10 pick.

Edited October 14, 2020 by dudacek