2021-22 Sabres 1C

[Doohicksie]

With the assumption that Eich and Reino are traded, the Sabres will have a new 1C next season.  If that happens it indicates a youth movement is taking place, but before anyone in the current Sabres pipeline is ready to take on 1C duties, what do the Sabres do in the interim:

One option is going with Casey Mittelstadt.  This would probably be too much to heap on Mitts unless his development curve has an offseason spike.  So... probably not.

If the Sabres are moving both Jack, Sam and Risto though, it's not unreasonable to assume that with all the prospects coming back, the Sabres can also snag at least an experienced 2C that can step up to 1C for a season or two.... or possibly even a current 1C.  With that in mind, I looked at all the current 1Cs and 2Cs in the league right now.... who do you think we could land?

Source:  Daily Faceoff, 17 May.  Note that injured players are not shown (but I added a couple).  I bolded Anaheim, L.A. and the Rangers since they seem to be suspected trade partners, but here's the whole list.
Anaheim:  Tevor Zegras, Isac Lundestrom
Arizona:  Christian Dvorak, Lane Pederson
Boston:  Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci
Buffalo:  Sam Reinhart, Casey Mittelstadt (Eichel- neck)
Calgary:  Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund
Carolina:  Sebastian Aho, Vincent Trocheck
Chicago:  Pius Suter, Philipp Kurashev
Colorado:  Tyson Jost, Nazem Kadri
Columbus:  Max Domi, Jack Roslovic
Dallas:  Jason Dickinson, Radek Faksa
Detroit:  Valtteri Filppula, Michael Rasmussen
Edmonton:  Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl
Florida:  Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett
Los Angeles:  Anze Kopitar, Gabriel Vilardi
Minnesota:  Joel Eriksson, Ryan Hartman
Montreal:  Nick Suzuki, Jseperi Kotkaniemi (Danault- concussion)
Nashville:  Ryan Johansen, Rem Pitlick
New Jersey:  Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier
NYI:  Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson
NYR:  Mika Zibanejad, Ryon Strome
Ottawa:  Josh Norris, Shane Pinto
Philadelphia:  Sean Couturier, Kevin Hayes
Pittsburgh:  Sidney Crosby, Jeff Carter (Malkin- knee)
San Jose:  Tomas Hertl, Partrick Marleau
St. Louis:  Ryan O'Reilly, Tyler Bozak
Tampa:  Braydon Point, Anthony Cirelli
Toronto:  Auston Matthews, John Tavares
Vancouver:  Bo Horvat, J.T. Miller
Vegas:  Chandler Stephenson, William Karlsson
Washington:  Nicklas Backstrom, Lars Eller
Winnipeg:  Mark Scheifele, Paul Stastny

Edited May 17, 2021 by Doohickie

[Drag0nDan]

2 hours ago, Doohickie said:

With the assumption that Eich and Reino are traded, the Sabres will have a new 1C next season.  If that happens it indicates a youth movement is taking place, but before anyone in the current Sabres pipeline is ready to take on 1C duties, what do the Sabres do in the interim:

One option is going with Casey Mittelstadt.  This would probably be too much to heap on Mitts unless his development curve has an offseason spike.  So... probably not.

If the Sabres are moving both Jack, Sam and Risto though, it's not unreasonable to assume that with all the prospects coming back, the Sabres can also snag at least an experienced 2C that can step up to 1C for a season or two.... or possibly even a current 1C.  With that in mind, I looked at all the current 1Cs and 2Cs in the league right now.... who do you think we could land?

Source:  Daily Faceoff, 17 May.  Note that injured players are not shown (but I added a couple).  I bolded Anaheim, L.A. and the Rangers since they seem to be suspected trade partners, but here's the whole list.
Anaheim:  Tevor Zegras, Isac Lundestrom
Arizona:  Christian Dvorak, Lane Pederson
Boston:  Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci
Buffalo:  Sam Reinhart, Casey Mittelstadt (Eichel- neck)
Calgary:  Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund
Carolina:  Sebastian Aho, Vincent Trocheck
Chicago:  Pius Suter, Philipp Kurashev
Colorado:  Tyson Jost, Nazem Kadri
Columbus:  Max Domi, Jack Roslovic
Dallas:  Jason Dickinson, Radek Faksa
Detroit:  Valtteri Filppula, Michael Rasmussen
Edmonton:  Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl
Florida:  Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett
Los Angeles:  Anze Kopitar, Gabriel Vilardi
Minnesota:  Joel Eriksson, Ryan Hartman
Montreal:  Nick Suzuki, Jseperi Kotkaniemi
Nashville:  Ryan Johansen, Rem Pitlick
New Jersey:  Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier
NYI:  Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson
NYR:  Mika Zibanejad, Ryon Strome
Ottawa:  Josh Norris, Shane Pinto
Philadelphia:  Sean Couturier, Kevin Hayes
Pittsburgh:  Sidney Crosby, Jeff Carter (Malkin- knee)
San Jose:  Tomas Hertl, Partrick Marleau
St. Louis:  Ryan O'Reilly, Tyler Bozak
Tampa:  Braydon Point, Anthony Cirelli
Toronto:  Auston Matthews, John Tavares
Vancouver:  Bo Horvat, J.T. Miller
Vegas:  Chandler Stephenson, William Karlsson
Washington:  Nicklas Backstrom, Lars Eller
Winnipeg:  Mark Scheifele, Paul Stastny

With that fat 10M cap hit (and reinhart probably getting a raise) you almost have to get some cap hits back.  It can be in any form, but i think top priority will be a center in one of those 3 trades.  

[Doohicksie]

One plan would be to keep Reinhart even if on only a one year deal.  He would be the bridge 1C until the following season when presumably Mitts or Cozens will assume the role.

[Drag0nDan]

3 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

One plan would be to keep Reinhart even if on only a one year deal.  He would be the bridge 1C until the following season when presumably Mitts or Cozens will assume the role.

Yeah, only challenge is you most likely get less at the deadline than you would around the expansion draft (players teams can't protect, etc.) or pre-season.  

[steveoath]

I think both are unobtainable but I would love to see Barzal or Barkov.

 

[Marvin]

Does everyone here assume that every other GM is as dumb as XGMTM or XGMJB on trades?  We can expect better than the ROR return, but we are not getting a potential future 1C-in-waiting in return for Eichel, Reinhart, or Ristolainen.

[Buffalonill]

I see Buffalo forcing cozens into a role that he's not ready for and Running him

[Doohicksie]

14 minutes ago, steveoath said:

I think both are unobtainable but I would love to see Barzal or Barkov.

That's why I put the list up there.  It's not unreasonable to think that if they're dealing Reino and Eichel, they will get at least one pretty darned good center in return.

It's a tradeoff though:  The better next year's 1C is, the worse the prospect/young player return is.

Just now, Buffalonill said:

I see Buffalo forcing cozens into a role that he's not ready for and Running him

To be honest, if we were going to add youth that's not quite ready, I'd almost rather give Sheahan 1C minutes.  He's not that good, but it would more of a case of eating up minutes against the other team's top line.

[LGR4GM]

If we do lose Reinhart and Eichel, we should try to sign Danault. 

[Doohicksie]

Ah, and he's UFA.  No player capital needed to acquire him.  Added him to the list above.

[Buffalonill]

15 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

If we do lose Reinhart and Eichel, we should try to sign Danault. 

For how much? Hes not worth 7 million in my eyes 

[LGR4GM]

5 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

For how much? Hes not worth 7 million in my eyes 

Was thinking more like 5mil. Not sure where you got 7million from. 

He made 3.083 this past season. 

[#freejame]

4 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Was thinking more like 5mil. Not sure where you got 7million from. 

He made 3.083 this past season. 

I’ve read speculation that he’s going to get in the 5.5-6.25 range, which would be out of my limit. 5m I am comfortable with. 

[Buffalonill]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Was thinking more like 5mil. Not sure where you got 7million from. 

He made 3.083 this past season. 

He turned down 5 million for 6 so i doubt he signs for 5 

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, Buffalonill said:

He turned down 5 million for 6 so i doubt he signs for 5 

Sounds like he wants 5.5 per year. I wouldn't do 6 years (4 would be my max) but I would do 5.5

[Doohicksie]

12 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

For how much? Hes not worth 7 million in my eyes 

He is in his eyes.  He turned down $5M x 6 years earlier this season.

[LGR4GM]

Remember in Buffalo he is your default #2 center in this scenario because Eichel and Reinhart have been traded. If you keep 1 or both, there's no reason to get Danault. With his role in Montreal changing, he could take a shorter deal somewhere else to try and prove he is worth bigger money (maybe h does 2 years 5.5 to prove he's got it)

Anyways just spit ballin. 

2 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

He is in his eyes.  He turned down $5M x 6 years earlier this season.

Kahun turned down more money from Buffalo and got screwed. He thought he was worth more as well. Sometimes players get to UFA and realize they aren't worth more. That's why smart teams set their limits on players and stick to it. 

[Thorner]

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Sounds like he wants 5.5 per year. I wouldn't do 6 years (4 would be my max) but I would do 5.5

Any chance Reinhart would sign a 3 year deal? Promised 1C roll to inflate his value further? What would we rather have, Reinhart for 3 years at 7 per (not yet 29 when the deal ends) or Danault at 5.5 for 4 years?

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Any chance Reinhart would sign a 3 year deal? Promised 1C roll to inflate his value further? What would we rather have, Reinhart for 3 years at 7 per (not yet 29 when the deal ends) or Danault at 5.5 for 4 years?

I want Reinhart back and I would try to do 7milx4 

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I want Reinhart back and I would try to do 7milx4 

Ya that would be great. Normally here you push for the long term and it's that or you end up trading the player, but something in the 3-4 range may be a compromise that works for both. Doubt it. But I'd do it. Even at a higher cap hit 

[PerreaultForever]

If the trades happen I don't see us having a 1C with 1C minutes next year. I see us with 3 3Cs or if we're lucky 3 2Cs and a 1C will emerge over time (probably a year or two after). We will roll lines and reward good play with more ice time (which will change game to game). Just my guess. 

3 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I want Reinhart back and I would try to do 7milx4 

What??? I'm shocked 🙂

[Cal Naughton Jr]

Eichel is injured and makes 10 mil a year. Adams would be an idiot to trade him this offseason. No way would any team give up appropriate compensation for a healthy Jack Eichel. Let him get the surgery. Let him get to full strength. Hopefully he returns to form and be the productive Jack Eichel that we all know and love. If he still wants out, do it at the trade deadline next season

[Drag0nDan]

1 hour ago, steveoath said:

I think both are unobtainable but I would love to see Barzal or Barkov.

 

Barzal at 2/14 plus RFA rights on a still developing player vs. Eichel at 4/40 as possibly damaged goods. 

Barkov would be cool, as hes likely as good as Jack - but its 1yr 5.9.  They're better positioned long-term and buffalo's probably moving barkov at the deadline.  

[The Jokeman]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

If we do lose Reinhart and Eichel, we should try to sign Danault. 

If we lose those them both we're in trouble so I go hard to sign Filip Forsberg.

Edited May 17, 2021 by The Jokeman

[Curt]

20 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I want Reinhart back and I would try to do 7milx4 

I would do 7x6 or maybe even 8 yrs for Reinhart, but I really think he just wants to go elsewhere.

17 minutes ago, Cal Naughton Jr said:

Eichel is injured and makes 10 mil a year. Adams would be an idiot to trade him this offseason. No way would any team give up appropriate compensation for a healthy Jack Eichel. Let him get the surgery. Let him get to full strength. Hopefully he returns to form and be the productive Jack Eichel that we all know and love. If he still wants out, do it at the trade deadline next season

Generally teams are not able to clear $10m in space midseason.