Around the NHL: 2022 Off-season

[SDS]

8 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

That is 38 points in 60+ games playing with McDavid and Draisatl.  He is probably a 20 point winger with other linemates. He has no hockey sense. Hard Pass

An NHL player could get 38 points in figure skates playing with those two.

[Flashsabre]

Friedman reporting Matt Murray to Toronto talks are heating up.

My God PLEASE let this happen😁

Dubas’ strategy is just to get all his former Soo Greyhounds and everything will be great.

Taking a goalie with mental issues and dumping him into the Toronto Media Market is an absolute recipe for disaster.

[PerreaultForever]

9 hours ago, Rasmus_ said:

I seriously don't understand Fletcher at all. Talk about covering up cracks with character flaw and one dimensional offense.  He's so delusional.  

I know some Flyers fans and every single one of them hates Fletcher (and Holmgren and to some extent Clarke) and they all believe it's a tank season. And for Sabres fans satisfaction Risto is constantly ridiculed and they all feel they were fleeced in that trade. 

[ubkev]

 

[irregularly irregular]

10 hours ago, SDS said:

An NHL player could get 38 points in figure skates playing with those two.

A figure skater could get 38 points in hockey skates playing with those two.

[Contempt]

26 minutes ago, ubkev said:

 

I can't believe they are going to just give him away. Unreal.

[dudacek]

I wouldn’t pay Dylan Strome $3.8 million.

And NHL GMs obviously feel the same way, or someone would have traded for him.

It must be awful to be a Blackhawks fan.

[Weave]

4 hours ago, dudacek said:

I wouldn’t pay Dylan Strome $3.8 million.

And NHL GMs obviously feel the same way, or someone would have traded for him.

It must be awful to be a Blackhawks fan.

They are following the Sabres blueprint.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they meet or even exceed our record of futility.   Teardowns that deep are brutal to recover from.

[French Collection]

37 minutes ago, Weave said:

They are following the Sabres blueprint.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they meet or even exceed our record of futility.   Teardowns that deep are brutal to recover from.

And they might not get Bedard.

[Brawndo]

41 minutes ago, French Collection said:

And they might not get Bedard.

Even if they miss out on Bedard and Michkov, Adam Fantilli has a lot of potential. It’s a deep draft next year 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

They are following the Sabres blueprint.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they meet or even exceed our record of futility.   Teardowns that deep are brutal to recover from.

I like how you showed restraint in saying the dastardly word.

[ExWNYer]

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

I wouldn’t pay Dylan Strome $3.8 million.

And NHL GMs obviously feel the same way, or someone would have traded for him.

It must be awful to be a Blackhawks fan.

Three Cup championships in the in the last 13 years and six in their history. I'm 52 years and counting into following the Sabres with none. My heart bleeds for them...

22 minutes ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

I like how you showed restraint in saying the dastardly word.

Dick?

[kas23]

1 minute ago, ExWNYer said:

Three Cup championships in the in the last 13 years and six in their history. I'm 52 years and counting into following the Sabres with none. My heart bleeds for them...

Dick?

The T word. 

[ExWNYer]

Just now, kas23 said:

The T word. 

Yeah, I know. You're probably too young to have gotten my reference.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

12 minutes ago, ExWNYer said:

Three Cup championships in the in the last 13 years and six in their history. I'm 52 years and counting into following the Sabres with none. My heart bleeds for them...

Dick?

 

[Buffalonill]

57 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Even if they miss out on Bedard and Michkov, Adam Fantilli has a lot of potential. It’s a deep draft next year 

Yeah if we dont get a legit goalie will Join them .

[JohnC]

Attached is a link from the Buffalo News where Lance Lysowski plays a GM for a day. Most of his views fall within the framework of continuing to build from within. And his goalie thoughts are moderate and don't include any high end goalies. How he approaches the roster is the same as many here advocate for. I thought his views were moderate and modest. It seems that he is very attuned to what the GM is doing. 

https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/sabres-gm-for-the-day-plotting-a-course-for-a-tricky-offseason/article_9fca37ba-ff97-11ec-8140-0f3e18cdc487.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

 

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

Even if they miss out on Bedard and Michkov, Adam Fantilli has a lot of potential. It’s a deep draft next year 

It's the fool's gold of those extra "generational" players that goad GMs into full tear down mode.  Expecting they'll regret it as much as the Sabres do.

Adams should definitely kick the tires there (expecting he is) as the Sabres have prospects that they know won't make their own team because there are too many guys the same age that fit their plans better.  But Chicago's cupboard is bare and they'll need players while waiting for the Saint Berard to arrive.

[JohnC]

Within this WGR link is an interview with KA. It's approx. 17 mins. long. What he has said when he took over is what he is saying now. He has a plan and is not deviating from it. KA is clear and consistent. What he says he is going to do is what he is doing. 

https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/authors/howard-and-jeremy-show

[GoPuckYourself]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

Attached is a link from the Buffalo News where Lance Lysowski plays a GM for a day. Most of his views fall within the framework of continuing to build from within. And his goalie thoughts are moderate and don't include any high end goalies. How he approaches the roster is the same as many here advocate for. I thought his views were moderate and modest. It seems that he is very attuned to what the GM is doing. 

https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/sabres-gm-for-the-day-plotting-a-course-for-a-tricky-offseason/article_9fca37ba-ff97-11ec-8140-0f3e18cdc487.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

 

Yeah this is definitely more along the lines of what I feel are realistic options for us. It doesn't really make much sense adding high priced free agents when we still don't know who most of our core players are yet.

Those goalie options mentioned are more along the lines of what I've been saying we'll probably go after and I'm glad KA isn't giving up on UPL, if he can stay healthy I think he could be an option for us. Reimer would be a solid addition.

[steveoath]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

Attached is a link from the Buffalo News where Lance Lysowski plays a GM for a day. Most of his views fall within the framework of continuing to build from within. And his goalie thoughts are moderate and don't include any high end goalies. How he approaches the roster is the same as many here advocate for. I thought his views were moderate and modest. It seems that he is very attuned to what the GM is doing. 

https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/sabres-gm-for-the-day-plotting-a-course-for-a-tricky-offseason/article_9fca37ba-ff97-11ec-8140-0f3e18cdc487.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

 

Decent article. I like the idea of signing Stecher as Power's partner. Good vet and played with Power before. 

Edited July 11, 2022 by steveoath
Apostrophisation

[JohnC]

32 minutes ago, steveoath said:

Decent article. I like the idea of signing Stecher as Power's partner. Good vet and played with Power before. 

The transactions he suggests are all doable. I'm in the minority here but I thought that Joki worked well with Power. I foresee a veteran defenseman being added to the mix, but it is more likely a third pairing type player. As I said in a prior post it seems that Lysowski is aligned with the GM's thinking. 

[Taro T]

28 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The transactions he suggests are all doable. I'm in the minority here but I thought that Joki worked well with Power. I foresee a veteran defenseman being added to the mix, but it is more likely a third pairing type player. As I said in a prior post it seems that Lysowski is aligned with the GM's thinking. 

Jokiharju didn't get burned often when paired w/ Power because Power could cover for his mistakes.  Power's mistakes burned him, because Joki could not return the favor.  Give Power a partner that he can make the mistakes that come from being young in the best league in the world and watch him take his game to another level.  

Dahlin picked up his game post-AS game but it got even better when he got Samuelsson as a partner (swapping to the side he'd played in junior didn't hurt any either).  Having a guy you can trust to do what he's supposed to/ needs to do works wonders for a young guy.  Heck, Joki himself was looking very solid when he had Scandella to cover for his mistakes.

[JohnC]

49 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Jokiharju didn't get burned often when paired w/ Power because Power could cover for his mistakes.  Power's mistakes burned him, because Joki could not return the favor.  Give Power a partner that he can make the mistakes that come from being young in the best league in the world and watch him take his game to another level.  

Dahlin picked up his game post-AS game but it got even better when he got Samuelsson as a partner (swapping to the side he'd played in junior didn't hurt any either).  Having a guy you can trust to do what he's supposed to/ needs to do works wonders for a young guy.  Heck, Joki himself was looking very solid when he had Scandella to cover for his mistakes.

I'm not attempting to over-inflate Joki's talents. He may be a border-line second or good third pairing player. The issue becomes is the GM willing to pay for a second-pairing caliber of player to play with Power? And is that type of player available? I consider Joki more of a subordinate type of defenseman who doesn't lead the pairing but allows the primary player to dominate the play with his more expansive talent. He does that. And let me add that I still think there is more upside to his game to draw from. What I'm never going to complain about is a player moved down the ranks because of a better player is found. That in itself reflects a roster getting better and progress in general. 

[PerreaultForever]

6 hours ago, JohnC said:

Attached is a link from the Buffalo News where Lance Lysowski plays a GM for a day. Most of his views fall within the framework of continuing to build from within. And his goalie thoughts are moderate and don't include any high end goalies. How he approaches the roster is the same as many here advocate for. I thought his views were moderate and modest. It seems that he is very attuned to what the GM is doing. 

https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/sabres-gm-for-the-day-plotting-a-course-for-a-tricky-offseason/article_9fca37ba-ff97-11ec-8140-0f3e18cdc487.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

 

The problem I have with the logic here is it isn't applied evenly everywhere. He says sign Olofsson for 3 years in case the kids aren't ready and sign Hinostroza for 2 years as a placeholder of sorts but he's saying we don't want a goalie to "block" Levi as if he thinks Levi will magically jump into the starting role in a year or two. Utter nonsense. Levi is 3 or more years away from being an NHL starter. Signing a decent goalie for 3 years (like Yzerman did with Husso) doesn't "block" anyone, it just creates stability and depth and allows the team in front of that goalie to gain confidence (and win more). It's a contradiction of logic that simply serves as a justification for the failure to act. 

I suspect what we will see is close to what will happen though, and it's disappointing. This team is ripe for additions to take it over the hump, and not for more patient slow waiting.