Johnny Utah Posted January 14, 2023 Report Posted January 14, 2023 Just looking at the pipeline to see who might be leaving and what the replacement situation look like. I'm not sure what some of the contracts look like so I just went to CapFriendly to see the Sabres and NHL contracts. Current Amerks (RFAs and UFAs) Murray - 24yrs RFA Rousek - 24yrs RFA Weissbach - 24yrs RFA Bjork - 26yrs RFA Pekar - 22yrs RFA Malone - 27yrs UFA Pilut - 27yrs UFA Priskie - 26yrs UFA Davies - 26yrs RFA Cecconi - 25yrs RFA Lots of decisions to make in this group but not sure I see any obvious graduations to Sabres. Lots of value players that may or may not be back. Age will play a role as well within Adams plans Possible Amerks Additions Levi - G (unsigned) Portillo - G (unsigned) Johnson - D (unsigned) Komarov - D (unsigned) Novikov - D (unsigned) Östlund - F (signed) Bloom - F (signed) Nadeau - F (signed) Marjala - F (unsigned) Karlsson - F (unsigned) Konecny - F (unsigned) Neuchev - F (unsigned) Ratkovic - F (unsigned) Sjodin - F (unsigned) Lofberg - F (unsigned) Think they will sign Levi this year and he will be our main goalie going forward with UPL sticking with Sabres. Portillo and Johnson walk or are traded so not part of the long term picture. Seems the ones that make sense are the signed players in Östlund, Bloom and Nadeau. Before you jump all over me....Savoie, Lindgren and Richard (?) are too young so they have not been considered and Poltopov is signed in Russia for the next few years. Quote
GASabresIUFAN Posted January 14, 2023 Report Posted January 14, 2023 (edited) The first question is what do the Amerks need? Who is under contract for next season. At forward (6) - Biro, Kozak, Cederqvist, Kulich, Rosen, and Kisakov are with the Amerks now and under contract for next season. Odds are that all will return to the Amerks next season. Maybe Kulich makes a run at an NHL roster spot. Maybe. On Defense - Prow is signed to an AHL deal for next season. In Goal - no one That's a pretty clean slate to build from. Bloom and Nadeau should be in Rochester next season. Östlund is also likely, bringing the signed forwards to 9. Malone, Rousek and maybe Weissbach return, although I think Rousek will get a look with the Sabres at some point this season. In goal - I think they like Subban and he seems happy here. I can easily see him being retained. On Defense it's anyone's guess what he does. We have no prospects to speak of unless Johnson signs and he might compete for a slot in Buffalo. I think they like Clague, but he too maybe in Buffalo next year. Odds favor KA looking for more AAAA guys like Clague who are still considered developmental players by the AHL, but who have some NHL experience. I honestly hope he moves a forward to get a legit D prospect or two into the pipeline. Edited January 15, 2023 by GASabresIUFAN 2 1 Quote
DarthEbriate Posted January 14, 2023 Report Posted January 14, 2023 In addition to the pipeline, there's always the question of which leaders might want to come back (or be brought in from other AHL squads). The kids will need at least a couple of Merschs and Malones on AHL deals. Quote
Claude Balls Posted January 15, 2023 Report Posted January 15, 2023 The Amerks jersey's tonight were, as the kids say, 🔥fire 🔥 1 Quote
matter2003 Posted January 15, 2023 Report Posted January 15, 2023 6 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said: The first question is what do the Amerks need? Who is under contract for next season. At forward (6) - Biro, Kozak, Cederqvist, Kulich, Rosen, and Kisakov are with the Amerks now and under contract for next season. Odds are that all will return to the Amerks next season. Maybe Kulich makes a run at an NHL roster spot. Maybe. On Defense - Prow is signed to an AHL deal for next season. In Goal - no one That's a pretty clean slate to build from. I think assume Bloom and Nadeau will be in Rochester next season. Östlund is also likely, bring the signed forwards to 9. Malone, Rousek and maybe Weissbach probably return, although I think Rousek will get a look with the Sabres at some point this season. In goal - I think they like Subban and he seems happy here. I can easily see him being retained. On Defense it's anyone's guess what he does. We have no prospects to speak of unless Johnson signs and he might compete for a slot in Buffalo. I think they like Clague, but he to maybe in Buffalo next year. Odds favor KA looking for more AAAA guys like Clague who are still considered developmental players by the AHL, but who have some NHL experience. I honestly hope he moves a forward to get a legit D prospect or two into the pipeline. Subban is terrible. Why do the Sabres like bad goalies so much? 1 1 Quote
Taro T Posted January 15, 2023 Report Posted January 15, 2023 7 minutes ago, matter2003 said: Subban is terrible. Why do the Sabres like bad goalies so much? Well, in Subban's case, he's 1 heck of an anthem singer. 1 Quote
Porous Five Hole Posted January 15, 2023 Report Posted January 15, 2023 37 minutes ago, matter2003 said: Subban is terrible. Why do the Sabres like bad goalies so much? I’m not 100% sure, but I believe he won six straight prior to tonight. 2 Quote
Zamboni Posted January 15, 2023 Report Posted January 15, 2023 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said: I’m not 100% sure, but I believe he won six straight prior to tonight. He’s also 9-3 in the 12 games he’s played. He’s exactly in the right league right now. Overall Subban is doing pretty good in the AHL. Hopefully he can get that GAA below 3 at some point. Edited January 15, 2023 by Zamboni 2 1 Quote
pastajoe Posted January 15, 2023 Report Posted January 15, 2023 1 hour ago, matter2003 said: Subban is terrible. Why do the Sabres like bad goalies so much? Was it him or the players in front of him? Quote
LPJets16 Posted January 15, 2023 Report Posted January 15, 2023 18 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said: The first question is what do the Amerks need? Who is under contract for next season. At forward (6) - Biro, Kozak, Cederqvist, Kulich, Rosen, and Kisakov are with the Amerks now and under contract for next season. Odds are that all will return to the Amerks next season. Maybe Kulich makes a run at an NHL roster spot. Maybe. On Defense - Prow is signed to an AHL deal for next season. In Goal - no one That's a pretty clean slate to build from. Bloom and Nadeau should be in Rochester next season. Östlund is also likely, bringing the signed forwards to 9. Malone, Rousek and maybe Weissbach return, although I think Rousek will get a look with the Sabres at some point this season. In goal - I think they like Subban and he seems happy here. I can easily see him being retained. On Defense it's anyone's guess what he does. We have no prospects to speak of unless Johnson signs and he might compete for a slot in Buffalo. I think they like Clague, but he too maybe in Buffalo next year. Odds favor KA looking for more AAAA guys like Clague who are still considered developmental players by the AHL, but who have some NHL experience. I honestly hope he moves a forward to get a legit D prospect or two into the pipeline. Not sure why KA left us so thin on D. I hope he is looking hard for a D via trade as we have too many forwards given 8 or 9 Sabres F spots are already locked up. Kulich is going to push hard for a spot in Buffalo. He looks like a steal at #24 and is very mature for his age. Östlund is staying in Sweden another year per prior comments and his underwhelming performance at World Juniors. Quote
dudacek Posted January 15, 2023 Report Posted January 15, 2023 (edited) 20 minutes ago, LPJets16 said: Not sure why KA left us so thin on D. I hope he is looking hard for a D via trade as we have too many forwards given 8 or 9 Sabres F spots are already locked up. Kulich is going to push hard for a spot in Buffalo. He looks like a steal at #24 and is very mature for his age. Östlund is staying in Sweden another year per prior comments and his underwhelming performance at World Juniors. Little premature to worry too much about the Rochester D. Clague, Davies, Priskie and Pilut were all signed this summer to fill out the team depth. If none of them re-sign there will always be more of their type looking for work. In terms of developmental Sabres though, they are thin beyond Johnson. Nikita Novikov is a very interesting player and his Russian contract is up. If he wasn’t Russian, I’d say he’s here for sure. But he’s Russian. The only other candidate is Swedish 7th-rounder Albert Lyckasen, who is a big-time longshot. Edited January 15, 2023 by dudacek Quote
DarthEbriate Posted January 15, 2023 Report Posted January 15, 2023 30 minutes ago, LPJets16 said: Not sure why KA left us so thin on D. I hope he is looking hard for a D via trade as we have too many forwards given 8 or 9 Sabres F spots are already locked up. Kulich is going to push hard for a spot in Buffalo. He looks like a steal at #24 and is very mature for his age. Östlund is staying in Sweden another year per prior comments and his underwhelming performance at World Juniors. The lack of NHL-contract/prospect controlled D is systemic of drafting and not hitting on some AHL-level guys, and started back with JBott and Housley. The first JBott draft got Laaksonen (moved for AHL-equivalent but defensive in Ceccione) and Bryson (7/8). Only 6 picks, though. Second JBott draft Dahlin (obvious pick and a 1D) and Samuelsson (2/3). Then the 3 guys who never crossed the pond (Kronholm, Kukkonen, Worge Kreu). So far, great for the NHL. 2 drafts and a future top-pair and a depth guy. But no AHLers except Ceccione via trade. JBott's third and final draft is where it went awry: only 1 D in only 6 picks. Ryan Johnson, still in college and may not sign. That is the draft we'd expect to have folks in the AHL (as Rousek and Cederqvist are), but there are 3 players still in college. Finally, GM Sheevyn's 1st draft only 1 D chosen in Lyckasen. The next draft was Power who skipped the AHL entirely, but there's only 1 other D chosen (Novikov) and he's still too young. Not enough picks devoted to the position. The positive side: Pilut returned from the KHL. The negative: Fitz got claimed off waivers otherwise that Amerks D lineup would be pretty solid. Karmanos made a very shrewd move to get Bartkowski when the injuries hit earlier this season and Laaksonen was still on his way out. And Clague is good enough to be a 7/8 and would get claimed if waived. One more UFA NHL D signed this past summer might have flipped the balance though -- a 3rd pair of UFA + Boushh, Bryson as the 7. Then AHL top 4 of: Pilut-Fitz, Prow-Clague (and could still get Bartkowski when the injuries hit). It still wouldn't address the lack of rookie contracts in the pipeline though. I do expect to see at 2 of the Sabres top 4 picks go toward the blue line this summer. Quote
French Collection Posted January 15, 2023 Report Posted January 15, 2023 1 hour ago, dudacek said: Little premature to worry too much about the Rochester D. Clague, Davies, Priskie and Pilut were all signed this summer to fill out the team depth. If none of them re-sign there will always be more of their type looking for work. In terms of developmental Sabres though, they are thin beyond Johnson. Nikita Novikov is a very interesting player and his Russian contract is up. If he wasn’t Russian, I’d say he’s here for sure. But he’s Russian. The only other candidate is Swedish 7th-rounder Albert Lyckasen, who is a big-time longshot. It would be good for Novikov to come over. He is an interesting prospect and it would be beneficial for the Sabres to get him under their umbrella and see how he develops. He could be another Mule. Quote
inkman Posted January 15, 2023 Report Posted January 15, 2023 2 hours ago, dudacek said: Little premature to worry too much about the Rochester D. No one needs to worry about the Rochester D. 1 Quote
Taro T Posted January 15, 2023 Report Posted January 15, 2023 4 hours ago, inkman said: No one needs to worry about the Rochester D. Yup. The seeming dearth of prospects is mildly concerning for the big club, but Adams will find enough D tweeners in the next offseason to have Ra-cha-cha fully stocked. (Although likely w/ only offensive D-men if the past 2 offseasons are indicators of what to expect moving forward.) Quote
GASabresIUFAN Posted January 16, 2023 Report Posted January 16, 2023 I’m wondering if Komarov is signed and joins the Amerks next season. He just turned 19, but as a Russian player, I doubt he falls under the CHL’s 20 year old rule. Quote
French Collection Posted January 16, 2023 Report Posted January 16, 2023 24 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said: I’m wondering if Komarov is signed and joins the Amerks next season. He just turned 19, but as a Russian player, I doubt he falls under the CHL’s 20 year old rule. I would bet he joins. Quebec is going for it this year and next season is a rebuild. They have 15 guys born in 2003 and 3 in 2002 on their roster. Quote
GASabresIUFAN Posted January 16, 2023 Report Posted January 16, 2023 Forwards Huglen and Costantini may want contracts after this season but they seem to have taken a step back. Not sure where they fit it with our deep forward group. On Defense it would be great if Novikov could get out of Russia, but that is a huge if. Not sure which other prospects are ready to make the jump from Europe or are eligible from the CHL. Quote
Claude Balls Posted January 16, 2023 Report Posted January 16, 2023 7 hours ago, inkman said: No one needs to worry about the Rochester D. Right. Let's just worry about being a little premature. 2 Quote
Johnny Utah Posted January 18, 2023 Author Report Posted January 18, 2023 What the scoop on Brett Murray ? Under contract ? Trade bait ? Back next year ? Quote
matter2003 Posted January 18, 2023 Report Posted January 18, 2023 I am a real American...fight for the rights of every man... Quote
Porous Five Hole Posted January 18, 2023 Report Posted January 18, 2023 1 hour ago, Johnny Utah said: What the scoop on Brett Murray ? Under contract ? Trade bait ? Back next year ? He’s an RFA again. He can be qualified by the team for something close to his current NHL/AHL salary of 750k/225k. 13 goals, 11 assists, 24 pts in 32 games. He’s a tweener. Not fast enough for the show, but big enough to get by in the AHL. If he’s good in the locker room, I can see the team bringing him back. He’s not really blocking anybody. But I believe his days of being considered an NHL prospect are dead. 1 Quote
Johnny Utah Posted January 30, 2023 Author Report Posted January 30, 2023 I like Murray because he brings some size and edge. When I look at the potential on Rochester next year I like him and the additions of Nadeau (6'2 and 200) and Bloom (6'2 and 185). They seem to be the only two forward prospects with any size. Everyone else including most of the rookies on Rochester this year are 5"10ish and 170......need a few bigger bodies to go with some D prospects in the summer Quote
French Collection Posted January 30, 2023 Report Posted January 30, 2023 59 minutes ago, Johnny Utah said: I like Murray because he brings some size and edge. When I look at the potential on Rochester next year I like him and the additions of Nadeau (6'2 and 200) and Bloom (6'2 and 185). They seem to be the only two forward prospects with any size. Everyone else including most of the rookies on Rochester this year are 5"10ish and 170......need a few bigger bodies to go with some D prospects in the summer Nadeau and Bloom are bigger bodies, but neither really plays with an edge. Nadeau’s bread and butter is as a net front presence on the PP. I haven’t seen him play for Gatineau yet, so maybe he’s adding layers to his game. Bloom is a good winger with decent all around skills. He can play some C and plays both special teams. He seems to find ways to score a lot of shorties. Quote
Johnny Utah Posted February 1, 2023 Author Report Posted February 1, 2023 Go to HockeyFights.com and look either of them up.....both are not intimidated at all and more than comfortable to drop gloves when required. Quote
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