Layout Your Offseason Plan

[sweetlou]

I'm more inclined to signing KO to a one year deal than signing Girgs to a 3-4 year deal.

KO can play half the games,( front end of back to backs), and split time on 4th line RW with Jost,(who also signs one year deal).  

This also allows Kulich one more year to work on defensive side of game in Roch.

 

[dudacek]

Why shouldn’t the Sabres play Mittelstadt and Cozens together next year?

They made some nice plays when they were together.

Put a rejuvenated Greenway with them for matchup purposes and you might be looking at a very good 2nd line.

Krebs between Girgs and Okposo (or veteran upgrades) on a checking line.

Savoie slides in between Jack and JJ to fill the Vanek/Roy/Max 2006 role feasting on 3rd-pairings.

The more I think about it, the more I like it.

[Flashsabre]

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Why shouldn’t the Sabres play Mittelstadt and Cozens together next year?

They made some nice plays when they were together.

Put a rejuvenated Greenway with them for matchup purposes and you might be looking at a very good 2nd line.

Krebs between Girgs and Okposo (or veteran upgrades) on a checking line.

Savoie slides in between Jack and JJ to fill the Vanek/Roy/Max 2006 role feasting on 3rd-pairings.

The more I think about it, the more I like it.

You could try it.  I would have Cozens as the centre on the line.

[FrenchConnection44]

12 hours ago, dudacek said:

Why shouldn’t the Sabres play Mittelstadt and Cozens together next year?

They made some nice plays when they were together.

Put a rejuvenated Greenway with them for matchup purposes and you might be looking at a very good 2nd line.

Krebs between Girgs and Okposo (or veteran upgrades) on a checking line.

Savoie slides in between Jack and JJ to fill the Vanek/Roy/Max 2006 role feasting on 3rd-pairings.

The more I think about it, the more I like it.

I just don't know what to think about Middlestadt. He improved this year. But I think he's a passing center. 

He is fast and can pass decently, but he just doesn't have a great shot or scoring prowess. As a wing, I just don't see him taking advantage of Cozens talent, imo. 

I can see Savoie in that slot at C next year. 

But eventually I think Savoie and Kulich on a line would be ideal (not this year but in 2024-25). Both can skate fast. Savoie has lots of great tools for scoring, handle, and passing; and Kulich is a sniper.

In fact, in two years - perhaps even some this season - I think our PP will include Kulich and Tage on the wings and goalies will be caught in a cross fire. 

 

 

[Thorner]

On 5/9/2023 at 10:18 AM, Brawndo said:

KO gets one more year if He wants it as GMKA has mentioned. 
 

Zemgus will be 30 next season is probably looking for a longer term deal in the 3-4 year range. Will the Sabres be interested in doing that? 
Zemgus said at the end of year, he would like to be back but this is a business. Adams has mentioned Okposo however has been coy about Zemgus. 
 

If the idea is to keep Krebs as the 4th Line Center, it would be much better for him to have wingers with some offensive finishing ability which Zemgus certainly does not provide. 

And neither does KO, unfortunately 

[Thorner]

9 hours ago, FrenchConnection44 said:

I just don't know what to think about Middlestadt. He improved this year. But I think he's a passing center. 

He is fast and can pass decently, but he just doesn't have a great shot or scoring prowess. As a wing, I just don't see him taking advantage of Cozens talent, imo. 

I can see Savoie in that slot at C next year. 

But eventually I think Savoie and Kulich on a line would be ideal (not this year but in 2024-25). Both can skate fast. Savoie has lots of great tools for scoring, handle, and passing; and Kulich is a sniper.

In fact, in two years - perhaps even some this season - I think our PP will include Kulich and Tage on the wings and goalies will be caught in a cross fire. 

 

 

Casey is fine as a winger because we (see: most teams) play “positionless hAckey” in the o-zone. While positions matter while defending and in transition (making Cozens the better natural C) while on O Casey can still free flow to play to his strengths. But imo he seems fine on board battles and getting his shot off, anyways 

[Broken Ankles]

4 hours ago, Thorny said:

And neither does KO, unfortunately 

KO ranked 314 in scoring last year.  Less the included D he is top 250 amongst forwards with ice time less than many around him.  That’s what -low third line numbers?  Names like Van Reimsdyk, Cirelli, Fast, Eric Staal and C Dvorak all had the same point totals. If he comes in as true fourth line guy on a reasonable AAV I can live  with what offers on the ice, and more importantly what he brings off. 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Broken Ankles
Spelling

[FrenchConnection44]

On 5/9/2023 at 10:18 AM, Brawndo said:

KO gets one more year if He wants it as GMKA has mentioned. 
 

Zemgus will be 30 next season is probably looking for a longer term deal in the 3-4 year range. Will the Sabres be interested in doing that? 
Zemgus said at the end of year, he would like to be back but this is a business. Adams has mentioned Okposo however has been coy about Zemgus. 
 

If the idea is to keep Krebs as the 4th Line Center, it would be much better for him to have wingers with some offensive finishing ability which Zemgus certainly does not provide. 

I don’t see the point in resigning Girgs with the cap space and the need for more dynamic two way players on lines 3-4. Just don’t see him offering anything special or unique. 

[Thorner]

13 hours ago, Broken Ankles said:

KO ranked 314 in scoring last year.  Less the included D he is top 250 amongst forwards with ice time less than many around him.  That’s what -low third line numbers?  Names like Van Reimsdyk, Cirelli, Fast, Eric Staal and C Dvorak all had the same point totals. If he comes in as true fourth line guy on a reasonable AAV I can live  with what offers on the ice, and more importantly what he brings off. 

In a year where we need to make the playoffs I sure don’t see an issue with aiming for something a little better than someone we “can live with”, particularly when his numbers are only trending down, and his production rate was actually a good deal lower than Cirelli, Van Reimsdyk, Dvorak (who all missed a substantial amount of games), and when he’s 35 and no where close to committing the two-way game of a J. Fast (who I still really like btw, remember advocating for him). Even the husk of Eric Staal out produced him by rate. But to each their own. 

- By points per game Okposo was 310th in the league, for Forwards. Solidly 4th line and dipping. 

- KO ranked 22nd on the Sabres with a -7 rating 

- in KO’s second half of 2022-23 season, over his final 41 games he registered 11 points and was a -12. 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Thorny

[French Collection]

7 minutes ago, Thorny said:

In a year where we need to make the playoffs I sure don’t see an issue with aiming for something a little better than someone we “can live with”, particularly when his numbers are only trending down, and his production rate was actually a good deal lower than Cirelli, Van Reimsdyk, Dvorak (who all missed a substantial amount of games), and when he’s 35 and no where close to committing the two-way game of a J. Fast (who I still really like btw, remember advocating for him). Even the husk of Eric Staal out produced him by rate. But to each their own. 

- By points per game Okposo was 310th in the league. Solidly 4th line and dipping. 

- KO ranked 22nd on the Sabres with a -7 rating 

I’ve said it before, I like KO a lot but his effectiveness was not there. He has lost a step or two, wasn’t winning many board battles and his zone entry was a dump in or getting pinned along the wall.

The only way I want him back is as a part time player (Hinestroza role) to get his 1000th game. Even there he may be taking the place of someone who can provide more on ice value for the Sabres.

He has helped form the new culture in Buffalo but I would prefer a vet or two with lots of playoff experience and maybe a Cup to support the new leaders (Dahlin, Tuch, Cozens). KO only has 24 playoff games played in 16 years of hockey. A guy like JT Compher got almost that many games last season.

[Thorner]

3 minutes ago, French Collection said:

I’ve said it before, I like KO a lot but his effectiveness was not there. He has lost a step or two, wasn’t winning many board battles and his zone entry was a dump in or getting pinned along the wall.

The only way I want him back is as a part time player (Hinestroza role) to get his 1000th game. Even there he may be taking the place of someone who can provide more on ice value for the Sabres.

He has helped form the new culture in Buffalo but I would prefer a vet or two with lots of playoff experience and maybe a Cup to support the new leaders (Dahlin, Tuch, Cozens). KO only has 24 playoff games played in 16 years of hockey. A guy like JT Compher got almost that many games last season.

I understand the wwe wanting to get Roman Reigns to 1000 days as champ because it’s a scripted narrative but rostering KO in an effort to get him to 1000 games should be *so* far from the top of Adams’ mindset 

[FrenchConnection44]

On 5/11/2023 at 4:28 PM, Thorny said:

Casey is fine as a winger because we (see: most teams) play “positionless hAckey” in the o-zone. While positions matter while defending and in transition (making Cozens the better natural C) while on O Casey can still free flow to play to his strengths. But imo he seems fine on board battles and getting his shot off, anyways 

There is some sense to the positionless aspect and that may benefit him. Who knows. I'm not entirely opposed to that or certainly giving it a try. But I would not put much stock in his ability to get his shot off simply because it's been neither precise or potent. I'd like to have at least one other, if not two, goal scorer alongside Cozens. I think you'll see Quinn and Peterka pass up Middlestadt in goal scoring and shot % next year. They've had one season and nearly matched Casey (whose first full season came 5 years back in 2018-19) in goals scored. This year CM proved he can pass and set up others pretty well. But Cozens is both a goal scorer and distributor.  To me CM is more of a 3rd line level - bottom 6 - player. Cozens is clearly a top 6 talent. And I think Quinn is going to be that; perhaps Peterka. But I'd say Peterka has better goal scoring quality than CM - unless CM develops a sniper shot out of the blue at age 25. 

I also suspect that within two years, if they continue to progress as they have, we'll see Savoie and Kulich (and perhaps even Rosen) pass up CM for offensive firepower.  

On the other hand, if we are going to continue to develop Krebs it might be good to put some more offensive firepower alongside him and see what happens there - so that may require fitting CM on a line with Cozens. 

Part of the trickiness to the equation is calculating how well and how fast these 19-22 year olds develop - relative to Casey at 24; who, given he did miss a good bit of time the past 3 years with injuries, could have a higher ceiling than it appears. But all that is also an unknown. In the mean time we have to push to win, not just develop. I'm all for whatever benefits that. New Jersey is about the same age range and they made a big jump this past year. We've progressed a bit more slowly. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by FrenchConnection44
Misspelling

[Flashsabre]

https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Eklund/What-Should-Sabres-Do-With-Okposo-Sabres-interested-in-Hellebuycke4/1/121719

Hellebuyck and Demelo for #13 and UPL? Hellebuyck has one year left.

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Eklund/What-Should-Sabres-Do-With-Okposo-Sabres-interested-in-Hellebuycke4/1/121719

Hellebuyck and Demelo for #13 and UPL? Hellebuyck has one year left.

They won’t make that deal.  Didn’t we just hire a goalie from Wpg?  As much as I like Helle, even if acquired don’t expect similar results in our system.  That doesn’t mean he won’t be a huge upgrade over UPL and Comrie, but we’d actually get is an unknown for the price such a deal would command

[Quint]

Offseason plan: Defense, defense, defense. And one good veteran goalie.

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, Quint said:

Offseason plan: Defense, defense, defense. And one good veteran goalie.

The more I watch the playoffs the more I realize we are Toronto 2.0.  Lots of flash but not built for winning playoff hockey.  Bringing in Greenway was KA’s first acknowledgment of this fact.  

I agree with your post. If I were the GM, I move on from VO, Joki, UPL, Comrie, Lyubushkin and Stillman.  Yes Stillman and Bush are physical players but they are out of position so often that they aren’t effective.   

Obviously this isn’t going to happen.  The best we can hope for is the acquisition of two good D. Hopefully then, we carry 8 D for depth and that the two new guys force two of Joki, Stillman and Bush to the press box.  I also want one of the new D to be a veteran mentor for our young D group.  

As for goaltending, I’d love to see a mentor for Levi who can still play 40 games if necessary.  Entering next season with UPL or Comrie backing up Levi has disaster written all over it.

[sweetlou]

I think Noel Acciari would be a great 4th line center for the next 3 years.   Finishes his checks, wins over 50% of face-offs, has good speed, will get you 10-15 goals, great on PK, and has playoff experience.

[Crusader1969]

18 minutes ago, sweetlou said:

I think Noel Acciari would be a great 4th line center for the next 3 years.   Finishes his checks, wins over 50% of face-offs, has good speed, will get you 10-15 goals, great on PK, and has playoff experience.

Was about to write the same thing !

Acciari, Hill and Graves via free agency 

Hanifan (or Zadorov) and Lawson Crouse by trade 

draft Simashev or Willander 

bring back Jost and KO 

Lets roll!!! 

Skinner; Thompson   Tuch

JJP   Cozens   Quinn

Savoie    Mitts    Crouse

Krebs Acciari. Greenway 

KO. Jost 

———-

Samuelsson. Dahlin

Power. Graves

Hanifin. Lyubushkin 

Stillman. Joker 

Levi

Hill 

Comrie

[GASabresIUFAN]

2 hours ago, Quint said:

Offseason plan: Defense, defense, defense. And one good veteran goalie.

To follow on my earlier post there was an inflection point in the build of the current Leafs team when they had a choice of adding Tavares or defense and goaltending. They chose Tavares.  Oops. 

The Sabres are at the same inflection point.  Hopefully, KA finally invests in defense this off-season.  

[JohnC]

6 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

To follow on my earlier post there was an inflection point in the build of the current Leafs team when they had a choice of adding Tavares or defense and goaltending. They chose Tavares.  Oops. 

The Sabres are at the same inflection point.  Hopefully, KA finally invests in defense this off-season.  

If you were given an option to add two 4/5 tweener defenders or one #4 defender, which option would you choose? In this case I would take quantity over quality. 

[Archie Lee]

49 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

To follow on my earlier post there was an inflection point in the build of the current Leafs team when they had a choice of adding Tavares or defense and goaltending. They chose Tavares.  Oops. 

The Sabres are at the same inflection point.  Hopefully, KA finally invests in defense this off-season.  

Well, we know that from a salary cap perspective, Adams is highly unlikely to make a "Tavares-like" investment for the forward group or the defence. 

One thing Adams has been pretty clear on is that he believes he needs to know a player before he commits long-term to them. Adams won't be signing another team's UFA to a long-term big money deal.  He also won't be taking on a long-term deal in a trade (there won't be a Parayko-like acquisition).  Any trade acquisition or free agent signing is likely to be for 2-3 years max, so that it does not hand-cuff the team long-term in the event that the player is not a good fit. 

The lesson with Tavares, in my view, is that patience is key.  The best player available in any particular off-season, is not likely to be the best-player for the long-term.  

[Broken Ankles]

10 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

Was about to write the same thing !

Acciari, Hill and Graves via free agency 

Hanifan (or Zadorov) and Lawson Crouse by trade 

draft Simashev or Willander 

bring back Jost and KO 

Lets roll!!! 

Skinner; Thompson   Tuch

JJP   Cozens   Quinn

Savoie    Mitts    Crouse

Krebs Acciari. Greenway 

KO. Jost 

———-

Samuelsson. Dahlin

Power. Graves

Hanifin. Lyubushkin 

Stillman. Joker 

Levi

Hill 

Comrie

How can you acquire Hanifin and not lay him on the third line? 

[Crusader1969]

He’s not playing ahead of Dahlin or Power 

42 minutes ago, Broken Ankles said:

How can you acquire Hanifin and not lay him on the third line? 

 

[dudacek]

Athletic reporting Sabres have interest in Hellebuyck. It’s Russo and Duhatschek, plugged in and not generally clickbaiters.

https://theathletic.com/4516857/2023/05/15/nhl-offseason-trade-board-hellebuyck-maple-leafs/
 

Hellebuyck is one of the NHL’s few true No. 1, workhorse goaltenders. He won the Vezina in 2020 and is a finalist again. How much is he going to want on a long-term deal? Currently making $6.16 million, he could command $9 million-plus on the open market. Can the Jets stomach that?

If he becomes available, don’t be surprised if Buffalo and New Jersey take big swings.

One thing we’ve heard early this offseason is that the Sabres have interest in Hellebuyck, with the belief that a genuine No. 1 goaltender could be the last remaining piece in turning them into contenders. Getting one would also allow them to hold off on turning the reins over to Devon Levi until he’s proven to be NHL-ready.

The Jets would want young team-controlled assets in exchange, and the Sabres have plenty of those — from a youngish goaltender in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to promising talents like Peyton Krebs and even Casey Mittelstadt.

[GASabresIUFAN]

What experience does Hellebuyck have in a system like ours ? Excellent goalie and I agree we need a good vet to protect Levi next year.  I even agree with trading UPL and am ok with moving Krebs, however I want someone experienced with  a higher event system.  

Is Hellebuyck talented enough to succeed in Buffalo? Sure, but he only has one year left on his deal and it may take him the year to adjust.  

I also think Wpg will want more than KA wants to give for a goalie who can leave in a year.

Great that KA think a UPL/Levi combo isn’t the answer, but we need someone with more term and high event experience.