Sabres Free Agency Thread

[tom webster]

8 minutes ago, Eleven said:

??  Darcy was masterful at trades.  He had his problems, but trading?  He was brilliant.

He was brilliant with trades he consummated but he left a lot in the table due in large part to over analysis with a little bit of trouble selling his point of view.

28 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Maybe because they have historically great draft classes?

I account for that possibility 

[Flashsabre]

3 hours ago, tom webster said:

And just to be clear. I’m very optimistic for the future but at some point KA has to make that move and I think he has had the chance. They have a crazy amount of prospects and I know they won’t all pan out but they really only need two or three to solidify this roster for three to four years.

Additionally, this is probably the last year where they have valued cap space over teams they are contending with and it seems they won’t be taking advantage of that either.

So what have you heard about the goalie situation. Are they just staying out or are they looking at a guy like Hellebuyck for a year?

[Drag0nDan]

On 6/30/2023 at 2:38 PM, Buffalonill said:

Did you basically call your friend  *****

i dunno what that means but they definitely smoke a ton of weed? If i had to guess, there's probably some other more party-focused drugs going around as well. 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Drag0nDan

[The Jokeman]

17 hours ago, sweetlou said:

I know Domi is looking for term, but if he doesn't get it, should the Sabres offer him a 1 yr $5 million to play with Cozens and JJP?

I'm also still very interested Tatar for one year.

As long as we have VO, JJP should be on the third line. 

[LGR4GM]

20 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

As long as we have VO, JJP should be on the third line. 

I can't thumbs down a post more than once but I absolutely recoil from the idea that because of Olofsson, JJP should be demoted. 

[The Jokeman]

3 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I can't thumbs down a post more than once but I absolutely recoil from the idea that because of Olofsson, JJP should be demoted. 

I like JJP as much as anybody but VO to me a better goal scorer at this point of their careers, and in terms of lack of defense JJP isn't a two way player yet either. 

[kas23]

4 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

Apparently a guy with connections on Flames HFboards says that Kevyn's offer for Hanifin was pick 86 and Olofsson lol. If that is true, the eichel trade will be kevyn's last real trade of his tenure at GM because nobody will ever value things like he does 

Well, considering Hanifan hasn’t been traded, it can equally be said the ask is unreasonable. 

[PerreaultForever]

12 hours ago, Curt said:

Sure GMs lie all the time, but agents, we can believe what they say?  Lol

Oh no, didn't mean to imply that. They lie on both sides around this time of year for sure. The players lie too as they tell you how excited they are to be wherever even if they signed that last minute one year deal when the offers they actually wanted disappear. eg. Taylor Hall coming to Buffalo. 

[Buffalonill]

12 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

I like JJP as much as anybody but VO to me a better goal scorer at this point of their careers, and in terms of lack of defense JJP isn't a two way player yet either. 

 

[Doohicksie]

23 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

57 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

I like JJP as much as anybody but VO to me a better goal scorer at this point of their careers, and in terms of lack of defense JJP isn't a two way player yet either. 

 

A hot take must be really, really bad if @Buffalonill and I both hate it.  😉

Edited July 3, 2023 by Doohickie

[FrenchConnection44]

1 hour ago, The Jokeman said:

I like JJP as much as anybody but VO to me a better goal scorer at this point of their careers, and in terms of lack of defense JJP isn't a two way player yet either. 

JJP was 20 at the start of the season. VO was 27. And in spite of 28 goals / 40 points he was a -23 (meaning 63 goals were scored while he was on the ice). However one needs to parse +/- that’s not good. JJP is likely to see significant improvement. Even if he’s not the scorer VO is he is not likely to be nearly the liability. 
 

[FrenchConnection44]

Still a lot of forwards out there and hopefully that brings the price down on some. I think a veteran along the lines of a Tatar on a 1 year deal (2 max) would be ideal to make up for the loss of Quinn. Assuming they buy in and fit the team concept. Tatar is not special but he finished 24th in Selke voting and that could be a positive. 🤷🏼‍♂️ Don’t want to spend big, imo. But I think we need one and that could open the door to trade Olafsson. If anyone is interested. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

To add fuel to this fire. Stats from NHL.com https://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?report=goalsForAgainst&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20222023&seasonTo=20222023&gameType=2&playerPlayedFor=franchise.19&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=evenStrengthGoalDifference&page=0&pageSize=50

VO:  On-ice Even Differential -18  

JJP: On-Ice Even Differential -14

Both were on the ice for 58 goals against, while VO was on the ice for 40 GF and JJP 44 GF at even strength.

VO was 5th on the Sabres with 21 EV goals and had 28 EV points.  JJP had 10 EV goals and 27 EV points.  

How DG allocates EV ice time and allocates line assignments will come down to camp battles.  

I think the only thing we know for sure is that Skinner TNT Tuch is the first line, DC is the 2nd line center and Z and KO anchor the 4th line.  After that I think DG will decide on how things play out in camp.

[Gatorman0519]

Looks like we are rolling back the same team with a slightly better bottom pairing defense.  Still needs a true top 4 d man and a goalie.  Rinse and repeat, unless of course there is a trade coming. 

[Carmel Corn]

16 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Looks like we are rolling back the same team with a slightly better bottom pairing defense.  Still needs a true top 4 d man and a goalie.  Rinse and repeat, unless of course there is a trade coming. 

IMHO - the defense corp is more than "slightly" improved vs. a year ago.  We'll have at least 6 bonafide NHL's out there and very possibly a better 2nd pairing because Joki hopefully moves to the 3rd.  No more Bryson is addition by subtraction.  Did we sign a top 4 stud?  Maybe not, but we are clearly better.

[Flashsabre]

43 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Looks like we are rolling back the same team with a slightly better bottom pairing defense.  Still needs a true top 4 d man and a goalie.  Rinse and repeat, unless of course there is a trade coming. 

Clifton is Power’s partner and will do well in the job. Johnson on the 3rd pair is an upgrade. I think Joker goes in a package for a goalie. 

[kas23]

10 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

IMHO - the defense corp is more than "slightly" improved vs. a year ago.  We'll have at least 6 bonafide NHL's out there and very possibly a better 2nd pairing because Joki hopefully moves to the 3rd.  No more Bryson is addition by subtraction.  Did we sign a top 4 stud?  Maybe not, but we are clearly better.

The Bryson addition by subtraction is huge. I’ll give a corollary argument. A not insignificant portion of last season was played with one of our top 4 injured and this coincided with a lot of lost games. These were the games Bryson was give top 4 minutes. Getting Clifton (and even Johnson) allow for this to never happen again. The result will be akin to getting a top 4 injury last year, but not having any drop off in play. That 8 game losing streak in November may never have happened. Last season the Sabres were 8-15-3 without Samuelsson.

[Buffalonill]

35 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

Clifton is Power’s partner and will do well in the job. Johnson on the 3rd pair is an upgrade. I think Joker goes in a package for a goalie. 

He's a 3rd pair defense hopefully Buffalo does not force him in the top 4 when he isn't one ..

[K-9]

3 hours ago, FrenchConnection44 said:

JJP was 20 at the start of the season. VO was 27. And in spite of 28 goals / 40 points he was a -23 (meaning 63 goals were scored while he was on the ice). However one needs to parse +/- that’s not good. JJP is likely to see significant improvement. Even if he’s not the scorer VO is he is not likely to be nearly the liability. 
 

Really looking forward to seeing JJP coming off that strong showing at the IIHF world tourney. Hoping it’s like Cozens’s was last year. 

[Doohicksie]

12 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

He's a 3rd pair defense hopefully Buffalo does not force him in the top 4 when he isn't one ..

He's gotten steadily better each season.  I'm not saying he's definitely going to thrive at 4D but it wouldn't surprise me.  He played on a pretty mature (old) team; now he will be one of the vets on defense. 

E Johnson will be there to fill in if it comes to that.

[Buffalonill]

5 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

He's gotten steadily better each season.  I'm not saying he's definitely going to thrive at 4D but it wouldn't surprise me.  He played on a pretty mature (old) team; now he will be one of the vets on defense. 

E Johnson will be there to fill in if it comes to that.

I thought this was for jokers spot I'm not saying it's a bad signing just moving from a 6,7 spot to a top 4 seems risky. 

That's why I'm hoping for a top 4 D trade so they aren't forcing people in roles they haven't done

[Doohicksie]

1 minute ago, Buffalonill said:

I thought this was for jokers spot I'm not saying it's a bad signing just moving from a 6,7 spot to a top 4 seems risky. 

That's why I'm hoping for a top 4 D trade so they aren't forcing people in roles they haven't done

Yep, I totally get it, and there's no telling if Kevyn is done with the D.  But I also don't know what the analytics dept. projects for Clifton.  They might have him as a legit 4D.  If nothing else, the team seems to projecting Clifton as that, if only to lean them toward an advantage in trade negotiations for an actual 4D.

I'm not going to say that every trade Kevyn makes is going to be like the Eichel trade, but if you look to what he said and how he played it, he seemed to manipulate the market to get what he wanted.

Kevyn Adams is shrewder than his "aw shucks" demeanor would indicate.

[Dr. Who]

3 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

I thought this was for jokers spot I'm not saying it's a bad signing just moving from a 6,7 spot to a top 4 seems risky. 

That's why I'm hoping for a top 4 D trade so they aren't forcing people in roles they haven't done

That would be ideal. To me, Clifton is a 4-5 tweener. He might rise to the occasion and be an excellent partner for Power, but I'd prefer to have more options there. If you truly bring in a top 4D without question marks and slot Clifton to third pair, the D would be strong, but as others have pointed out, we're reaching a level of investment cap wise on D where you're probably not paying another big salary.

[Turbo44]

31 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

He's a 3rd pair defense hopefully Buffalo does not force him in the top 4 when he isn't one ..

He played top line minutes for Boston for the 20 games mcavoy was out. Small sample size but analytics were outstanding. I’ll trust the professional scouts on this one

[Buffalonill]

28 minutes ago, Turbo44 said:

He played top line minutes for Boston for the 20 games mcavoy was out. Small sample size but analytics were outstanding. I’ll trust the professional scouts on this one

You could say it's boston system that helped also . Like I said it's not bad signing just thought it be for Joker. 

So  they focus on the top 4