Sabres Announce Owen Power Extension 7 years, 8.35 Million AAV

[SABRES 0311]

Just under 20mil to keep OP and Dahlin. I’m good with it.

[dudacek]

13 minutes ago, Thorny said:

It’s funny, I think it’s probably the opposite. These contracts looks to me to be Kevyn Adams handling the cap situation excellently - under the prism of how it’s already set up

anything that makes the cap system EASIER to navigate for other teams moving forward probably weakens our advantage 

we were going to be one of the teams winning that game 

 

Tighter cap = advantage KA

I think being first is still an advantage. (Not that we're first, Ottawa and Jersey are also there)

The others adopting the strategy later will be paying more. (Anaheim, Montreal, Chicago...?)

[IKnowPhysics]

4 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

This is great news.

It’s not certain that he’ll be worth it but it sure seems likely.  He showed a lot last year as a rookie.  And he seems to have a great attitude and very good to great physical tools.

Oh, it is.  Our monkey brains just haven't unpuzzled it yet.  Get on board.  We have quality nerds in the front office now and they run this ***** now.

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, Taro T said:

See your point.  

But, doubt that Adams is ever going to go seriously into the deep end of the UFA pool.  So, other teams being able to go nuts won't really effect the Sabres personnel moves directly.  But he wants to be able to find, develop, and keep great players via the draft and under the radar signings.  People have been pointing out that it won't be very long until Adams will have to start making some hard decisions on who to keep due to the cap.  These signings allow him to not have to factor the cap into the equation as much as he'll have to factor the 23 man roster into the equation.  That gives him an extra degree of freedom in trying to keep the RIGHT guys, not just the ones that keep everything below the cap.  (That's obviously the hard constraint.  But with the top 2 C's under contract for just over $14/yr and 3 key D under contract for ~$25MM (don't recall ottomh what Samuelsson's deal is, so that's likely off a bit but it's ball park), they'll be able to keep either one extra really good player or a couple of good players.  

Hopefully Levi follows this same path of performing very well at an early stage and wants to stay here LT and settles for a LT deal that seems extremely fair to both sides.

I meant more so because it’s not really a zero sum game when there’s only one winner: and there’s only so much you can maximize 20 roster spots.

put it this way: we were already headed into the flop with pocket Kings. A few teams are going to get to limp in with Ace Eight and potentially bite us in the ass with those extra cards to play

2 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I think being first is still an advantage. (Not that we're first, Ottawa and Jersey are also there)

The others adopting the strategy later will be paying more. (Anaheim, Montreal, Chicago...?)

Not really what I’m getting at. Perhaps I’m explaining poorly 

[pi2000]

$20m for 2 defensemen?  hmmmm

Next season they'll have +$27m tied up between 4 d-men.

Idk, hope it works out but seems a little top heavy.

[Thorner]

Where is tiger woods going to outscore me more: at pebble beach, or on the mini golf course?

the harder the field to navigate, the more potential pitfalls the weaker will fall into 

@dudacek

[Flashsabre]

I love they got these guys locked up long term on fair deals. If the cap explodes then the Quinns, Levi’s, Bensons, JJs And others should be able to be signed too and a very good young core can be together long term

[IKnowPhysics]

Kevyn Adams staring at Devon Levi next June:

[JoeSchmoe]

14 minutes ago, IKnowPhysics said:

 

 

This is by far the best approach.  Lock your 1OA Dman at <$8.5M before he wrecks ass this season and demands more next season.  Avoid the bridge contract altogether.  Buy some years of FA.  Get this core locked in and build around them.  Leave enough cap flexibility for the other pieces.  It was the same move with Tage.

Tage, Cozens, Dahlin, Power, Samuelsson now all onboard through 2030 for $37.88M total AAV.  By 2027-28, the cap will cross $100M and Kevyn Adams will be looked upon as a god damned savant.  Whoever is providing guidance to him on cap management is the person of the hour.

I 100% agree with the approach. The difference here is I'm less sure of Power's ability to live up to the contract as I was with the other guys. I think we're partially paying for the 1st OA even though it was a weak draft. Lets hope it works out!

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, pi2000 said:

$20m for 2 defensemen?  hmmmm

Next season they'll have +$27m tied up between 4 d-men.

Idk, hope it works out but seems a little top heavy.

And they'll have the goaltending covered for $3MM on top of that.  The top 2 C's are just over $14MM combined.  Yeah, Skinner is at $9.  Leaving close to $36MM for 2 D + a spare or 2 & 10 F's.  Pretty sure Adams can make that work.  😉

[Doohicksie]

18 minutes ago, Taro T said:

But, doubt that Adams is ever going to go seriously into the deep end of the UFA pool.

Oh I think he will, but he's gonna have to.  If the Sabres win the Cup in the next two years it won't be necessary.  But if they plateau that will be the next step in The Plan.

[Sabres Super Fan]

Hopefully all these long term contracts workout for the Buffalo Sabres time will tell in my opinion. Go Sabres! Let’s Go Buffalo 

[Turbo44]

24 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

I know that this is how they do it now, I'm sure he'll be a great player. Giving him 8.35 mil just 1.5 years after he played his first game as a Sabre, when the level of play I view him as having reached to date  is around that of a good #4D, is just jarring in principle

Played more 5on5 than any rookie since they’ve been charting it. Room for improvement = sure but he was 19 fkn years old.

Try to remember how Dahlin looked at 19 and how he looks now.

he had 35 points and was +10, couldn’t have been too bad.

I’ll choose to trust KA’s opinion over yours

[Taro T]

Just now, Doohickie said:

Oh I think he will, but he's gonna have to.  If the Sabres win the Cup in the next two years it won't be necessary.  But if they plateau that will be the next step in The Plan.

"ever" being relative.  (Meant to add a caveat to the post your excerpt came from but got distracted.)

By "ever," meant within the next 5-6 seasons.  No idea how much the landscape will have changed by then, but it is quite possible the Sabres won't be getting the same quality of prospects entering the system provided they aren't able to flip some of the existing players / prospects that don't fit the LT plan for 1st rounders.   If they can pull some of those Bruin style trades off, then they might still stay out of the UFA 1st day frenzy because they'll still have 1st liner/1st pairing quality guys moving up and ready to step in when the existing ones are getting long of tooth and ready for 2nd line / 2nd pairing usage.  

If they can't replenish the high end stuff w/ up and comers; well, UFA frenzy / deadline deals of picks for high end guys that do decide to re-sign will become part of the picture.

[Turbo44]

19 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

$20m for 2 defensemen?  hmmmm

Next season they'll have +$27m tied up between 4 d-men.

Idk, hope it works out but seems a little top heavy.

27m seems fine to me as the cap is supposed to move up 5m, around 87m. The 4th d, Clifton’s deal will only have one year left on It after next year anyway

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

29 minutes ago, Taro T said:

See your point.  

But, doubt that Adams is ever going to go seriously into the deep end of the UFA pool.  So, other teams being able to go nuts won't really effect the Sabres personnel moves directly.  But he wants to be able to find, develop, and keep great players via the draft and under the radar signings.  People have been pointing out that it won't be very long until Adams will have to start making some hard decisions on who to keep due to the cap.  These signings allow him to not have to factor the cap into the equation as much as he'll have to factor the 23 man roster into the equation.  That gives him an extra degree of freedom in trying to keep the RIGHT guys, not just the ones that keep everything below the cap.  (That's obviously the hard constraint.  But with the top 2 C's under contract for just over $14/yr and 3 key D under contract for ~$25MM (don't recall ottomh what Samuelsson's deal is, so that's likely off a bit but it's ball park), they'll be able to keep either one extra really good player or a couple of good players.  

Hopefully Levi follows this same path of performing very well at an early stage and wants to stay here LT and settles for a LT deal that seems extremely fair to both sides.

Granato was taking about how he needs to coach differently now that the players are older and the playoff window has opened.  I’m expecting GMKA to take the same approach.  This to me is the biggest question mark on his tenure.  
 

Can he play the trade deadline and FA market correctly for the team we have going forward?  Right now that’s definitely a TBD

[Flashsabre]

I think Power will easily live up to deal. The size, mobility and brains make him a unicorn type player. 

Having Dahlin, Power and Muel locked in long term and with R Johnson, Novikov, Strabek, Metsa in the pipeline the backend looks very promising long term.

[Randall Flagg]

6 minutes ago, Turbo44 said:

Played more 5on5 than any rookie since they’ve been charting it. Room for improvement = sure but he was 19 fkn years old.

Try to remember how Dahlin looked at 19 and how he looks now.

he had 35 points and was +10, couldn’t have been too bad.

I’ll choose to trust KA’s opinion over yours

Dahlin was making 6 million per year until after he was a top 10 Norris finalist 5 years into his career, Owen Power has inked a deal with an AAV > 8 mil before I've ever seen him play better than a standard 2nd pairing guy around the league, with plenty of nights where he looked worse than that. It's just so quick haha. Dude has played like 80 games

Again, I understand that this is "what you do"

[RangerDave]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

 

Great.  Now I'm going to be worried for the next 6 years wondering how we are going to re-sign all of these perennial all-stars in 2030.  Thanks a lot!

[FrenchConnection44]

I’m thrilled over this. Any player on any long term contract has to work his butt off to improve for it to be worthwhile. As far as his play, Power clearly proved he is a very good player last year for a 19 year old at the start. But one with tremendous upside. His skill set was clearly on display. He was 6’5+ and 215-218. He eventually (2 yrs) needs to play in the 235ish range. Unless he’s lazy and unethical, he’s going to get there and will be an improved skater with greater strength and balance. When he does fill out physically and with the right coaching he has a chance to become a Victor Hedman type player. Physically dominant on defense with offensive firepower. 

I think we needed to go this route to lock up our young stars. Can’t wait to see what this team will be two years down the road when these younger prospects are in the league playing mature hockey.  

[GASabresIUFAN]

But what about the goaltending?

[Curt]

1 minute ago, Randall Flagg said:

Dahlin was making 6 million per year until after he was a top 10 Norris finalist 5 years into his career, Owen Power has inked a deal with an AAV > 8 mil before I've ever seen him play better than a standard 2nd pairing guy around the league, with plenty of nights where he looked worse than that. It's just so quick haha. Dude has played like 80 games

Again, I understand that this is "what you do"

It’s a risk.  Just like the Thompson, Cozens, and Samuelsson contracts were.  Could end up a slight overpay, or could end up a bargain.  It is quick, but it’s what you have to do if you want to try for those bargain contracts.

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

23 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

I 100% agree with the approach. The difference here is I'm less sure of Power's ability to live up to the contract as I was with the other guys. I think we're partially paying for the 1st OA even though it was a weak draft. Lets hope it works out!

Idk, worst case Ontario we get and offensive defensemen that gets 70+ points a year that can quarterback the 1st or second power play (depending on how we utilize Dahlin on the PK.  That is worth an $8M AAV in 2-3 years  no problem 

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

But what about the goaltending?

Pretty sure that’s a different thread my guy 😂

[dudacek]

9 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

I 100% agree with the approach. The difference here is I'm less sure of Power's ability to live up to the contract as I was with the other guys. I think we're partially paying for the 1st OA even though it was a weak draft. Lets hope it works out!

i just compare him to other previous top 5 defencemen taken in the past 15 years: Dahlin, Heiskanen, Makar, Hanifin, Juolevi, Ekblad Jones, Murray, Reilly, Gudbranson, Doughty, Hedman, Bogosian, Pietrangelo

Most of them are/were worthy of that level of contract relative to the cap over their 3-10 season, especially when you compare Power's D2 year to their's. Consider that power ranks as the 55th-highest-paid player in the NHL next season right now. That ranking is only going to get lower over the next 8 years

I think we're pretty safe.