NHL trade deadline 2024: Should Sabres, Kevyn Adams buy, sell or hold?

[Taro T]

5 hours ago, freester said:

What would it cost to acquire Jiricek RD. It’s possible he could get moved. Columbus has turned into a shitshow. 

 

3 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

Doesn't seem possible based on CBJ's needs being very similar to our own. Plus I have zero interest in trading them Power or Cozens for him.

 

Personally would offer Savoie and the Sabres '24 1st (w/ Lottery Winning protection).

[Buffalonill]

6 hours ago, freester said:

What would it cost to acquire Jiricek RD. It’s possible he could get moved. Columbus has turned into a shitshow. 

Why do you even want him he has the worst attitude ever.

That's a recipe for a Disaster

[Mr. Allen]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

 

 

Personally would offer Savoie and the Sabres '24 1st (w/ Lottery Winning protection).

You really think they would ask for that much?  He’s made it clear he doesn’t want to be there.  

[Marvin]

5 minutes ago, Mr. Allen said:

You really think they would ask for that much?  He’s made it clear he doesn’t want to be there.  

According to fans of CBJ, an offer from Buffalo "starts with Power and Cozens."

[Carmel Corn]

2 minutes ago, Marvin said:

According to fans of CBJ, an offer from Buffalo "starts with Power and Cozens."

IMHO - Jiricek will be the better defenseman (than Power) when we compare them both 10 years from now.

[Taro T]

13 minutes ago, Mr. Allen said:

You really think they would ask for that much?  He’s made it clear he doesn’t want to be there.  

They chose him a few picks before Savoie so they'd presumably want quite a bit more than just him.  

Just because Jiricek doesn't want to be in Columbus doesn't make the Sabres the only suitor for his services.  (Presuming the Sabres would be interested and IMHO they should be interested.  He's going to be a heck of a player.)  They'd have to make an offer better than any other team that might want him would make.  And, because there would be more than one or 2 teams interested in him, his wanting out of C-bus is pretty much immaterial, again IMHO, to what he'd bring back in a trade.

5 minutes ago, Marvin said:

According to fans of CBJ, an offer from Buffalo "starts with Power and Cozens."

And according to fans, if the Sabres wanted Lafreniere it would've taken Eichel plus.  Fans can be, and often are, delusional.

[JohnC]

5 minutes ago, Taro T said:

They chose him a few picks before Savoie so they'd presumably want quite a bit more than just him.  

Just because Jiricek doesn't want to be in Columbus doesn't make the Sabres the only suitor for his services.  (Presuming the Sabres would be interested and IMHO they should be interested.  He's going to be a heck of a player.)  They'd have to make an offer better than any other team that might want him would make.  And, because there would be more than one or 2 teams interested in him, his wanting out of C-bus is pretty much immaterial, again IMHO, to what he'd bring back in a trade.

And according to fans, if the Sabres wanted Lafreniere it would've taken Eichel plus.  Fans can be, and often are, delusional.

How about Savoie, Rosen and this year's first for Jiricek? 

[freester]

They don’t want Smurfs and draft picks . They already have small wingers. 

[Taro T]

13 minutes ago, JohnC said:

How about Savoie, Rosen and this year's first for Jiricek? 

Would prefer to get away with just 2 pieces given up for him.  And 2 1st equivalents is quite a bit to give up for a guy that is still a high end prospect. 

But have only minimal pause before making that deal.  (Sabres would likely get a B prospect or a 3rd or 4th rounder too; but yeah, really expect Jiricek to be something special and he's cement the D-corp for a long time.  Dahlin, Jiricek, Power, Johnson, Samuelsson, & whomever else (Jokiharju, Clifton, Novikov in a couple of years) is a seriously solid D-corp a couple of years from now.  And would be pretty good next season too.

[Mango]

On 2/2/2024 at 11:20 AM, Buffalonill said:

Adams has not made one impact trade since he's been here.

I hope he's gone in the summer 

On top of that I don’t like his roster construction. I don’t trust him to do anything.

I hope we sit tight and get a real hockey Gm or POHO in here before we start moving pieces that could actually be valuable. 

That said we’ll trade Mitts for 8 5’9 centers in the ECHL with great hands. 

[Broken Ankles]

4 hours ago, Taro T said:

Would prefer to get away with just 2 pieces given up for him.  And 2 1st equivalents is quite a bit to give up for a guy that is still a high end prospect. 

But have only minimal pause before making that deal.  (Sabres would likely get a B prospect or a 3rd or 4th rounder too; but yeah, really expect Jiricek to be something special and he's cement the D-corp for a long time.  Dahlin, Jiricek, Power, Johnson, Samuelsson, & whomever else (Jokiharju, Clifton, Novikov in a couple of years) is a seriously solid D-corp a couple of years from now.  And would be pretty good next season too.

I don’t think it’s coincidence that the average age of the defensive corps of the teams currently in playoff positions is ~29-30.  It’s consistent.   Without EJ, the Sabres average age is 23.9. By dumping Joki (not Clifton), and picking up Jiricek the average age would drop a few tenths of a year.  With another young defense, we are just begging for similar results.  And if by chance, after two years, Jiricek explodes, his second contract could be $5M, and with R Johnson on a $2.5-3.5M bridge deal, you have $32M tied up in 5 defenders forcing decisions up front. I’d prefer they target a true complimentary #2 defender.  Must be right handed, must be between 26-30 with 6 + years experience. But this type of contract would put you north of $30M on the blue line with your top 5, while the average team is spending $26M on the top 6 Dman. I’d prefer to move a LD but Owen and Muel both have lost trade value.  

[JohnC]

11 hours ago, Taro T said:

Would prefer to get away with just 2 pieces given up for him.  And 2 1st equivalents is quite a bit to give up for a guy that is still a high end prospect. 

But have only minimal pause before making that deal.  (Sabres would likely get a B prospect or a 3rd or 4th rounder too; but yeah, really expect Jiricek to be something special and he's cement the D-corp for a long time.  Dahlin, Jiricek, Power, Johnson, Samuelsson, & whomever else (Jokiharju, Clifton, Novikov in a couple of years) is a seriously solid D-corp a couple of years from now.  And would be pretty good next season too.

I wouldn't be as hesitant to give up the extra asset for the defenseman who is a high-end prospect who is a defenseman. The Sabres have a number of quality prospects who play similar positions and roles. It's more than likely that some of them won't be able to crack the NHL roster. If you have an asset that most likely can't be used, then why not use it as a chip in a deal that will in the not-too-distant future help to create an impressive blue line. The issue isn't so much whether we would want Jiricek, because we would. The issue is can we make the offer enticing enough if he is marketed to beat the other appealing offers that would be made. 

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

I wouldn't be as hesitant to give up the extra asset for the defenseman who is a high-end prospect who is a defenseman. The Sabres have a number of quality prospects who play similar positions and roles. It's more than likely that some of them won't be able to crack the NHL roster. If you have an asset that most likely can't be used, then why not use it as a chip in a deal that will in the not-too-distant future help to create an impressive blue line. The issue isn't so much whether we would want Jiricek, because we would. The issue is can we make the offer enticing enough if he is marketed to beat the other appealing offers that would be made. 

This guy is a head case right now.  He is 20 and complaining about playing in the AHL.  Who does he think he is? 

Why do we need another 20 year old defenseman right now?    Especially an entitled one?   We already have Dahlin, Power and Muel all getting paid, plus R Johnson is coming along.   Trading for Jiricek is going to mean spending and inordinate amount of $$ on another young defender someday.  

If we want to win more games then we really need a solid veteran in his prime, 28-30 years old, shoots from RH, and is a big, mean, stay at home type of  defenseman.    We should trade a prospect and pick for that.  We need someone to stabilize things on the backline right now.   

 

[Mr. Allen]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

This guy is a head case right now.  He is 20 and complaining about playing in the AHL.  Who does he think he is? 

Why do we need another 20 year old defenseman right now?    Especially an entitled one?   We already have Dahlin, Power and Muel all getting paid, plus R Johnson is coming along.   Trading for Jiricek is going to mean spending and inordinate amount of $$ on another young defender someday.  

If we want to win more games then we really need a solid veteran in his prime, 28-30 years old, shoots from RH, and is a big, mean, stay at home type of  defenseman.    We should trade a prospect and pick for that.  We need someone to stabilize things on the backline right now.   

 

Forgive my lack of hockey knowledge, but is there a player out there like that who is possibly available?

Tanev maybe? 

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

This guy is a head case right now.  He is 20 and complaining about playing in the AHL.  Who does he think he is? 

Why do we need another 20 year old defenseman right now?    Especially an entitled one?   We already have Dahlin, Power and Muel all getting paid, plus R Johnson is coming along.   Trading for Jiricek is going to mean spending and inordinate amount of $$ on another young defender someday.  

If we want to win more games then we really need a solid veteran in his prime, 28-30 years old, shoots from RH, and is a big, mean, stay at home type of  defenseman.    We should trade a prospect and pick for that.  We need someone to stabilize things on the backline right now.   

 

Why do you say that he is a head case? He's a young guy who sees some of his draft compatriots in the big league while he is not. Are you surprised that a young guy is impatient or a has an attitude of entitlement?  I'm not. Welcome into the world of young pro athletes. Right now, our prospect pipeline has an excessive number of smallish forwards, some of which won't get an opportunity to play with the big club. Acquiring a player such as this high-end defensive prospect would better balance out our prospect pool. 

I'm not precluding any other deals to improve this roster. Last offseason, the GM acquired Clfiton from the free agent market for a reasonable contract. So, there are a number of ways to bring in plays. My primary point in a previous post is that when you have assets, some of which won't be used, then parlay them into a more useful asset. 

[French Collection]

Trade for him and immediately assign him to Rochester, saying he’s too young. See if his attitude changes.

[JohnC]

15 hours ago, Taro T said:

Would prefer to get away with just 2 pieces given up for him.  And 2 1st equivalents is quite a bit to give up for a guy that is still a high end prospect. 

But have only minimal pause before making that deal.  (Sabres would likely get a B prospect or a 3rd or 4th rounder too; but yeah, really expect Jiricek to be something special and he's cement the D-corp for a long time.  Dahlin, Jiricek, Power, Johnson, Samuelsson, & whomever else (Jokiharju, Clifton, Novikov in a couple of years) is a seriously solid D-corp a couple of years from now.  And would be pretty good next season too.

@Pimlach boos you and me for our similar responses. This is what happens when there is an over population of curmudgeons in one location. 

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Mr. Allen said:

Forgive my lack of hockey knowledge, but is there a player out there like that who is possibly available?

Tanev maybe? 

The trade deadline is approaching.  You will see teams trading soon as they get ready for playoffs, other teams that are out of it will be selling to clear out players they won't keep next year.  

Tanev's name comes up, so do others.  It is Kevyn Adams job to improve the team. 

 We can wait years and years for the young players to mature, but by then the current core players that are already mature will be gone or will be burned out.  

Defenseman take longer which is why I want to add a vet in his prime to the young guys we have. 

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

Why do you say that he is a head case? He's a young guy who sees some of his draft compatriots in the big league while he is not. Are you surprised that a young guy is impatient or a has an attitude of entitlement?  I'm not. Welcome into the world of young pro athletes. Right now, our prospect pipeline has an excessive number of smallish forwards, some of which won't get an opportunity to play with the big club. Acquiring a player such as this high-end defensive prospect would better balance out our prospect pool. 

I'm not precluding any other deals to improve this roster. Last offseason, the GM acquired Clfiton from the free agent market for a reasonable contract. So, there are a number of ways to bring in plays. My primary point in a previous post is that when you have assets, some of which won't be used, then parlay them into a more useful asset. 

Yes, his attitude of entitlement surprises me and I don't care for it.  

If I am trading prospects or picks then I want an proven NHL player in his prime that fills a desperate need, not another prospect.  

Adams did ok with Clifton but Clifton is a 3rd pair defender.   This teams needs to stop collecting 3rd pair defenders (Lybushkin, Stillman, Clague, Erik Johnson, and Bryson) and aim much, much higher.  

 

Edited February 6 by Pimlach

[Pimlach]

52 minutes ago, JohnC said:

@Pimlach boos you and me for our similar responses. This is what happens when there is an over population of curmudgeons in one location. 

I don't boo @Taro T.   Your response was actually much worse than Taro's, you want to give three  #1 pieces for another 20 year old prospect that cannot crack Columbus line up and cannot appreciate that they are helping him by playing him in the AHL right now.   Look at Owen Power struggle.  Remember when Dahlin struggled in the same way?  Do we need to bring in another guy that is over his head?  I WANT TO WIN HOCKEY GAMES RIGHT NOW! 

I absolutely disagree with trading our prospects and picks for more prospects. 

IF ANYONE ELSE GIVES A DAMM ABOUT THE FAN BASE AND THE CURRENT CORE TEAM THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND.   WHEN ARE WE EVER GOING TO TRY TO IMPROVE?  

Edited February 6 by Pimlach

[French Collection]

51 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Yes, his attitude of entitlement surprises me and I don't care for it.  

If I am trading prospects or picks then I want an proven NHL player in his prime that fills a desperate need, not another prospect.  

Adams did ok with Clifton but Clifton is a 3rd pair defender.   This teams needs to stop collecting 3rd pair defenders (Lybushkin, Stillman, Clague, Erik Johnson, and Bryson) and aim much, much higher.  

 

I thought KA was going to get a guy like Pesce this past summer. He was a guy I really wanted and the type of Dman you talk about.

[Gatorman0519]

On 2/5/2024 at 8:50 AM, inkman said:

No team should ever be more than 2 seasons away from competing.  Anything else is sheer incompetence. 

Yet here we are for 13 years now with no end in sight. 

[PerreaultForever]

On 2/5/2024 at 10:08 AM, TRIP65 said:

So you want to get OLD and maybe if you start winning have to redo your Roster old again, Draft and Sell

Seriously, read what you write out loud

Problem may be that the Amerks are not grooming up winning NHLer's

You don't sell Power's at 20 that you got 1st Overall for losing

If you sell Dahlin, it is to obtain one hell of a Package you can't refuse and give Dahlin a career before it is too late for him.

If you sell Tage, Skinner or Tuch, who will ever want to come here again.

Because we keep losing,

The guys you sell to get better are Prospects and maybe players like Quinn, Samuelson, Cozens, Middlestat, UPL but you better get guys that do make you better, tougher! Guys that get hurt a lot need to move on for both sides, just not working here! Cozens or Middlestat has to go, both 2nd liners, both inconsistent.

Sabres need to make a TOP 6 trade and move someone on. Need to rebuild 4th line to be a TRUE checking line. 3rd Line should be grooming young players to be TOP 6.

Our defense is doing better. Replace Samuelson, Joki and get another Top 4 defense man. You have Dahlin, Power and Ryan Johnson now to grow. Good Veteran 26-28 would fit well that stays home.

 

My Young Untouchables are Power, Peterka, Ryan Johnson, Levi. They are NOT Tradable. Have to set your Franchise with someone.

1st Line players are Untouchable without a Package you can't say NO

Dahlin too is Untouchable for now unless a Package comes in you can't say NO. (worried about 6 years of losing though)

 

Everything else is an ASSET to STOP this 13 years of Losing and No Playoffs

 

 

 

I'm curious but to the 3 bolded sentences, why?

What's so special about Ryan Johnson that makes him untradeable? Or Levi? Peterka's been very good this year and is progressing forward so his price would be high, but he's not indispensable either. I don't give up on D men at Power's age, but there's no question we do not know how to develop D men properly so for the right price........

and what's so special about the "top line"? Who is the "top line" anyway? Mitts Tuch and Greenway now? Tage is inconsistent, Skinner's a liability, and.....it's Okposo right now so idk who you were thinking as the other wing. It's hardly a "top line" 

Dahlin can be a valuable player, no question, but he's not defensively good enough to build a team around. If that's your number one guy you'll have the same problem Ottawa and then San Jose and now Pittsburgh has with Karlsson. Lots of points, but gets you nowhere. 

Really I just dont' see how ANYBODY on this team is "untradeable". 

[PerreaultForever]

18 hours ago, Carmel Corn said:

IMHO - Jiricek will be the better defenseman (than Power) when we compare them both 10 years from now.

This is possible, but hard to say and it depends on how you measure "better".  What makes a D man "better" varies by definition.

I will give you an example, on this site most fans would say Dahlin is better than McAvoy and they would never trade Dahlin for McAvoy. On a Bruins site they'd laugh at that and would want 3 firsts along with Dahlin to even consider it. Just one example but if you think about it I think it makes the point.

I really liked Jiricek at that draft moment and unless he is a head case (as some suggest) I think he will be a stud D man in time. But we wouldn't know what to do with him and would ruin him too. I'm pretty certain of that. 

What needs to change on this team imo is the make up and identity of the team itself. Pegula hockey is NOT winning hockey. Fast skating shooty passy possession hockey with no defense and no grit is just never going to win enough games to get us anywhere. We need a Tochet type coach and a GM to change gears on the team structure and composition. Until we get that, it'll just keep floating along the same feeble way no matter which pieces we change.

[thewookie1]

47 minutes ago, French Collection said:

I thought KA was going to get a guy like Pesce this past summer. He was a guy I really wanted and the type of Dman you talk about.

I think he honestly tried to but got shot down by Pesce himself.

 

9 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

I'm curious but to the 3 bolded sentences, why?

What's so special about Ryan Johnson that makes him untradeable? Or Levi? Peterka's been very good this year and is progressing forward so his price would be high, but he's not indispensable either. I don't give up on D men at Power's age, but there's no question we do not know how to develop D men properly so for the right price........

and what's so special about the "top line"? Who is the "top line" anyway? Mitts Tuch and Greenway now? Tage is inconsistent, Skinner's a liability, and.....it's Okposo right now so idk who you were thinking as the other wing. It's hardly a "top line" 

Dahlin can be a valuable player, no question, but he's not defensively good enough to build a team around. If that's your number one guy you'll have the same problem Ottawa and then San Jose and now Pittsburgh has with Karlsson. Lots of points, but gets you nowhere. 

Really I just dont' see how ANYBODY on this team is "untradeable". 

 

Your #1 DMAN does not have to be some defensive superman. Cale Makar isn't some defensive wizard but he does enough and gets help from Toews. As Dahlin grows and gains experience he will naturally get more effective defensively. He's already made great strides and is one of the few to have an edge to his game. 

 

1 minute ago, PerreaultForever said:

This is possible, but hard to say and it depends on how you measure "better".  What makes a D man "better" varies by definition.

I will give you an example, on this site most fans would say Dahlin is better than McAvoy and they would never trade Dahlin for McAvoy. On a Bruins site they'd laugh at that and would want 3 firsts along with Dahlin to even consider it. Just one example but if you think about it I think it makes the point.

I really liked Jiricek at that draft moment and unless he is a head case (as some suggest) I think he will be a stud D man in time. But we wouldn't know what to do with him and would ruin him too. I'm pretty certain of that. 

What needs to change on this team imo is the make up and identity of the team itself. Pegula hockey is NOT winning hockey. Fast skating shooty passy possession hockey with no defense and no grit is just never going to win enough games to get us anywhere. We need a Tochet type coach and a GM to change gears on the team structure and composition. Until we get that, it'll just keep floating along the same feeble way no matter which pieces we change.

This is your biggest problem; you have this overt love affair with the Bruins and everything they do. 

No defense and Grit are a problem but there is zero need to reach Boston's levels. Chicago won 3 Cups with shooty passy possession hockey that had a trio of solid to great defenseman and a very limited amount of overall grit. Hell they even beat your "godly" Bruins back in 2013. The Sabres definitely need a more structured coach, but one that understands how to play a fast up tempo game and not neuter Dahlin's offensive instincts by filling his head with 50,000 defensive responsibilities. Guys like Cozens should be very capable of playing under a more structured system as long as its predicated on speed and pressure versus slow clutch and grab styled trap based strategies.

Tochett's system would probably work here pretty well to be honest; there would be incongruencies with Skinner for sure but for the most part I think it would work pretty well. After all, most of Vancouver isn't exactly famous for their physicality besides Zadorov whom was acquired in-season and JT Miller. Quinn Hughes is far from a physical defenseman and is arguably more offensively skewed than even Dahlin and yet they are having success.