UFAs Sabres may want to sign

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, dudacek said:

isn’t it really just about spending your money wisely?

I think it @GASabresIUFAN who has talked on here about Adams choices at the bottom of his roster.

While Vancouver was paying $4M to Lafferty, Blueger and Joshua, the Sabres were paying $7.2M to Okposo, Girgensons and Jost.

That’s not just about having a better bottom 6, the difference might be what allows you to acquire an Elias Lindholm.

It”s not something the Sabres have really had to worry about as they stocked their roster with players on their first and 2nd contracts.

But it’s something they need to worry about now.

That's it entirely. You can look at other teams as well and see bottom 3 depth/role players totaling 3-4 million(ish) on many teams. All contributing more than KO and Girgs. 

The first question for free agency (and we have no way to know the answer but it's the question all the same) is will we spend to the cap to try to win now or will we be a lower towards the floor team with some philosophy about future contracts. 

If we do not spend and bring in bodies we need we will have trouble actually being better. Yes, I believe in Ruff, but how much can he really do? It was pointed out in one of the threads how bad Granato would really be if UPL hadn't stepped up and put up great goaltending numbers. That's the team Ruff is inheriting, and there's no guarantee the two young goalies will be great next season. We need additions. 

[kas23]

22 hours ago, oddoublee said:

No one will like my answer, but Muel is dead weight. Doesn't play enough. Analytics are poor. 'his' win loss record is good...but that has to be taken with a grain of salt based on his role. That is 4 million I personally would love to shed

He certainly stands out as someone who isn’t earning his pay, but this is mostly due to his injury history. I’m not going to call a 24 year-old defenseman dead weight though. Overpaid at this point in time, yes. That said, I expect him to have a decent bounce back year under Ruff. 

Edited May 18 by kas23

[Night Train]

Trades

That's the avenue to improvement. Sabres will be players last choice in FA, unless no one else offers. 

[Jorcus]

23 hours ago, dudacek said:

The Sabres have the 9th most space with $23M

They have 13 NHL players signed and 10 players to re-sign or replace with that space:

Luukkonen, Jokiharju, Krebs, Bryson, Clague, Olofsson, Girgensons, Jost, Comrie, Robinson.

For sake of argument, I’m going to dedicate $10M to re-signing the first 3 and let the rest go.

Also for sake of argument, I’m going to budget $3M on the 3 guys starting in the press box.

That leaves $10M to spend on 3 top 12 forwards and a backup goalie.

That’s plenty of space for upgrades to Okposo Girgensons Olofsson and Comrie, particularly when you have a Comrie upgrade already available at $900K in Levi.

I think you have to factor Peterka and Quinn contract upgrades in all of this. 

[tom webster]

9 minutes ago, Jorcus said:

I think you have to factor Peterka and Quinn contract upgrades in all of this. 

As I’ve said ad nauseum, the cap will be sky rocketing and the Sabres have plenty of space for Quinn and JJP.

[Brawndo]

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

Sure, but let’s not dismiss it as a pipe dream either.

This is how good teams have stayed competitive and mediocre teams have made the jump.

You’re not going to sign Lindholm and Joshua for anywhere near that money, but you can find the next Lindholm and Joshua.

If you want to contend, you have to.

This is where your analytics department should come in and find diamonds in rough.

They do need to add some more pro scouts having Jeremiah Crowe as the Director of Pro Scouting because he is the only one in the department isn’t it. 
I do think this has at least partially contributed to the poor UFA acquisitions. 

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, Jorcus said:

I think you have to factor Peterka and Quinn contract upgrades in all of this. 

 

1 hour ago, tom webster said:

As I’ve said ad nauseum, the cap will be sky rocketing and the Sabres have plenty of space for Quinn and JJP.

 Quinn and Peterka are two years into their ELC's.

You can pay them a lot next summer if you want.

But you also can literally wait 5 more years before you have to give them  big contracts.

If they deserve the big money earlier, then that's a good problem to have.

You move somebody to clear up space. That's what the good teams do.

Edited May 19 by dudacek

[tom webster]

17 minutes ago, dudacek said:

 

 Quinn and Peterka are two years into their ELC's.

You and pay them a lot next summer if you want.

But you also can literally wait 5 more years before you have to give them  big contracts.

If the deserve the big money earlier, then that's a good problem to have.

You move somebody to clear up space. That's what the good teams do.

Not to mention Skinner’s $9M will be gone, one way or the other.

[GASabresIUFAN]

9 hours ago, dudacek said:

isn’t it really just about spending your money wisely?

I think it @GASabresIUFAN who has talked on here about Adams choices at the bottom of his roster.

While Vancouver was paying $4M to Lafferty, Blueger and Joshua, the Sabres were paying $7.2M to Okposo, Girgensons and Jost.

That’s not just about having a better bottom 6, the difference might be what allows you to acquire an Elias Lindholm.

It”s not something the Sabres have really had to worry about as they stocked their roster with players on their first and 2nd contracts.

But it’s something they need to worry about now.

The Sabres have needed better asset management for 13 years, but Adams has been particularly awful.  Okposo and Girgensons should have been gone 2 years ago.  Jost should not have been re-signed.  It’s not the so much money, but it’s about getting your money’s worth on the ice.  KO, Jost, Robinson, and Z gave us 49 points (205 games) for almost $ 9 Million.  We could have paid 4-5 million for the same production and had money left over to improve the team in other areas like real center depth, a top 4 D etc….  

I keep asking people why they are so hopeful Adams will finally make the correct move to improve the team when he has no track record of making good pro level acquisitions.

Other than UPL not a single UFA or RFA should return next season, and that includes Joki and Krebs.  

As to the thread title, I’d like to see a UFA list of players that can help this team who might actually want to play here. I’ve mentioned Monahan, who grew up in southern Ontario, as a remote possibility (I know Wpg wants to keep him).  Who else?

Edited May 19 by GASabresIUFAN

[thewookie1]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The Sabres have needed better asset management for 13 years, but Adams has been particularly awful.  Okposo and Girgensons should have been gone 2 years ago.  Jost should not have been re-signed.  It’s not the so much money, but it’s about getting your money’s worth on the ice.  KO, Jost, Robinson, and Z gave us 49 points (205 games) for almost $ 9 Million.  We could have paid 4-5 million for the same production and had money left over to improve the team in other areas like real center depth, a top 4 D etc….  

I keep asking people why they are so hopeful Adams will finally make the correct move to improve the team when he has no track record of making good pro level acquisitions.

Other than UPL not a single UFA or RFA should return next season, and that includes Joki and Krebs.  

 

Okposo was still under contract 2 years ago and it made zero sense to buy him out when he was the veteran leader. Girgs is fine, a fine 4th liner who made a bit more than he should. 

[OrangeSeatVertigo]

On 5/17/2024 at 9:35 AM, dudacek said:

It’s an interesting class, but it’s hard to get excited about it.

Not when your team has not shown much interest in, or got much interest from, the big names.

Not when our big splashes have been Hall, Okposo, Ehrhoff and Leino.

what rock star NHLer wants to spend the whole winter in WNY with a disfunctional franchise when you could go live in Vegas, Cali or Fla all winter with well-run contender franchises?  Sabres will continue to have this problem and will need to grow their own talent, as the better established players all have no-trade clauses in their contracts.   

[Flashsabre]

Trades are where you add impact players to your lineup. UFA is for rounding out the corners.

[rickshaw]

Joshua is one we have to try for. He’s a good, solid player. He will thrive.

[SabreFinn]

What is Sabrespace opinion of Amadio? A podcast I listen to liked him, could he be a Sabre?

[Sabres73]

7 hours ago, OrangeSeatVertigo said:

what rock star NHLer wants to spend the whole winter in WNY with a disfunctional franchise when you could go live in Vegas, Cali or Fla all winter with well-run contender franchises?  Sabres will continue to have this problem and will need to grow their own talent, as the better established players all have no-trade clauses in their contracts.   

I don't know that that's the case. Maybe you need more Canadian kids used to winter in the lineup. But an NHL player who bases where he wants to play on the weather - I don't want that guy on my team. Let's not forget the best player on the planet plays in Edmonton.

[nfreeman]

54 minutes ago, rickshaw said:

Joshua is one we have to try for. He’s a good, solid player. He will thrive.

I didn't see much of the Canucks this year -- can you give me the sales pitch as to why he'd be a good signing? 

He's got good size and seems to play the kind of crash-bang game the Sabres need in their bottom 6 -- but as I posted elsewhere, I'm a bit concerned about getting too excited about a guy who is 28 and only has 2 seasons as a full-time NHL player.

[Thorner]

1 hour ago, rickshaw said:

Joshua is one we have to try for. He’s a good, solid player. He will thrive.

Who? 

Could admittedly easily just be put down to a textbook example my waning interest in the league at large but I’ve never even heard of this guy.

Looking at his stats a guy with this sort of late emergence would be a reasonable addition but reek of desperation if he’s the “big” add

[Pimlach]

8 hours ago, OrangeSeatVertigo said:

what rock star NHLer wants to spend the whole winter in WNY with a disfunctional franchise when you could go live in Vegas, Cali or Fla all winter with well-run contender franchises?  Sabres will continue to have this problem and will need to grow their own talent, as the better established players all have no-trade clauses in their contracts.   

This is old.   The Cali teams are nothing great, in fact 2 of them are worse than Buffalo, and not everyone wants to live in crime ridden and depraved south Florida.   
 

Like the Bills, avoid the rock stars, look for rock solid people instead.  
 

The Sabres have very good young talent already and they have a sufficient pipeline.  They need vets in their prime to fill the holes on the roster.  Trades need to be made to jump start the current core players we have or the losing will continue. Mid priced free agents are also out there.  

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

Who? 

Could admittedly easily just be put down to a textbook example my waning interest in the league at large but I’ve never even heard of this guy.

Looking at his stats a guy with this sort of late emergence would be a reasonable addition but reek of desperation if he’s the “big” add

Finished the season strong with 5 goals in his last 10 games. Led the playoffs in hits, so far. Good size, will drop the mitts if need be.

He plays middle 6 LW but has played some C and can win a few draws.

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, SabreFinn said:

What is Sabrespace opinion of Amadio? A podcast I listen to liked him, could he be a Sabre?

I watched his junior career closely, he played his OHL hockey here. 
Decent size and some skill, scored 50 in junior. Definitely a bottom six player at this level, although he has had stints on the top 6. He plays hard and has won a Cup.

Wouldnt give him big money but he would out produce Girgs.

[JohnC]

On 5/17/2024 at 9:18 AM, bob_sauve28 said:

Find the best faceoff guy and throw money at him!!!

If the choice comes between the better faceoff player and a better player, I'm going with the better player. Of course, I would like to add a good faceoff player, but I'm not going to prioritize that skill over the better player. 

[bob_sauve28]

12 minutes ago, JohnC said:

If the choice comes between the better faceoff player and a better player, I'm going with the better player. Of course, I would like to add a good faceoff player, but I'm not going to prioritize that skill over the better player. 

I was just kidding, piggy backing on the face off debate going on

[GASabresIUFAN]

I was looking through the list of NHL UFAs and guess what, Tyson Jost is the 6th highest paid UFA center.  Monahan signed with Montreal last season for the same $2 mill we paid Jost.  G-d Adams sucks.  

I did find a player with one year left on his deal who could be a good fit and that's Mikeal Granlund if SJS is willing to part with him.  He is 32 and has one year left at $5 mill and had 60 pts last year. 

 

[JohnC]

29 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

I was just kidding, piggy backing on the face off debate going on

We need a "just kidding" emoji!

[msw2112]

On 5/22/2024 at 1:30 PM, Thorny said:

Who? 

Could admittedly easily just be put down to a textbook example my waning interest in the league at large but I’ve never even heard of this guy.

Looking at his stats a guy with this sort of late emergence would be a reasonable addition but reek of desperation if he’s the “big” add

This is in reference to Dakota Joshua on the Canucks.  I don't follow the NHL a ton outside of the Sabres, but I do enjoy having playoff games on while I am doing stuff around the house in the evenings.  I saw parts of several Vancouver games in the first couple of rounds and this guy Joshua definitely stood out.  He's an aggressive forward who plays a gritty, physical game and he scored some key goals in the playoffs.  He seems like the exact type of player the Sabres lack and need more of in the middle-to-bottom-6.  Prior to this year's playoffs, I was not familiar with this player at all.