NHL trade & FA rumors (Sabres & Non-Sabres)

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, kas23 said:

Fwiw, Hasek beat a reporter. 

That's what Leo Roth said.  Kelley himself said no punches were thrown but he was put in a headlock and had his shirt ripped (pocket IIRC) in the encounter.  NOT a good look regardless and Hasek is lucky he didn't face discipline from the league for the encounter, but Leo never was one to let details get in the way of a good story.

[Taro T]

3 hours ago, stinky finger said:

This^^^

The outcry around here for trading CM puzzles me. Regardless of what one thinks of Byram. I liked the trade then and I do now. A full off-season and better coaching will prove this trade worthy. 

 

Personally didn't like the trade, but simply for the reason that Adams traded a 25 yo C for a 22 yo D-man.  Byram's ceiling is higher than Mittelstadt's, but he's also about 4 years from reaching his prime whereas Mitts was already entering his.  Am tired of everything pointing to '27 as being THE YEAR when the Sabres aren't just relevant they're actually very good.  (That last part with the "actually very" is a bit of wishful thinking BUT it might be legit.)

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Personally didn't like the trade, but simply for the reason that Adams traded a 25 yo C for a 22 yo D-man.  Byram's ceiling is higher than Mittelstadt's, but he's also about 4 years from reaching his prime whereas Mitts was already entering his.  Am tired of everything pointing to '27 as being THE YEAR when the Sabres aren't just relevant they're actually very good.  (That last part with the "actually very" is a bit of wishful thinking BUT it might be legit.)

Adams seems to not understand that it takes years for NHL players to become true veterans, capable of the hard and demanding season in front of them. Instead he just keeps tossing in new guys hoping they will swim. 

[Taro T]

18 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Adams seems to not understand that it takes years for NHL players to become true veterans, capable of the hard and demanding season in front of them. Instead he just keeps tossing in new guys hoping they will swim. 

OR he does understand that, but saw the team's timeline on Dahlin's timeline and he always had '26 or '27 as the target.  And with Ullmark walking and Levi entering the system '27 ended up getting highlighted in red.  Hopefully we don't find that out for certain by them missing the playoffs again and him still retaining his job.

He knows players need X # of games in the NHL to become vets (he's actually spoken to that on more than one occassion) and he's also mentioned that he believes he's acclimating (not his word, but it's appropriate) the kids to the NHL at a younger age than  most so he's putting that game plateau on a higher importance level than physical age when it comes to having players develop.  He MIGHT be right.  We'll find out if he is if guys like Peterka look like typical guys in their mid-20's entering their 3rd year rather than the typical guys that are only 22.  It's a fairly untested hypothesis because there are almost no owners of NHL teams willing to let a GM prove a theory about developing youthful professional hockey players rather than pushing to win at all (reasonable) costs.

Am nearly certain he did expect the team last year to be good enough to make the playoffs.  Which was, in hindsight especially considering he knew Quinn would be out for ~3 months, a very poor expectation.  These same players now, for the most part, have another 70-80 games under their belts and a coach that has been successful in the league AND he APPEARS to be ready to augment the kids with some additional talent.

We are being held hostage to a science experiment.  One which few, if any, GMs will attempt to replicate because it almost definitely needs 4-5 years to show results and in a professional sports league that's usually a lifetime for most players.  Thing is IF he's right, then the Sabres truly are in a window of contention that will be open at least 5 years and maybe an entire decade.  Unfortunately, because ownership has bought into the experiment, we've been forced to either buy in as well or abandon our favorite team.  REALLY hoping Adams is right because this drought will push the Bills drought to start the century if he's wrong.  (And the only minor consolation is there is a lot for a new GM to work with if he's wrong.  But that minor consolation doesn't make the drought end in year 14 nor 15 in all likelihood.)

Edited June 26 by Taro T

[LGR4GM]

6 minutes ago, Taro T said:

OR he does understand that, but saw the team's timeline on Dahlin's timeline and he always had '26 or '27 as the target.  And with Ullmark walking and Levi entering the system '27 ended up getting highlighted in red.  Hopefully we don't find that out for certain by them missing the playoffs again and him still retaining his job.

He knows players need X # of games in the NHL to become vets (he's actually spoken to that on more than one occassion) and he's also mentioned that he believes he's acclimating (not his word, but it's appropriate) the kids to the NHL at a younger age than  most so he's putting that game plateau on a higher importance level than physical age when it comes to having players develop.  He MIGHT be right.  We'll find out if he is if guys like Peterka look like typical guys in their mid-20's entering their 3rd year rather than the typical guys that are only 22.  It's a fairly untested hypothesis because there are almost no owners of NHL teams willing to let a GM prove a theory about developing youthful professional hockey players rather than pushing to win at all (reasonable) costs.

Am nearly certain he did expect the team last year to be good enough to make the playoffs.  Which was, in hindsight especially considering he knew Quinn would be out for ~3 months, a very poor expectation.  These same players now, for the most part, have another 70-80 games under their belts and a coach that has been successful in the league AND he APPEARS to be ready to augment the kids with some additional talent.

We are being held hostage to a science experiment.  One which few, if any, GMs will attempt to replicate because it almost definitely needs 4-5 years to show results and in a professional sports league that's usually a lifetime for most players.  Thing is IF he's right, then the Sabres truly are in a window of contention that will be open at least 5 years and maybe an entire decade.  Unfortunately, because ownership has bought into the experiment, we've been forced to either buy in as well or abandon our favorite team.  REALLY hoping Adams is right because this drought will push the Bills drought to start the century if he's wrong.  (And the only minor consolation is there is a lot for a new GM to work with if he's wrong.  But that minor consolation doesn't make the drought end in year 14 nor 15 in all likelihood.)

If he saw that he would have kept Reinhart and Mitts. Two players we could have on this roster right now for reasonable deals. He, at every opportunity, has decided that players under 23 is the way to go over and over. 

[LGR4GM]

If we miss the playoffs this season, will Dahlin ask out? If he does, what then? What is the new timeline? Power? Benson?

[inkman]

30 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Adams seems to not understand that it takes years for NHL players to become true veterans, capable of the hard and demanding season in front of them. Instead he just keeps tossing in new guys hoping they will swim. 

Which is weird coming from a somewhat recent player 

[LGR4GM]

Just now, inkman said:

Which is weird coming from a somewhat recent player 

He wants things to be perfect before he "goes for it" and that will be his downfall. Making good or better the enemy of perfection. 

[CTJoe]

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

He wants things to be perfect before he "goes for it" and that will be his downfall. Making good or better the enemy of perfection. 

I agree he has been overly cautious and the UFA's he's signed didn't make any sense.  I would think he'd have to be aggressive this offseason, because (a) he's talked of being so, unlike ever before and (b) he job likely rests on the Sabres making the playoffs

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

If he saw that he would have kept Reinhart and Mitts. Two players we could have on this roster right now for reasonable deals. He, at every opportunity, has decided that players under 23 is the way to go over and over. 

How was he going to keep Reinhart?  In a Covid-less world, he might very well have offered him a LT deal coming out of Covid, rather than the 1 year deal that walked him to 1 year shy of UFA status (Ullmark too); but we live in a world that got thrown for a major loop due to Covid.  The owners, while still billionaires, expected they were going to have cashflow issues (as most of their wealth was tied up in assets (which btw at the time were hemorrhaging value) which were not particularly liquid and were not handing out any multiyear deals to players.  (Maybe there were some on the Bills side, but don't recall any ottomh there either.)  Reinhart was 1 year from UFA, he was NOT going to reup with the Sabres (at that point both he and Eichel (who was on a LT deal) both were wanting to get out).  Getting Levi and a 1st was salvaging something in a year that he expected the team to be bad and ALSO worked towards that '26 or '27 Dahlinesque timeline target of being truly competitive.  Reinhart will be 2 years older by then, his timeline was not (and is not) the same as the one Adams sure seems to be working towards.

As for Mittelstadt, Adams is on record as having been trying to land another top 4 D-man (and particularly a partner for Dahlin) for at least 2 seasons.  Byram fits the Dahlin timeline almost to a T.  Mittelstadt, while still being in his prime 2 years from now works with that timeline, Adams already has Thompson (who is beyond the timeline) and Cozens (who's right in it) with Savoie, Kulich, and Östlund available to be in that '27 window and filling the 2nd C slot by then (as Tage slides either to W or 3C by then).

As you are well aware a D-man's timeline is further out than a F's timeline.  

11 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

If we miss the playoffs this season, will Dahlin ask out? If he does, what then? What is the new timeline? Power? Benson?

No data.  Certainly hope not.  But wouldn't blame him if he does in that case.  

And, expect that if Dahlin asks out, Adams is officially cooked and the experiment ends.

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

How was he going to keep Reinhart?  In a Covid-less world, he might very well have offered him a LT deal coming out of Covid, rather than the 1 year deal that walked him to 1 year shy of UFA status (Ullmark too); but we live in a world that got thrown for a major loop due to Covid.  The owners, while still billionaires, expected they were going to have cashflow issues (as most of their wealth was tied up in assets (which btw at the time were hemorrhaging value) which were not particularly liquid and were not handing out any multiyear deals to players.  (Maybe there were some on the Bills side, but don't recall any ottomh there either.)  Reinhart was 1 year from UFA, he was NOT going to reup with the Sabres (at that point both he and Eichel (who was on a LT deal) both were wanting to get out).  Getting Levi and a 1st was salvaging something in a year that he expected the team to be bad and ALSO worked towards that '26 or '27 Dahlinesque timeline target of being truly competitive.  Reinhart will be 2 years older by then, his timeline was not (and is not) the same as the one Adams sure seems to be working towards.

As for Mittelstadt, Adams is on record as having been trying to land another top 4 D-man (and particularly a partner for Dahlin) for at least 2 seasons.  Byram fits the Dahlin timeline almost to a T.  Mittelstadt, while still being in his prime 2 years from now works with that timeline, Adams already has Thompson (who is beyond the timeline) and Cozens (who's right in it) with Savoie, Kulich, and Östlund available to be in that '27 window and filling the 2nd C slot by then (as Tage slides either to W or 3C by then).

As you are well aware a D-man's timeline is further out than a F's timeline.  

No data.  Certainly hope not.  But wouldn't blame him if he does in that case.  

And, expect that if Dahlin asks out, Adams is officially cooked and the experiment ends.

Adams timeline is always, next year, well this went wrong so next year, well idk maybe next year, Dahlin has to get traded so next year, Power has to get traded to next year, Benson has to get traded so next year. You keep coming up with reasons why Adams hasn't won, which is my point. 

[Taro T]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

Adams timeline is always, next year, well this went wrong so next year, well idk maybe next year, Dahlin has to get traded so next year, Power has to get traded to next year, Benson has to get traded so next year. You keep coming up with reasons why Adams hasn't won, which is my point. 

Yes.  The team hasn't won because it has had subpar goaltending for the most part during his tenure and the team is too d*mn young.  Also, and more importantly, Adams timeline has been geared towards '27 (MAYBE '26) since he convinced ownership to punt Eichel and THAT core.  Am not happy that is the target date, but it sure seems to be the target for true contention and extended contention. 

And NO, wadr, do not agree that his timeline is always next year.  He literally has said the true goal is to be a legit contender for the SC (and he's said it isn't to WIN the SC because there's too much luck involved even when you are the #1 contender to actually make that happen) and he's never set a date on that (the '27 mentioned above is from reading tea leaves).  So, he has not said "next year" on that goal yet.

He also literally said last year that playoffs were the expectation last year.  That didn't happen and the coach was canned because of that.  (But even with that, the goal wasn't playoffs, the goal is LT being a consistent SC contender.  The expectation was playoffs, but that wasn't the goal.  A minor, but important, distinction IMHO.)

Do not know if he will turn out to be correct.  Have in fact literally stated that often.  But THAT doesn't change what his timeline certainly seems to be.  (Btw, '27 isn't next year.  It's the year after next year.  😉 )

[dudacek]

38 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

He wants things to be perfect before he "goes for it" and that will be his downfall. Making good or better the enemy of perfection. 

I think this is apt in the sense that it’s what happened last year.

I’ll let you know if I agree it’s a fatal flaw in a week or so.

 

[sabremike]

Or Adams was one of the most grossly unqualified hires in hockey history who only got the job because he was a trusted stooge of just about the most incompetent failure of an owner in hockey history and is really ***** awful at a job he had no business being hired for in the first place.

[LGR4GM]

25 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Yes.  The team hasn't won because it has had subpar goaltending for the most part during his tenure and the team is too d*mn young.  Also, and more importantly, Adams timeline has been geared towards '27 (MAYBE '26) since he convinced ownership to punt Eichel and THAT core.  Am not happy that is the target date, but it sure seems to be the target for true contention and extended contention. 

And NO, wadr, do not agree that his timeline is always next year.  He literally has said the true goal is to be a legit contender for the SC (and he's said it isn't to WIN the SC because there's too much luck involved even when you are the #1 contender to actually make that happen) and he's never set a date on that (the '27 mentioned above is from reading tea leaves).  So, he has not said "next year" on that goal yet.

He also literally said last year that playoffs were the expectation last year.  That didn't happen and the coach was canned because of that.  (But even with that, the goal wasn't playoffs, the goal is LT being a consistent SC contender.  The expectation was playoffs, but that wasn't the goal.  A minor, but important, distinction IMHO.)

Do not know if he will turn out to be correct.  Have in fact literally stated that often.  But THAT doesn't change what his timeline certainly seems to be.  (Btw, '27 isn't next year.  It's the year after next year.  😉 )

If he punts this offseason or does his usual stick of adding a couple of tweeners 3rd pairing or 4th line types, then next year will be his refrain. He will start talking about how Lindy had to teach his new system and the team is still young and with Skinner leaving they had to see who would step up and how krebs deserved his chance etc... Guy has 1000 excuses but so far has not shown any solutions. I am more than willing to give him this offseason because I fully understand what he has done. It is exactly what should have been done under Murray which is make us competitive by 2019. My concern remains that Adams is not cutthroat enough to execute that plan by trading away his players. Skinner being bought out makes me mildly interested but I need Adams to show us, the days of him waxing poetic about what he wishes he COULD do are over for me. 

[dudacek]

I know people won’t (and shouldnt) be happy until we see results, but the perception Adams is sitting on his hands doesn’t ring true to me.

In the space of 3 months he has:

• Traded his captain
• Traded his leading scorer
• Acquired one of the more highly touted young defencemen of the past 5 years, who has a Stanley Cup ring
• Fired his coach
• Hired one of the winningest NHL coaches of all time
• (Apparently) cut his highest-paid player

And we haven’t even hit the draft yet. This is hardly running it back.

 

Edited June 26 by dudacek

[LGR4GM]

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I know people won’t (and shouldnt) be happy until we see results, but the perception Adams is sitting on his hands doesn’t ring true to me.

In the space of 3 months he has:

• Traded his captain
• Traded his leading scorer
• Acquired one the more highly touted young defencemen of the past 5 years, who has a Stanley Cup ring
• Fired his coach
• Hired one of the winningest NHL coaches of all time
• (Apparently) cut his highest-paid player

And we haven’t even hit the draft yet. This is hardly running it back.

 

• Traded his captain - Okposo wanted to be traded to Florida so Adams obliged 
• Traded his leading scorer - Adams didn't want to sign him and that was made evident, still he made this decision 
• Acquired one the more highly touted young defensemen of the past 5 years, who has a Stanley Cup ring - Jury is still out
• Fired his coach - what was he going to do? Not fire him after that god awful, uninspired, joke of a season? 82 games of lackluster effort and crap. 
• Hired one of the winningest NHL coaches of all time - k, and? Might work, might not. Also Ruff lives in Clarence, pretty much gift wrapped for Adams.
• (Apparently) cut his highest-paid player - No he didn't. His highest paid player is Rasmus Dahlin. Also, he only gets credit if he does something with the extra funds. 

So all in all, he made one move that wasn't forced and that was Mitts for Byram. Okposo wanted a cup shot and was on a dead team, easy. Mitts was apparently not a guy Adams wanted around, easy. Byram as the return is perhaps good, time will tell. Firing his coach was a literal no brainer move. Hiring Lindy after not doing a search at all... yea, lots of credit for that. Cutting skinner... jury's out. Basically Adams made 1 move that wasn't simply "yea duh of course" and that was trading a player he didn't want for one he likes in Byram. Everything else is just all the meh. Where's the aggressive remake of the roster, the no crap and no one will be spared brutality that teams like Vegas and Florida have shown in previous offseasons? Guess we shall see this week. Adams has one shot, one opportunity, mom's spaghetti. I hope he gets it right because since the Eichel trade, he's done a lot of jack *****. 

My long winded point is Adams should not get credit for doing the very bare minimum what any human with a functioning brain could have accomplished. 

Edited June 26 by LGR4GM

[LGR4GM]

I know I sound really down on Adams but he has to prove it here, now. There is no more "next year" or "next week" or "at the deadline". Now or never. 

[WhenWillItEnd66]

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I know I sound really down on Adams but he has to prove it here, now. There is no more "next year" or "next week" or "at the deadline". Now or never. 

I am 100% onboard with this. I think he made some serious mistakes that cost the team a playoff berth the last 2 years. Not seriously addressing the goalie is one and the goalie carousel is another. Putting all his eggs on his team will be better without adding anyone major was a huge miscalculation. Admitting that his team was too soft and not further addressing that. He is reactive, not proactive. Not the best trait for a GM. This is the year he either proves it or it is time for him to go.

[dudacek]

11 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

• Traded his captain - Okposo wanted to be traded to Florida so Adams obliged 
• Traded his leading scorer - Adams didn't want to sign him and that was made evident, still he made this decision 
• Acquired one the more highly touted young defensemen of the past 5 years, who has a Stanley Cup ring - Jury is still out
• Fired his coach - what was he going to do? Not fire him after that god awful, uninspired, joke of a season? 82 games of lackluster effort and crap. 
• Hired one of the winningest NHL coaches of all time - k, and? Might work, might not. Also Ruff lives in Clarence, pretty much gift wrapped for Adams.
• (Apparently) cut his highest-paid player - No he didn't. His highest paid player is Rasmus Dahlin. Also, he only gets credit if he does something with the extra funds. 

So all in all, he made one move that wasn't forced and that was Mitts for Byram. Okposo wanted a cup shot and was on a dead team, easy. Mitts was apparently not a guy Adams wanted around, easy. Byram as the return is perhaps good, time will tell. Firing his coach was a literal no brainer move. Hiring Lindy after not doing a search at all... yea, lots of credit for that. Cutting skinner... jury's out. Basically Adams made 1 move that wasn't simply "yea duh of course" and that was trading a player he didn't want for one he likes in Byram. Everything else is just all the meh. Where's the aggressive remake of the roster, the no crap and no one will be spared brutality that teams like Vegas and Florida have shown in previous offseasons? Guess we shall see this week. Adams has one shot, one opportunity, mom's spaghetti. I hope he gets it right because since the Eichel trade, he's done a lot of jack *****. 

My long winded point is Adams should not get credit for doing the very bare minimum what any human with a functioning brain could have accomplished. 

Not going to argue with you because I read your overarching point as none of that impresses you. Which is essentially how I began my post and essentially how I feel as well

I’ll simply say that Adams could have done none of the above and some people here were expecting him to do none of the above.

(Skinner is the Sabres highest-paid player. Dahlin’s contract kicks in July 1.)

[stinky finger]

34 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I know I sound really down on Adams but he has to prove it here, now. There is no more "next year" or "next week" or "at the deadline". Now or never. 

💯

Now or never is now underway.

[SABRES 0311]

29 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Not going to argue with you because I read your overarching point as none of that impresses you. Which is essentially how I began my post and essentially how I feel as well

I’ll simply say that Adams could have done none of the above and some people here were expecting him to do none of the above.

(Skinner is the Sabres highest-paid player. Dahlin’s contract kicks in July 1.)

[Buffalonill]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

If we miss the playoffs this season, will Dahlin ask out? If he does, what then? What is the new timeline? Power? Benson?

Number 1 reason he shouldn't be captain 

[WhenWillItEnd66]

More rumors less chit chat please....LOL

[dudacek]

6 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Number 1 reason he shouldn't be captain 

He shouldn't be captain because LGR wonders if he might ask out?