Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen signed 5x4.75mil

[matter2003]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I think it's a year too long. 4 years was the perfect length. Well, goalies are tradeable. 

Why wouldn't you want a 4.75 million a year contract for a goalie in the middle of his prime versus having to potentially pay a much higher number?

Edited July 25 by matter2003

[Doohicksie]

[Doohicksie]

The Hockey Guy likes it.

 

[LGR4GM]

16 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Why wouldn't you want a 4.75 million a year contract for a goalie in the middle of his prime versus having to potentially pay a much higher number?

Because the number of goalies who stay good for 5 full years isn't that high. 

[Taro T]

One other reason to like this contract is that, for whatever reason, it seems that UPL plays significantly better when he truly believes his team is behind him and trusts him.  This contract directly tells his that the team believes in him as a #1.  (He has stated that in interviews that it's important for him to know the team believes in him.  Maybe that was just a function of his youth and he'll grow out of needing that validation.  But considering he seems to have an "amplifier" personality; that 1 extra year might've bought a better goalie than we'd've gotten even with a 3 or 4 year deal.)  Personally expect that he'll play a lot better with this deal than he would've on a "prove it" 1 year deal with Levi breathing down his neck.

Ruff has spoken highly of him.  This proves Adams thinks highly of him too.

And if they're wrong, well, TO & other teams seem to be able to get out of even worse bad contracts every single year.  No reason the Sabres shouldn't be able to do so as well.  AND they've still got Levi in the wings.  Kind of feels like they are setting up their own little Ullmark Swayman situation here.  Here's to hoping they did.  (We're due for getting to actually have nice things again.)

[PromoTheRobot]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

He has a 5 team ntc. 

 

Is Buffalo on it?

[RochesterExpat]

1 hour ago, klos1963 said:

4 hours ago, RochesterExpat said:

 

If he doesn't work out, why would another team want him?

Goalies are voodoo and plenty of goalies on mediocre or retained salary contracts get moved as reclamation projects. I’m not saying other teams will want him, I’m saying the cost for Buffalo to offload the contract or make it attractive won’t be outrageous.

[LGR4GM]

25 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Ruff has spoken highly of him.  This proves Adams thinks highly of him too.

 

This proves Adams does what his coach wants. Adams, impo, has few original ideas and instead defers do his coach. 

[TRIP65]

4 hours ago, Green lightning said:

But he's blocking Devon!

He is NOT. Since they got a Vet backup they can send Levi down to win a Calder Cup. He can come up any time they need him. Gets enough games at Amerks. He can go for Calder Cup. Levi will be here no matter what for 2026. He eventually will replace UPL who could get Dealt for a Good player.

 

Have to see how Sabres progress this year to see what else we need. Sabres in the running, players will come here if needed!

[DarthEbriate]

This is a good contract for goalies. Saaros, Shesterkin, and Swayman (in UPL's same situation next summer, but with multiple seasons behind the Bruins D) are going to get paid.

Last year, Luukkonen had .667% quality starts. That was in excellent company in the league (once you take out the folks who only dressed for a game or two). Tied with Hellebuyck, Ullmark, and Varlamov, and those three had the largest sample sizes.

GM Sheevyn finally committed to a goalie. If Luukkonen stays consistent and we see the expected improvements in team defense as the core ages, this should work. Talking myself into it... it'll work.

[TRIP65]

19 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

Goalies are voodoo and plenty of goalies on mediocre or retained salary contracts get moved as reclamation projects. I’m not saying other teams will want him, I’m saying the cost for Buffalo to offload the contract or make it attractive won’t be outrageous.

Ullmark was up and down and became something. UPL goes backwards he is worthless though. Not a lot of money though. You can always give a draft pick for a bottom team to take

[TRIP65]

1 hour ago, matter2003 said:

Why wouldn't you want a 4.75 million a year contract for a goalie in the middle of his prime versus having to potentially pay a much higher number?

CAP goes up this contract looks better the in 4th and 5th year even as a Backup. Any Contract is bad if the player Flops or gets hurt.

[TRIP65]

1 hour ago, klos1963 said:

If he doesn't work out, why would another team want him?

Levi is a minor league goalie right now. He's not the long term goalie as of now. UPL earned this, he's been a top prospect for a few years now.

Levi earned it to. He got6 hurt. Had a few bad games, not like UPL or Comrie didn't either. But he has time and Development if you can, never Hurts.

 

Levi has a Top Pedigree, done right he will be GREAT!

[...]

59 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

The Hockey Guy likes it.

 

If the hockey guy likes it, well, that changes everything.

21 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

This proves Adams does what his coach wants. Adams, impo, has few original ideas and instead defers do his coach. 

Which would be an improvement of the situation.

[Pimlach]

I like it.  Not gonna worry about the 5 years at this point, there are ways to manage that risk. This could be a steal if he plays like he can, which we saw the second half of last season.  I think this kid could be very good.  

[Brawndo]

Worse case scenario Joonas Korpisalo was moved with four years remaining on his deal at an AAV of 4 million, he could be moved if needed 

 

[Brawndo]

5 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

I'm getting old and/or I'm tired after a long day at work. But I can't readily make heads or tails of that Tweet.

Okay, okay. Here's the takeaway (??).

It was their projected AAV based on the length of number of years in the deal 

[GoPuckYourself]

I'm not a fan of the 5 years but I also thought he'd be getting 5.75M, pretty solid deal although I don't get of the logic saying "If he doesn't pan out it's a tradeable contract", if he doesn't pan out why would teams want to trade for him? I hope it works out for us and hopefully he  can continue his late season success from last year.

Not much we have to do at this point other than pick up a top line forward.

[GASabresIUFAN]

KA's modus operandi has been to sign his core players to long-term deals

So far he has dished out big contracts to Samuelsson after 1 good year, Cozens after 1 good year, TNT after 1 good year, Power after 1 decent year, and now UPL after 1 good season.  Have we received decent value on any of these contracts?  Samuelsson has been hurt since he signed his deal as often as he's played.  Cozens regressed in the 1st year of the new deal.  TNT also regressed in year 1 of his new deal.  Power basically repeated his prior season  and now enters the 1st year of the new deal.  

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5014522/2024/04/19/nhl-player-cards-atlantic-division/

According to the Athletic our core players that KA extended had negative contract values.  TNT's was -500K, Cozens -3.3 million, and Samuelsson -1.1 million.  Power's and Dahlin's new deals kick in this year.  Last season Power gave us 4.4 million in value.  His new deal is for 8.35.  Dahlin's value was 9.5 million and his new deal is for 11 million.  Honestly, I have no idea how Power will every play up to the new contract.

The Sabres just aren't getting their money's worth on these big extension, and UPL's deal will probably follow suit.

The truth is KA should have bridged Power, Cozens and Samuelsson and he should have bridged UPL for 2-3 years and then handed the reigns to Levi.

Edited July 25 by GASabresIUFAN

[dudacek]

Isn’t the point of any long term deal to a young player to overpay early in the contract and reap the benefits later on?

Are we seriously saying the Sabres aren’t getting their money’s worth on these long-term deals before half of them have even began?

[thewookie1]

44 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

KA's modus operandi has been to sign his core players to long-term deals

So far he has dished out big contracts to Samuelsson after 1 good year, Cozens after 1 good year, TNT after 1 good year, Power after 1 decent year, and now UPL after 1 good season.  Have we received decent value on any of these contracts?  Samuelsson has been hurt since he signed his deal as often as he's played.  Cozens regressed in the 1st year of the new deal.  TNT also regressed in year 1 of his new deal.  Power basically repeated his prior season  and now enters the 1st year of the new deal.  

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5014522/2024/04/19/nhl-player-cards-atlantic-division/

According to the Athletic our core players that KA extended had negative contract values.  TNT's was -500K, Cozens -3.3 million, and Samuelsson -1.1 million.  Power's and Dahlin's new deals kick in this year.  Last season Power gave us 4.4 million in value.  His new deal is for 8.35.  Dahlin's value was 9.5 million and his new deal is for 11 million.  Honestly, I have no idea how Power will every play up to the new contract.

The Sabres just aren't getting their money's worth on these big extension, and UPL's deal will probably follow suit.

The truth is KA should have bridged Power, Cozens and Samuelsson and he should have bridged UPL for 2-3 years and then handed the reigns to Levi.

It feels as if nothing KA can possibly do will ever suffice.

He signs UPL to a 2 year deal and he takes off you'd be the first person throwing up your arms in fury that we didn't trust him and yet again we let a guy leave as a UFA just like Ullmark. 

I will agree that the contracts haven't yet been valuable however the whole point is to save money and cap in the latter half of the deal. Tage playing on a freaking bad hand for the majority of the year and yet he still made an admirable effort by season's end to make his season less disappointing. He likely hits 30 if he doesn't get hurt early in the last game of the season.

[Doohicksie]

2 hours ago, ... said:

If the hockey guy likes it, well, that changes everything.

It doesn't change a thing, but I personally like to hear what he says, if only because he's not part of the Sabrespace echo chamber.

[Pimlach]

7 hours ago, GoPuckYourself said:

I'm not a fan of the 5 years but I also thought he'd be getting 5.75M, pretty solid deal although I don't get of the logic saying "If he doesn't pan out it's a tradeable contract", if he doesn't pan out why would teams want to trade for him? I hope it works out for us and hopefully he  can continue his late season success from last year.

Not much we have to do at this point other than pick up a top line forward.

Depends on what “doesn’t pan out” means.  If he plays good, but Levi becomes the #1, he is tradable.  If he plays ok, and we need cap space, he is still tradable.  If he is very good, he is a steal at $4.75M and easily tradable.   If he falls apart and busts then it’s a problem, no different than any other contract of this length.   
 

He looks like a real NHL goalie right now.  The years 4 and 5 might be medium risk, but not high risk, unless you think last season was a mirage.  Besides, they need to win now.  They are counting on him.  You have to take some risk and you should reward your own.   

Edited July 25 by Pimlach

[LabattBlue]

I guess KA still believes in long term contracts for 1 year of production.  
 

Hope he is right this time. 🤞🏻

[PromoTheRobot]

8 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

This proves Adams does what his coach wants. Adams, impo, has few original ideas and instead defers do his coach. 

So you think a GM should NOT give his coach what they want? The drive to disparage Adams is so strong with you, you're not making sense anymore.