Long Term: Byram or Power

[steveoat87]

Going forward, it appears to be that the Sabres are going to have to trade one of them to improve the team.  They need a right handed defenseman, and they desperately need at the very least a serviceable forward.  

Which of the two would you trade and why?

[LabattBlue]

Either.  Don’t care.  

[Scottysabres]

Let’s face it, Power is a pylon. Young or not, he is slow, lethargic almost. He has low defensive hockey IQ for a d man. He is definitely a big negative to this current roster.

Byram? Ya, he can stay.

[mjd1001]

24 minutes ago, steveoat87 said:

Going forward, it appears to be that the Sabres are going to have to trade one of them to improve the team.  They need a right handed defenseman, and they desperately need at the very least a serviceable forward.  

Which of the two would you trade and why?

I don't think they HAVE to trade one of them.  I won't be surprised if they do though.

I like both of them long term.  I think Power will be a very good D-man but its going to take a couple years.

I think Byram is a better D-man right now than Power.  I just wonder if he wants to re-sign here long term, or what it will take to get him to sign.

[Porous Five Hole]

It slightly depends on Byram’s long term AAV, but I think they can afford both. And I don’t think you NEED to move on from one because of handedness. 
 

The team improvement you’re referencing is having three elite players on the blue line in their prime.  To expect it from a 22 year old Power and 23 year old Byram today is misguided. I do not expect GMKA to fold his hand and trade out either of these pieces. And I wouldn’t either.

 

Plenty of other deck chairs to throw overboard for a shakeup.  I would be much more concerned about Dylan Cozens being a $7MM earner & a 45 pt player.  

[Carmel Corn]

Byram has some speed and more intensity to his game vs. Power - who is slow, lethargic and frankly the biggest wimp on the team.  Power's defense IQ is maybe the worst I've ever seen.  Power's contract is going to be problematic for a long time, but I hope they can move him for something decent in return.

Edited Friday at 06:29 PM by Carmel Corn

[xzy89c1]

Byrum all day. Power is too low energy a player. Has shown regression in dzone. Tyler myers equivalent. These early long term contracts were always a mistake.

Edited Friday at 06:16 PM by xzy89c1

[K-9]

Gotta be Power who has a higher upside. His 5x5 offensive stats were top five in the league for D men going into last night. He’s got a long way to go on the D side of things, but he’s young, still growing, and D men take can take a while to put it all together. Whatever they can get for Byram is fine with me. 

[Porous Five Hole]

8 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

Let’s face it, Power is a pylon. Young or not, he is slow, lethargic almost. He has low defensive hockey IQ for a d man. He is definitely a big negative to this current roster.

Byram? Ya, he can stay.

Power isn’t a pylon. He moves well for a big guy. 
He is not good defensively today, but he’s also 22 and on a bad team. Struggling defensively as his age isn’t uncommon even for his draft position. And let’s not forget his GM has done him no favors in the form of a veteran partner worth a damn.

He has all the tools to be elite offensively. He can improve in front of the net. Actually I expect it. 

I am as frustrated as everyone else at this craptacular season, but I’m not moving Power (or Byram). 

[Scottysabres]

2 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Power isn’t a pylon. He moves well for a big guy. 
He is not good defensively today, but he’s also 22 and on a bad team. Struggling defensively as his age isn’t uncommon even for his draft position. And let’s not forget his GM has done him no favors in the form of a veteran partner worth a damn.

He has all the tools to be elite offensively. He can improve in front of the net. Actually I expect it. 

I am as frustrated as everyone else at this craptacular season, but I’m not moving Power (or Byram). 

I respect your input, we’ll agree to disagree on Power. I’m not hopeful for him. As for keeping them both, we probably will given the cap rise. But the thread does ask which one we keep, as of now, given performance to date, Byram is my choice.

[Porous Five Hole]

1 minute ago, Scottysabres said:

I respect your input, we’ll agree to disagree on Power. I’m not hopeful for him. As for keeping them both, we probably will given the cap rise. But the thread does ask which one we keep, as of now, given performance to date, Byram is my choice.

Good call on if we had to choose.
If we had to, I agree with you & would also ride or die with Byram.  
It doesn’t hurt that Power would probably bring more back in a trade…the league averages about nine defensemen who can eclipse 60 points annually, and he projects to be one of them. Plus we already have one of those guys in Dahlin.  

[Cranky old man]

Power would bring back more in a trade with his 5 on 5 scoring touch and big potential. On a good team he would be allowed to develop. His physical game will come but it’s going to take a few years. We in Buffalo have no patience for that from a guy who already got the bag. KA should have signed him to a bridge deal; even Dahlin was given one of those. If they could could convince Byram to stay, Mule is the one who should be moved. Bad contract. He is finally healthy. Out with you.

Edited yesterday at 02:38 AM by Cranky old man

[GASabresIUFAN]

Byram.  At least he seems to care and he'll be cheaper to retain.  Power is a 6'6 225 lbs statute who refused to use his size to knock opponents off the puck.  Power has 14 hits for the season.  Byram 40.  

Both make an effort to blocks shots, both often give the puck away and neither do a good job at taking the puck away.  

All of our D, including Dahlin, make stupid plays with the puck and all suck at taking the puck away.  

[Huckleberry]

2 Years ago I was like,   Power - Dahlin will be our Niedermayer (power)- Pronger (Dhalin).

Neither is those, I think Dahlin has better offense than both Pronger and Niedermayer.  If you want to choose between Byram and Power, right now most of you will go Byram, but I still pick Power. 

 Just a personal feeling but if either goes I want a 1C/2C back in return.

[Huckleberry]

24 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Byram.  At least he seems to care and he'll be cheaper to retain.  Power is a 6'6 225 lbs statute who refused to use his size to knock opponents off the puck.  Power has 14 hits for the season.  Byram 40.  

Both make an effort to blocks shots, both often give the puck away and neither do a good job at taking the puck away.  

All of our D, including Dahlin, make stupid plays with the puck and all suck at taking the puck away.  

Dahling had that same Issue 4 years ago, I can go back and take a shitload of quotes about him like this.  
Maybe Im too optimistic about power, but I feel he can grow into a solid 2nd pairing, and I say 2nd because we got Dahlin.

I still see them both anchoring the blue line in crucial minutes together in the cup final, maybe dumb of me but I see them both doing that together.

Edited yesterday at 03:08 AM by Huckleberry

[GASabresIUFAN]

Just now, Huckleberry said:

Dahling had that same Issue 4 years ago, I can go back and take a shitload of quotes about him like this.  
Maybe Im too optimistic about power, but I feel he can grow into a solid 2nd pairing, and I say 2nd because we got Dahlin.

What do we need him for if we have Byram locked up to a cheaper contract and Byram is actually willing to hit someone and puts up just as much offense.  Dump Power and reallocate his $8 to a playmaker or 2 defensive D.

[Huckleberry]

5 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

What do we need him for if we have Byram locked up to a cheaper contract and Byram is actually willing to hit someone and puts up just as much offense.  Dump Power and reallocate his $8 to a playmaker or 2 defensive D.

Then I want offense tbh,   Defensive D you don't trade for.   We have one in Ryjo already and well our best one in Borgen we let go.

[Huckleberry]

And if you wonder what I think a good Defensive D can be, well last 10 years our best one been Pysyk and that is saying a lot.

[TheAud]

9 hours ago, Carmel Corn said:

Byram has some speed and more intensity to his game vs. Power - who is slow, lethargic and frankly the biggest wimp on the team.  Power's defense IQ is maybe the worst I've ever seen.  Power's contract is going to be problematic for a long time, but I hope they can move him for something decent in return.

100% this. 

Watching Owen Power in a Sabres uniform makes me ill at this point. Trade him while they can. 

[PerreaultForever]

For the right offer nobody on this roster should be untradeable. 

Byram will be traded imo. He's going to want a lot of money and there is no way they can pay Dahlin, Power and Byram with big deals at the same time. Not the way they budget and plan. 

Now if somebody wants to offer a lot for Power's potential, then by all means move him. He's certainly not worth what he gets right now. What I wouldn't want to see though is moving players out for picks. We've done enough of that already. 

[Sabres73]

I would keep both if possible, as we have other assets available to deal. No knee-jerk trades that don't make us better immediately as well as the next several years.

[Jorcus]

I don't think the choice has to be made now unless there is a compelling deal on the table. The Sabres can cut a 1 year deal with Byram even if it goes to arbitration. Not ideal but it would buy time to sort things out for the long term.  It's interesting that the goals and assist are identical. Doing an NHL edge side by side shows Byram to be equal or better in all categories. I prefer Byram, he is faster and better than both Dahlin and Power at passing. He also has a hard shot. Not as physical as Dahlin on the back end. He is better than Dahlin at breaking up 2 on 1's. The choice is Byram if a choice has to be made.  

[LabattBlue]

You can’t tie up almost 30mil in cap space on your top 4 dmen…especially when they all shoot left and 3 of the 4 are considered the same player…PMD.  

 

Just another strike against KA and his complete inability to build a successful roster. 

[Slack_in_MA]

I think the first thing we try is a blood transfusion from Benson to Power. If that doesn’t work, then Power can go, if you can get a quality player in return. 
 

He’s talented but just too passive for his position. I don’t think toughness can be taught.

[Archie Lee]

I'm ok with moving one of them prior to next season. I think moving one of them along with one or two of our young forwards for more experienced players makes sense, if it is our goal to make the playoffs (which it obviously should be). 

I don't think we need to add a high-profile d-man to replace whoever is moved out.  I think it is generally a myth that top teams have deep bluelines. Some do, but the Leafs currently have Phillipe Myers on their 1st pair.  That's only one example, but depth charts are available for anyone to look up if they are interested.  There are lots of teams with d-men getting regular shifts who, if they were on the Sabres, we would say need to be replaced. If we were to move Power, as an example, and we went into the off-season with Dahlin, Byram, Samuelsson, Clifton, Johnson, as 5 d-mean to start with, we would be further ahead of many teams. The Stars are getting it done with a defense that includes Lyubushkin, Dumba, Nils Lundkvist, and Brendan Smith.  If Heiskanen, Harley, and Lindell are so much better than Dahlin, Byram, and Samuelsson that we can't put together a group of 2nd and 3rd pairing D-men to play as well defensively on the back-end as Dallas does, then we have failed in some combination of our projections, development, and coaching.  

Also, on extending Byram, there is no reason why we need to get hung-up on a long-term (6-8 year) deal. If it's determined that Byram and Power are both needed for how we want to play, then it is ok to give Byram a 3-4 year deal with a lower AAV that walks him to UFA status at 27-28 years of age.  Is it the best asset management? It depends how you look at it. LA gave Byfield a 5 year deal at $6.25 that takes him to UFA status at age 27.  They could have signed him to a 7-8 year deal and gave him $8 million per.  But the Kings are up against the Cap.  If they gave Byfield an $8 million AAV now, they would not have a Warren Foegele or a Tanner Jeannot and they would not be as good as they are.