What will be the Sabres approach at the trade deadline?

[JohninMinn.]

All they need to do is teach Power what a slapshot is and help Benson put on 40 lbs.

[LGR4GM]

10 hours ago, Thorner said:

 

2025 needs to just... take a nap.

2 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/how-close-buffalo-sabres-trade-deadline-dylan-cozens-wild-canucks-flames
 

Someone check on Liger😁 They mention Rossi as an option for Cozens😛

[Porous Five Hole]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

2025 needs to just... take a nap.

 

[JP51]

On 2/5/2025 at 5:55 PM, JohnC said:

I understand your well reasoned positon but I'm not aligned with your thinking. My worry is that this inept organization, out of frustration, tears down too much instead of bringing in support players to better balance out this roster. This tear down to build up mentality has to stop. It has kept us stuck in the muck of mediocrity.  

my worry is that we allow the inept people in this inept organization to do ANYTHING... 

[JP51]

On 1/28/2025 at 3:54 PM, GASabresIUFAN said:

I don't think any Sabres fans want Adams in charge any longer, but that is the reality we are living with.  If Terry didn't want him to remain, he would have fired him during the losing streak.  Doesn't make a lot of sense to leave him place for the deadline just to fire him this off-season.  

So true... all of it... my issue is literally and I mean literally not only does nothing they do make sense... they consistently do the exact opposite of what a functional organization would do...  

[JohnC]

3 hours ago, JP51 said:

my worry is that we allow the inept people in this inept organization to do ANYTHING... 

You identified the conundrum and futility: Those who drove this franchise into the ditch are allowed to keep the keys to the car to drive us out of the ditch that they drove into. It's like the police stopping a drunken driver and telling him to drive on. It makes no sense. For me, the onus is on the clueless owner who has made one bad hire after another. 

[Carmel Corn]

GMKA will have many “conversations” to justify he is working, but NOTHING will happen

[Flashsabre]

36 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

GMKA will have many “conversations” to justify he is working, but NOTHING will happen

I’m perfectly fine with that. I don’t want Adams making any moves I want him fired

 

[Rasmus_]

Trade Greenway, the guy should be a bouncer at a strip club.   Has size, doesn't use it.  Couldn't find the back of the net if it was him only on the ice, with no goalie in net. 

[ska-T Palmtown]

10 hours ago, Rasmus_ said:

Trade Greenway, the guy should be a bouncer at a strip club.   Has size, doesn't use it.  Couldn't find the back of the net if it was him only on the ice, with no goalie in net. 

TF games are you watching? (assuming he is playing and not hurt) Greenway skates through people at a fairly regular pace.

[HumanSlinky39]

1 hour ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

TF games are you watching? (assuming he is playing and not hurt) Greenway skates through people at a fairly regular pace.

Yeah. To me, Greenway is exactly the kind of guy this roster needs. Not as a focal point obviously, but as a 3rd/4th liner he's very valuable. His problem is staying healthy, unfortunately.

[mjd1001]

1 hour ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

Yeah. To me, Greenway is exactly the kind of guy this roster needs. Not as a focal point obviously, but as a 3rd/4th liner he's very valuable. His problem is staying healthy, unfortunately.

He's a good player, not great of course but good when he is playing. My issue is, does how good he is justify how much he is injured?

It looks like there have been almost 20 different occasions in the past 4 seasons where he has missed time due to an injury: https://www.flashscore.com/player/greenway-jordan/EeTUHE6b/injury-history/

Getting injured happens.  missing an average of 5-7 games per year due to injury is unfortunate, but when you have as many different injuries and miss as much time as he does, that is where it crosses the line to me to injury prone.  Do you sign Greenway and pencil him in for a middle 6 role?  Or would you rather have someone who (if you can find them) is a LITTLE bit less effective than Greenway but someone you think you can rely on for a lot more games?  If you pick the 2nd, then you are likely making a decision to move on from Greenway.

I was wrong about one thing, when Ruff came in, I thought Greenway would be one of the guys on the way out.  I was wrong about that, not its just his injuries.

Edited February 12 by mjd1001

[HumanSlinky39]

2 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

He's a good player, not great of course but good when he is playing. My issue is, does how good he is justify how much he is injured?

It looks like there have been almost 20 different occasions in the past 4 seasons where he has missed time due to an injury: https://www.flashscore.com/player/greenway-jordan/EeTUHE6b/injury-history/

Getting injured happens.  missing an average of 5-7 games per year due to injury is unfortunate, but when you have as many different injuries and miss as much time as he does, that is where it crosses the line to me to injury prone.  Do you sign Greenway and pencil him in for a middle 6 role?  Or would you rather have someone who (if you can find them) is a LITTLE bit less effective than Greenway but someone you think you can rely on for a lot more games?  If you pick the 2nd, then you are likely making a decision to move on from Greenway.

I was wrong about one thing, when Ruff came in, I thought Greenway would be one of the guys on the way out.  I was wrong about that, not its just his injuries.

That's the rub with him, unfortunately. It seems like he's been hurt as much as healthy since we've acquired him which is frustrating because I always see good stuff from him when he does play.

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

4 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

He's a good player, not great of course but good when he is playing. My issue is, does how good he is justify how much he is injured?

It looks like there have been almost 20 different occasions in the past 4 seasons where he has missed time due to an injury: https://www.flashscore.com/player/greenway-jordan/EeTUHE6b/injury-history/

Getting injured happens.  missing an average of 5-7 games per year due to injury is unfortunate, but when you have as many different injuries and miss as much time as he does, that is where it crosses the line to me to injury prone.  Do you sign Greenway and pencil him in for a middle 6 role?  Or would you rather have someone who (if you can find them) is a LITTLE bit less effective than Greenway but someone you think you can rely on for a lot more games?  If you pick the 2nd, then you are likely making a decision to move on from Greenway.

I was wrong about one thing, when Ruff came in, I thought Greenway would be one of the guys on the way out.  I was wrong about that, not its just his injuries.

 

2 hours ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

That's the rub with him, unfortunately. It seems like he's been hurt as much as healthy since we've acquired him which is frustrating because I always see good stuff from him when he does play.

He has looked good when in the lineup this year and I think this is why Greenway is an ok signing at the right price.  I would be ok signing him for 1-2 years/$2M AAV to play 50-60 games a year.  I wouldn't want to go more than 2 years because of the injury history and concern he might throttle back his effort with a longer contract.

[mjd1001]

7 minutes ago, SHAAAUGHT!!! said:

 

He has looked good when in the lineup this year and I think this is why Greenway is an ok signing at the right price.  I would be ok signing him for 1-2 years/$2M AAV to play 50-60 games a year.  I wouldn't want to go more than 2 years because of the injury history and concern he might throttle back his effort with a longer contract.

I guess I agree in principle.

The way I look at it with guys that get injured a lot (Greenway, Samuelsson) is...lets say they give you 60-70% of the games in season.  Those 30-40% of the games that they don't play, you are putting in a bottom-of-the-roster player to replace them. What if you got a guy that historically gives you 90%+ of the games? Even if he is a little worse, the 'average' of a Greenway giving you 70% of the games with a much worse player giving you 30%....that might be worse than a guy slightly worse than greenway, but MUCH better than the replacment player, giving you 90+%

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

2 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

I guess I agree in principle.

The way I look at it with guys that get injured a lot (Greenway, Samuelsson) is...lets say they give you 60-70% of the games in season.  Those 30-40% of the games that they don't play, you are putting in a bottom-of-the-roster player to replace them. What if you got a guy that historically gives you 90%+ of the games? Even if he is a little worse, the 'average' of a Greenway giving you 70% of the games with a much worse player giving you 30%....that might be worse than a guy slightly worse than greenway, but MUCH better than the replacment player, giving you 90+%

Agreed on the risk and this is why the Sabres should bring in someone that plays a simliar strong defensive game that could 1) reduce the shifts Greenway needs to take per game, 2) be able to step in and handle that load during injuries. 3) keep Greenway (and themselves) motivated to continue to improve their game.  This team needs more players with similar skill sets competing for roles, including options from Rochester. Too many finesse and smaller forwards in the organization that can't step in and play Greenway's role, and we all saw the impact it had to the Sabres game when he did go out of the lineup.

[mjd1001]

5 minutes ago, SHAAAUGHT!!! said:

Agreed on the risk and this is why the Sabres should bring in someone that plays a simliar strong defensive game that could 1) reduce the shifts Greenway needs to take per game, 2) be able to step in and handle that load during injuries. 3) keep Greenway (and themselves) motivated to continue to improve their game.  This team needs more players with similar skill sets competing for roles, including options from Rochester. Too many finesse and smaller forwards in the organization that can't step in and play Greenway's role, and we all saw the impact it had to the Sabres game when he did go out of the lineup.

Ideally, one of their first round prospects would play the type of game Greenway does....so if/when greenway gets injured, you have the young guy gradually have a chance to get integrated into the team when needed. Alas, the Sabres don't have any top prospects in Roch that are in the 6'5" tall, somewhat physical type game.

[LGR4GM]

17 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

Ideally, one of their first round prospects would play the type of game Greenway does....so if/when greenway gets injured, you have the young guy gradually have a chance to get integrated into the team when needed. Alas, the Sabres don't have any top prospects in Roch that are in the 6'5" tall, somewhat physical type game.

Isn't Wahlberg like 6'4"? 

Also I bet the list of 1st round forwards drafted in the last 5 years that are at least 6'5" is a short list, pun intended. 

Edited February 12 by LGR4GM

[SABRES 0311]

I think our predictions of what happens is tainted by what we know needs to happen. The more I think about it the more I believe KA will get little done other than trading Zucker. I don't want Zucker to leave but I think KA is under pressure to do something and frustration at not being able to do anything during the season will cloud judgement.

[GASabresIUFAN]

5 hours ago, SABRES 0311 said:

I think KA is under pressure to do something and frustration at not being able to do anything during the season will cloud judgement.

How can anything cloud the judgement of someone that lacks judgement?

[JohnC]

8 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

How can anything cloud the judgement of someone that lacks judgement?

This fellow has been on the job for five years. There is more than enough work product to evaluate. He's simply in over his head. He is a checkers player in a chess game. Until there is a change at the GM position with someone who is equipped to handle the multi-faceted job, this franchise will continue to be stuck. How do you expect this executive to evaluate talent in the league when he can't accurately assess the talent he has on his own roster? This isn't a GM problem so much as an ownership problem. He made the peculiar hire more for financial reasons than for hockey reasons. 

I'm not a despondent fan who believes that this is a lost cause franchise where everything has to be blown up. I strongly believe that with the right person at the helm who is capable of making some smart transactions this team would be in a much better position. 

[FrenchConnection44]

I’d like to keep Greenway and Zucker and all the NHL RFAS. 
 

I am done with Power, Samuelsson, and Cozens. The workhorse from Whitehorse has turned into a pommel horse or a kiddie ride horse. Seems especially so since he got hammered in that fight last year. 
 

Maybe we can throw in Ryan Johnson as well. About to be 24 and he’s on his way to another 0 goal 10 assist season in the AHL. 

[EM88]

14 hours ago, SABRES 0311 said:

I think our predictions of what happens is tainted by what we know needs to happen. The more I think about it the more I believe KA will get little done other than trading Zucker. I don't want Zucker to leave but I think KA is under pressure to do something and frustration at not being able to do anything during the season will cloud judgement.

I think the only pressure that Adams will respond to will be from Pegula.  If Pegula wants him to make a deal, he will make a deal.  The question therefore becomes, is the fan and media pressure getting to Pegula?

[LGR4GM]

On 2/12/2025 at 5:18 PM, LGR4GM said:

Isn't Wahlberg like 6'4"? 

Also I bet the list of 1st round forwards drafted in the last 5 years that are at least 6'5" is a short list, pun intended. 

Let's set the bar at 6'3" and a forward. Since heights get updated, they even get the bigger boost as I will be looking at their heights now and not at the draft (the combine doesn't cover everyone). 

2020: 1st round, Quinton Byfield. 2nd round, Roby Järventie, Daniel Torgersson, Jack Finley, Will Cuylle, Yegor Sokolov (6 total)

2021: 1st round, none. 2nd round, Zach Ostapchuk, William Strömgren, Matthew Knies, Samuel Helenius, Colton Dach (5 total)

2022: 1st round, Juraj Slafkovský, Conor Geekie, Nathan Gaucher, Reid Schaefer. 2nd round, Matyas Sapovaliv, Jani Nyman (6 total)

2023: 1st round, Leo Carlsson, Daniil But, Matthew Wood, Samuel Honzek, Charlie Stramel, David Edstrom. 2nd round, Kasper Halttunen, Anton Wahlberg, Danny Nelson, Rasmus Kumpulainen (10 total)

2024: 1st round, Beckett Sennecke, Cayden Lindstrom, Dean Letourneau, Liam Greentree. 2nd round, Igor Chernyshov, Julius Miettinen, Jack Berglund. (7 total)

I dropped the bar down to 6'3" because 6'5" or taller was a short list, there's I think 5 total guys. Most of these guys are 6'3" I have listed here but that's a good cutoff between avg (5'11"-6'2") and short (5'10" and under). Technically we could have drafted any of the 2nd round players, so they all count but Byfield, Slafkovsky, Carlsson, But, Sennecke, Lindstrom were all gone long before our first picks. For our purposes lets take out those 6. 

That translates to 28 players we could have drafted that were 6'3" or taller, we drafted 1 of them in Anton Wahlberg. Now if we do this a bit more seriously, we take out all the first round guys before we picked (-6) and then we take out all the 2nd round guys who went before our first pick in the 2nd round (-6) as we eliminate the guys we couldn't get and the 2 guys after we took Wahlberg because we took a big guy then. That means we are at -12 or 22 players total we could have drafted in the first 2 rounds that were 6'3" or taller. Now this is specifically at forward. In 2024 we took 6'6" defender Adam Kleber. 2023 we took Wahlberg and also 6'2" defender Strbak. 2022 we took the goalie although he is over 6'3". 2021... our 2nd round is trash. 2020, we took JJ Peterka. 

I think it is worth noting the only 1st or 2nd round forward pick taken since 2020 that is over 6'2" is 6'3" Wahlberg. I also think it is worth noting we have taken a bunch of defenders who fit this profile of 6'3" or taller. The point of all of this was to look at the possibility of drafting a big forward with a strong 2way game that plays physical like Greenway. There were some opportunities and I will give you the list below, but fewer than you would think. 

We could have drafted the following players: Note it would have cost you Zach Benson, JJ Peterka, Matthew Savoie, Noah Östlund, and Konsta Helenius to take some of the names below instead. You wouldn't have Kisakov, Poltapov, Kleber, and Leinonen potentially. 

1st round: Dean Letourneau, Liam Greentree,  Matthew Wood, Samuel Honzek, Charlie Stramel, David Edstrom, Conor Geekie, Nathan Gaucher, Reid Schaefer,

2nd round: Jack Berglund, Zach Ostapchuk, William Strömgren, Matthew Knies, Samuel Helenius, Colton Dach, Daniel Torgersson, Jack Finley, Will Cuylle, Yegor Sokolov

Edited February 14 by LGR4GM

[JP51]

On 2/11/2025 at 7:04 PM, JohnC said:

You identified the conundrum and futility: Those who drove this franchise into the ditch are allowed to keep the keys to the car to drive us out of the ditch that they drove into. It's like the police stopping a drunken driver and telling him to drive on. It makes no sense. For me, the onus is on the clueless owner who has made one bad hire after another. 

It really is... and honestly, I just have no clue where this dude is at or what he is thinking... like literally my entire brand that was once a proud organization that was loved has burned down and is emitting toxic fumes into the ecosphere...