Right handed D man

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

On 3/12/2025 at 3:42 AM, DarthEbriate said:

They've already got Dahlin who can play the right side, Bernard-Docker files for arbitration and then gets a 2-year extension, and Clifton. Ryan Johnson as a 7 who can play on either side.

Offseason complete. 😇

Ryan Johnson seems to be often overlooked as an option going forward.  Does anyone following the Amerks have any feedback on his development this season? I haven’t seen any games this season so I have no idea how it’s going for him personally.
 

He seems to be getting the reps and time in the minors, which is a major development criticism this org has rightfully earned as they’ve rushed too many young players to the NHL without proper support.  Curious if this might be someone that can step in and fill the gap if we are able to trade Mule or Clifton.

[LGR4GM]

6 hours ago, SHAAAUGHT!!! said:

Ryan Johnson seems to be often overlooked as an option going forward.  Does anyone following the Amerks have any feedback on his development this season? I haven’t seen any games this season so I have no idea how it’s going for him personally.
 

He seems to be getting the reps and time in the minors, which is a major development criticism this org has rightfully earned as they’ve rushed too many young players to the NHL without proper support.  Curious if this might be someone that can step in and fill the gap if we are able to trade Mule or Clifton.

Again, who have they rushed? 

The issue isn't they rushed guys, it's that they had so many young guys.

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

21 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Again, who have they rushed? 

The issue isn't they rushed guys, it's that they had so many young guys.

Chicken or egg yeah? They rushed players because they didn’t have enough older players to fill those roles.  Some of these guys should not have seen the NHL and experienced winning in their respective league(WHL, AHL) if they didn’t have proper support in Buffalo.
 

For example I know Benson would have been stuck in juniors, but I’d rather have him be a god in juniors getting 23min a game playing all situations than a 3rd liner on a crap Sabres team playing 14.  

Levi, Power, Casey are another 3 prime examples that come to mind
 

 

Edited March 14 by SHAAAUGHT!!!

[BlowLeafsBlow123]

On 3/12/2025 at 6:11 PM, Crusader1969 said:

Dante Fabbro

. Defensive Reliability:

• Fabbro is a dependable, stay-at-home defenseman with strong positional awareness. He excels at breaking up plays, blocking shots, and maintaining defensive structure.

• While not overly physical, he’s capable of using his size (6’0”, 200 lbs) effectively in battles along the boards and in front of the net.

Wasn't he available on waivers earlier in the season? That was a huge miss by Adams...but we all know he's mentally challenged.

[Archie Lee]

On 3/13/2025 at 5:18 AM, LGR4GM said:

Again, who have they rushed? 

The issue isn't they rushed guys, it's that they had so many young guys.

There are maybe two parts to promoting a player. 1). Is the player ready for the NHL?  2). Is the current NHL team environment set-up for that player to have success? It could be argued that having too many young guys in the NHL at the same time, amounts to rushing them. So, it’s not that any particular player was in the NHL too soon relative to their own personal readiness, but many of our young players were in Buffalo sooner than the Sabres were able to provide them with the best environment for developing their games. 

[DarthEbriate]

40 minutes ago, BlowLeafsBlow123 said:

Wasn't he available on waivers earlier in the season? That was a huge miss by Adams...but we all know he's mentally challenged.

Fabbro was on waivers and would have been a fantastic pickup granted he joined the Sabres and immediately became Dahlin's right-side partner (or Power's) as he became with Werenski.

But I looked into it awhile back, and the day he was waived, Columbus was just a point or two behind Buffalo. I'm not convinced Adams puts in a claim, but maybe Ruff would've convinced him to because of the unclear role for Joker.

[Broken Ankles]

This is a filter on RD UFA this July - under the age of 36.  Slim Pickens ain't just an American character actor.  I greyed out the unlikley.   What do you know about Nick Perbix?  

 

 

 

[Flashsabre]

The most frustrating part is there were so many opportunities to find the type of dman that the Sabres desperately needed be it waivers or trade opportunities. Fabbro, Marino, Kovacevic.   Adams didn’t even try

[Jorcus]

1 hour ago, Broken Ankles said:

This is a filter on RD UFA this July - under the age of 36.  Slim Pickens ain't just an American character actor.  I greyed out the unlikley.   What do you know about Nick Perbix?  

 

 

 

 

I can't see him as a top 4 my self. He has had a strange journey. 6th round pick, 4 years of college and all of 14 AHL games to full time NHL player. For all the conversations about growing in the AHL this guy did not have to do that. Of course spending 4 years in college allowed physical maturity but to be able to make the jump is a pretty solid testament. His performance numbers on NHL edge seem about average and he is playing for a better team so there is always a worry about regression moving to a team like ours. It would be nice to screw Tampa out of a player though. If the intention is to play on the right side of Power I think I would want someone better but I guess he is an option if a number of other things fail.   

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

The most frustrating part is there were so many opportunities to find the type of dman that the Sabres desperately needed be it waivers or trade opportunities. Fabbro, Marino, Kovacevic.   Adams didn’t even try

You have to understand that something is work in order to fix it.  

Adams response to giving up an average 4 goals a game is "remain calm all is well."

[Broken Ankles]

Just now, GASabresIUFAN said:

You have to understand that something is work in order to fix it.  

Adams response to giving up an average 4 goals a game is "remain calm all is well."

gif required

[Crusader1969]

6 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

Fabbro was on waivers and would have been a fantastic pickup granted he joined the Sabres and immediately became Dahlin's right-side partner (or Power's) as he became with Werenski.

But I looked into it awhile back, and the day he was waived, Columbus was just a point or two behind Buffalo. I'm not convinced Adams puts in a claim, but maybe Ruff would've convinced him to because of the unclear role for Joker.

Yep. We will never know. 
shame on him if he didn't though 

[Crusader1969]

3 hours ago, Broken Ankles said:

This is a filter on RD UFA this July - under the age of 36.  Slim Pickens ain't just an American character actor.  I greyed out the unlikley.   What do you know about Nick Perbix?  

 

 

 

Any of the top 4 on the list would be a step in the right direction   He'll, maybe even 2 ?

You will have to overpay them and that's fine 

Ekblad seems a bit "pie in the sky" but he's an Ontario Kid, so you never know.  Maybe he has a desire to play closer to home?

Pay him whatever you need to.  
 

Byram - Dahlin 

Power - Ekblad

Johnson - JBD

Clifton 

[thewookie1]

1 hour ago, Crusader1969 said:

Any of the top 4 on the list would be a step in the right direction   He'll, maybe even 2 ?

You will have to overpay them and that's fine 

Ekblad seems a bit "pie in the sky" but he's an Ontario Kid, so you never know.  Maybe he has a desire to play closer to home?

Pay him whatever you need to.  
 

Byram - Dahlin 

Power - Ekblad

Johnson - JBD

Clifton 

If you want Ekblad to would have to move Byram who's going to want 7+ mil like Ekblad

[Thorner]

1 hour ago, thewookie1 said:

If you want Ekblad to would have to move Byram who's going to want 7+ mil like Ekblad

Where do I sign 

[DarthEbriate]

2 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

Yep. We will never know. 
shame on him if he didn't though 

But my point was, even if Adams put a claim in, Columbus still would’ve gotten him because of the current standings.

[Flashsabre]

27 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

But my point was, even if Adams put a claim in, Columbus still would’ve gotten him because of the current standings.

You are right but Fabbeo was out on waivers because they couldn’t find a trade for him and waivers was a last resort. Adams had a chance to throw a late pick at them for Fabbro but couldn’t be bothered.

[Crusader1969]

3 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

If you want Ekblad to would have to move Byram who's going to want 7+ mil like Ekblad

Have is a strong word 

you are going to have to bridge Byram ,  are we sure that's going to cost $7 mill? 
 

Ekblad will need more than $7Mill I would think 

[thewookie1]

20 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

Have is a strong word 

you are going to have to bridge Byram ,  are we sure that's going to cost $7 mill? 
 

Ekblad will need more than $7Mill I would think 

I don’t know if he’d take a bridge deal, and if so he’s at minimum want his present deal + whatever his RFA tender is.

[Crusader1969]

6 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

I don’t know if he’d take a bridge deal, and if so he’s at minimum want his present deal + whatever his RFA tender is.

You could pay Byram $8 and Ekblad $10

just need to move Samuelsson and Clifton 

Johnson would be bottom pair with JBD

You would still have money to pay Peterka $6 to $7 mill and McLeod $4.5 

 

 

[thewookie1]

7 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

You could pay Byram $8 and Ekblad $10

just need to move Samuelsson and Clifton 

Johnson would be bottom pair with JBD

You would still have money to pay Peterka $6 to $7 mill and McLeod $4.5 

 

 

But that also leaves us with little else to help fix the team.

I don’t feel Ekblad will magically flip the team entirely alone. 
 

Also I’d fight to get McLeod at 4x4mil which is very fair for a 3C

[Archie Lee]

20 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

You could pay Byram $8 and Ekblad $10

just need to move Samuelsson and Clifton 

Johnson would be bottom pair with JBD

You would still have money to pay Peterka $6 to $7 mill and McLeod $4.5 

 

 

You would to dump one more player in the $4-5 million range.  And Ekblad would be your only add.

Edited March 15 by Archie Lee

[Crusader1969]

55 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

You would to dump one more player in the $4-5 million range.  And Ekblad would be your only add.

I don't think you would have to dump anyone else doing quick math, they would come in 2 mill under the cap  

Yes Ekblad would be the Major piece added     Maybe he gets under $10m if  you give him some term  

But it would be a huge change to the team 

 

 

[Crusader1969]

1 hour ago, thewookie1 said:

But that also leaves us with little else to help fix the team.

I don’t feel Ekblad will magically flip the team entirely alone. 
 

Also I’d fight to get McLeod at 4x4mil which is very fair for a 3C

The top 9 forwards

Peterka, Benson, Tage, Tuch, Greenway, Zucker, Norris, Kulich, Norris

top 4 D

Dahlin, Byram, Power, Ekblad 

UPL, Levi 

[Archie Lee]

5 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

The top 9 forwards

Peterka, Benson, Tage, Tuch, Greenway, Zucker, Norris, Kulich, Norris

top 4 D

Dahlin, Byram, Power, Ekblad 

UPL, Levi 

With the $4.44 going to the Skinner buyout next year, and using your contract projections, this comes in around $89 million. Leaving around $6 million for a 4th line, 3rd pair D, and then spares.