Roster Speculation '17-'18: Someone, Somewhere, In Summertime

[Chainshot]

What does that have to do with signing pouliot?

I thought your response was about Pominville (the last part of the post you quoted) since he was also a vet and RW.

 

[DJN21]

I thought your response was about Pominville (the last part of the post you quoted) since he was also a vet and RW.

Easy mistake. I get lazy in my phone before an impending 5am work day lol. Cheers.

 

[darcyRegier]

What other hard working guys with some skill ala Scott Wilson/Ryan Hartman are out there? Preferably someone who doesn't shy away from contact.

 

[Beerz]

What other hard working guys with some skill ala Scott Wilson/Ryan Hartman are out there? Preferably someone who doesn't shy away from contact.

Bring back Kaleta!

 

[Sabreality]

What other hard working guys with some skill ala Scott Wilson/Ryan Hartman are out there? Preferably someone who doesn't shy away from contact.

Komarov or Roussel.

 

[DJN21]

Komarov or Roussel.

Stealing komarov would be a great choice salary pending

 

[Chainshot]

What other hard working guys with some skill ala Scott Wilson/Ryan Hartman are out there? Preferably someone who doesn't shy away from contact.

UFA side: Schaller and Wingels with the Bruins are both depth types who work the body and the wall. Roussel is a UFA in Dallas -- he's a shift disturber. JT Brown is UFA, can move well and is defensively responsible. Jannik Hansen plays a responsible, slightly greasy game.

Trade side: Josh Leivo seems to want out of Toronto, though I'm sure they don't give him up for free even if they don't ever play him. They have UFA's likely to come off the books he could replace. Wilson-esque guys though, who come up relatively inexpensively, are usually a factor of roster moves and such.

 

[Chainshot]

Uncle Leo's game has fallen off considerably this year. Do not want.

 

[darcyRegier]

What about Vinnie Hinostroza? Would have to trade for/offer sheet him, but he could be had for $2ish mil aav. I love the effort he brings to the game to go with his pretty good skill and skating ability. Seems like an upgraded version of Wilson, albeit a little smaller. He can rack up points pretty nicely as well (22 points in 23 AHL games + 23 points in 39 NHL games this year). And he can play on any line.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

"I've spent a lot of time in Europe this year," Greeley said by phone from his home base in Boston. "I've spent a lot of time at the University of Minnesota and St. Cloud State. I do know we have some players coming."

 

[1972]

Will Borgan coming this year? Seems kinda pointless for him to spend another year in College.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

Will Borgan coming this year? Seems kinda pointless for him to spend another year in College.

That's why I liked that quote, sounds like the Sabres are anxious to get Borgen in the fold and Mittelstadt too. It's from a good article on BuffaloNews.com about Greeley, who was interviewed by Carolina about their GM job.

Borgen's mom also followed @TheChargingBuffalo on Twitter the other day - I think it's going to happen, he'll sign and go to Rochester for the playoffs.

 

[1972]

For kids who grew up in middle class families, how do you honestly turn down the chance at an NHL contract? I think Borgen signs .

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

For kids who grew up in middle class families, how do you honestly turn down the chance at an NHL contract? I think Borgen signs .

Ask Vesey and Butcher. Money isn’t everything, and these kids aren’t exactly from the projects.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

That's why I liked that quote, sounds like the Sabres are anxious to get Borgen in the fold and Mittelstadt too. It's from a good article on BuffaloNews.com about Greeley, who was interviewed by Carolina about their GM job.

Borgen's mom also followed @TheChargingBuffalo on Twitter the other day - I think it's going to happen, he'll sign and go to Rochester for the playoffs.

I saw that post about his mom following too - I hope that portends good things for us!! C’mon Borgen!

 

[AustonsNostrils]

Tableau Public

 

[Der Jaeger]

I'd love for Botterill to fix the defense at the draft with a couple medium sized moves. Klefbom and Pysyk would make a world of difference on the back end. I think Botterill has the assets to make those types of trades.

I don't consider those of the same ilk as the Lehner and Kane/Bogosian trades. Smaller trades to build around Ristolainen.

 

[sincerity0]

Ask Vesey and Butcher. Money isn’t everything, and these kids aren’t exactly from the projects.

It's not not about money, either. There will always be players who are good enough who want to finish their college education rather than go pro. For them, they'd rather stay in college than go play in the AHL. It's not a dumb idea, especially if you wait out one more year and then you get to pick where you play.

For some guys they may feel slighted by the team that drafted them. Another point is that they are a late bloomer (Butcher, for example) and for them waiting one more year is just fine.

It is a tremendous risk. IMO a player can always go back to college if their playing career doesn't work out. At the same time, I can understand why a junior at Harvard would rather finish their degree and then go pro.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I think the only thing that sells Tavares on Buffalo is knowing he won’t be expected to carry the offense alone.

Eichel would be his equal in expectation and targeting by opposing teams.

If I’m tavares I would want a team with a more established defense.

But if we were lucky enough that he had a fever dream and signed with Buffalo, he makes their top 9 nasty.

Rodriguez Eichel Okposo
Girgs Tavares Baptiste
Wilson O’Reilly Reinhart


Or

Girgs Tavares Eichel
Reinhart O’Reilly Okposo
Bailey Rodriguez Baptiste

Or

Tavares Eichel Okposo
Bailey O’Reilly Fasching
Girgs Reinhart Baptiste

Shifted threads because this was more appropriate.

I don't think Tavares comes to Buffalo... wishful thinking. But if he did, he's solve a bunch of issues: captain, depth, creating three scoring lines, locker room accountability, etc.

I also think it'd be interesting to see how the lines formed. Keep what Buffalo has going for it, a little? Let Tavares carry a line?

Rodrigues - Tavares - Pominville
Girgensons - Eichel - Okposo
Wilson - O'Reilly - Reinhart
Fasching - Larsson - Baptiste
x Bailey

 

[darcyRegier]

"It's so nice to have him back. Gosh, he's just ... the little things he does when he gets the puck, you feel like the whole building is like, 'OK, what's he going to do?' The other team has to be so sharp when he's out there and it makes us a more dangerous team." -ROR talking about Eichel

#FistBumpGate is officially debunked

 

[Chainshot]

So this thread has become glacial. I was wonder on opinions at looking at possible open positions for next season individually? Thinking one specifically to look at goaltending, one for improving on defense, one for wingers for Jack, one for third line center and/or third liners, one for a LW for O'Reilly, and one for the fourth line. Is that too granular?

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

Looking back at certain players this board wanted...

First up Chris Tanev.

A large majority wanted to trade high value pieces for Tanev, and once again his body breaks down as usual. Will barely crack 50 games if he doesn't miss any more. I'd rather keep Nylander+ then trade him for 50 games of Tanev. This team sucks. We aren't going anywhere, so players in their late 20s need not apply.

 

[Heraldic]

Okay, so here's my idea how to move along. The point really isn't the specific players, but just the idea how to go to next season. I have tried to keep it as realistic as possible, but there certainly are some unlikely aspects (like with every scenario...)

Girgensons - Eichel - Fasching (1 year, 650 00)
Rodrgigues - ROR - Reinhart (2 years, 2 7500 000)
Bailey (1 year, 650 000) - Filppula (1 year, 3 00 000) - Okposo
Wilson (1 year, 650 000) - Beagle (2 years, 2 000 000) - Baptiste (1 year, 650 000)
Larsson , Pominville

Scandella - Carlson (7 years, 7 000 000)
De Haan (4 years, 4 000 000) - Risto
Guhle/McCabe - Antipin (1 year, 1 000 000)
Guhle/McCabe

- Beaulieu traded somewhere for whatever return
- Bogo bought out
- Lehner traded or let walk (whatever)

Ullmark
Johnson/Ward (1 year, 2 000 000)

Total 74,282,024 mil (estimated cap 78 mil)

So the idea is to give minimun, one year deals to the RFAs.

One really big problem so far has been our bottom-line centers. Despite the fact that Reinhart has been improving a ton, I'm not willing to bet him being a legit center next season anymore. I think we absolutely need to address the position. I think Filppula still has gas enough to be a good 3rd line center. And he has experience and leadership (Stanley Cup championship). Beagle also is a quality fourth line center. Larsson has been utter garbage for more than one season already. I doubt there is anymore anyone buying the "linemates" narrative to excuse his efforts. I would still give him a chance to redeem himself, but he needs to do it outside of the opening roster. Because it seems that the game has simply gotten pass him, I wouldn't be opposed to trade him either anymore (despite his cap hit not being a problem exactly, it is too big for his contribution). I would probably rather keep Josefsson, if it comes to that.

Our winger situation would be pretty weak, but there would be more speed and it would be compensated with clearly upgraded center position. I think that every competent winger from UFA will get a way too big contract (Neal, Kane, Perron etc.), and we shouldn't touch any of those.

On defense I think we simply need to get rid of Beaulieu and Bogosian. They are eating too much cap and too many roster spots for what they bring to the table. I think that you can trade Beaulieu somewhere, but I think Bogo needs to be bought out (it is taken into account relating the total cap hit) - no-ones touching that contract with his injuries.

De Haan is a realistic option whereas Carlson not that much. I think those two are the only options to actually clearly improve our defense without trades. Mike Green might also be an option instead of Carlson with a short term contract.

I'm pretty much done with Lehner. He's not utterly garbage, but he's simply eating too much salary for his really inconsistent efforts. I'd rather roll the dice with Ullmark and get him a suitable tandem partner.

That roster would be far from a surefire playoff spot, but I think it would be a clear upgrade compared to this year's roster. It would also give us a lot of flexibility cap wise after next season (only 50 million cap hit used, and only relatively cheap RFA contracts to be re-signed (if needed)). At that point I think we might see our top prospects making impact (Mittelstadt, Nylander (hopefully...) 1st round pick 2018, Asplund and a guy like Borgen, Pu etc.).

 

[Der Jaeger]

The Casey Mittelstadt "Panda Watch" has officially begun.

 

[gallagt01]

The Casey Mittelstadt "Panda Watch" has officially begun.

I'm more interested in the Borgen watch. Borgen signing and panning out would be huge for this blue line.