2021 Offseason player / roster discussion: Who's Next, This Song is Over, Won't Get Fooled Again

[sabremike]

Next season is chockful of top tier prospects including 2 on the Matthews tier so running a fun team of young talented players that play hard wouldn't be terrible.

You are aware if the team goes 0-82 next season there's only a 1 in 3 chance the Sabres get either of them right?

 

[Old Navy Goat]

You are aware if the team goes 0-82 next season there's only a 1 in 3 chance the Sabres get either of them right?

I know but if you followed prospects there's another 3 to 4 that would be considered favored to go #1 this year. Next year is stacked at the top, and the scary part is '23 looks better especially how the WHL rookies tore that league up as 15/16yo

 

[sabresEH]

I am confident that Sam stays. No insider knowledge here, but he was on a 37 goal pace and is one of the most cerebral players in the game. He’s RFA. Tie him down to a long term deal.

AND HE CAN PLAY C! Who knew

I think these are reasons why he’s gone. His value is probably at an all time high. Instead of negotiating and inevitably overpaying him, cause he has us bent over ala Skinner, we should trade him and try to convince Jack to come back out of the 2.

Although overpaying Reino and trading Jack at his lowest value is probably what this team will do.

 

[UnleashRasmus]

My plan:

First move: Eichel to LA. Makes sense for LA as long as they don't give up Byfield. Add Ristolainen to the deal. He's a LA type of heavy player they'd need to a playoff run. And he's pending UFA, so if it doesn't work, no issues flipping him at the deadline. The Kings have about $20M to play with, so the cap won't play into this move much. LA can begin their playoff push next season, with Eichel, without gutting the team. Buffalo can add key players to the current core, which played well down the stretch. The players that LA has are the type Buffalo wants. This also helps Buffalo for the expansion draft. LA has room to protect Eichel, and Seattle isn't taking Ristolainen.

Eichel and Ristolainen to LA for Turcotte, Vilardi, Bjornfot, 2021 1st, 2022 1st

Second Move: 2021 3rd rounder (Florida) to Washington for Vanecek. Caps can't protect him, Buffalo can. Seems like a pretty simple pre-ED move.

Expansion Draft:
Forwards: Reinhart, Mittelstadt, Olofsson, Thompson, Asplund, Bjork, Skinner
Defense: Dahlin, Jokiharju, Borgen
Goaltender: Vanecek

Exposed (with term left): Okposo, Eakin, Girgensons, Miller, Toharski. No real loses among that group. I expect a choice between Miller and Girgensons. Miller is probably the choice, with Botterill in Seattle.

Third Move: Reinhart established himself as a top 6 center who can produce in the worst of situations. That's going to command more attention than I think fans think. Imagine you were a GM of another team, looking at Reinhart. On wing? Produces. Center? Produces. Good teammates? Produces and makes them better. Average to bad teammates? Still produces. He's got a Brayden Schenn trajectory, and he's at the point Philly traded him to St. Louis. The Blues switched him to center full time, and he's anchored their second line for a Cup team.

Calgary is a good landing spot for Reinhart. They've got Monahan and Backlund, but that's not getting them anywhere. The easy answer is to trade Gaudreau and Monahan, but they need someone to backfill Monahan before they make a move. Calgary might move Monahan for Reinhart, but that's more of a lateral move. They'd be better off landing Reinhart, then moving Gaudreau (Philly) to fill in the gaps. For Calgary to make this work, it's probably a futures deal for Buffalo.

Reinhart to Calgary for Connor Zary, Jacob Pelletier, and 2022 1st.

Draft:
1a: Matthew Beniers, C, Michigan. The no-brainer move. With the way Adams is building the roster, you couldn't draw up a better two way center who fits the line-up.
1b: Fyodor Svechkov, C, Ladia Togliatti (MHL and VHL). Superb two way ability who does all the little things right. No flashy but the kind of player who anchors a 3rd line for a Cup winner.
2a: Tyler Boucher, LW/RW, USA U18 (USHL). Tom Wilson-lite without the d-baggery.

Draft Day trade: 2021 2nd round pick (Boston) to NJ for Miles Wood. The Sabres need someone in the line-up to play at the net and bring some toughness.

Free Agency: Sabres lineup looks like they've got two big needs: Goaltender, Defense.

Goaltender: Ullmark is the add as a goaltender. He loves it in Buffalo, loves the support he's been given, and seems organizationally loyal. I'd also re-sign Houser as Rochester's goaltender as the back-up plan, since Ullmark is injury prone.

Defense: I'm really not interested in making a splash at RHD and pulling in a Dougie Hamilton. I'd much rather let the kids develop. He probably doesn't want to come to Buffalo either. I'd rather make a small, short term move here, adding a safe, defensive minded player (or two). So I'm good with adding Brendan Smith. Short term deal, dependable, easy to add into the roster and easy to move if a kid takes a spot.

Opening Night Line-up
Asplund - Mittelstadt - Thompson
Skinner - Cozens - Ruotsalainen
Bjork - Vilardi - Olofsson
Wood - Girgensons - Okposo
x Eakin, Murray

Dahlin - Jokiharju
Samuelsson - Smith
Bryson - Borgen
x Bjornfot

Ullmark, Vanecek

The key to this isn't who is one the roster... it's who's not on the roster and coming.

Center: Turcotte, Beniers, Zary, Svechkov
Winger: Pelletier, Quinn, Boucher, Pekar, Huglen, Weissbach, Rousek, Biro
Defense: Johnson, Laaksonen, Fitzgerald
Goaltender: Luukanen, Portillo

The opening night line-up is a pain-in-the-a$$ team to play because of their speed, forechecking, and puck movement skills. Then start adding in players like Turcotte and UPL as the season progresses. Quinn, Johnson, Zary, and Beniers could also play their way onto this team.

This is the re-start I'd want. Solid, young NHL line-up with a ton of kids coming.

Second Move: 2021 3rd rounder (Florida) to Washington for Vanecek. Caps can't protect him, Buffalo can. Seems like a pretty simple pre-ED move.

===================================================
Eichel and Ristolainen to LA for Turcotte, Anderson Dolan, Grans, Chromiak, 2021 1st, 2022 1st

Reinhart to Calgary for Connor Zary, Heineman or Dube, and 2022 1st.

2021 3rd rounder (Florida) to Washington for Vanecek. Caps can't protect him, Buffalo can. Seems like a pretty simple pre-ED move. (this is perfect)

Unrestricted Free Agency:

Defense:
Derek Forbort, LD (1 year 2.5M)
Jani Hakanpaa, RD (1 year 3M)
Brogan Rafferty, RD (2 YR 1.9 (950K per season))

Forwards: Two to three of
Cedric Paquette, C (1 YR 1.25M)
Blake Coleman, C/LW (3 YR 3.5M per) or Barclay Goodrow, C / LW (3 YR 3.5M)
Mattias Janmark, LW (1 YR 3M)
Josh Leivo, LW/RW (1 YR 1M)
Ryan Dzingel, LW (1 YR 1.25M)
Derrick Brassard, C/RW (1 YR 1.5M)

Goalie:
Kasimir Kaskisuo, G (1 YR 925K) or Alex Lyon, G (1 yr 1M)

Draft: 1st 1st: Beniers, Hughes, Powers, Eklund,
2nd 1st: Svechkov, Robertsson, Lysell, Bolduc
2nd rnd: Svozil,

 

[Steddy33]

 

[Duddy]

The plans are always great, the on papers even better, but life never turns out that way. We will just continue to suck, until we get really lucky in a bunch of drafts and luck into a coach that has that new bright and shiny system idea that works.

They couldn't make it work with Eichel, Reinhart, Dahlin etc..
Now we're hoping lesser prospects will turn the franchise around?
Thats a lot more suffering coming our way.

 

[Snippit]

If they botch the Eichel/Reinhart trades like they did with ROR, I wonder how many fans will call it quits? There comes a point where it’s just no longer worth your time.

 

[Sabre Dance]

If they botch the Eichel/Reinhart trades like they did with ROR, I wonder how many fans will call it quits? There comes a point where it’s just no longer worth your time.

O'Reilly return looks to be money related. They saved a lot of cash trading him early. I don't know if Eichel has any bonus money coming up.

 

[Jim Bob]

O'Reilly return looks to be money related. They saved a lot of cash trading him early. I don't know if Eichel has any bonus money coming up.

Eichel’s next $7.5 M bonus payment is due and his NMC kicks in on 7/1/2022.

 

[Dubi Doo]

I'm still bitter as hell that many of us have been pounding the drum to play Reinhart at center, but due to terrible coaching and management- he was never given a fair chance there. Now, he finally gets the chance to showcase his skills. We got 20 games of him dominating in the position we've all been begging for, and now he's likely going to be traded. What a f***ing waste of his talents.

Such a trash franchise, man. I'm so resentful at this point. I haven't felt this emotional toward the team in a while. Now we have to hope Adams, who has hardly any experience on the job AND didn't show much promise with his offseason moves last year, can flip Eichel, Reinhart, and Risto- and make this team respectable again. It's such a pivotal point for the future of this franchise, and we have someone who's a 'yes, man' for the Pegulas leading the way. *pukes*

 

[Der Jaeger]

Second Move: 2021 3rd rounder (Florida) to Washington for Vanecek. Caps can't protect him, Buffalo can. Seems like a pretty simple pre-ED move.

===================================================
Eichel and Ristolainen to LA for Turcotte, Anderson Dolan, Grans, Chromiak, 2021 1st, 2022 1st

Reinhart to Calgary for Connor Zary, Heineman or Dube, and 2022 1st.

2021 3rd rounder (Florida) to Washington for Vanecek. Caps can't protect him, Buffalo can. Seems like a pretty simple pre-ED move. (this is perfect)

Unrestricted Free Agency:

Defense:
Derek Forbort, LD (1 year 2.5M)
Jani Hakanpaa, RD (1 year 3M)
Brogan Rafferty, RD (2 YR 1.9 (950K per season))

Forwards: Two to three of
Cedric Paquette, C (1 YR 1.25M)
Blake Coleman, C/LW (3 YR 3.5M per) or Barclay Goodrow, C / LW (3 YR 3.5M)
Mattias Janmark, LW (1 YR 3M)
Josh Leivo, LW/RW (1 YR 1M)
Ryan Dzingel, LW (1 YR 1.25M)
Derrick Brassard, C/RW (1 YR 1.5M)

Goalie:
Kasimir Kaskisuo, G (1 YR 925K) or Alex Lyon, G (1 yr 1M)

Draft: 1st 1st: Beniers, Hughes, Powers, Eklund,
2nd 1st: Svechkov, Robertsson, Lysell, Bolduc
2nd rnd: Svozil,

Id take that. The important parts (Turcotte, Beniers) are there.

 

[Der Jaeger]

The plans are always great, the on papers even better, but life never turns out that way. We will just continue to suck, until we get really lucky in a bunch of drafts and luck into a coach that has that new bright and shiny system idea that works.

They couldn't make it work with Eichel, Reinhart, Dahlin etc..
Now we're hoping lesser prospects will turn the franchise around?
Thats a lot more suffering coming our way.

The “they” is really the Pegulas. The mess was really made by Murray and Botterill.

Murray botched the first coaching hire. Botterill botched the second coaching hire and destroyed what Murray built.

I don’t see either of those mistakes coming with Adams and Karmanos.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I'm still bitter as hell that many of us have been pounding the drum to play Reinhart at center, but due to terrible coaching and management- he was never given a fair chance there. Now, he finally gets the chance to showcase his skills. We got 20 games of him dominating in the position we've all been begging for, and now he's likely going to be traded. What a f***ing waste of his talents.

Such a trash franchise, man. I'm so resentful at this point. I haven't felt this emotional toward the team in a while. Now we have to hope Adams, who has hardly any experience on the job AND didn't show much promise with his offseason moves last year, can flip Eichel, Reinhart, and Risto- and make this team respectable again. It's such a pivotal point for the future of this franchise, and we have someone who's a 'yes, man' for the Pegulas leading the way. *pukes*

Sucks, but his trade value is sky high now that he’s a proven center.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Sucks, but his trade value is sky high now that he’s a proven center.

This is true, but I have hardly any faith this management can identify the right players and develop them into impact players. I'd love to be proven wrong, but the past 10 years gives me little optimism.

 

[Beerz]

Nobody believes Reinhart is a proven Center.

 

[Vito_81]

The “they” is really the Pegulas. The mess was really made by Murray and Botterill.

Murray botched the first coaching hire. Botterill botched the second coaching hire and destroyed what Murray built.

I don’t see either of those mistakes coming with Adams and Karmanos.

Forget Murray. This mess is on Botterill.

 

[Djp]

The “they” is really the Pegulas. The mess was really made by Murray and Botterill.

Murray botched the first coaching hire. Botterill botched the second coaching hire and destroyed what Murray built.

I don’t see either of those mistakes coming with Adams and Karmanos.

technicallyMurray didn’t botch his first choice....coaches wife and Toronto did.

Murray had a plan in mind, Botterill didn’t beyond tanking a 2nd time

there are similarities with Bills vs Sabres around stability. You can’t be changing GMs snd head coaches this much.

 

[2 others]

When will Adam's apple speak today?

 

[CrazyPsycho]

Nobody believes Reinhart is a proven Center.

Yes we get it you dont like Reinhart, are you just gonna spam up the whole forum with your hot take?

 

[Jim Bob]

When will Adam's apple speak today?

 

[Beerz]

Yes we get it you dont like Reinhart, are you just gonna spam up the whole forum with your hot take?

Yes.

 

[brian_griffin]

My exact thinking when I included it in the thread title, as it, strictly speaking, isn't the name of a The Who song, but the double-reference is there.

 

[brian_griffin]

@Der Jaeger & @TheCerebral1
If the Sabres must trade Jack / Sam, your proposals are good, and I would support, but the likelihood of all those moves happening are low. I am prepared to be disappointed in any offseason returns.

 

[Der Jaeger]

@Der Jaeger & @TheCerebral1
If the Sabres must trade Jack / Sam, your proposals are good, and I would support, but the likelihood of all those moves happening are low. I am prepared to be disappointed in any offseason returns.

I formally applied to run the Sabres through July 10th (posted earlier on this thread). I am waiting for Kim and Terry to call.

Not to trumpet my own candidacy, but maybe we start a social media campaign? "Let's Go with Der Jaeger Plan!" Sorta catchy.

 

[UnleashRasmus]

Id take that. The important parts (Turcotte, Beniers) are there.

I thought your offer would be "too much" with Villardi, so I backed it down to a really solid defense first prospect in Grans and a european prospect that might hit or miss in Chromiak. The same with Reinhart to Calgary, I thought Zary and Dube would be a great haul as you get a ready 22 year old forward and a C to build on. The first would be fine in even 2021 or 2023. At this point, Sam is about to be 26, and we're no where close. I loved the Vitek Vanacek trade. You might have to give up a second. My thoughts on veteran signings are "Tougher to play against". Just build up the depth in UFA. Don't worry about flashy names like "Taylor Hall".