2021 Roster discussion part 3: Trade Deadline Fire Sale??

[Doug Prishpreed]

I don’t see how Dahlin can command $7.5 million on any deal. Even if he looks better without Krueger. He still can’t play defense and certainly doesn’t produce $7.5 million of offense yet even when at his best.

True, that's why a long term contract might not be possible right now. He will probably refuse to sign one that is under a number like $7.5 since he'll bet on himself to be able to earn more than what we're offering. $7.5 after a bad year might look really tempting to him though, since like you said, it would mainly be paying for his potential .

 

[is the answer jesus]

No team is going to pay him more than the comparables say he is worth. Not to mention, these owners are losing a truck ton of money, signing bonuses will be few and far between out there.

People have this opinion about Reinhart that is some elite player out there the whole NHL is looking to overpay. He has been on the block for over a year now, and no offers have come in strong.

Reinhart just isn't very good without Eichel. Average player, and certainly has proven he will never be a center.

I would like to know what comps people are going off of that says in this market Reinhart is worth more than 5 million?

The problem is your comparable in Tyler Toffoli isn't a very good one. Toffoli has been marred with inconsistency. His best season was 5 years ago. Reinhart is about as consistent and automatic as they come.
I'm aware of the financial issues the league is dealing with and in the past it's not the higher end FA's that are hurt the most by teams tightening their belts, it's everyone else. You don't have to view Reinhart as elite to realize he would be one of the best FA's in the market if he were to walk next offseason. It's obvious given his age, production, as well as good advanced stats playing on our piss poor teams. I have no idea how long Reinhart has been "on the block". The first I heard of it was pre-trade deadline this year and we have no idea what Adams is asking and what other teams might be offering. There have been plenty of posters that demonstrated in the past that Reinhart produces all the time, both with and without Eichel. Comparables are always tough, but Josh Anderson was coming off a serious injury, had one 47 point season under his belt and got 5.5 million. Kreider just got 6.5 million (although that was all UFA years). Reinhart is going to get paid and while it may or may not be more than he currently makes, he's not taking a paycut. His consistency dictates that he shouldnt have to.

 

[elchud]

Looking at what Adams needs to get done this off-season.... and I'm not sure it's that much aside from re-signing players to the right-sized deals. The underlying, huge assumption is that coaching will make the biggest impact on the roster.

Things that make me think this:
- Reinhart can play center well, and we know it now.
- Mittelstadt is developing into the center we thought he'd be when he was drafted
- Dahlin is becoming a force
- Ullmark can win games for the team as a legit 1A goalie
- Jokiharju, Thompson, Asplund, and Bryson all took big developmental steps forward
- Ruotsalainen, Borgen, and Bjork look promising and we should see what they can bring as this season ends.
- Quinn, Samuelsson, UPL, Laaksonen, Portillo, Johnson, Peterka, and whoever the Sabres draft at the top of this year's draft look promising

Returning UFA/RFA Contracts:
Dahlin 8 x $7.5M Lock him up now before his price goes up
Ullmark 3 x $5.5M
Reinhart 5 x $7.5M
Asplund 1 x $900k
Mittelstadt 2 x $1.5M
Jokiharju 2 x $1.5M
Cagguila 1 x $750K

UFA:
Bernier 2 x $3M
Merrill 1 X $1M

Roster:
Skinner - Eichel - Reinhart
Asplund - Mittelstadt - Thompson
Bjork - Cozens - Olofsson
Girgensons - Ruotsalainen - Okposo
x Cagguila, Eakin

Dahlin - Jokiharju
Bryson - Ristolainen
Merrill - Miller
x Borgen, Samuelsson

That's 24 players at $79.25M. Even if you think my contract numbers are out of whack, there's still built in room, because Seattle is going to pick someone. And Adams has the draft picks to offer for Seattle to take Eakin, Miller, or Okposo. Pull one of them out of the lineup, and you're at a 23 player roster under the cap.

Granato showed that a good coach can get this team playing .500 hockey. Imagine what a Boudreau or Julian could do? I think this roster makes the playoffs.

This is pretty good.

I'm still...OK with exposing Risto to open up the 5.4 million.

Here's a couple of crazy ideas.

*One year 6million for Stastny. Good center role model, solid 2C, Stastny may not get a deal he likes. Similar to Hall one year deal except its gonna work out brilliantly with a great guy like Stastny.

*Contract for Goligoski. Veteran left shot who is still a minutes eater, can play both sides. Could still get a few good years out of him. Mentor for the young Ds.

 

[Der Jaeger]

True, that's why a long term contract might not be possible right now. He will probably refuse to sign one that is under a number like $7.5 since he'll bet on himself to be able to earn more than what we're offering. $7.5 after a bad year might look really tempting to him though, since like you said, it would mainly be paying for his potential .

I think it's wise to gamble on Dahlin's success, and get him locked in now long term to a contract which will be a bargain throughout his best years.

 

[brian_griffin]

New thread here

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

I think it's wise to gamble on Dahlin's success, and get him locked in now long term to a contract which will be a bargain throughout his best years.

Me too. My point was, I don't think HE would want to at this point, especially considering the low cap and trends for big stars to start with a bridge these days.

That said, $7.5 is the type of number that keeps Dahin at the table, I think he'd have to consider that. I hope Adams is looking for ways like this to get big value on the contracts for future years, like Botts never did. Botts would keep giving him short term bridge deals until he hits UFA.