Speculation: Five Sabres Predictions for Calendar Year 2015

[stokes84]

1. Myers + NYI 1st + Stl. 1st is traded for Larkin AND Mantha soon.

2. We finish last and get McEichel

3. Trade Grigorenko + Larsson for Shea Theodore

4. Nolan is replaced in the off-season

5. We throw an offersheet out to a big name player.

 

[Zman5778]

1.) Edmonton finishes 30th. Buffalo finishes 29th. In true Buffalo fashion, Arizona (who announces that they are moving to Quebec City) wins the lottery and selects McDavid. Edmonton puts out rumors that they are thinking of drafting Hanifin, putting Buffalo Sabres HFfans in a lather about getting Eichel at #3. Edmonton takes Eichel....Tim Murray surprises everyone and selects Mitch Marner.

2.) Buffalo, leaning on youth, has a horrendous start to the 2015/16 season. 2015 closes with Nolan firmly on the hot seat. Grigorenko, Reinhart and Armia all make the club and struggle out of the gate. HFfans call all 3 busts immediately. Marner is sent back to junior with no 9 game audition.

3.) Tim Murray offloads many of our UFAs for picks and futures at the deadline.....but does NOT make a major trade during the offseason, enraging some HFfans (many of whom call him Darcy Jr. and demand his firing)

4.) Hudson Fasching turns pro and starts the year in Rochester....and does so on fire. HFfans want to burn Regier in effigy, crying that they can't send Grigorenko down and call up Fasching.

5.) Torrey Mitchell pulls a McCormick/Moulson and re-signs here after being traded at the deadline.

 

[sabresfan129103]

1.) Edmonton finishes 30th. Buffalo finishes 29th. In true Buffalo fashion, Arizona (who announces that they are moving to Quebec City) wins the lottery and selects McDavid. Edmonton puts out rumors that they are thinking of drafting Hanifin, putting Buffalo Sabres HFfans in a lather about getting Eichel at #3. Edmonton takes Eichel....Tim Murray surprises everyone and selects Mitch Marner.

2.) Buffalo, leaning on youth, has a horrendous start to the 2015/16 season. 2015 closes with Nolan firmly on the hot seat. Grigorenko, Reinhart and Armia all make the club and struggle out of the gate. HFfans call all 3 busts immediately. Marner is sent back to junior with no 9 game audition.

3.) Tim Murray offloads many of our UFAs for picks and futures at the deadline.....but does NOT make a major trade during the offseason, enraging some HFfans (many of whom call him Darcy Jr. and demand his firing)

4.) Hudson Fasching turns pro and starts the year in Rochester....and does so on fire. HFfans want to burn Regier in effigy, crying that they can't send Grigorenko down and call up Fasching.

5.) Torrey Mitchell pulls a McCormick/Moulson and re-signs here after being traded at the deadline.

Honestly, I wouldn't be that surprised if this happens. In fact if they draft 3rd this might be a very realistic scenario, but that's a topic for another thread.

 

[ZZamboni]

1. Reinhart gets traded for Draisaitl and a late first. Stokes rejoices.

2. Myers gets traded for two seconds and Vlasic. Layne rejoices.

3. Nolan gets fired just for breathing. Beerz and SBA rejoices.

4. RJ retires. Stop Winnin rejoices.

5. Gionta gets traded, Girgensons becomes new captain. 99% of Sabres fans rejoice.



Side predictions..

Chainshot says the hell with this! And moves back to sunny Buffalo. Becomes new capgeek guru.

Burgmania becomes a fill in for the PA announcer at Sabres games. He fills in more and more due to a strange illness. Burg is not suspected (but we know better)

 

[ZeroPT*]

1. Myers + NYI 1st + Stl. 1st is traded for Larkin AND Mantha soon.

2. We finish last and get McEichel

3. Trade Grigorenko + Larsson for Shea Theodore

4. Nolan is replaced in the off-season

5. We throw an offersheet out to a big name player.

My god. 1,3 and 5 are nightmares for me. Complete and total nightmare scenarios.

 

[MayDayMayDay]

1. Stewart is packaged with one of Enroth/Neuvirth and are traded at the deadline. Drew Stafford signs a sweetheart multi-year extension at the 11th hour.

2. The Sabres finish in 28th place. A sense of pessimism and resigned depression overtakes Blue and Gold nation for the days leading up to Lottery night... when Buffalo wins it. Two months later: "Buffalo selects Connor McDavid." The town goes nuts.

3. I agree with Zip15. 2015-2016 Opening night starting goalie: Antti Niemi.

4. The team undergoes a swift and dramatic turnaround. Hodgson rediscovers his HPV line form. Grigorenko & Reinhart enjoy break out campaigns. McDavid posts a rookie campaign much like MacKinnon.

5. The Sabres make the 2015-16 playoffs, but lose an exhilarating 7 game first round series.

 

[Kiraly]

1. Stewart is packaged with one of Enroth/Neuvirth and are traded at the deadline. Drew Stafford signs a sweetheart multi-year extension at the 11th hour.

2. The Sabres finish in 28th place. A sense of pessimism and resigned depression overtakes Blue and Gold nation for the days leading up to Lottery night... when Buffalo wins it. Two months later: "Buffalo selects Connor McDavid." The town goes nuts.

3. I agree with Zip15. 2015-2016 Opening night starting goalie: Antti Niemi.

4. The team undergoes a swift and dramatic turnaround. Hodgson rediscovers his HPV line form. Grigorenko & Reinhart enjoy break out campaigns. McDavid posts a rookie campaign much like MacKinnon.

5. The Sabres make the 2015-16 playoffs, but lose an exhilarating 7 game first round series.

I'm onside with this.

 

[Eram]

1. Buffalo finishes 29th, EDM finishes 30th and wins the lotto
2. Carolina trades 3rd + E Staal + J Staal (and maybe more) for 1st
3. Niemi is the starter on opening night
4. Mitchell and Stafford return during free agency
5. Sabres finish a few points out of the playoffs, but win the lotto for the 2nd OV pick and draft Puljujarvi

 

[ohheyimmark]

1. Sabres finish 29th, and a team below us wins the lottery. We take Hanifin, but rumors swirl that we're trying to move up. We kill ourselves coming up with proposals to move up into the top two but eventually just stick with the pick.

2. Murray packages one of the other firsts and later picks to move up a few spots to grab another forward. Board is split on the move.

3. Stewart, Mitchell and Stafford dealt at the deadline. Stafford returns ala Moulson.

4. No major changes headed into next year. Grigo and Reinhart are with the big club, but struggle. By the close of 2015, we're at 25th.

5. Nolan isn't fired yet, but will be shortly after the New Year.


Ugh.

 

[My Cozen Dylan]

1. Cody Hodgson and Tyler Myers are traded in the offseason, and Brian Gionta retires.

2. Buffalo finishes in 30th place with a record of 28-47-7, 63 pts. Edmonton finishes 29th...with 64 pts. Arizona "wins the lottery" and selects Connor McDavid. The Sabres draft Jack Eichel at #2 and are ecstatic because after the draft TM says "He was number one on our list for a while."

3. Buffalo acquires a big ticket RW in a package that includes a 2017 1st and prospects. It was gonna be a 2016 1st, but Pegula nixed the deal. TM complains, changes the deal reluctantly.

4. The Sabres make a big run at Marc Staal, but ultimately miss out. They sign Antti Niemi to be our starting Goaltender for 2015-16.

5. Nolan keeps his job through the season. The Sabres are 20th in the standings on December 31, 2015.

 

[Jacob582]

1. Murray will attempt to move up in the draft, with no takers. (two first and all the 2nds are not enough to sway)

2. Nolan will be fired after this season.

3. Reinhart and Zadorov will start next season in Rochester.

4. We will be closer to the salary cap than the salary floor next season.

5. There is a good chance that none of my predictions will be true.

 

[B U F F A L O]

1. Stewart will be the first Sabre traded in 2015.

2. The race to 30th will go down to the last game of the season, which Buffalo will win in typical Buffalo fashion. End up finishing 29th. Draft 3rd overall.

3. Murray completes a "blockbuster" at the draft that does NOT include Myers.

4. Fasching turns pro and earns a call up prior to Dec 31st 2015.

5. Reinhart has a better start to the season through Dec 31st 2015 than both McDavid and Eichel.

 

[jc17]

1. Sabres finish 30th, lose the lottery again.
2. Sabres sign Andrej Sekera or Christian Ehrhoff
3. Overpay for Joel Ward in free agency
4.Hodgson is traded
5. 8-10 roster players are not on the team by opening night 2015.

 

[kenfury]

1) CoHo and one of the later 1st get moved to jump up into the teens.

2) Buffalo backs up the brinks truck for a Johnny Oduya 2-3yr/5 Mil AAV

3) Risto and Zads stay together and form a very nice kid pairing despite efforts to separate them.

4) An established goalie comes in to transition to the future.

5) Stokes84 and Jame admit they have always loved each other and move to Cuba to scout the newly minted Cuban Hockey League confusing everyone with yet another league named CHL.

 

[FearTheBeard]

1) CoHo and one of the later 1st get moved to jump up into the teens.

2) Buffalo backs up the brinks truck for a Johnny Oduya 2-3yr/5 Mil AAV

3) Risto and Zads stay together and form a very nice kid pairing despite efforts to separate them.

4) An established goalie comes in to transition to the future.

5) Stokes84 and Jame admit they have always loved each other and move to Cuba to scout the newly minted Cuban Hockey League confusing everyone with yet another league named CHL.

this would be a great ****in year. and #5 made me LOL

 

[buffalozaza23]

1) CoHo and one of the later 1st get moved to jump up into the teens.

2) Buffalo backs up the brinks truck for a Johnny Oduya 2-3yr/5 Mil AAV

3) Risto and Zads stay together and form a very nice kid pairing despite efforts to separate them.

4) An established goalie comes in to transition to the future.

5) Stokes84 and Jame admit they have always loved each other and move to Cuba to scout the newly minted Cuban Hockey League confusing everyone with yet another league named CHL.

**** yeah!

 

[cybresabre]

1. Neuvirth traded to Dallas for a 5th (or a 4th and a junk contract) before the deadline.
2. Enroth re-signs.
3. Sabres draft 3rd, pick Marner, then focus on d (well, save one of the 1sts) thereafter.
4. Nolan resigns before 7/1; conspiracy theories abound.
5. All college kids stay an extra year.

 

[Dunkster19]

1. Myers is finally traded to Detroit along with our 2015 2nd for Mantha and Sproul
2. Sabres finish last and win the lottery, draft McDavid
3. Pysyk and the Islanders 1st sent to Colorado for ROR
4. Fasching and Baptiste both start the year in Rochester
5. Sabres challenging for playoff spot in December

 

[Jame]

1. Myers + NYI 1st + Stl. 1st is traded for Larkin AND Mantha soon.

I've been pretty staunchly against trading Myers... but this is the type of "too good to pass up" deal that I would be on board with.

2. We finish last and get McEichel

so...

McDavid-Reinhart-Mantha - Canada line
Compher-Larkin-Fasching - USA line
Larsson-Girgensons-Armia - Euro line

 

[UnleashRasmus]

1. Stafford, Stewart and one of Enroth or Neuvirth are traded

2. Buffalo selects Connor McDavid in 2015's NHL Draft

3. Buffalo adds a young player under 24 to add for the future

4. Buffalo will have new goal tending in 2015.

5. The Sabres will finally trade Tyler Myers at the 2015 NHL Draft in the right deal.

 

[UnleashRasmus]

Not sure how Hodgson is traded unless its for a bad one year contract.

 

[JLewyB]

Not sure how Hodgson is traded unless its for a bad one year contract.

and we would probably have to retain some salary as well to get the deal done. He's our worse contract. At the same time, I don't see it being a problem going forward with having a bunch of RFA contracts during the next 5 years. He'll just be a severely overpaid depth forward unless/until he turns it around. No way would we be able to move up in the draft using him though.

 

[stokes84]

I don't know about Hodgson getting traded, but I could see him getting waived by this time next year if things don't turn around.

 

[Jacob582]

I missed a prediction.

6. Girgensons will have "nagging injuries" and withdraw from the all star game.

 

[Namejs]

1. Sabres draft Eichel
2. The Isles and/or Blues 1st round picks get packaged for a deal involving a top6 winger
3. Sabres start throwing money at FAs
4. Nolan gets fired, MacLean becomes the new coach (I like his moustache).
5. Sabres hovering around the 0.500 mark at the end of 2015