WGR: Friedman: A Scandella trade is something the Sabres 'may have to do'

[Buffaloed]

Friedman: A Scandella trade is something the Sabres 'may have to do'
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman discussed a possible trade involving the Buffalo defenseman with The Instigators on Thursday

Friedman:

"[The Sabres] are going to have to clear up cap space when Montour comes back, and eventually when Bogosian comes back. Everybody was talking about Ristolainen at the beginning. The ask for Ristolainen was very high. I think there's a recognition that [Scandella] could go somewhere else and thrive, and the Sabres want to ensure that doesn't happen. Or if it does, they look good. He's an [unrestricted free agent] at the end of the year. I don't know if [the Sabres] are going to be able to sign him. He absolutely could go to a place where he could get an opportunity to play very well and showcase himself. I don't necessarily think it's something the Sabres are going to want to do. But I think it's something they may have to do."

Why do the Sabres have to clear cap space? This isn't Toronto where everybody and their cousin is on LTIR and when they come off it they have to clear cap space. Montour and Bogosian already count against the cap

"We've talked about Anaheim, but he is kind of the wrong side [shot] for them. They're looking for a [right-shot defenseman], as opposed to a lefty. That could be a little bit of a problem. "

Wouldn't it leave the Sabres thin on the left side if they traded Scandella? Since they don't have to clear cap space wouldn't it make more sense for the Sabres to keep Scandella until they have a clearer picture of their playoff prospects?

"The one team that is definitely looking for a left-shot [defenseman], but I don't know if [the Sabres] would want to help them, would be Montreal."

They can have Bogosian. He fly casts left-handed and it's only a 2 hour drive to Massena.

The Scandella discussion is around the 9:50 mark if you listen to the interview. None of the instigators asked him why they have to clear cap space.

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[Djp]

Where is the full segment. This has only 90 seconds

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

They don't have to clear cap space...except for when the mega multi-piece package deal goes through for a ultra top-six FW. Clearly Friedman almost slipped up on the true motivation behind a Scandella trade.

 

[valet]

Friedman spewing more nonsense....

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

Sabres have Pilut waiting in the wings for injuries. And Scandella looks to be injured from tonight. Hope it is not long term. I know we want Pilut up here but Scandella has looked like a perfect #4 dman. He should return a 2nd, maybe even a 2nd+prospect.

Before the season we would have taken a 4th for him. Now, that price has gone up quite a bit. Scandella is definitely not being re-signed though. He already makes 4 mil per and even if he got a half million raise, we simply cannot afford a 4.5 mil #4/5 dman.

Risto is at 5.4 , Montour will get 4.5-5 mil per long term, Miller when he needs a new deal would also be getting ~4.5 mil per, and of course Dahlin is going to be getting 10-12.5 mil per after his elc is up.

It is going to be tough with 30-31 mil combined between Dahlin,Eichel and Skinner. Sam is also going to be tough to fit in, I am at the point where I give Sam 6.7-7 mil per and that is it. If Sam wants 8 or 9 mil per I would move him for a 1st and bluechip forward prospect. That is what a 24 year old 65-70 point winger is worth.

That Okposo deal is hurting us big time. Thanks Tim! Only have, oh THREE more years after this one paying a 4th line winger 6 f***ing million per.

At this point if we finish with a late 1st in the 20s I would try desperately to find a buyer to take Okposo off us. 1st+Okposo for a B prospect. Or I would even be happy with Asplund+Okposo @25% for a 7th. It is going to cost a lot to move Okposo and it must be done.

 

[jcbeze]

Not if he's hurt...

 

[Rowley Birkin]

A small group of us were saying over the summer to give Scandella a chance to prove himself without the issues affecting him last year...

Nice to see that it's happened & he has indeed turned it around.

That said - if one of our righties can make the transition to the left longer term... Or Pilut emerges (both question marks currently) I do see Scandella as a potebtial trade candidate given his contract status & typical demand for servicable rentals on the back end.

 

[Jim Bob]

Am I missing something? I thought that Bogo on LTIR gives them enough space to activate Montour after waiving Gilmour.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

Am I missing something? I thought that Bogo on LTIR gives them enough space to activate Montour after waiving Gilmour.

Is it more simply a question of not being able to fit all of those bodies in there?

Defensive depth is amazing to have but I understand why this type of speculation happens... Particularly when it's concerning an upcoming UFA who isn't likely to resign.

 

[jcbeze]

Am I missing something? I thought that Bogo on LTIR gives them enough space to activate Montour after waiving Gilmour.

BOGO is not on LTIR, nor is Montour....that's what you're missing. Cap space is not the issue.

 

[Jim Bob]

Is it more simply a question of not being able to fit all of those bodies in there?

Defensive depth is amazing to have but I understand why this type of speculation happens... Particularly when it's concerning an upcoming UFA who isn't likely to resign.

Frieds makes it sound like they have to move Scandella due to the cap versus just having too many D.

And the issue is bigger on the right side when everyone gets healthy than the left side. But, we shall see how it all plays out.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

Frieds makes it sound like they have to move Scandella due to the cap versus just having too many D.

And the issue is bigger on the right side when everyone gets healthy than the left side. But, we shall see how it all plays out.

Im hoping one of those guys could transition to the left side without any drop-off...

 

[Jim Bob]

BOGO is not on LTIR, nor is Montour....that's what you're missing. Cap space is not the issue.

Buffalo Sabres - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Bogo will be if they need more than Hunwick on LTIR to be cap compliant.

 

[Jim Bob]

Im hoping one of those guys could transition to the left side without any drop-off...

IIRC, Bogo was the RHD to play on the left side last season. So, it will be interesting to see who they try and swing over to the left side this season if they go that route.

 

[TehDoak]

It's quite amazing the refusal of GMJB to even consider using the buyout last summer when there were several candidates.

Or to even attempt to shed dead weight salary.

Imagine if Berglund had just sucked it up and decided to play out the rest of his contract.

I actually do like some of GMJB's moves, but his refusal to get rid of dead weight on the roster and run a team that is carrying 18.6M worth of bad contracts? (Sobotka 3.5 Scandella 4 Okposo 6 Bogosian 5.1) . It's mind boggling the choices he made this summer to keep ALL of these guys on the roster.

 

[Chainshot]

Are we sure Bogo is not on LTIR?

 

[Paxon]

Are we sure Bogo is not on LTIR?

Cap Friendly says they aren't whereas they have Hunwick on it. Without thinking I would have assumed Bogosian was but I guess as it wasn't needed it makes sense that he isn't.

 

[Jim Bob]

Are we sure Bogo is not on LTIR?

I believe that CapFriendly doesn't list him as such because they don't need more LTIR cap relief than they already get with Hunwick on LTIR.

He has been out long enough to qualify for LTIR, if the Sabres need it.

 

[Chainshot]

It's quite amazing the refusal of GMJB to even consider using the buyout last summer when there were several candidates.

Or to even attempt to shed dead weight salary.

Imagine if Berglund had just sucked it up and decided to play out the rest of his contract.

I actually do like some of GMJB's moves, but his refusal to get rid of dead weight on the roster and run a team that is carrying 18.6M worth of bad contracts? (Sobotka 3.5 Scandella 4 Okposo 6 Bogosian 5.1) . It's mind boggling the choices he made this summer to keep ALL of these guys on the roster.

We don’t know that he did or didn’t attempt to shed salary. What we do know is that he did not clear bad cap and even if players have been better under Krueger, the lack of cap flexibility and roster improvement is tied to that.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

It's quite amazing the refusal of GMJB to even consider using the buyout last summer when there were several candidates.

Or to even attempt to shed dead weight salary.

Imagine if Berglund had just sucked it up and decided to play out the rest of his contract.

I actually do like some of GMJB's moves, but his refusal to get rid of dead weight on the roster and run a team that is carrying 18.6M worth of bad contracts? (Sobotka 3.5 Scandella 4 Okposo 6 Bogosian 5.1) . It's mind boggling the choices he made this summer to keep ALL of these guys on the roster.

With the exception of Okposo these are all short term contracts - buying out would be completely detrimental.

I don't even see a cap crunch this year that can't be fixed without one or two simple moves/shuffling... So why compromise the future ?

 

[Jim Bob]

It's quite amazing the refusal of GMJB to even consider using the buyout last summer when there were several candidates.

Or to even attempt to shed dead weight salary.

Imagine if Berglund had just sucked it up and decided to play out the rest of his contract.

I actually do like some of GMJB's moves, but his refusal to get rid of dead weight on the roster and run a team that is carrying 18.6M worth of bad contracts? (Sobotka 3.5 Scandella 4 Okposo 6 Bogosian 5.1) . It's mind boggling the choices he made this summer to keep ALL of these guys on the roster.

They are going to make it through this year without any major issues.

The Okposo contract is the one that would help the most to move. But, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to move him and nobody had any interest whatsoever in trading for him given that he had 4 more seasons at $6M per heading into this season.

At this point, I am resigned to Okposo being here this season and next season and it maybe costing a 1st to get Seattle to take him in the expansion draft.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

They are going to make it through this year without any major issues.

The Okposo contract is the one that would help the most to move. But, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to move him and nobody had any interest whatsoever in trading for him given that he had 4 more seasons at $6M per heading into this season.

At this point, I am resigned to Okposo being here this season and next season and it maybe costing a 1st to get Seattle to take him in the expansion draft.

Exactly this & hopefully by that time were talking about moving a very late first to get that deal done.

 

[TehDoak]

We don’t know that he did or didn’t attempt to shed salary. What we do know is that he did not clear bad cap and even if players have been better under Krueger, the lack of cap flexibility and roster improvement is tied to that.

Attempt doesn't really matter. Buyouts were available if he couldn't move any of the players with 1 year left on their deal. The only one I'm not sure about is Bogo due to his injury.

With the exception of Okposo these are all short term contracts - buying out would be completely detrimental.

I don't even see a cap crunch this year that can't be fixed without one or two simple moves/shuffling... So why compromise the future ?

A buyout of Sobotka would have saved us 2M against the cap next this year at the cost of 1M of cap space next year, when we don't have cap issues. Scandella would have been reasonably easy to move as a pure cap dump. I'm not sure Bogo was buyout eligible due to his injury status, however.

This kind of rolls back to GMJB's lack of a real plan. He obviously intended to move Risto this summer. He added Miller and Jokiharu. And Montour. Without having something solid in place for Risto. I get that the is trying to maximize return, but at some point you have to simply cut some losses. GMs know Buffalo's cap and roster situation. They are simply waiting for it to be an issue so they can offer him even less, similar to what happened with RoR and the 7/1 signing bonus. My guess is we aren't going to get any real value for Risto and this point. J-Bott's will be forced into a move and we'll have to take back some 3M a year scrub forward/D-man and some mid tier prospect and maybe a draft pick.

 

[Jim Bob]

A buyout of Sobotka would have saved us 2M against the cap next this year at the cost of 1M of cap space next year, when we don't have cap issues. Scandella would have been reasonably easy to move as a pure cap dump. I'm not sure Bogo was buyout eligible due to his injury status, however.

This kind of rolls back to GMJB's lack of a real plan. He obviously intended to move Risto this summer. He added Miller and Jokiharu. And Montour. Without having something solid in place for Risto. I get that the is trying to maximize return, but at some point you have to simply cut some losses. GMs know Buffalo's cap and roster situation. They are simply waiting for it to be an issue so they can offer him even less, similar to what happened with RoR and the 7/1 signing bonus. My guess is we aren't going to get any real value for Risto and this point. J-Bott's will be forced into a move and we'll have to take back some 3M a year scrub forward/D-man and some mid tier prospect and maybe a draft pick.

I wouldn't expect next year's cap being all that much better than this year.

Sure, they have a lot of UFAs.

But, they also have some significant RFAs to re-sign for next season.

Reinhart, Montour, Goaloffson, & Mitts are all RFAs. And who knows what they will be looking for this summer if things go well for at least a couple of them this season.

And they will need to replace all the UFAs. Some of them will get replaced by kids on team friendly deals. But, I bet they try and bring in at least 1 or 2 vets ala Miller & MoJo, as well.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

Attempt doesn't really matter. Buyouts were available if he couldn't move any of the players with 1 year left on their deal. The only one I'm not sure about is Bogo due to his injury.



A buyout of Sobotka would have saved us 2M against the cap next this year at the cost of 1M of cap space next year, when we don't have cap issues. Scandella would have been reasonably easy to move as a pure cap dump. I'm not sure Bogo was buyout eligible due to his injury status, however.

This kind of rolls back to GMJB's lack of a real plan. He obviously intended to move Risto this summer. He added Miller and Jokiharu. And Montour. Without having something solid in place for Risto. I get that the is trying to maximize return, but at some point you have to simply cut some losses. GMs know Buffalo's cap and roster situation. They are simply waiting for it to be an issue so they can offer him even less, similar to what happened with RoR and the 7/1 signing bonus. My guess is we aren't going to get any real value for Risto and this point. J-Bott's will be forced into a move and we'll have to take back some 3M a year scrub forward/D-man and some mid tier prospect and maybe a draft pick.

Or... we just get to keep Risto on our team because he's a good player who brings a unique skill set to the group.