TBN: Lance Lysowski : GM for a Day

[Buffaloed]

Sabres' GM for a Day: Plotting a course for 2020 offseason
THE PLAN:
Retain rights to Sam Reinhart, Victor Olofsson, Dominik Kahun, Casey Mittelstadt, Tage Thompson, Brandon Montour, Linus Ullmark, Jonas Johansson, Andrew Oglevie and Brandon Hickey. Aside from Reinhart and Ullmark, I signed each player using their respective projected qualifying offer, according to CapFriendly.com.

UFA's
Re-sign Larsson 3 years @ $3M per.
Girgensons, Frolik, Simmonds, Vesey, Hunwick OUT
(LL notes that evolving hockey projects Girgs to receive less than $2M per)

RFA's re-sign Reinhart @ $4.25M per (projected arbitration award)

Trades:
Montour's rights for Neiderreiter ($5.25M)
2020 2nd, a 2021 4th, Rasmus Asplund and Jonas Johansson to CBJ for goalie Joonas Korpisalo.
Korpisalo has 2 yrs remaining on contract ($2.8M per)
Hutton to Blues for 7th (Sabres retain $1.5M)

Sign:
Matt Nieto $3.25M 1 year to replace Girgensons
Matt Borowieki $2M 1 year, pair with Joker

My thoughts:
Oloffson is arbitration eligible. No way he's signing for QO.
Nino - not sure about that one. I'd let Krueger decide. He's got that Swiss thing going on.
I prefer Girgensons to Neito. Production is similar, he's allegedly will be cheaper, and there's the chemistry factor.
I wouldn't pay that much for Korpisalo. He's a mediocre goalie who got hot for a few playoff games.
I'd be talking to Arizona about a goalie. Maybe they'd take Hutton back if we picked up salary.
I agree with signing Matt Borowieki.

Click to read more...

 

[HaNotsri]

Blues can probably get Lundqvist instead of Hutton.

 

[Zman5778]

I don't think Carolina has any reason whatsoever to trade for a defenseman.

In fact, they might be looking to get rid of one. Bean and Keane are probably ready for the NHL. They're not adding someone like Montour.

And the Columbus trade? Woof. I don't think C-Bus is trading Joonas for that pile of scraps.

 

[SundherDome]

This is .... Not good

 

[Fezzy126]

I'd definitely target Elvis over Korpisalo, I prefer him from the two. He also makes a bit more, so maybe that drops the asking price.

 

[Myllz]

 

[tsujimoto74]

I feel like this year's version of this is less dumb than most years. Not that that's saying much.

 

[Fezzy126]

I feel like this year's version of this is less dumb than most years. Not that that's saying much.

What are you talking about?

For real though, Outside of Carolina wanting to trade for Montour (as @Zman5778 pointed out I don't see why they would do it), I do think this is a realistic framework for the types of changes we'll see:

• Balance the left and right sides of the D
• Add help for the PK
• Add grit
• upgrade the crease
• Short-term contracts

 

[Dex]

Not a popular opinion here, but Zemgus had a good year under Ralph. I'd re-sign him if his predicted salary is under $2Million. I'd also re-sign Larsson

 

[DolanPlsGoSabres]

Not a popular opinion here, but Zemgus had a good year under Ralph. I'd re-sign him if his predicted salary is under $2Million. I'd also re-sign Larsson

Most of us probably would. Question remains whether or not Girgs and Larry want to stay in this tire fire for longer...

 

[Buffaloed]

Blues can probably get Lundqvist instead of Hutton.

I wouldn't rule out Henrik signing with the Sabres. If Adams wants him there's already an army of Swedes led by Dahlin telling him how much they want him here and that this is going to be their year. If he loses his love for the game he can always be traded to a contender at the deadline.

 

[HaNotsri]

I wouldn't rule out Henrik signing with the Sabres. If Adams wants him there's already an army of Swedes led by Dahlin telling him how much they want him here and that this is going to be their year. If he loses his love for the game he can always be traded to a contender at the deadline.

Yeah but we should sign his brother as well then. It's against the agreement with SHL but I'm sure they'd make an exception for one of swedish hockey's greatest leaders.

 

[Buffaloed]

Yeah but we should sign his brother as well then. It's against the agreement with SHL but I'm sure they'd make an exception for one of swedish hockey's greatest leaders.

Ah, the Cal O'Reilly protocol

 

[Jim Bob]

Yeah but we should sign his brother as well then. It's against the agreement with SHL but I'm sure they'd make an exception for one of swedish hockey's greatest leaders.

Joel wears the C for Frolunda. The C that he’s worn for over a decade for Frolunda. He’s not leaving there mid season.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

I'd definitely target Elvis over Korpisalo, I prefer him from the two. He also makes a bit more, so maybe that drops the asking price.

I would be wary about trading for either given how goalie friendly their system & team in front is.

But if choosing between the two then it has to be Korpisalo all day long imo. Elvis has a very small sample size of strong play & he'd be overpaid if that level of play didn't continue for us.

Personally I'm much fonder of getting an experienced vet for a couple of years (MAF/Bishop, even Lundqvist) to lead us into the UPL era.

Of course - UPL is not certain to be a star but all signs point to nanagement/ownership being very high on him.

The other thing which links in to all of this is Ullmark. My feelings on him will completely depend on his contract demands. I genuinely have no idea what these will be at this point - if he can be had on a cheap/short deal - I'm definately keeping him around.

But if he wants big money/term - this is the point I might look towards a Raantaa, Georgiev, Korpisalo or Elvis.

 

[HaNotsri]

Joel wears the C for Frolunda. The C that he’s worn for over a decade for Frolunda. He’s not leaving there mid season.

If he gets to play with Hank in the NHL I'm pretty certain he'd go for it but he's never going to get the offer. Covid might be a factor as well, not exactly the same experience.
He would've been a great influence on the team. If the NHL starts in january Joel could even end the season with Frölunda before joining at around the game 40 mark.

 

[Jim Bob]

If he gets to play with Hank in the NHL I'm pretty certain he'd go for it but he's never going to get the offer. Covid might be a factor as well, not exactly the same experience.
He would've been a great influence on the team. If the NHL starts in january Joel could even end the season with Frölunda before joining at around the game 40 mark.

It's not going to happen.

Plus, he would probably make Sobotka look good. There is a reason that he has played less than two full seasons of NHL games in his career and he's been with Frolunda for over a decade.

 

[Zman5778]

What are you talking about?

View attachment 369818

For real though, Outside of Carolina wanting to trade for Montour (as @Zman5778 pointed out I don't see why they would do it), I do think this is a realistic framework for the types of changes we'll see:

• Balance the left and right sides of the D
• Add help for the PK
• Add grit
• upgrade the crease
• Short-term contracts

Completely agreed that what this plan kinda laid out here is likely what we're going to see. I'm just not a fan of the specifics of the plan as I don't think it's all reasonable.....specifically the trades.

 

[Aladyyn]

4.25M seems very unrealistic for Reinhart

 

[Fezzy126]

I would be wary about trading for either given how goalie friendly their system & team in front is.

But if choosing between the two then it has to be Korpisalo all day long imo. Elvis has a very small sample size of strong play & he'd be overpaid if that level of play didn't continue for us.

Personally I'm much fonder of getting an experienced vet for a couple of years (MAF/Bishop, even Lundqvist) to lead us into the UPL era.

Of course - UPL is not certain to be a star but all signs point to nanagement/ownership being very high on him.

The other thing which links in to all of this is Ullmark. My feelings on him will completely depend on his contract demands. I genuinely have no idea what these will be at this point - if he can be had on a cheap/short deal - I'm definately keeping him around.

But if he wants big money/term - this is the point I might look towards a Raantaa, Georgiev, Korpisalo or Elvis.

Completely agree with the bolded parts.

I'm indifferent about a vet vs young goalie to bolster our crease, but that's really because my priority is to acquire talent. Although some may be high on Ullmark & UPL, we don't have a budding grade A star like Carter Hart that we need to mentor. For that reason I continue to acquire talent and if multiple guys step up I'll trade one later (e.g. Tampa with Bishop & Vasi).

I am partial to Elvis or Raanta as targets - strictly based on my viewings of two and nothing else. Perhaps it's because I've seen Korpisalo & Kuemper look really bad in the past and, despite their obvious development, subconsciously I can't shake those viewings from my mind
But I will say I'm no goalie expert and predicting future success behind our team is like black magic to me, so I can be easily convinced to change my opinion on the topic

Ultimately there aren't many targets out there that would upset me, I'm way more concerned about the cost of the acquisition than the specific player.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

Completely agree with the bolded parts.

I'm indifferent about a vet vs young goalie to bolster our crease, but that's really because my priority is to acquire talent. Although some may be high on Ullmark & UPL, we don't have a budding grade A star like Carter Hart that we need to mentor. For that reason I continue to acquire talent and if multiple guys step up I'll trade one later (e.g. Tampa with Bishop & Vasi).

I am partial to Elvis or Raanta as targets - strictly based on my viewings of two and nothing else. Perhaps it's because I've seen Korpisalo & Kuemper look really bad in the past and, despite their obvious development, subconsciously I can't shake those viewings from my mind
But I will say I'm no goalie expert and predicting future success behind our team is like black magic to me, so I can be easily convinced to change my opinion on the topic

Ultimately there aren't many targets out there that would upset me, I'm way more concerned about the cost of the acquisition than the specific player.

I think we are generally agreed.

Especially re your last point - one of the reasons I'd be happy to take on MAF or Bishop is they are likely available for nothing at worst. At best we get a nice asset for taking them.

No way do I want to give up an asset like Montour to get a goalie.