Roster Speculation – 2015-16 – Part V

[Russ Tyler]

I really hope they do Ennis a favor and play him with our most skilled players: Kane/ROR/Eichel. For all the suffering the past two years, he deserves sustained time with more than just Moulson, Girgensons, and Larsson. Not a slight to those players, but if I'm him, I think I would be pissed if Eichel came in and was notched in with the newly acquired top line skill players and I had to relive last year butt huffing with Moulson.

Kane-O'Reilly-Ennis

• Lock this one in, I think. Legit top NHL line. Ennis will rack up the points.

Option A:
Foligno-Eichel-Girgensons

• I know I am seeing Foligno penciled in on everyone's 4th line, but imagine him with Eichel. Eichel will carry the possession, and could benefit from a power forward more than Reinhart could. I would like to see him with Reinhart or Eichel.

Moulson-Reinhart-Gionta

• Bring Reinhart in slowly with two vets that can finish. I think Reinhart will be more dependent on his wings than Eichel.

Des-Larsson-McGinn

• This line would have been the 3rd line at the beginning of the year and the 2nd line at the end of the year.

Option B (more likely):
Foligno-Eichel-Gionta

• I have a really good feeling that Eichel and Gionta will have chemistry.

Moulson-Girgensons-Reinhart

• This is basically last year's top line except Reinhart takes over as the lines playmaker for Ennis. This allows Girgensons to take the C responsibilities as I would say it's more likely that Reinhart plays wing next year than Eichel or Girgensons.

Des-Legwand-McGinn

• Larsson is traded for a LHD.

Click to read more...

 

[Zip15]

Bylsma mentioned Legwand as the possible 3C. While I don't think he starts there, he's in the Opening Night lineup, friends.

Kane-ROR-Ennis - Top line to start the season
Girgensons-Larsson-Reinhart - I love the idea of this line. Smart, hard-working, and a bit of talent.
Moulson-Eichel-McGinn - Easy matchups to start the season; high O-zone starts
Foligno-Legwand-Gionta - High d-zone starts
x Deslauriers [McCormick in ROC, if not on IR]

UFA - Bogosian
UFA - Ristolainen
Gorges - Pysyk
x Weber, Ruhwedel

Lehner
Johnson

 

[Woodhouse]

There's a bunch of looks you could go with up front, but I think the first one I'd try out right now is something like:

Kane - ROR - Reinhart
Moulson - Eichel - Ennis
Larsson - Girgensons - McGinn
Foligno - Legwand - Gionta
x: Deslauriers, McCormick

 

[TalkingProuder]

Bylsma mentioned Legwand as the possible 3C. While I don't think he starts there, he's in the Opening Night lineup, friends.

Kane-ROR-Ennis - Top line to start the season
Girgensons-Larsson-Reinhart - I love the idea of this line. Smart, hard-working, and a bit of talent.
Moulson-Eichel-McGinn - Easy matchups to start the season; high O-zone starts
Foligno-Legwand-Gionta - High d-zone starts
x Deslauriers [McCormick in ROC, if not on IR]

UFA - Bogosian
UFA - Ristolainen
Gorges - Pysyk
x Weber, Ruhwedel

Lehner
Johnson

I am in agreement with the top line but I want Eichel with Reinhart and Girgensons in the top 6.

 

[Paxon]

I am in agreement with the top line but I want Eichel with Reinhart and Girgensons in the top 6.

Long-term, sure, but it doesn't matter a bit to me if Reinhart is in the top 6 or not next season. He's just a kid. Being away from those guys might be the best thing for him if those two lines are drawing all of the attention and responsibility. So long as he gets PP time, it's not really going to affect his total TOI. So long as no youngster is being buried in a hopeless situation, I don't care about them getting prime roles.

There's a bunch of looks you could go with up front, but I think the first one I'd try out right now is something like:

Kane - ROR - Reinhart
Moulson - Eichel - Ennis
Larsson - Girgensons - McGinn
Foligno - Legwand - Gionta
x: Deslauriers, McCormick

This is a hell of an interesting set-up. At home games especially, that Eichel line would be put in a great position to score points. So long as Reinhart can handle it, that's something to consider. I'd consider swapping Reinhart and Girgensons though. If done, possibilities would be:

Larsson-Reinhart-McGinn
McGinn-Larsson-Reinhart
Foligno-Larsson-Reinhart

 

[dkollidas]

Trade Larsson to Ottawa for Wiercioch. Small plus or minus on either side, roster becomes...



Kane-O'Reilly-Ennis
Foligno-Girgensons-Reinhart
Moulson-Eichel-McGinn
Deslauriers-Legwand-Gionta


Wiercioch-Bogosian
Gorges-Ristolainen
Weber-Pysyk
(Would try to sign an Sekera/Oduya if possible and drop everyone on the left side of the defense down a spot).

Lehner
Johnson

 

[phosphene*]

McGinn - O'Rielly - Ennis
Moulson - Girgensons - Eichel
Kane - Larsson - Reinhart
Foligno - Legwand - Gionta

McGinn might have some chemistry with ROR, so he can be the glue guy capable of 15ish goals and tough play along the wall and in the corners. Think Hecht without the defensive acumen. Girgensons will open up space for Eichel and let Moulson clean up the garbage in front. Jets fans have made it clear that Kane is best used as the driving force on his line, so if that's the case, I'd like him playing with Larsson and Reinhart. With Sam being a more passive, cerebral kind of player, I think he can give Kane some good looks on the cycle with Johan. All the fourth line has to do play a simple game to be effective. Just my 2 cents given the current state of the roster.

 

[Sabre the Win]

Bylsma mentioned Legwand as the possible 3C. While I don't think he starts there, he's in the Opening Night lineup, friends.

Kane-ROR-Ennis - Top line to start the season
Girgensons-Larsson-Reinhart - I love the idea of this line. Smart, hard-working, and a bit of talent.
Moulson-Eichel-McGinn - Easy matchups to start the season; high O-zone starts
Foligno-Legwand-Gionta - High d-zone starts
x Deslauriers [McCormick in ROC, if not on IR]

UFA - Bogosian
UFA - Ristolainen
Gorges - Pysyk
x Weber, Ruhwedel

Lehner
Johnson

I love that Girgensons-Larsson-Reinhart line as well

 

[TalkingProuder]

Long-term, sure, but it doesn't matter a bit to me if Reinhart is in the top 6 or not next season. He's just a kid. Being away from those guys might be the best thing for him if those two lines are drawing all of the attention and responsibility. So long as he gets PP time, it's not really going to affect his total TOI. So long as no youngster is being buried in a hopeless situation, I don't care about them getting prime roles.



This is a hell of an interesting set-up. At home games especially, that Eichel line would be put in a great position to score points. So long as Reinhart can handle it, that's something to consider. I'd consider swapping Reinhart and Girgensons though. If done, possibilities would be:

Larsson-Reinhart-McGinn
McGinn-Larsson-Reinhart
Foligno-Larsson-Reinhart

I believe a Eichel-Girgensons-Reinhart benefits all parties. I want Girgensons, Eichel, and Reinhart all to play with top talent. That's why they they should be there. Girgensons is the experienced presence and can handle the center defensive responsibilities. Reinhart will also have time and space to unleash his surgical passes. Eichel gets setup by Reinhart and the possession, dirty work of Girgs. Girgensons scores 30 goals on this line.

The Kane-ROR-Ennis line does the heaving duty tough minutes against the other team's top offensive threats while providing a credible counter-attack.

 

[Woodhouse]

There's a bunch of looks you could go with up front, but I think the first one I'd try out right now is something like:

Kane - ROR - Reinhart
Moulson - Eichel - Ennis
Larsson - Girgensons - McGinn
Foligno - Legwand - Gionta
x: Deslauriers, McCormick

This is a hell of an interesting set-up. At home games especially, that Eichel line would be put in a great position to score points. So long as Reinhart can handle it, that's something to consider. I'd consider swapping Reinhart and Girgensons though. If done, possibilities would be:

Larsson-Reinhart-McGinn
McGinn-Larsson-Reinhart
Foligno-Larsson-Reinhart

The way I look at it .. you'll want to know straight away in camp if Reinhart's ready for that role top-six role or not. Idk that either teenager *needs* to be broken in at wing, as both are fine defensively IMO, but there's the pro learning curve to consider and we do have the luxury of that option it looks like. My initial combos would allow for on-the-fly adjustments in camp, like:

• Flip Eichel and Reinhart if Eichel is struggling at 2C and Reinhart's excelling at 1RW.
• Flip Eichel or Reinhart to 3C/3RW if he's struggling at 1RW and/or 2C, bumping whomever's playing best on that third line, and possibly reuniting Moulson-Larsson-Ennis.

 

[mikemcburn]

In case it hasn't been posted, below is Duff's "early look line up" as posted June 27 at http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=772569

Looks like he's scrubbed Hodgson from the roster already, hasn't yet declared Eichel definitive, has Reinhart starting in the NHL and has Legwand/McCormick as the extras. His post refers to figuring there's a high probability of more additions, which pretty much everyone is prophesying, lol

Evander Kane - Ryan O’Reilly - Tyler Ennis
Matt Moulson - Jack Eichel (if he goes pro) - Zemgus Girgensons.
Marcus Foligno - Sam Reinhart - Brian Gionta
Nicolas Deslauriers - Johan Larsson - Jamie McGinn

Extras: David Legwand, Cody McCormick

Josh Gorges - Zach Bogosian
Jake McCabe - Rasmus Ristolainen
Mike Weber - Mark Pysyk

Extra: Chad Ruhwedel

Robin Lehner
Chad Johnson

 

[sabres4ever]

Think Reinhart will have another 8 (9?) game tryout, then be sent down to Roch? Or is that even an option?

 

[dotcommunism]

Think Reinhart will have another 8 (9?) game tryout, then be sent down to Roch? Or is that even an option?

It's an option, but I see little reason to do it. If he's ready start him in the NHL. If he's not, then you have the option to start him in the AHL. There's no good reason to limit him to 9 games in the NHL if he deserves more than that just because of the contract slide, though. The only way the contract slide should really be a factor is if he gets injured.

 

[Paxon]

Think Reinhart will have another 8 (9?) game tryout, then be sent down to Roch? Or is that even an option?

It's an option, but keep in mind if you send him down after 9 games then call him up in, say, March, the contract will kick in once he dresses for that 10th game. In other words, if you send him down after 9 you probably don't want to call him back up unless it's in time for him to play a significant part of the NHL season.

 

[sabresEH]

Kane-ROR-Ennis
Moulson-Eichel-Girgensons
Foligno-Larsson-Gionta
McGinn-Legwand-Reinhart
Dez

 

[sjci]

If Reinhart isn't fully ready, let him play 1C minutes in Roch for the first 10-20 games, then he should be ready for the show

 

[jBuds]

Kane - Eichel - Reinhart

?????

Moulson - ROR - Ennis
Girgensons - Larsson - Gionta
Foligno - Legwand - McGinn/Des




No way we can have Eichel/Reinhart 2c/3c, right?

Also, I don't know if Hodgson gets bought out or not. I didn't think so initially, but where does he fit in these lines?

 

[dma0034]

I get that Hodgson doesn't have the speed to be a center but flipping him to wing seems like a good idea.

Kane - ROR - Ennis
Moulson - Eichel - Girgensons
Hodgson - Reinhart - McGinn
Foligno - Larsson - Gionta

I feel there is 4 lines that can score and defend.

 

[wunderpanda]

Kane-ROR-CoHo, less responsibility for Cody defensively and in transition

Moulson-Zemgus-Ennis, had chemistry last season

Larsson-Legwand-Eichel, Jack gets mentoring

Foligno/McGinn-Reinhart-Gionta, Samson and Jack can rotate, both protected and in learning roles

xx-Risto, please not Mez
Weber-Bogo
Des-Pysyk, seems the best way to keep Des on the ice if Samson makes the team and no forwards are traded.

Lehner/Johnson, could be alright, Chad knows how to be a back up and it isn't a competition.

McCormick and Gorges had serious injuries, just not ready to pencil them in.

 

[Heraldic]

What is the deadline for buy-outs? I mean, the player being bought out must be first go through unconditional waivers? Meaning if Hodgson is bought out, we know it 24 hours before the deadline because he must clear the waivers?

I just hope that someone has at least a bit of interested in him, and we can dump him somewhere without any baggage coming back. There's no way he finds himself in the line-up after acquiring RoR, Legwand and McGinn.

 

[Jacob582]

Reinhart is turning pro this year. His contract does not slide.

 

[Paxon]

Reinhart is turning pro this year. His contract does not slide.

My understanding is that if you're considered 18 when you sign your contract, then it can slide for two years so long as the contract isn't activated by playing 10 games in a single season. Your signing age is determined by what your age will be on September 15th of that year. Sam Reinhart signed his contract in 2014. He was 18 on September 15th, 2014, as he turned 19 on November 6th. Unless I am getting something wrong his contract is eligible to slide again. This is something I have to look up anyhow because I am going to add this sort of information to the new version of our cap/contracts tables.

"Turning pro" has nothing to do with it. Girgensons turned pro in his post-draft year. His contract slid because he did not play 10 (or any) NHL games. He played in the AHL. Reinhart's contract should slide if he's in the AHL.

 

[Heraldic]

Reinhart is turning pro this year. His contract does not slide.

Yes it does (if he doesn't play more than 9 games), just like it did with William Carrier.

I'm extremely surprised if he doesn't get more than 9 games. I think the more critical threshold is the amount of games that burns his RFA year away.

I even think that the most benefical outcome might be him playing 30-40 games in Buffalo and rest in Amerks. He'd get a good chunk of games in NHL, but we save one RFA year. Just like with Risto during his rookie year. Of course if Reinhart is absolutely ready, none of this matters.

 

[joshjull]

Bylsma was just on WGR. He wants to talk to Risto about playing the left side for a possible Risto/Bogo top pairing.

He also said he's come up with 8 different line combos so far.

 

[Heraldic]

Bylsma was just on WGR. He wants to talk to Risto about playing the left side for a possible Risto/Bogo top pairing.

I have brought up the idea about Bogo/Risto being a pairing next year, but not really Risto being the lefty.

Think it's a bit much asked from a guy who really hasn't established himself even on the right side?

But I sure understand the rationale about moving one of our righties to left side. Our right side atm is million miles ahead of the left side, and to balance it even somehow, we have to get one of the better LHD options from FA (Sekera, Ehrhoff, Martin or Beauchemin) or trade for one.