Speculation: Sabres Roster Speculation - Pre-season 2023 Edition

[Gabrielor]

I ignore whoever it was that seems to have made waves with a dumb tage assertion, so yeah, some things never change.

The shopping list this summer requires no core pieces to obtain

 

[Djp]

What would you pay Compher then. He's making $3.5M, just put up over 50 points and has gotten some love from members of the national press about who should be 2nd to Bergeron in Selke voting. He's similar to Danault when he moved to LA, a bit less than someone like Trochek and less than Pageau got for going to the Islanders. What are you paying in free agency?

he’s not a 50 pt player. This past season points skewed up across the board.

He’s historically a 35-39 pt player. At 28 yr old his production likely drops to bad levels if you take him to yrs 4 and 5.

sign him for 3 yrs max.

 

[Chainshot]

he’s not a 50 pt player. This past season points skewed up across the board.

He’s historically a 35-39 pt player. At 28 yr old his production likely drops to bad levels if you take him to yrs 4 and 5.

sign him for 3 yrs max.

I asked what you would pay him, not how long.

 

[Djp]

I asked what you would pay him, not how long.

Below $13M max for 3 yrs.

I think Buffalo looks st the trade market to acquire players from cap strapped teams to avoid longer term contracts.

 

[dortt]

I ignore whoever it was that seems to have made waves with a dumb tage assertion, so yeah, some things never change.

The shopping list this summer requires no core pieces to obtain

you have to actually give up good pieces to obtain good pieces.

The idea that we can get needed pieces for dregs is pie in the sky thinking

 

[Zman5778]

The idea that we can get needed pieces for dregs is pie in the sky thinking

We have PLENTY of good pieces that we can use to get the pieces we need. There's zero need (or desire) to even think about trading Tage.

 

[Old Navy Goat]

You move elite pieces for other elite pieces ie Turgeon for LaFontaine or Housley for Hawerchuk, moving them for a conglomeration of lessor pieces is inane. Now obviously extenuating circumstances may play a role but for an additional 7yrs of underpaid performance there's no number of row boats that returns that battleship

 

[The Blunder Years]

The free agent forward group is really pretty week this off-season. Would like to add one player that can play all around the lineup when injuries occur that also has an edge to their game. I think Bertuzzi would be a nice addition to the bottom 6 and might not cost a ton due to his drop in production this season.

If Calgary blows It up I’d like to figure out a price for an Andersson+Backlund deal. Maybe something around #13+Rosen with some other pieces added in.

 

[MOGlLNY]

The free agent forward group is really pretty week this off-season. Would like to add one player that can play all around the lineup when injuries occur that also has an edge to their game. I think Bertuzzi would be a nice addition to the bottom 6 and might not cost a ton due to his drop in production this season.

If Calgary blows It up I’d like to figure out a price for an Andersson+Backlund deal. Maybe something around #13+Rosen with some other pieces added in.

this would cost a lot more than that and understandably so. Andersson is an absolute super stud on a sweetheart contract. We’d be giving up a 1st and Ostlund at least.

Maybe we take on Markstrom’s whole contract and they’d consider lowering the price.

 

[Zman5778]

You move elite pieces for other elite pieces ie Turgeon for LaFontaine or Housley for Hawerchuk, moving them for a conglomeration of lessor pieces is inane. Now obviously extenuating circumstances may play a role but for an additional 7yrs of underpaid performance there's no number of row boats that returns that battleship

You dropped the "s" in insane......

 

[MOGlLNY]

Adams would be strung up and burned at the stake outside the KeyBank Center by the citizens of Buffalo if he traded Tage Thompson.

(Who thought I’d ever be posting this 2 years ago)

 

[Ace]

You can’t move Tage for parts. It’s hard to even make a top player for top player swap work because anyone in Tage’s weight class is making or will make a hell of a lot more than Tage does. His value is way above just elite 1C. He’s also paid like a 2C. And that’s in year ONE of a seven year deal that will only see him drop down the list of highest paid centers.

hes the 58th highest paid forward next year before an off-season of some forwards getting new deals. Think about that

not to mention…can you imagine Adams explaining how he went from “we want people who want to be here” to trading a guy who wanted to be here so badly that he didnt bet on himself to drive up the price and then got even better? For parts that he could have acquired in dozens of different ways?

 

[dortt]

You move elite pieces for other elite pieces ie Turgeon for LaFontaine or Housley for Hawerchuk, moving them for a conglomeration of lessor pieces is inane. Now obviously extenuating circumstances may play a role but for an additional 7yrs of underpaid performance there's no number of row boats that returns that battleship

I wouldn't call Saros a non core piece. A goalie of his caliber, is a core piece

 

[Old Navy Goat]

No an old goalie is not a core piece, he's a stop gap. If he was 5 or 6yrs younger you could argue but he still wouldn't be the primary return for Thompson

 

[Zman5778]

I wouldn't call Saros a non core piece. A goalie of his caliber, is a core piece

And goalies can fall off a cliff for any reason at any time. Tage would be traded for the McDavid/Draisaitl/Matthews/etc caliber. Not for a goalie.

 

[BuiltTagonTough]

I can't fathom wanting to give up a guy that just scored the 6th most goals in the LEAGUE at a premier position on a massively discounted contract with term for a position that we may have a long term answer for already on the team. I'd better be getting a young Hasek for that return.

There are so many other things you can move for a 1A/B type goalie to either work with Levi or hold the net for him for a year and/or middle pairing defenseman that aren't 40 goal scorers signed to a discount.

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

you have to actually give up good pieces to obtain good pieces.

The idea that we can get needed pieces for dregs is pie in the sky thinking

this is the kind of post where you miss jame coming in explaining what straw man arguments are in a condescending way

 

[DapperCam]

Re-sign:
- Zemgus
- Jost

Let walk:
- Okposo
- Hino

Extension:
- Dahlin
- Mitts

Somehow get rid of (trade, to ROC, etc):
- UPL
- Olofsson
- Joker
- Bryson

Promote:
- Savoie

UFA/Trade:
- #4 D partner for Power
- Bottom pair partner for Boosh
- 1 middle-6 forward. Defensively responsible and can PK is a plus.

Skinner - Thompson - Tuch
JJP- Cozens - Quinn
UFA - Mitts - Savoie
Greenway - Krebs - Girgs
Jost

Dahlin - Samuelsson
Power - UFA
UFA - Boosh
Stillman

Levi
Comrie

 

[dire wolf]

I took a LOT of heat earlier in the week for saying a trade for Tage should be on the table. A lot of that is basic human nature, which I see a lot in the stock market. Human nature is to want to buy a rapidly appreciating asset, only to sell once it inevitably falls. Buy high, sell low. Or keep until well after peak value.

Now, where I did deserve to be called out is in the fact I didn't say what I'd trade him for. Well, here is the offer. Please don't say this is a troll job, as it is not

Tage to Nashville for Juuse Saros, Tommy Novak, Dante Fabbro, and a first round pick (I wanted Forsberg, but he has a no movement clause)

Mitts showed he can handle the #1 line. He's not as flashy as Tage, but he seems more effective by simply making the simple play, not going for the highlight reel play, Novak can backfill the #3 center position (he's a RFA coming off a 43 point season, so he will get a significant bump from his 750K). I think we're wasting Mitts if we shoehorn him back into the #3 center next year.

Saros... this solves our goaltending issue. Levi can be the 1A or be assigned to Rochester if needed.

Fabbro. He's an upgrade over the stiffs we have on the third pair. At a minimum, it allows us to jettison Bryson into the sun, solidifying our 3rd pair. He also provides some much needed toughness to our backend (we have far too many creampuffs). Boosh and Fabbro on the 3rd pair with Stillman as the 7 is something far better than we currently have. Should be the difference in a few goals allowed, translating to a few more points over the season

The first round pick... use it to solidify our D pipeline (either via trade or selecting a defenseman at the draft)

Why not trade Mitts instead? The league values him as a #3 center. See a value of thread on the trade forum. It would have been as dumb as trading Tage after last season when he wanted the big extension, before Tage came to be seen as a superstar. Mitts is in the same position. He was given a chance and he took full advantage of his chance. You don't sell shares of a company that unexpectedly grew revenue to a near the breakeven point when profitability is expected next year. You sell after they've exceed analyst expectations and the value has grown significantly, and Amazon has made an overvalued buyout offer.

Without even criticizing the substance of your post (which it definitely deserves) - they aren't trading Tage. No way in hell. Just forget about it.

 

[Irie]

No an old goalie is not a core piece, he's a stop gap. If he was 5 or 6yrs younger you could argue but he still wouldn't be the primary return for Thompson

Saros is actually younger now than Hasek was when he played his first game for Buffalo.... not agreeing with the trade idea in any way, just putting some perspective on Saros and his age

 

[Old Navy Goat]

I know he's only 27 right now and is under contract for 2 more seasons. So to make his proposed trade worthwhile you'd need to resign him, and how many undersized athletic goalies continued top tier play into their 30s

 

[Moncton man]

I was thinking more along the lines if our internal cap is around 60-65 million to save Pegula-bucks.
I'm just trying to come up with ways for the Sabres to go full Sabres on us again.

I get your point and not singling you out at all. But Pegula is worth billions.
Signing a player to a 7 million dollar contract is like us spending 4 dollars on an ice cream cone relatively speaking. It shouldn't be a second thought to him.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

you have to actually give up good pieces to obtain good pieces.

The idea that we can get needed pieces for dregs is pie in the sky thinking

You're right. But it depends on what you define as 'core' pieces.

Teams typically have a handful of 'core' pieces. But we seem to have at least 10 according to many posters...

Guys like Savoie/Kulich are not (yet) core pieces. Guys like Peterka/Krebs aren't - and probably never will be. Until he's extended long term - i wouldn't call Mitts a core player either...

But Thompson IS a core player in every possible way. There's no way he's being moved.

 

[jc17]

Idk why anyone was, or still is, compelled to even reply that idea

Perpetuating the "discussion " is getting to be as tolerable as the original concept

 

[Jim Bob]

Player	C.H.%
Erik Karlsson	14.47​
Drew Doughty	13.84​
Zach Werenski	11.76​
Seth Jones	11.66​
Adam Fox	11.66​
Charlie McAvoy	11.66​
Darnell Nurse	11.35​
Roman Josi	11.12​
Cale Makar	11.04​
Dougie Hamilton	11.04​
Alex Pietrangelo	10.8​
Miro Heiskanen	10.37​
Mikhail Sergachev	10.3​

I won't be surprised if Dahlin gets 8 years @ $9.75M (11.68%) if he tries to get really close to market value and he does not care about the team's contract structure that was being set up with the Thompson and Cozens extensions.

If Dahlin signs the Eichel deal (8yrs @ $10M per), that would be 11.98% and set a new high water mark for a D extension in the flat cap era. That could happen. But, I do wonder if Dahlin is willing to take more of a team friendly deal as opposed to just signing for as much as he possibly can.

I also expect Power to get something like the Dahlin bridge. I doubt he is open to signing the Cozens/Thompson type deal.

Time will tell.