Speculation: What if Skinner walks...
- Thread starter DON VITO
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Firstly you can't compare the ROR / Skinner situations. Not even close to being comparable + I don't know why you would even bring that up outside of an anti Botterill agenda.. .
Secondly - Skinner is not the Sabres second best player. I'd say currently he is maybe 4th-6th best... He's a great complimentary piece but not a 'core' guy you build around IMO.
If the deal is 8 x 9m as you suggest then it is too much for me but probably bearable. But if we walked away from that number I'd understand. How does that deal look in 4-5 years time?
If we don't sign him then I'd hope we don't then make a similar mistake by overpaying for another UFA be it Hayes, Lee, Nelson or whoever.
The RFA situations are more appealing to me & if we were in a position where we don't sign Skinner or any other big name UFAs I'd certainly pursue the OS or trade route for some of the big name RFAs with Marner being the obvious big prize.
Aladyyn
they praying for the death of a rockstar
I see we reached the part where we severely underrate the player to make ourselves feel better about the situation. It's like I'm back in 2018.
sabremike
Friend To All Giraffes And Lindy Ruff
I chuckled at the idea that it would be a "mistake" to sign Andres Lee (which is a complete fantasy because there is zero chance he leaves the island unless Lou does something incredibly stupid) when his bread and butter is getting in front of the net, which as you may be aware is something our team lacks the way Dracula lacks a suntan.
If they sign Duchene, all of the talk about O'Reilly's attitude and aging out becomes the clear cut bullshit that it looked like at the time.
Right - but every player has a point where the potential cap hit vs what they bring becomes too much. Or when the contract length vs what that player projects to being towards the end of said contract is too long.
Can't believe some people still don't grasp this... Proba ly the same people who were happy with the Okposo signing initially - and yes there were plenty here who were.
sabremike
Friend To All Giraffes And Lindy Ruff
Okposo was literally an all star before suffering a freak injury that nearly killed him and wrecked his career. That doesn't happen he would still be a valuable player.
Reputable hockey media have said there is interest there. Never say never.
I don't think we'll get him, but if it comes out we offered him 8.5-9 million or something I'm going to blow a gasket tbh
Not because I wouldn't want to add Duchene, but just because we've needlessly shoved ourselves so far away from being a playoff roster
Sabre the Win
Joke of a Franchise
- Jun 27, 2013
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If they dont sign Skinner than sign Duchene for 9 and prosper with a legit 2C.
Sabre the Win
Joke of a Franchise
- Jun 27, 2013
- 12,264
- 4,952
Ottawa and the word money..... nope not ringing a bell
brian_griffin
"Eric Cartman?"
Yep, generally viewed as mutually exclusive until Melnyk is gone...
If Skinner walks, it will be for the money. And if I'm the Sabres I wouldn't pay it unless he can also talk and chew gum at the same time.
OkimLom
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- May 3, 2010
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GrierIsGod123
Registered User
I politely disagree. His style of game just doesn't fit the way the game is played today. He thrived in a slower league. That's not to say the injury didn't change his game. I do think he plays/reacts a bit slower, and his hands and feet are not where they were pre-injury. But I believe we would've seen a similar decline, just maybe at a slightly slower rate.
He's gone from a consistent 60 point guy, to a 30 point guy very quickly and a lot of that is PP production. I believe his play at even strength since he got here has been a major problem, and likely hurt ROR's ES production the last couple of years. But no matter what, he very likely was on his way out of having Top 6 skills/talent, by virtue of the normal declines that hit around 30 years old.
I waver back and forth on whether they should just buy him out this off-season and be done with it. I like the idea of a young, cheap and hungry player getting those 4th line minutes, while making us a quicker/less plodding team. He did manage 14 goals, but still seems inefficient with his ice time. I know we can do better, but is it worth that buy-out cap hit? I will give Phil credit, he actually used Okposo correctly by and large. If he stays on the 4th line, I'm cool with it. What I don't want is him blocking a guy like Nylander from getting PP minutes.
brian_griffin
"Eric Cartman?"
I agree with your assessments and opinions, but don't feel as though a buyout is required this offseason. There's enough other deadweight which needs to be replaced (Sobotka, Pominville) before Okposo is in the gunsights. Wilson can be sent down essentially free. There's room for Nylander, etc. If Okposo is getting 4th line minutes with Larsson / Girgs (or their replacements - but I believe both will be re-signed) and PP time, while Girgs / Larsson (or replacements) are getting PK time in addition to 4th line time, I don't see where youngsters would get reduced minutes / opportunity.
Ask me again in 10 weeks, but if things don't change, I'd hang onto Okposo until expansion draft or the CBA expiration with it's expected new/additional compliance buyouts.
GrierIsGod123
Registered User
That's fair as well. Like I said, I'm torn and not sure how I would proceed if I were GM. Part of my motivation to buy him out would just be to get a different look as a team. We need to make some fairly wholesale changes to the Bottom 6 and get better players in there. There is certainly other dead-weight that needs to move out sooner. I'd move on from Sobotka by any means necessary and Girgs in a change of scenery trade or by simply cutting bait. We need less replacement level (or worse) players, which Okposo falls under, unfortunately. Depending on what happens with Skinner, I'd consider moving on from Sheary as well.
Sorry to derail the Skinner discussion a bit here. Our GM has quite a task ahead of him, and absolutely needs to get creative. This is especially true if we can't get Skinner extended, as he'll need to cobble together some scoring talent.
Injury didn't help but it was always a bad contrast from the second it was handed out.
I didn't want to make this about Okposo - you could substitute in just about any other recently signed big name UFA.
But if you think players are worth whatever some stupid gm is willing to pay in a cap era then go right ahead & believe that because you're wrong.
Sadly I get the feeling you are fully aware of this but your initial post was just another thinly veiled attack on Botterill.
No joke, We got Skinner on the cheap because of NMC and now we might lose him, that's life. He was a rental and a 2nd, 3rd and Pu for a 40 goal rental is a steal. End of debate. Resigning him is pure bonus.
1point21Gigawatts
hell's a gigawatt?
sabremike
Friend To All Giraffes And Lindy Ruff
It's a not so thinly veiled attack on the idea that we should let a 40 goal scorer walk over money when we barely have any NHL quality forwards and getting anything coming anywhere close to the value of Skinner in UFA or trade is pretty much a fantasy. You are standing on a trap door to a pit filled with alligators and if you answer the question wrong it opens and you fall in: would not having Jeff on our team make our team considerably worse? And for everyone droning on about contracts the Okposo albatross will be disappeared before the 20-21 season with an amnesty that is guaranteed to be in a new CBA because it's literally the one thing both sides are in complete agreement on.
wunderpanda
Registered User
- Apr 9, 2012
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Trade the low 1st to the Pens for Kessel (with $1m retained). 3 years remaining on his contract is perfect and his salary would be less than any other UFA that can score 25 goals.
Perfect for the current situation. Team needs a coach that gets the Sabres to a 9th place finish or Botts is gone. Pegula won't give him an blank check for coach or UFA's knowing another GM search could happen in 12 months & 2019coach would be fired with Botts. Kessel would only have 2 seasons left after Botts & 2019coach are gone and Seattle xpansion draft is coming up.
2020GM could get a 1st for Kessel at trade deadline '21; rental with term that fluffed stats (playing with Jack) on the powerplay will look good. 2020GM would have a better opportunity to offer his first coach than Botts can offer now.
............
I would also introduce new 3rd jersey, gold/blue stripes with recoloured butterknives logo to distract everyone and bump merch sales. Also, would give PTO's to a couple Beaut's just for clickbait headlines
If we can get rid of the Okposo contract it's going to be through sheer luck. Doesn't change the fact that it was a horrible contract from day 1.
Every player has his price. If Skinner won't sign belw that then screw him. Your post implies you would sign him to a league max contact just for the sake of keeping him...
I'll add that i fully expect him to sign a somewhat reasonable contract so the premise of this thread is moot in my mind. I just don't see the point in taking pot shots at our GM who outside of one trade has done a pretty solid job so far - certainly compared to his predecessor.
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