Sabres Offseason

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Created by: CuyahogaKid

Team: 2020-21 Buffalo Sabres

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 3, 2020

Published: Jul. 3, 2020

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

UFA

I know many are against spending in free agency, but if they do......Dadonov would be the one guy who I’d have ZERO problem with, even though he is 31.

The Sabres need good solid right wings with two way ability, and he was productive playing away from a guy like Barkov and found production playing with Frank Vatrano.

Personally I think he would be lethal playing next to Jack Eichel.

I can’t to help to think the Sabres won’t try to do something significant in free agency to get the team back to playoff contention and right wing is a huge need.
If the term is right, I’d be ok with Dadonov.

Not only that, but with a real lack of true number two centers available on the trade market, and given that Cozens can’t go to the AHL, I think they are going to give him every shot to land a middle six center role next year and for him to be successful, he will need good wingers

Trading for Zacha is a start to give Buffalo an insurance option in case he cannot handle a middle six center role, and it also helps that Zacha and M.Johansson have had chemistry before in the past.

Buffalo would be doing second and third line center by committee with MoJo and Zacha

Free Agent Signings

RFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Hickey, Brandon	1	$850,000
Elie, Remi	1	$850,000
Mittelstadt, Casey	1	$900,000
Montour, Brandon	2	$4,500,000
Reinhart, Sam	7	$6,800,000
Thompson, Tage	1	$900,000
Johansson, Jonas	1	$875,000
Kahun, Dominik	3	$2,875,000
Lazar, Curtis	1	$875,000
Ullmark, Linus	2	$2,500,000
Olofsson, Victor	3	$4,500,000

UFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Dell, Aaron	2	$2,900,000
Nelson, Casey	2	$875,000
Simmonds, Wayne	2	$2,000,000
Dadonov, Evgeni	4	$6,700,000

CREATED		YEARS	CAP HIT
Lundell, Anton		3	$925,000

Trades

BUF

Thompson, Tyce [Reserve List]
Zacha, Pavel
2020 4th round pick (BOS)

Additional Details:

Zacha coming in and Mittelstadt going out should be something Buffalo is all over. Mittelstadt could use a change of scenery, and Zacha as well. We know Zacha can play in the NHL and plays a good two way game and has size to bode. What we don’t know is his ceiling. I think with his age and salary, as well as his two way ability, and versatility to play center or wing, Zacha can be a sound asset that hopefully can develop into a guy who gets you 40-50 pts a year with sound two way play.

NJD

Mittelstadt, Casey
Montour, Brandon
2020 7th round pick (BUF)

Additional Details:

Montour is the player to trade on the blue line for me. While Ristolainen is the one many would like the move, the Sabres lack any defenseman right now who can handle his minutes until Rasmus Dahlin shows he is ready. Ristolainen is one of the leagues best offensive defenseman; and to have two guys back there who can QB a power play and generate offense is an asset that can’t be taken for granted.

Montour is terribly miscast in Buffalo’s system with Ralph Kreuger. But many scouts in the league have to know this

Buyouts

Buried

Tage Thompson: $0 ($900,000)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2020
2021
2022

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$81,500,000	$82,474,167	$1,487,500	$4,337,500	-$974,167

Roster

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Skinner, Jeff $9,000,000$9,000,000 LW, RW NMC UFA - 7	Eichel, Jack $10,000,000$10,000,000 C UFA - 6	Reinhart, Sam $6,800,000$6,800,000 RW UFA - 1
Olofsson, Victor $4,500,000$4,500,000 RW, LW UFA - 2	Cozens, Dylan $894,167$894,167 ($850,000$850K) C, LW UFA - 3	Dadonov, Evgeni $6,700,000$6,700,000 RW, LW UFA - 3
Kahun, Dominik $2,875,000$2,875,000 LW, RW, C UFA - 1	Zacha, Pavel $2,250,000$2,250,000 C, LW UFA - 2	Johansson, Marcus $4,500,000$4,500,000 LW, RW M-NTC UFA - 1
Simmonds, Wayne $2,000,000$2,000,000 RW, LW UFA - 1	Lundell, Anton $925,000$925,000	Okposo, Kyle $6,000,000$6,000,000 RW M-NTC UFA - 3
Asplund, Rasmus $845,000$845,000 LW, C RFA - 1		Lazar, Curtis $875,000$875,000 RW, C UFA - 2

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
McCabe, Jake $2,850,000$2,850,000 LD/RD UFA - 1	Ristolainen, Rasmus $5,400,000$5,400,000 RD UFA - 2	Ullmark, Linus $2,500,000$2,500,000 G UFA - 1
Dahlin, Rasmus $925,000$925,000 ($2,850,000$3M) LD/RD UFA - 1	Jokiharju, Henri $925,000$925,000 ($637,500$638K) RD RFA - 1	Dell, Aaron $2,900,000$2,900,000 G UFA - 1
Miller, Colin $3,875,000$3,875,000 RD UFA - 2	Borgen, William $864,166$864,166 RD UFA - 1
	Nelson, Casey $875,000$875,000 RD UFA - 1

Special Teams

Power Play 1

	Eichel, J.

Jul. 3, 2020 at 8:05 p.m.

zyyyp

Joined: Apr. 2020

Posts: 3,075

Likes: 1,486

very interesting trade, has had me thinking for a few minutes here hahah.

I do like Thompson a lot as he lit it up pretty good last season but we could really use a guy like Montour and I do still believe in Mittelstadt despite some concerns and the slow start to his career. Very intelligent offensive mind, great puck skills, on the right line he could be a pretty nice player. My only issue would be NJ giving up the 4th as we don't have a 2nd or 3rd this year, would you make it a 5th or 6th in 2021? or maybe take out the picks altogether?

Devil and iforgotmyname liked this.

Jul. 3, 2020 at 8:07 p.m.

Skyraider112

Sabres are elite

Joined: Jun. 2017

Posts: 7,991

Likes: 3,305

Ah the bust bros come to Buffalo

Elevatorboy liked this.

Jul. 3, 2020 at 8:11 p.m.

Sabres923

Joined: May 2019

Posts: 4,292

Likes: 2,340

Quoting: Skyraider112

Ah the bust bros come to Buffalo

Tage isn’t a bust. He was good in the preseason, good in the AHL. Earned a call up and broke his shoulder.

Jul. 3, 2020 at 9:15 p.m.

zyyyp

Joined: Apr. 2020

Posts: 3,075

Likes: 1,486

Quoting: Sabres923

Tage isn’t a bust. He was good in the preseason, good in the AHL. Earned a call up and broke his shoulder.

neither is Tyce. Great college numbers last year

Jul. 3, 2020 at 9:16 p.m.

Sabres923

Joined: May 2019

Posts: 4,292

Likes: 2,340

Quoting: zyyyp

neither is Tyce. Great college numbers last year

Ironically I was looking at his stats. He seems like a better prospect than Tage.

Jul. 3, 2020 at 9:17 p.m.

zyyyp

Joined: Apr. 2020

Posts: 3,075

Likes: 1,486

Quoting: Sabres923

Ironically I was looking at his stats. He seems like a better prospect than Tage.

yeah a fair bit better

Sabres923 liked this.

Jul. 3, 2020 at 9:19 p.m.

SalamiCheese

Joined: Jul. 2018

Posts: 4,928

Likes: 2,670

This will be the third season of Dahlin, in the second half of the season he improved his game, including in defense, he seems now to have eat a lot of chicken wings and pumps muscles, I think he’s already ready to play 20+ minutes and play more serious role. Makar and Hughes already played more Dahlin last season and I won’t like it if Dahlin plays less time again. I do not mind if Risto stays, but we must reduce his time on ice.

Jul. 3, 2020 at 9:26 p.m.

Dcochy

Joined: Jun. 2020

Posts: 355

Likes: 158

Seems a bit steep for 8 goals a year

Jul. 3, 2020 at 10:28 p.m.

CuyahogaKid

Thread Starter

Go Cavs

Joined: Jun. 2017

Posts: 2,390

Likes: 585

Quoting: Dcochy

Seems a bit steep for 8 goals a year

8 goals but 32 points in 65 games and kills penalties and plays a good two way game. Zacha has gotten better every year he’s been in the league and the Sabres could use a guy like him in the lineup. He’s a 40 pt center right now and maybe he continues to improve.

I would say Montour is coming off a down year, but he can play both sides and slide into a second pair role easy but in Buffalo he is terribly miscast.

Mittelstadt is another guy who needs a change because I think after this offseason, while I still think there’s potential for him to be a quality NHL forward; I think Buffalo is well on their way to passing him and burying him on the depth chart at center with Cozens in the fold and probably bringing in another vet option at center. He’s a high risk high reward option, but he needs a change

zyyyp liked this.

Jul. 3, 2020 at 10:35 p.m.

#10

CuyahogaKid

Thread Starter

Go Cavs

Joined: Jun. 2017

Posts: 2,390

Likes: 585

Quoting: SalamiCheese

I think it’s gonna happen, but I think it’s gonna happen more gradually. Ristolainen and Dahlin still form a very productive offensive tandem where one can lead a player can lead out one unit and the other can do the same. It’s a great luxury and advantage to have two defenseman that can generate 40-50 pts a year and run a power play, and the PP still needs to improve, it would take a hit without Ristolainen.

I think he will eventually be moved, I just don’t think the trade for the established top six forward is not there the way people want because there are a lot of options for Defense in free agency and on the trade market and there is a lot of skepticism on Ristolainens trade value because of his underlying numbers. Not to mention, with a rookie GM with no experience; I’m not sure if I want Kevyn Adams making a move like this right away, as he is one of our biggest assets and GMs will try to fleece him.

If Ristolainen is moved in the off-season; I think people will he disappointed in the return. I think it’s better to wait until the trade deadline when teams in contention are trying to beef up their rosters

Jul. 3, 2020 at 11:00 p.m.

#11

SalamiCheese

Joined: Jul. 2018

Posts: 4,928

Likes: 2,670

Quoting: DickFoligno

Well, depending on how gradually, I think Dahlin will definitely become physically stronger next season, he also said that he works on his shot every day. I mean, on average, he played 19 minutes this season, if next season he plays 20 minutes on average, then it will look bad, because Dahlin is very talented and he is simply better than Risto in many components, it’s also possible for him need to give PK time. Of course, they probably should not let him immediately play 25 minutes a night, but 22-23 minutes would make sense.

Jul. 4, 2020 at 2:55 a.m.

#12

CuyahogaKid

Thread Starter

Go Cavs

Joined: Jun. 2017

Posts: 2,390

Likes: 585

Quoting: zyyyp

Oh yeah I’d have no issue with that, I just threw it in there since Buffalo is on the shorter side with picks since we only have a six and don’t have a third.

I like the idea of having Tyce and Tage together and I think that could increase our chances of signing him, which will be another issue. I would like to see the Sabres develop him as a center though.

Zacha to me just makes all sorts of sense. The Swiss Army knife, great penalty killer and versatile. He may only be a 40-50 pt player in the league, but I’m willing to take a gamble that he could slowly get better at the expense of Mittelstadt. The upside with Mitts is still there; and he has that top line potential, the problem for Buffalo is they need to win now, I think with Cozenz on the way, Mittelstadt will require a year of seasoning in the AHL, and that’s not something Buffalo can give him, and the other question, where does he fit on the roster with Cozens, and Eichel here as well as Skinner and Olafsson if you move him to LW. Do you want him on the RW? Can he be a third line center? In NJ, I see a clearer pathway to the NHL again maybe not just as a center but potentially as a left winger.

Jul. 4, 2020 at 3:00 a.m.

#13

CuyahogaKid

Thread Starter

Go Cavs

Joined: Jun. 2017

Posts: 2,390

Likes: 585

Quoting: Sabres923

Tage isn’t a bust. He was good in the preseason, good in the AHL. Earned a call up and broke his shoulder.

I think many are discounting Tage Thompson. I think with some conditioning and growth, and a season in the AHL, he could be a late bloomer. He was a project type player even when he was in the Blues system and I think it will take time. I think late next season. I’d hope he develops into a call up option.

Jul. 4, 2020 at 3:07 a.m.

#14

CuyahogaKid

Thread Starter

Go Cavs

Joined: Jun. 2017

Posts: 2,390

Likes: 585

Quoting: Skyraider112

Ah the bust bros come to Buffalo

Not all brothers are the same. Sam is definelty the golden boy of the Reinhart kids, and P.K Subban is the best of his family.

I do think Tyce has developed into a slightly better prospect than Tage at this pointe. Tage was more of a project for sure. The injuries have killed Tage at this poin

Jul. 4, 2020 at 3:35 a.m.

#15

Sabres923

Joined: May 2019

Posts: 4,292

Likes: 2,340

Quoting: DickFoligno

What’s unfortunate is he would have to be put on waivers if he doesn’t make the team next year. So he will probably be a healthy scratch.

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