Start the countdown for Jack Eichel's trade request.

Montour 1 year 3.85

Davidsson - #8 and for AHL

I like Zemgus more than Larsson, but this is not only related to the game

Eakin probably meh

We would have done well to pay Fast more than Carolina and have him in our middle 6. Also giving Kahun a QO would have been good for the middle 6 as well. Kevyn has only been addressing our PK.

I like zemgus better too, but im not crazy about either. Paying what they did for both zemgus and eakin after watching larsson sign on the cheap- i wanna give adams the benefit of the doubt, hes making it hard.

Yup, so far not very impressive.

Sure whatever.

I think Quinn will go back to the Juniors, and I agree Davidson to AHL.

Fast certainly would have been an improvement over Eakin.
I agree I always thought of Kahun as a Middle 6 LW, but we may lose him.
TBH, I do not see any of the FA helping our PK.
IMO, we had the players, Vesey, Girgensons, Larsson, Okposo, but our PK system was terrible.
I watched how the teams PK in the playoffs, and Buffalo was too passive killing penalties.

I agree, that is why traded Girgensons for Larsson. Lower cap hit and plays center.

When Kevyn Adams was appointed the GM, I thought he was nothing more than a sycophant.
IMO he has risen to his level of incompetence known as the Peter Principle.
I was thrilled with his trade to get Staal. I am sure his relationship was a major part that Eric did not retire.
While I am not unhappy with his choice of Quinn, but if that was his target, I think he should worked harder to move back 2 or even 3 spots as most pre-draft sites had Jack going no earlier than 11th.
IMO it was a great trade to move up to nab Peterka in the second round as he was projected to be a first round pick in nearly every pre-draft predictions.
I also liked his pick of Costantini in the fifth round as he is more or less a native from St. Catherines playing for the Junior Sabres. His 36 goals were third in the league and the two above him played more games.
I was totally underwhelmed with his free agents. Eakin will make the team, but IMO none of the others will even help Rochester.
He completely buggered the negotiations with Kahun as we will either lose him to free agency or need to sign him for more than was necessary.
So over all, he gets an A+ for the Staal trade, B+ for his drafting, D- on his free agents, F for the handling of Kahun.
It is early so he could change my mind still.

Apparently BUF is interested in Namesnikov. Watching him with the NYR I could see him being a Kahun replacement. Add Toffoli to that, flip one of the RHD for a LHD and this team looks better.

Rumor was we were trying to get 11 and 37 for 8, a move which i would have laughed at a week ago- the board broke exactly how i wanted it to, we went off the board anyways. Its not great, but at least passing on rossi and perfetti shows that we are very confident with eichel and cozens going forward, which is good. Its funny i was arguing that this was absolutely not the draft class where 8 gets traded for 15 and 40. I guess if you wanna go off the board. Really hope quinn is the real deal.

I thought this would be decent team after signing Staal:
Olofsson Eichel Cozens
Skinner Staal Reinhart
Kahun Mittelstadt Thompson/Okposo
Girgensons Lazar Okposo/Thompson
Cozens is project to be better than Reinhart, Mittelstadt was never a "BUST", 39pt/114gm with the wingers he had was respectable.
If he could put up 30 pts on the third line, that would be fine.
31 teams means 93 players per line.
In the 2018-'19 season 89 players had 53 pts or more or first line.
In the same year,175 had 35 or more or second line.
Again the same year, 210 had 30 or more middle of the third line pack since there would be 273 players among the top three lines.
He had 25 pts that year which ranked him 244th or still third line production with third line wingers.
Let's remember only six forwards from his draft have more pts than he. I am comfortable with him as my third line center.

You certainly know Namestnikov better than I as you watched him as a Ranger.
I wonder what the arbitrator would have placed as Kahun's salary, probably less than Namestnikov.
Kahun may be the better choice, as Namestnikov is very inconsistent (goals/year 14, 10, 22, 11, 17) and while Kahun has played for 3 different teams over 2 years Namestnikov played for 3 teams last year alone.
Right now it appears Montour will be the defenseman on the move.
"The Krueger System" was very harsh on Brandon (as well as Miller, Sheary, Okposo, Rodrigues, Skinner, Vesey and Hutton all had career worse years).
He came to Buffalo as a top pairing defenseman (top 60 with TOI and pts in the two previous years), I wonder if he would bring back a third pairing defenseman after this season.
Since he signed a one year contract, he is shouting that he wants out of Buffalo.
I was looking at a https://thehockeycode.com/nhl-contract-projections-2020/ a site that predicts NHL free agent salaries.
It has Toffoli for 7 years at $6,509,377, that would certainly break the self imposed cap of low $70,000,000.
TBH, where does he fit into the Sabre line up? Do we move Sam down to 3rd line center or 3rd line RW?
Maybe signing him would would be more for next year when Cozens would be the #2 center

I read that rumor in one of the die by the blade and I said it was too much to move up 3 spots.
You may be correct about moving up from 15 to 8 would cost the 40th in this draft.
On the other hand, if Quinn was my target, I would have taken a discount to move back to 11th OA, just to get the extra pick.
I hope this makes sense. That was my only point about mis-managing the draft.

One final comment, I would take Larsson at $1,400,000/yr over Eakin at $2,250,000 every day.
Just one more questionable move by Adams.

Well that is my rant of the day.

I made an edit, I should have trade Eakin for Larsson and save $850,000 of cap space.
Adams made a big splash with Staal.
His momentum is certainly stalling out now.

We do not know why Larsson left, and probably very few people want to sign a contract with Buffalo, have to overpay or take players like Eakin in the hope that he can return his game of past seasons. Until I have complete information, it is difficult for me to blame Adams for bad moves.

Things can change, but he is definitely over his head IMO.
We may lose Kahun completely while he would have been a solid mid six forward.
I understand why we went after Quinn, but centers are far more valuable.
The problem with the Buffalo PK is not the players, but the system.
After watching the other playoff teams it was very apparent that Buffalo's PK was too passive.
We had the players who could have been more aggressive, but for some reason were instructed to maintain the box.
Nearly every PK I watched, a defensive player would skate directly toward the puck carrier forcing him to make a pass often before he was ready.
Our PK will not improve until we change our system.
We had Vesey, Rodrigues, Girgensons and Okposo, all gook PK forwards just used improperly.

Adams was also very underwhelming in the free agency market.
Last year Botterill signed free agents Lazar, Hammond, Dea and Gilmour, (lets not forget Johansson which was turned into Staal).
Dea (25 yo) was the top Amerk scorer, Lazar (24 yo) was a former first round pick, Hammond (31 yo) was the Senators #1 GK, Gilmour (26 yo) had NHL experience and netted 20 goals in the AHL the previous year.
Other than Hammond they were all young and had good AHL credentials.
Lazar and Gilmour played in the NHL while Hammond and Dea contributed to the success of the Amerks.
I do not see Rieder (27 yo), Davidson (29 yo) or Irwin (32) doing either.
All are older and have lack luster careers and there is no reason to think they will be different next year.
Botterill added young depth to the team, none of the players Adams signed get me excited at all.
That is why I traded for Pouliot and Pysyk.
Even if we had to pay them closer to $1,000,000 they would have been NHL quality, signing them would have gotten me excited.
I do not see Rieder, Davidson or Irwin being AHL quality.
If doubt he had targeted Pouliot and Pysyk.

Let me close, IMO Tyler Johnson could have been added for free and could have given the Sabres depth at center and more insurance for Cozens in the future.
He is only one year removed from scoring 28 goals, and could have challenged Staal for the 2nd line center spot.

Adams is demonstrating that he was nothing more than a Pegula sycophant who moved up in the ranks by browning his nose daily.
I have worked with many people as that, totally incompetent in their field but get under the bosses desk daily, and therefore move up in the organization.

If Adams had signed Pouliot and Pysyk while picking Johnson off of waivers, there would be reason to be looking forward to next season.
Right now, there is "No Joy in Mudville".

Agreed. Harsh on Mittelstadt. I think if we started him in the AHL and Called him up the down the line he might produce.

Well, I totally disagree with you.

1) Today is only the third day of free agency, there is still a lot of time to improve roster at the expense of the market or trade.

2) Rieder is a decent player for me for #12 - #13 forward

3) Irwin and Davidsson are reserve players, one of them will play in the AHL, I have no problem signing them

4) Why do we need Pysyk? He is a right-handed defender, Irwin is left-handed and can play both left and right. We don't need right-handed defenders.

5) Kahun has not signed it anywhere and we do not know the exact reasons why it was not signed. Maybe he wanted a contract of 4 million a year? Arbitration could easily write him a similar contract.

6) Tyler Johnson, with a 5 million four-year contract, is a bad player, no one wanted to take him and help Tampa. If Tampa keeps some of the paycheck or sweetens the deal well, then more could be thought. But he hasn't been good enough lately to take on his contract. I'm glad Adams hasn't done any irreparable stupidity yet.

7) I do not agree that we needed Rossi. I'm totally fine with the fact that we got Jack Quinn. Its ceiling is probably higher than Rossi's. We needed a player of his type, perhaps no less than Rossi, but even more. He can score goals hard, he can play two-sided game, he can still improve his skating and get even more physical, he is a child of late heyday, if you've read his story. There is no such player in Buffalo and we still have Cozens, who could be our 2C and there is little hope for Mittelstadt.

The only thing I agree with is that it might be a problem with the game system on PK, not the players. I hope Krueger and his headquarters work on this. At the same time, Rieder and Eakin are players who can still add reliability to PK.

To summarize, I am in no hurry with conclusions on the first two days of a free agency, so if this were the final line-up, then I would have questions for Adams, but there is still a lot of time to sign players or trade. We will definitely need a couple more players to attack, one LD and trade an extra RD. Also find a goalie to pair with Ullmark.

Well said. I just hope Kevyn makes a move (via FA or trade) to acquire at least one winger we can play in the middle 6. As of right now that is a huge weakness on the roster. Hopefully he can also look to sign Reinhart and Ullmark before arb. Don't mind if Olofsson goes because he just played 1 year so arbitration might actually get him for cheaper.

NP, we are not GM's, we do not know all of the facts. I will most likely be wrong on everything I have posted.
1. I said his free agent signing have been totally underwhelming.
Larsson is better than Eakin at less expensive.
2. and 4. Pysyk plays RHD and RW. Pysyk has more pts and goals last year than Irwin has over the last 3 and he is four years younger.
If you go to this site howVizHome=no#3" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://public.tableau.com/views/SKATR2019-2020/SKATR?:embed=y&:display_count=y&howVizHome=no#3 Pysyk is vastly superior.
So I do not see Pysyk as a RHD more as a RW.
3. We have Gilmour and Redmond in Rochester who are much better than Irwin and Davidsson.
Gilmour and Redmond are reserve players. It appears Adams just wants to make a move not necessarily improve.
5. Yes Kahun has not signed but to let an arbitrator decide or have to outbid another GM normally means we either pay more or lose him. Very bad move.
6. you are correct about Johnson. I was looking to add without subtracting, create a positive buzz and bring in a player who has recently won a cup.
But since no other team claimed him he is either not worth it or other teams do not have the cap space to take him.
7. You are most likely correct we not need Rossi as a center, but:
centers are more valuable than wingers,
he or Cozens could move to the wing as Reinhart.
if Cozens could not handle the center job Rossi would be a back up.
Mittelstadt is not a bust, he is just what I expected just not what other people thought.

I also mentioned that there is still time, I am giving my 4 month assessment.
I agree with you on Sam, Linus and Victor.
TBH about Victor, IMO he may turn out to be another Moulson.

@Skyraider112
I am only giving my 4 month assessment of Adams.
Thus far there is not much to get me excited.
Read above about what free agents I would have gone after instead of his choices.
Other than Staal, Adams has made changes but not improvements.
In contrast Dea, Lazar, Hammond and Gilmour who were signed last year were all improvements, not just changes.
That is why I would have tried to sign Pysyk and Pouliot over Davidson and Irwin, to improve the team, not just to make a change from Gilmour and Redmond.
So out goes Larsson, Gilmour and Redmond in comes Eakin, Davidson and Irwin, the names change but no real improvement.

1) Eakin is better offensively than Larsson, and Larsson might just not want to stay in Buffalo. I don't believe his brother, who tweeted that Buffalo didn't propose to him. His brother had previously been seen lying when he said that Larsson would not sign at Buffalo in past seasons.

2) We won't have room for Pysyk on RW, and we don't need another RD. Even if better than Irwin.

3) We don't have Gilmour and Redmond in Rochester, they're gone. Irwin is needed to sit in the press box, if the conditional McCabe or Miller gets injured, then I expect that they will be replaced by Bryson or Borgen, not Irwin. Davidsson in Rochester for quantity.

4) You're not right. If Buffalo qualified Kahun, and he filed for arbitration, then the arbiter could easily give him 4-4.2 million and Buffalo would not be able to refuse this deal. That's too much for Kahun, who hasn't played ten games for Buffalo. Arbitration looks only at past seasons and looks at Kahun's performance, he went 45 points per season, so they could very well give him 4-4.2 million. So if we replace Kahun with a player like that, I'll be fine.

5/6) I think Quinn can be more effective than Rossi on the wing. Initially, I liked Rossi and knew almost nothing about Quinn, except that he was the best scorer in the draft and played in the same team with Rossi, but on different lanes. Then I seriously studied Quinn and am completely satisfied with this choice. He can be a mixture of Pastrnak and Stone, of course he still needs to develop, improve his skating and fitness, but he is a very interesting prospect with the potential of the elite. I am happy with this choice.

1. Go to howVizHome=no#3" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://public.tableau.com/views/SKATR2019-2020/SKATR?:embed=y&:display_count=y&howVizHome=no#3 and tell me who is better Larsson or Eakin.
2. While you may be correct about RD, we still need to fill a RW spot with a UFA, Thompson or Pysyk. I only see Reinhart, Okposo and Cousins, who do you see?
I also only see 12 forwards counting Lazar, Mittelstadt and Thompson, Pysyk makes 13 one less than a team normally carries.
Yes there is a spot and yes he would be a much better choice than either Irwin or Davidson.
So getting Pysyk would give the Sabres the flexibility of carrying 8 defesemen and 14 forwards as he could swing either way.
3. Gilmour is still a free agent and Redmond is currently playing for EHC München in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
I do not know if that contract could be terminated if he signed with an NHL team.
You are correct that both are gone now that we have Irwin and Davidson.
4. The arbiter probably would give closer to $2,500,000 a little more than Rodrigues got last year.
BTW Kahun is at 40pt/season over his career, not 45.
5. We have Quinn, fine, we will know in 4 years who is better.
Centers can move to wing, wingmen normally cannot move to center.
We do not have all of the information as we do not have access to scouts.
Oops, neither does Adams have any scouts to help him with decision making.
I guess we are all just taking stabs in the dark.

1) I know Eakin had a bad season, but before that he hadn't had a decent season in Vegas as 3C where he scored over 20 goals. I know that Larsson is better defensively than Eakin, but Larsson cannot produce goals, and Eakin can if he regains his best form. Maybe this is the logic of signing, who knows.

2) Pysyk should not be our RW, I would prefer Cozens/Thompson and Okposo for bottom 6 and probably we need to find another RW for top 6. Maybe Toffoli or Granlund in UFA or trade with another team for RW. Maybe they wanted to sign the lefty? I never had any problems for such signings, these guys mostly play for minimal money and I never made any claims to GM why he signed another player for the press box or the AHL.

4) I'm not sure about that. Because the arbiter looks at the players with a similar production and does not even consider whether the season was shortened or not. If Kahun had played 82 games last season, he could have scored 40-45 points, so the referee looks at the players who walked at a pace of 40-45 points or scored these points and makes a decision. Kahun could very well get 4 million in arbitration and Buffalo would have to accept it and they would have no choice.

1) we agree Larsson is better defensively.
We also agree the PK problems were not personnel but rather coaching.
I do not see adding Eaken to improve our PK.
So let's not sign him and get Larsson at a huge discount, that is my only point, which I made from the beginning.
This is just another move Adams has made that does not improve only change.
2) Again my point was is we are adding Irwin and Davidson for "depth" get a guy who could actually challenge for a full time spot, not just for depth.
Adding Irwin and Davidson only changed the name and numbers on the uniform, they do not improve. Pysyk could actually be an improvement.
BTW, I like signing former first round picks. That is why I also would have tried to get Pouliot.
3) I will concede that not giving him a QA may have been a good move.
But it also opened him up to negotiating with other clubs.
It just made it all uncertain.

Let me add, I am not down on Quinn, I just think if he was the target push harder to move the pick, even selling it at a discount.
I decided to give Adams the benefit of the doubt.
He seemed too much of a suck up to me.
How many assistant coaches get fired only to find a job in the front office?
Then General Manager.
I loved the Staal trade.
Quinn seems to be a good pick, Buffalo is not in the position to draft by need, they need the best talent.

1) Yes, PK problems were more related to tactics, I just clarified that Eakin can be useful on PK. Eakin might be better offensively than Larsson and Larsson might be better defensively. After all, Larsson has never scored more than six goals in a season, and Eakin recently had a season with 22 goals, and before that he regularly scored more than 10. Also Rieder is a very good PK player.

2) Again, Pysyk would not get a place in the line-up, Pysyk can play LD, is he comfortable there? The last thing we need is another right-handed defender. Even if you don't like this move, I will not criticize Adams for it. Since Davidsson is a player for the AHL and Irwin is #7D or #8D. Maybe Pysyk would have wanted part #6D - #7D, and Buffalo wouldn't have given it to him, who knows.

3) Yes, but if you do not want Kahun to receive 4 million in arbitration, then you let him go and negotiate a deal for 2.5 million, for example, he can also of course talk with other teams if you like playing Buffalo and playing for Krueger, he can return. So far, Kahun is without a team, let's see what comes of it.


It is generally known that Adams tried to trade #8 in Nashville for #11 and #37, but Nashville decline. So Adams just took whoever he wanted at #8.

@Stanley_Cup_To_Manhattan
@SalamiCheese
@Skyraider112
@sabres89
@Shibbal18

Taylor Hall for one year at $8KK is a huge game changer.
Great move.
I can only presume he is salivating at the prospects of playing one year with Jack then looking for a HUGE payday next year.
I am still working on a possible line up.
What to do with Kahun and Olofsson?

Kahuns gone. Olofsson is going to arbitration

Wonder if this is why eakin is here. Heard something about them being friends.

Reinhart might get moved. I don't know if they wanna commit that much money to him. Hall is a play driver so I don't think he needs to play with Eichel. More so Skinner.

Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart
Hall-Staal-Olofsson
Eakin-Cozens-Thompson
Girgensons-Lazar-Okposo

Dahlin-Miller
Montour-Ristolainen
McCabe-Jokiharju
Irwin