Team: 2021-22 Buffalo Sabres

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 20, 2021

Published: Jun. 20, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Another heavy explanation cap-friendly from me once again, this is a doozie.

First off, I won't be going in depth with who should step in as Head Coach. My first choice honestly would be Don Granato. He did well (for the Sabres standards) towards the end of the season and also worked around not having a star player (Eichel) which will be the case next season as well.

Now, to get it out of the way, the Eichel trade. Although as of now, Anaheim, Chicago, LA, Columbus seem to be the front runners, I still see Seattle as a dark horse candidate to land Eichel. For Seattle, they're going to be in a very young, (not competitive ATM) pacific division, in my opinion, Seattle can choose to be competitive off the bat (like Vegas) and they'll have annual playoff spots lined up for them. As for the trade, I see this as a two part trade. Buffalo sends Jack Eichel to Seattle in exchange for the 2nd overall pick in the 2021 Draft, as well as a 2022 2nd Round Pick. In addition to those two picks, Expansion Draft Considerations, those Considerations being the selection of Jeff Skinner. You can chalk it up to Kruger, Granato, hell even Hall pushing him down the depth charts for Skinner's bad year, but like majority of the Sabres, he's likely looking for a fresh start. Even though he has a NMC, he previously expressed interest in potentially waiving to be unprotected in this expansion draft. For Skinner to get a brand new start, on a brand new team, playing with the center who got him his 40 goal season, very possible Skinner has a bounce back season with Seattle. Why I think Seattle (and why Anaheim is the actual likely front runner) is that the Sabres would prefer not to send their star players to the East, trying to send them to the west.

Next up, Reinhart. Pending RFA who like Eichel is very much likely to have a change of scenery. In this trade Reinhart gets sent to his hometown Vancouver Canucks. After a poor season, the Nucks may look to gear up as their core is slowly getting better, so it is smart to have pieces around them. Eriksson comes back in this trade purely for cap reasons, after sending 19 million out in the Eichel deal, the Sabres are even going to struggle hitting the cap floor. For all I care and likely the Sabres have this same mindset, Eriksson can pull a Pavel Datsyuk, go to the SHL to play (instead of the KHL) and have his contract still count for the cap hit for 1 more year. Kole Lind and the 1st serve as the value in return for grabbing up Reinhart. Lind briefly had NHL games played last year, and possibly some more this year. Buffalo gains another lottery pick as they give up a former 2nd overall pick.

(Loui Eriksson isn't "injured" he signs in the SHL, but has his cap hit still count against the Sabres salary cap)

On to the Blue Jackets, while I think they aren't going to gear for a full rebuild, likely wise for the Blue Jackets to capitalize on Seth Jones's market value. And while they give Jones away, that leaves a hole in the RD slot in the depth charts. While Risto isn't near to the player Jones is, to have a player who can log those minutes Jones did would be good for the Blue Jackets. They'll likely pick up more defensive help in FA so Risto won't be their only piece to replace Jones. For the return, the expected return is a C level prospect and a 3rd, that about does it. The retained cap helps Buffalo hit the cap floor.

Next up, a minor trade with the Edmonton Oilers. It was reported Brett Murray was a target for EDM, a young, big 6'5 winger coming off of a good AHL season. While EDM lacks in picks to give in return for Murray, Lagesson is someone who could be right up Buffalo's ally. While BUF likely selects Power 1st overall, they can use Lagesson on the D core this year, gaining more depth for BUF doesn't rush Power into the NHL, allowing him to return to the NCAA. Same goes with Mattias Samuelsson, quite young as well he be sent to Rochester and play a full pro season there before NHL callup (barring injuries)

Next up, another trade helping BUF reach the cap floor, looking to the Minnesota Wild. While MIN is in a bad spot (as of writing this) with Kaprizov contract negotiations, if they end up settling on a short term deal like Kaprizov wants, may be wise to rinse some cap for when he gets his raise in 2-3 years time. To get rid of Parise (Healthy scratch in the playoff btw) I feel a fair price could be Marco Rossi. MIN isn't in a shortage of center prospects, with Khovanov, Boldy, Khusnutdinov (to name a few). Even though MIN has to pay a price like Rossi to get rid of Parise's contract, they also get a 1st round prospect in return in Ryan Johnson. It is alleged (and can you blame the man) that he likely doesn't want to sign in BUF, to get value out of him now would be smart. IN addition to Johnson, MIN gets the #33rd overall draft pick, which almost certainly can contain an NHL level prospect.

Last cap dump for BUF. Going over to SJS now. San Jose is a team with plenty of vets on terrible deals. Next season may and really should be the year this Sharks team attempt to bounce back and compete to get in the playoffs, getting rid of 7 mil could allow them to be major players in free agency. Comes at a somewhat steep cost, with a lottery protected first. SJS then has pressure on them to compete this year, if they don't compete this year, the pressure mounts onto next year. Even though SJS made this mistake with the Karlsson trade, they never lottery protected those picks. With the previously mentioned Karlsson, and rest of the aging core, SJS should try to get a few years of playoff contention before they nose dive even harder in production. As for the return, SJS gets a really big maybe. Lawrence Pilut refused to sign a 2 way deal and ended up signing in the KHL just a few offseasons ago. When his KHL contract is up, it's possible he decides to sign in SJS.

Final trade coming up here. Colin Miller goes over to PHI. The Flyers are allegedly in the market for a cheap defender, and Miller could be that. If they strike out on potential FA's, this can be done shortly before training camps, thus why I included 2022 4th instead of 2021.

Onto RFA resignings: With the cap not going up, and coming off of a poor season, BUF proposed to Dahlin an 8 mil over 7 years deal. After a season like Dahlin had it would be stupid for him to say no. Mittlestadt agrees to a bridge deal just under 2.5 mil, as well Jokiharju also agrees to a bridge deal just under 2 mil. Asplund signs a 1 year prove me deal. Borgen & Lind both sign 2 year, 2 way deals, all other RFA's go to UFA.

As for BUF UFA's, there are two options. First off, a over payment for Ullmark on a 1 year deal, BUF seemed quite adamant on bringing him back, that could likely be the price tag on that one. Secondly, another goalie signing, after a great story of playing his first NHL game, BUF can bring Houser in on a 2 way deal. Onto other UFA's, BUF gives out 3 identical "last chance" contracts to 1 FWD, 1 DEF, 1 GOA. Starting in net, BUF brings in David Rittich. He can backup and play tandem with Ullmark for the upcoming season, slight over pay for a guy like Rittich, but BUF is going to need to overpay anybody to bring them onboard. Onto defence, Cody Ceci. Although he had a good offensive season for his standards, I doubt he will be anywhere on any teams big fish radar. Ceci over Rittich & Galch might need a slightly more expensive contract, but anything under 2 mil would work. Finally, Alex Galchenyuk. He signs once again with another team looking for a bounce back spot. Before the trade deadline he found success in TOR's top 6, proving that played properly is still a useful player at the NHL level. In BUF Galch likely will be trusted with Top 6 minutes.

And just because I didn't quite touch up on it, I'll go over what BUF's draft targets should be. 1 & 2 should be Power & Beniers, no question. Once you get to VAN's pick. Clarke, Wallstedt, McTavish (or a possible trade down for Cossa) should be their targets at #9

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