SalarySwishSalarySwish
Forums/Armchair-GM

Cresting That Hill

Created by: dannibalcorpse
Team: 2022-23 Buffalo Sabres
Initial Creation Date: May 12, 2022
Published: May 12, 2022
Salary Cap Mode: Basic
Description
There seems to be a good amount of very invested Buffalo fans in these parts, and I've got a soft spot for them (brother-in-law is from upstate and a big Sabres fan) so I thought I'd try and take what I know about them and see if I can get them to a point where they're a better team, if not quite a full on playoff contender yet.

TRADES
-Seen a few Chicago fans putting up Connor Murphy as trade bait in other ACGMs. We bring him in here to be a solid veteran RHD on a relatively young D corps, and send Chicago a body and an advantageous pick swap. Not married sending out Bjork here, but don't have a spot for him on my Sabres, so off he goes!

-Vegas tried sending out Dadonov & a 2nd for eating John Moore's $1.75M hit for a year. We'll take him off their hands and take a slightly lesser pick since we're sending back a little more cap with Zemgus Girgensons' expiring $2.2M deal.

SIGNINGS
-Keep all the RFAs, including Victor Olofsson. He's become a solid 20-25 goal scorer, you need to get to the cap floor, and he's only 26 so it's not like he's going to be too old to contribute once you're back in contention. The rest of the RFAs re-sign cheaply enough to keep around as depth - Bryson is literally just keeping a seat warm as LD3 and probably cycles in and out with Samuelsson. The guy that seat is for, Ryan Johnson, signs his ELC and get some LD1 time in Rochester, maybe gets a cup of coffee with the NHL club too.

Re-signed a couple UFAs like Craig Anderson, John Hayden, and Colin Miller - they seem like decent depth guys, so short term at a maybe slightly-inflated AAV to get to the cap floor would be fine for guys who have been good soldiers.

Only two UFA signings from outside the org - Eric Comrie from Winnipeg has me very intrigued. Put up a .920 SV% with 7.2 GSAA in only 19 games this season, and he's still only 26 so it's possible he's making "the leap". Sign him for 2x$2M so you're not drowning if this was only a mirage.

Chris Tierney is another interesting guy for me. Still only 27, has had some bad luck the last 2 years but isn't that far removed from being a 0.5-6/PPG player. Give him another short term deal with an AAV that creeps us towards the floor to see if he can rebuild that value again now that we've created a hole at 4C.

At the end of the day, I think this is a team that can easily roll 4 lines. Skinner-Thompson-Olofsson is going to light up the scoreboard, Krebs-Cozens-Tuch is a line with the potential to be a solid 2-way scoring line, and the 3rd and 4th lines have some solid defenders mixed in with good scoring options. I think you lean a little heavier on the top 2 D pairs and shelter the 3rd, but Colin Miller probably keeps it steady when they're out there. And you run a true tandem in net - Anderson as the steadying veteran hand, with Comrie getting a chance to see if he can translate his success over a larger workload.

Taxi squad are the first guys up from Rochester in case of injury - I think everyone that list is close to ready. There's a couple expiring deals you can flip on this roster, too, especially on the wings, and I think that JJP & Quinn would definitely get first crack at filling those holes.
Free Agent Signings
RESERVE LISTYEARSCAP HIT
3$925,000
RFAYEARSCAP HIT
2$1,000,000
2$950,000
5$5,000,000
1$900,000
2$900,000
2$950,000
UFAYEARSCAP HIT
1$1,500,000
2$2,500,000
2$2,500,000
2$950,000
2$950,000
2$2,000,000
Trades
1.
BUF
  1. Dadonov, Evgeni
  2. 2022 3rd round pick (NYR)
2.
CHI
  1. Bjork, Anders
  2. Weissbach, Linus
  3. 2022 1st round pick (FLA)
Buyouts
DraftRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5Round 6Round 7
2022
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the VGK
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the NYR
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the NJD
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the CGY
Logo of the BUF
2023
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the PHI
Logo of the VGK
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the BUF
2024
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the BUF
Logo of the BUF
ROSTER SIZESALARY CAPCAP HITOVERAGES TooltipBONUSESCAP SPACE
23$82,500,000$61,465,834$0$2,187,500$21,034,166
Left WingCentreRight Wing
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$9,000,000$9,000,000
LW, RW
NMC
UFA - 5
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$1,400,000$1,400,000
C
UFA - 1
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$5,000,000$5,000,000
RW, LW
UFA - 2
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$863,333$863,333 (Performance Bonus$412,500$412K)
C, LW
RFA - 2
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$894,167$894,167 (Performance Bonus$850,000$850K)
C, LW
UFA - 1
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$4,750,000$4,750,000
RW, LW
UFA - 4
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$825,000$825,000
LW, C
RFA - 1
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$2,500,000$2,500,000
LW, C
RFA - 2
Logo of the Vegas Golden Knights
$2,500,000$2,500,000
RW, LW
M-NTC
UFA - 1
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$950,000$950,000
C, LW
RFA
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$6,000,000$6,000,000
RW
M-NTC
UFA - 1
$2,500,000$2,500,000
C
UFA - 1
Left DefenseRight DefenseGoaltender
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$6,000,000$6,000,000
LD/RD
UFA - 2
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$2,500,000$2,500,000
RD
RFA - 2
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$1,500,000$1,500,000
G
UFA - 1
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$916,667$916,667 (Performance Bonus$925,000$925K)
LD/RD
UFA - 2
Logo of the Chicago Blackhawks
$4,400,000$4,400,000
RD
M-NTC
UFA - 4
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$925,000$925,000
LD
UFA - 1
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$2,500,000$2,500,000
RD
UFA - 2
$2,000,000$2,000,000
G
UFA - 2
ScratchesInjured Reserve (IR)Long Term IR (LTIR)
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$900,000$900,000
LD/RD
RFA - 2
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$900,000$900,000
LW
UFA - 1
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$950,000$950,000
C, LW, RW
UFA - 1
Taxi Squad
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$1,000,000$1,000,000 ($0$0$0$0)
G
RFA - 2
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$950,000$950,000 ($0$0$0$0)
LW
UFA - 2
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$855,833$855,833 ($0$0$0$0) (Performance Bonus$82,500$82K)
LW, RW
RFA - 3
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$750,000$750,000 ($0$0$0$0)
RD
UFA - 1
Logo of the Buffalo Sabres
$863,333$863,333 ($0$0$0$0) (Performance Bonus$850,000$850K)
RW, LW
RFA - 3

Embed Code

  • To display this team on another website or blog, add this iFrame to the appropriate page
  • Customize the height attribute in the iFrame code below to fit your website appropriately. Minimum recommended: 400px.

Text-Embed

Click to Highlight
May 12, 2022 at 11:28 a.m.
#1
In Connor We Trust
Avatar of the user
Joined: Jul. 2020
Posts: 3,318
Likes: 2,083
That's not getting Murphy, it's going to cost an overpayment for Chicago to move Murphy. 1st + prospect
ChiHawk liked this.
May 12, 2022 at 11:36 a.m.
#2
Thread Starter
we miss leo k
Avatar of the user
Joined: Feb. 2018
Posts: 6,028
Likes: 5,148
Quoting: Beetlejuice
That's not getting Murphy, it's going to cost an overpayment for Chicago to move Murphy. 1st + prospect


Is he popping up in trade rumors as wishful thinking by ACGMs, or is he actually someone that Davidson considers moving? I know his extension was a Bowman signing, but it's reasonably affordable and Chicago's going to need -some- actual players through this rebuild.
May 12, 2022 at 11:54 a.m.
#3
Avatar of the user
Joined: Apr. 2017
Posts: 19,411
Likes: 9,967
Quoting: dannibalcorpse
Is he popping up in trade rumors as wishful thinking by ACGMs, or is he actually someone that Davidson considers moving? I know his extension was a Bowman signing, but it's reasonably affordable and Chicago's going to need -some- actual players through this rebuild.


But Murphy is an actual player and Hawks really don't gain much to move him here. Yes, he could be traded but he's going to cost at least a late 1st and prospect.
May 12, 2022 at 12:14 p.m.
#4
Thread Starter
we miss leo k
Avatar of the user
Joined: Feb. 2018
Posts: 6,028
Likes: 5,148
Quoting: Beetlejuice
That's not getting Murphy, it's going to cost an overpayment for Chicago to move Murphy. 1st + prospect


Quoting: ChiHawk
But Murphy is an actual player and Hawks really don't gain much to move him here. Yes, he could be traded but he's going to cost at least a late 1st and prospect.


Edited the trade to line up with that value a little better. Still sending you Anders Bjork (you'll need bodies!) but changing the pick swap to Florida's 1st rounder straight up, and adding a prospect. Picked Linus Weissbach, but if I'm making this trade I tell Davidson to pick one of him, Brandon Biro, Arttuu Routsalainen, or Brett Murray - all four are 23-year-old forwards who had strong AHL seasons in Rochester this year and look about ready to make the leap to full time middle-6 type of guys.
May 12, 2022 at 12:22 p.m.
#5
Avatar of the user
Joined: Oct. 2021
Posts: 238
Likes: 80
I'd say that Quinn is an absolute lock to be in the lineup next year. I also think that it is extremely likely that UPL and Peterka are both in the lineup as well. Lastly Samuelsson won't be a rotation guy, if healthy he'll play all 82.

I have a hard time seeing them trade Girgensons prior to the TDL and I think that Colin Miller wouldn't come back no matter what they offered he seems like he's ready to move on.
May 12, 2022 at 12:47 p.m.
#6
Thread Starter
we miss leo k
Avatar of the user
Joined: Feb. 2018
Posts: 6,028
Likes: 5,148
Quoting: Arh613
I'd say that Quinn is an absolute lock to be in the lineup next year. I also think that it is extremely likely that UPL and Peterka are both in the lineup as well. Lastly Samuelsson won't be a rotation guy, if healthy he'll play all 82.

I have a hard time seeing them trade Girgensons prior to the TDL and I think that Colin Miller wouldn't come back no matter what they offered he seems like he's ready to move on.


I think Tierney is a little better than Girgensons, but with their cap hits and style it's really a dealer's choice kind of move. I think Vegas makes that trade with or without ZG being included.

I definitely think that Quinn/JJP/UPL get a lot of run but the biggest issue with having them being Day 1 starters is the cap floor - I assume you'd swap out one of the goalies and two wingers for him. Only wingers I see as being extraneous on this team are Routsalainen & Dadonov, so at the very best case scenario you're swapping out $5Mish and falling below the floor. Kinda the same reason I re-signed Miller at $2.5M - I think you can swap in a similar RHD for him at the same hit if he's ready to move on, but you do need to get to the floor somehow.
 
Reply
To create a post please Login or Register
Question:
Options:
Add Option
Submit Poll