Reasonable expectations and well researched moves

Forums/Armchair-GM

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Created by: speedaj01

Team: 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres

Initial Creation Date: May 13, 2017

Published: May 13, 2017

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

I have created a roster that i believe is both a strong contender and adds depth throughout the organization.

First, i went and got Jack Eichel a left wing that i believe has the speed and skill to keep up with him in Palat. Hopefully i gave Tampa Bay enough compensation for him. Though i did not want to part with this years first round pick as well as Ullmark or Girgensons i realize that Tampa Bay needed a back up goalie and a versatile low priced forward. This compensation is probably not enough for a player of Palat's skill but its hard to say what Tampa Bay is willing to do knowing that if they want to sign Drouin they are going to have to give up other players.

Next, i worked to fix Buffalo's greatest flaw in 2016-17 the defense. Hopefully ,Buffalo signs Antipin which is being widely reported and Guhle makes the jump as expected to the NHL. If that happens then i feel we have 3 serviceable defensive pairings. i also decided to add organizational depth at the defensive position in a young AHL forward from the Islanders organization by the name of Devon Toews. Toews has proven himself at the AHL level and i believe is ready to make the jump to the NHL. I am taking a risk here but i believe it is worth it. In order to get the Islanders to give up such a player i believe it is necessary to give up a player like Foligno and take back the Chimera contract.
I added a strong free agent forward in Nick Bonino. I think that Rodrigues is not ready or big enough to play 3rd line center and Sabres fans have no clue yet what Johann Larsson is coming back yet so signing Bonino was a no brainer.

Lastly, i believe that it is possible to get Vegas to take Moulson if the right incentive is given. This may even require Buffalo to give up the 2nd round draft pick it received from Minnesota for the 2017 draft. Whatever it takes this needs to happen in order to free up future cap space for Eichel and Reinhardt.

So what do you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Free Agent Signings

RFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Girgensons, Zemgus	1	$1,200,000
Foligno, Marcus	2	$2,200,000
Larsson, Johan	1	$1,200,000
Lehner, Robin	3	$3,200,000
Ullmark, Linus	1	$1,000,000
Rodrigues, Evan	1	$1,000,000
Austin, Brady	1	$700,000
Palat, Ondrej	5	$5,500,000

UFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Antipin, Viktor	1	$925,000
Bodie, Mat	1	$653,333
Gionta, Brian	1	$4,000,000
Nilsson, Anders	1	$1,500,000
Bonino, Nick	5	$4,000,000

Trades

BUF

VGK

Moulson, Matt
2018 3rd round pick (BUF)

Additional Details:

Incentive of 3rd round pick to take Moulson off the roster. I would like it to be the 2017 pick but i don't have a choice of that so 2018 will have to suffice.

BUF

NYI

Foligno, Marcus
2018 4th round pick (BUF)

Additional Details:

As much as it pains me to trade Foligno off this team i realize looking at the Islanders that what they need is a 3rd line left wing with grit, size, and speed to replace Chimera who is aging out. Foligno is a good addition to the Islanders line up and the Sabres add depth on the blue line with Toews who shows all the skills necessary to be an NHL defenseman.

BUF

Rights to Ondrej Palat

TBL

Additional Details:

Buffalo's 1st round pick in 2017 selection #8 overall

Buyouts

Buried

Jason Chimera: $100,000 ($1,125,000)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2018
2019
2020

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
22	$73,000,000	$60,015,358	$0	$5,840,000	$12,984,642

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Kane, Evander $5,250,000$5,250,000 LW, RW UFA - 1	O'Reilly, Ryan $1,875,000$1,875,000 C UFA - 6	Okposo, Kyle $6,000,000$6,000,000 RW NMC UFA - 6
Palat, Ondrej $5,500,000$5,500,000 LW, RW UFA - 5	Eichel, Jack $925,000$925,000 ($2,850,000$3M) C UFA - 1	Reinhart, Sam $894,167$894,167 ($2,650,000$3M) RW UFA - 1
Carrier, William $689,167$689,167 ($82,500$82K) LW UFA - 1	Bonino, Nick $4,000,000$4,000,000 C, LW UFA - 4	Gionta, Brian $4,000,000$4,000,000 RW UFA - 1
	Rodrigues, Evan $1,000,000$1,000,000 LW, C UFA - 2	Ennis, Tyler $4,600,000$4,600,000 LW, RW UFA - 2
Larsson, Johan $1,200,000$1,200,000 C, LW UFA - 2

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
McCabe, Jake $1,600,000$1,600,000 LD/RD UFA - 2	Ristolainen, Rasmus $5,400,000$5,400,000 RD UFA - 5
Guhle, Brendan $697,500$697,500 ($257,500$258K) LD UFA - 3	Antipin, Viktor $925,000$925,000	Lehner, Robin $3,200,000$3,200,000 G UFA - 1
Gorges, Josh $3,900,000$3,900,000 LD M-NTC UFA - 1	Bogosian, Zach $5,142,857$5,142,857 RD UFA - 3	Nilsson, Anders $1,500,000$1,500,000 G UFA - 2
Toews, Devon $925,000$925,000 LD UFA - 1	Falk, Justin $650,000$650,000 LD UFA - 1

May 14, 2017 at 5:29 a.m.

Jdfitz77

Joined: Apr. 2017

Posts: 5,120

Likes: 1,850

Probably not enough incentive for Vegas to take Moulson

That's too much for Bonino, I'd just pass on him in general

Way, Way, Way too much for Palat

Also, you didn't do anything to upgrade the defense...
and that's our top priority

May 14, 2017 at 9:22 a.m.

clark

Joined: Nov. 2016

Posts: 2,933

Likes: 362

moulson is a sabre, you don't want him and certainly vegas doesn't. Bonimo is nice but 4m for third line centre.

May 14, 2017 at 9:46 a.m.

DiehardRedWingsFan58

Banned

Joined: Jun. 2016

Posts: 33,053

Likes: 8,999

Palat or Drouin only get moved for a top pairing RD, Nothing less.

May 14, 2017 at 9:53 a.m.

wabit

Joined: May 2016

Posts: 8,223

Likes: 3,642

Vegas would be better off taking an AHL scrub or Ullmark, than the contracts of Moulson or Ennis in the expansion draft.

If Vegas takes a deadweight contract it would be after UFA settles down and they see what their cap situation is. The longer the contract the higher the price to dump it will be.

Shibbal18 liked this.

May 14, 2017 at 10:29 a.m.

joshelkin

Islanders Fan

Joined: May 2016

Posts: 7,854

Likes: 2,765

NYI pass

May 14, 2017 at 10:33 a.m.

Shibbal18

Joined: Jan. 2016

Posts: 25,447

Likes: 9,121

Vegas isnt taking garbage. I expect Carrier to be taken, but it depends on who Botterill protects. Way to much for Palat. Bonino would sign in Pitt for 4 mill. Gionta is way over paid

May 14, 2017 at 10:35 a.m.

Shibbal18

Joined: Jan. 2016

Posts: 25,447

Likes: 9,121

Quoting: wabit

Sabres protect Ullmark, its just the logical goalie to protect

May 14, 2017 at 11:01 a.m.

swinny

Joined: Mar. 2017

Posts: 4,812

Likes: 2,012

You all have to look at what the Sabres are realistically putting up for the expansion draft. Vegas does not at this point take a Sabre goaltender - I think the reasons or that are obvious.

Anything available on the blueline are either UFA (Kulikov, Franson), or are AHL fodder (Bodie, Fedun), or are named Josh Georges, or given the defensive depth available a player I would not consider (Austin).

That brings us to the forwards, where arguments can be made. The real options are William Carrier, Justin Kea or either Ennis or Moulson. Now let's throw in the NFL is going to Vegas in 2020. Now all the sudden, the Knights have real competition for gate and need to be good out of the gate. SO, my thinking is I take either Ennis or Moulson with a 2nd or 3rd (subject to player evaluation), and hope that the selection recaptures form, or can be moved down the line for another asset. Therefore getting the Knights to take wither Moulson or Ennis isn't that big a stretch......

May 14, 2017 at 2:23 p.m.

wabit

Joined: May 2016

Posts: 8,223

Likes: 3,642

Quoting: swinny

Look what the other teams have to offer. Vegas only needs ~20 NHL players and has 30 picks. Sabres have nothing really interesting left unprotected other than one of their RFA goalies. Gambles are something you take with young or cheap, not old and expensive.

May 15, 2017 at 1:17 p.m.

#10

speedaj01

Thread Starter

Joined: May 2017

Posts: 97

Likes: 15

So just a couple of thoughts first thank you all for your suggestions i like seeing what fans of other teams think because it gives me a better idea on how to craft another team. I loved the suggestions on Palat clearly i evaluated what Tampa Bay needs incorrectly so the next time i will look to send a right handed D-man instead if thats possible otherwise i will look to another team to trade with.

Next as far as the expansion draft is concerned i need to publish it right in the comments who i think the Sabres will protect. Here is my projected list on who the Sabres would protect Forwards: O'reiley, Kane, Okposo, Foligno, Carrier, Girgensons, and Larsson. On defense i would protect Ristolinein, McCabe, and Falk. At goalie i have them protecting Lehner.

This leaves the following options for Vegas:
Forwards: Deslauriers, Moulson, Ennis, Grant
Defense: Bogosian, Gorges, Bodie
Goalie: Ullmark

Now Vegas needs to select one of these players i would agree none of these players are very good however if you give any team enough incentive they will take players that are not extremely useful to them. I just cant see them wasting the selection on a player to play in the AHL for them when they can get a draft pick out of the deal. I would agree i think a 3rd round pick is not enough compensation probably this years 2nd round pick from Minnesota would be enough.

I am curious what to the Islanders fan that commented what it would take to get D. Toews off of the Island?

Thank you again everyone and ill try this exercise again soon to see how i can improve.

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