Roster to start the season and thoughts on Offseason so far

Forums/Armchair-GM

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Created by: Skyraider112

Team: 2023-24 Buffalo Sabres

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 1, 2023

Published: Jul. 1, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

So this offseason hockey fans, including Sabres fans, seemed to think the Sabres were going to make some big trades or signings to bring in some high impact players. This was especially so with the idea of a goalie and a top 4 D. That put high expectations on what our offseason would look like.

My view on the offseason plan was we would be bringing in at least 1 defenseman who could pair with Power, whether that would be a true top 4 D I wasn't sure. I was really hoping we'd snag a goalie to tandem with Levi, someone who could give us 40+ quality games. I was also hoping we'd keep spots open for young prospects to make the team up front if they showed they deserved to be up in the NHL.

I was pleased with the draft that Adams and the crew did. Benson falling to 13 was a huge surprise. Snagging Wahlberg in the 2nd was an excellent selection and from there Adams got some nice D prospects.

Free Agency so far has been a bit disappointing for me. I wanted us to bring in a goalie, but seemed like the goalies on the market wanted to stay where they were or wanted unrealisitic term/AAV for what the Sabres were looking for. Clifton was a good add, even if he is a tad overpaid at this point (if he plays top 4 with Power well then it becomes a fantastic contract imo). Johnson was a great addition to our leadership and overall D depth. The fact that a guy nearing the end of his career wanted to sign in Buffalo on a 1-year deal is a great sign of how the franchise is viewed by players now. Bringing back Jost for 1 year as well is okay, he did mesh really well with the team and did contribute offensively.

So below is how I'd like the starting lineup to look like:

Buyouts

Christian Ehrhoff: $0

Buried

Jacob Bryson: $700,000 ($1,850,000)
Eric Comrie: $650,000 ($1,800,000)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2024
2025
2026

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$83,500,000	$74,954,403	$0	$4,570,000	$8,545,597

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Skinner, Jeff $9,000,000$9,000,000 LW, RW NMC UFA - 4	Thompson, Tage $7,142,857$7,142,857 C UFA - 7	Tuch, Alex $4,750,000$4,750,000 RW, LW M-NTC UFA - 3
Greenway, Jordan $3,000,000$3,000,000 LW, RW UFA - 2	Cozens, Dylan $7,100,000$7,100,000 C, LW UFA - 7	Peterka, John-Jason $855,833$855,833 ($32,500$32K) LW, RW RFA - 2
Kulich, Jiri $918,333$918,333 C, LW RFA - 3	Mittelstadt, Casey $2,500,000$2,500,000 LW, C RFA - 1	Rousek, Lukas $775,000$775,000 RW RFA - 2
Girgensons, Zemgus $2,500,000$2,500,000 LW, C UFA - 1	Krebs, Peyton $863,333$863,333 ($412,500$412K) C, LW RFA - 1	Okposo, Kyle $2,500,000$2,500,000 ($500,000$500K) RW UFA - 1

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Samuelsson, Mattias $4,285,714$4,285,714 LD UFA - 7	Dahlin, Rasmus $6,000,000$6,000,000 LD/RD UFA - 1	Levi, Devon $925,000$925,000 ($925,000$925K) G RFA - 2
Power, Owen $916,667$916,667 ($1,850,000$2M) LD/RD UFA - 1	Clifton, Connor $3,333,333$3,333,333 RD UFA - 3	Luukkonen, Ukko-Pekka $837,500$837,500 G RFA - 1
Lyubushkin, Ilya $687,500$687,500 RD UFA - 1	Johnson, Erik $3,250,000$3,250,000 RD UFA - 1

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Jost, Tyson $2,000,000$2,000,000 C UFA - 1	Quinn, Jack $863,333$863,333 ($850,000$850K) RW, LW RFA - 2
Stillman, Riley $1,350,000$1,350,000 LD RFA - 1	Olofsson, Victor $4,750,000$4,750,000 RW, LW UFA - 1
Jokiharju, Henri $2,500,000$2,500,000 RD RFA - 1

Jul. 1, 2023 at 8:44 p.m.

PHEN

Joined: Jun. 2022

Posts: 965

Likes: 647

I think KA will move on from Olofsson and maybe Jokiharu in the next coming weeks. Too many D now. Good problem to have

Jul. 1, 2023 at 8:51 p.m.

Stadel

Joined: Jun. 2015

Posts: 3,288

Likes: 2,103

Would feel better about clifton if he played more minutes in boston. Its a big minutes increase to ask of him. I dont how many boston fans saw him as top 4 d-man.

Jul. 1, 2023 at 9:28 p.m.

gretzkyghosts

Joined: Apr. 2018

Posts: 5,352

Likes: 4,799

Quoting: PHEN

I think KA will move on from Olofsson and maybe Jokiharu in the next coming weeks. Too many D now. Good problem to have

Quoting: Stadel

Would feel better about clifton if he played more minutes in boston. Its a big minutes increase to ask of him. I dont how many boston fans saw him as top 4 d-man.

I completely get your reservation.
I wonder if it had to with with MCavoy, Carlo, Lindholm, Grzelcyk were on the team.

When MCavoy was injured, Clifton was paired with Lindholm.
He had a couple of really bad turnovers during the Cup playoffs, but those things happen, remember how Brad May skated around Bourque to score the winning goal in OT.
Not sure where he will fit into the Sabres line up,

Johnson and Clifton will be huge upgrades over Bryson, Stillman or Lyubushkin.
It will be interesting to see how Granato will pair them now that he has 4 RHD and 4 LHD.

Jul. 2, 2023 at 1:35 a.m.

Skyraider112

Thread Starter

Sabres are elite

Joined: Jun. 2017

Posts: 7,993

Likes: 3,305

Quoting: PHEN

I think KA will move on from Olofsson and maybe Jokiharu in the next coming weeks. Too many D now. Good problem to have

Bryson will be waived/traded. Bottom pair spots will be fought over by Jokiharju, Johnson, Johnson, Stillman, and Lyubushkin. Wouldn't move any of those guys until training camp shows us who is winning those spots.

Quoting: Stadel

Would feel better about clifton if he played more minutes in boston. Its a big minutes increase to ask of him. I dont how many boston fans saw him as top 4 d-man.

Agreed. Seems like a small sample size with him plus he played on a very good and mature team. Even if he doesn't pan out on the 2nd pair, his contract is still alright for a solid 3rd pair guy. I like his tenacity, skating, and compete. Those attributes will serve him and our team well.

Quoting: gretzkyghosts

So you think Granato will put Lyubushkin in the line up over Jokiharju next year.
Interesting take, Jokiharju worked through several injuries yet played 6 more min/gm than the next defenseman.
In the 2022-2023 season ONLY Dahlin iced more time than he, but this year he will be benched over Lyubushkin.
I completely get your reservation.
I wonder if it had to with with MCavoy, Carlo, Lindholm, Grzelcyk were on the team.

When MCavoy was injured, Clifton was paired with Lindholm.
He had a couple of really bad turnovers during the Cup playoffs, but those things happen, remember how Brad May skated around Bourque to score the winning goal in OT.
Not sure where he will fit into the Sabres line up,

Johnson and Clifton will be huge upgrades over Bryson, Stillman or Lyubushkin.
It will be interesting to see how Granato will pair them now that he has 4 RHD and 4 LHD.

I think Lyubushkin does more things better than Jokiharju. So yes I'd 100% give the games to Ilya and either keep Joki as depth or find a team to swing a trade with. Like you mentioned, we finally have depth in the D position. That bodes very well for training camp and will be interesting to see who wins those spots and what happens to those who fail to do so.

gretzkyghosts liked this.

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