BillsFan4

https://twitter.com/nfl_dovkleiman/status/1679180182316535808?s=61&t=mvFwLU5P2NuqNnOmVpYtwg

Weber and Peca replacements. Paetsch was already a development coach so that makes sense. Very intrigued by the Prospal hire. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-rochester-americans-updates-hockey-operations-staff-promotions-nathan-paetsch-vinny-prospal-amerks-assistant-coaches/c-345283470?tid=281469158 There was also this buried in the press release: I guess Granato isn’t considering an assistant coach change after all.

Debrincat traded from ottawa to Detroit. Im surprised Ottawa would trade him within division, and especially for that price. Ottawa just gave up the #7 overall pick and the #37 overall pick for Debrincat 1 year ago. He wasn’t willing to extend in Ottawa so I guess they must have been getting desperate to move him. I feel like they could have got a similar package at the deadline though.

The Sabres have a crazy amount of talent in their pipeline! Rochester is going to be a fun watch over the next few+ years. Even this year with Neuchev and Novikov being added to the Amerks roster. Plus thr young guys already there like Rosen, Kulich etc. Too bad Savoie can’t play in Rochester this year.

Love this kid’s game! I’m still hyped up that we drafted him.

If what Josh Allen said was true, that McD sent Diggs home for the day, then all McDermott had to say to the media was that Diggs was excused for the day and it’s a non-story...

Yes. I actually mentioned him last offseason as someone I would be ok with the Sabres trading for. He had shown a lot of promise in spot starts for Arizona and San Jose. His save % was in the .915 range. But Vegas is also the deepest team in the NHL and play excellent team defense. They’ve been able to plug goalies in and keep winning. Buffalo has not been able to do the same. We’ve already seen UPL and Comrie play for Buffalo and we know they sucked. I keep hearing how it’s the Sabres defense but why was the 42yr old corpse of Craig Andersen able to put up better numbers than either of them behind the same crap defense? I am trying to cut UPL some slack because he is still young and it was his first full year in the NHL. But he also struggled in Rochester, so it’s not like we even have a good AHL career to base our hope for him on. He hasn’t put up a good season since Juniors. I defended UPL last offseason saying he looked good in the few NHL games he had played and it was too early to give up on him. I hoped he would establish himself as a competent starter but it didn’t happen. He looked like he did for Rochester. It’s hard to have the same faith in him again this offseason. I also gave Adams credit for the Comrie signing last offseason. I hoped he would show he could be our starter, because as you implied goalies can sometimes come out of nowhere and be good. But again, it didn’t happen.

The reports are that Hellebuyck told the Jets that he won’t sign an extension with them. https://illegalcurve.com/the-athletic-report-connor-hellebuycks-next-contract-likely-not-with-the-winnipeg-jets/ he only has 1 year left on his deal so everyone is just assuming the jets will trade him instead of losing him for nothing in a year.

It’s being reported that John Gibson demanded a trade and said he’s not playing another game for Anaheim.

I think Clifton will get a chance to be Power’s d partner. He’s still young enough that he could be a longer term partner too. I’m sure Johnson will get a chance to play with Power too but even if he’s a good fit for Power I think as the season goes on they’ll need to cut back EJ’s minutes. Plus it would obviously only be a short term solution anyway. I’m hopeful that maybe Clifton/Power will be a good fit. Clifton wasn’t the established top 4 defenseman I wanted but I do really like the signing and I’m hopeful he will be a good match for Power. I agree on the assistant coaches. I at least wanted Marty Wilford replaced. He runs the defense and I believe the PK as well (or at least he did in Anaheim before coming to Buffalo). It seemed like an area to make improvements seeing as both areas were big weaknesses. It seems clear the assistants are getting at least one more season though. Maybe Granato felt it was more on the players than the coach? Hopefully No more excuses after this season…

I’m hoping that having a respected, cup winning veteran like Erik Johnson in the locker room will help get the young guys to buy in to team defense more. EJ went through it with the Avs from a young up and coming team to cup winner. Team defense is definitely an area that needs to improve for Buffalo to take the next step.

that’s the hope right? lol I think it’s a gamble is all. What if Levi isn’t ready? What if he struggles? I just don’t like the idea of relying on an unproven rookie goalie to be the starter before he’s actually shown he can do it. I want(ed) a backup plan in case he’s not ready to start and I don’t think UPL or Comrie are good enough to be it. Ideally they would add someone who can split the starts with Levi and carry the load if he’s not ready. But I’m not sure if there’s even anyone available that would fit that mold. Hopefully if they play better team defense it will improve the play of the goaltenders too.

The problem is Anderson was their only decent goalie last year (.908%). UPL (.892%)and Comrie (.886%) put up terrible numbers. Levi looked decent to end the year (.905%) but it’s a big gamble betting that he’s ready to carry a big load, and neither UPL nor Comrie can be relied on to help carry the load. They both sucked. They needed to replace UPL/Comrie with someone who can start. But unless they make a trade it’s not happening. Had they had even league average goaltending last year (outside of Anderson’s starts) they easily make the playoffs, even with their poor defense.

When did fleury take a year off? He played 46 regular season games for the wild last year, and 2 playoff games. I don’t think the wild trade him though. He said this is likely his last year before retirement. I just don’t see the wild trading him to a new team. The only way I see him being traded is if he asked for a trade (and he won’t).

I kind of think they’ll keep 3 goalies again if they don’t make a trade. I hadn’t really thought about MAF. That would be a really nice short term solution and a great mentor for Levi. He’d also be great for the locker room. Not sure if Minnesota trades him though unless he actually wanted to come here. I think Bill Guerin has too much respect for MAF to do that without his blessing. I heard that about Hellebuyck too. I also heard he said he’d be open to signing in NJ long term and wanted $9.5M x 8. As much as I like Hellebuyck I don’t see the trade price being cheap enough to justify him as a 1yr rental. I wouldn’t be willing to give up a top prospect for 1yr of CH. It’ll sure suck if he lands in NJ though! They’re already looking like a powerhouse with the average to below average goaltending they had. I just don’t see Adams trading for a younger goalie like Hart (24). I don’t think he’d want to muddy the waters for Levi. I’m also not as high on Hart as others, and would have no interest in paying a high price for him. If the cost was cheap enough I’d take the shot though. He was good his rookie season playing 30 some games and was good the following season. But he’s never had an elite season in the NHL and is 3 seasons removed from looking anything better than below average (or average at best, at least IMO). I know people say it’s the crappy team he plays on but I’m not as sure. I guess Gibson is another possibility but he’s under contract for 4 more years at $6.4M AAV and he hasn’t looked very good the last couple seasons. Plus I am hesitant about how he’d fit in the locker room with things I’ve read about him. Some of the stuff I read about the way he’s supposedly acted when Anaheim was losing games reminded me of Eichel a bit. I’m not sure he’d be ok with a backup role either if/when Levi surpassed him. I really like the MAF idea!

Sabres re-signed Goalie Michael Houser to a 1yr, 2 way deal. I think that most likely solidifies that plans in goal for this season. Seems very clear now that Levi will definitely be in the NHL. Houser as the starter for their ECHL affiliate team. Tokarski + Cooley in the AHL. Levi, UPL and Comrie in the NHL. I suppose Tokarski or Cooley could beat out Comrie for the #3 spot but I don’t think Comrie gets through waivers as easily as Tokarski so I think they probably keep him in Buffalo and run with 3 goalies again. Any decent goalie on the market has been signed, and I’m not upset that Buffalo didn’t land them seeing what they signed for. I’d want no part in the Jarry or Korpisalo deals (5yr term for both) or the varlamov deal (4yrs). The only one that bothered me was Andersen but I’m guessing he probably had better offers but wanted to stay in Carolina. The only option now would be a trade but I don’t know that I see any trades that make sense. I thought maybe Nashville would move Saros (because they were going to rebuild) after they dumped their top 2 centers, but then they signed some free agents that make it look like they plan to compete next year instead of rebuild. Plus I heard they offered up Askarov (their young stud prospect goalie) to move up in the draft. So I’m guessing they plan to stick with Saros. A Hellebuyck trade doesn’t make sense with his reported contract demands and the price Winnipeg is asking. It would only make sense if they were trading for Hellebuyck to be their long term guy and I don’t see that happening. Not really sure who else is available that would be a for sure upgrade. I guess we just have to hope that Levi is truly ready, and/or UPL/Comrie play much better than last year. I still think it’s a huge risk but I’m not sure if there was really a better option available. I just hope it doesn’t end up sinking their season again. Hopefully the defense will be improved with the depth they added though, which would help out the goaltending. Well that and actually playing defense… lol.

Yes he’s still got 1 year left on his current contract and he will still be a restricted free agent at the end of it AOC he’s still under team control for a while. Hes also no longer waiver exempt, so it’s either he stays with Buffalo, they trade him or they lose him for nothing on waivers. He can’t go to Rochester anymore.

I think Clifton could have some upside left too. I still would have preferred someone like Dumba to cement our top 4. But Johnson + Clifton adds some nice depth. Clifton adds some needed toughness as well. He’s a spark plug! High energy and loves to hit. Hopefully this is just a rochester signing. ⬆️ same here. I assume this is for Rochester. Subban is a UFA and Houser needed to be upgraded on.

Ok, now I like the Erik Johnson signing a lot more! lol I am a lot more comfortable with Clifton in the top 4 than Johnson. It also allows Johnson to slot in where he belongs. Johnson on the 3rd pair is excellent defensive depth.

He’s one of those high character vets. Should definitely be good for the young guys. But he’s 35 and looked his age last year. Not sure if he can handle top 4 minutes anymore. He’d be a great 3rd pairing guy. I wanted a legit top 4 D…

this is annoying if true. Sabres could best that no problem if they wanted to. I would have easily given him $5M x 2 to be a bridge to Levi. i wonder if Buffalo had any interest? Id love to know. edit - it’s official now. 2yrs x $3.4M also: Was kind of hoping for an upgrade to the bottom 6 but I’m not mad at this. Jost is ok.

NHL free agency opens in about 30 minutes. Anyone have a wishlist they are hoping for? I’d like a top 4 D and a goalie who can be a competent starter. A good bottom 6 C who’s good at faceoffs would be ok too. Matt Dumba seems like he would be a decent fit. He’s a right handed defenseman, would fill a hole in the top 4 D and wouldn’t cost anything but cap space. He’d probably be my top choice of the UFA defenseman. https://www.spotrac.com/nhl/free-agents/defenseman/ufa/?ref=trending-pages There’s a few others I’d be happy with too. the goalie market looks thin. Frederick Andersen is the top UFA goalie. I’d be good with signing him to fill in until Levi is (hopefully) ready. He would at least provide league average (or better) goaltending, which is an upgrade on what we’ve had since Ullmark left. Other than that, maybe Varlamov? Or Jarry? Meh. I just don’t see how you go into the year with Levi, UPL and Comrie as your only goalies. I feel like they have to add something. It would be reckless to bet on Levi being ready for #1 duties. Especially if they have playoff aspirations. https://www.spotrac.com/nhl/free-agents/goaltender/ufa/ I am ready to be underwhelmed by cheaper free agent signings though… lol But I am hoping to see a little more aggression this offseason. Playoffs should be the goal next year. a trade might still be the better route to fill both holes.

Here’s the Big 2 way power forward Sabres fans wanted! Sabres having a heck of a draft so far.

Damn that suuckks! What a bummer. but I guess looking at the bright side it could afford a prospect a longer look and/or NHL spot. There were a few guys already knocking on the door. This may open a spot.

this Strbak pick just made too much sense not to happen. He’s exactly what we needed in our system. I think long term he could pair extremely well with Dahlin and/or Power. https://www.flohockey.tv/articles/11080821-2023-nhl-draft-profile-maxim-strbak-a-warrior-defenseman https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/sports/college/msu/hockey/2022/12/15/msu-hockey-adds-to-momentum-with-world-class-talent-maxim-strbak/69726689007/ Yeah I get it. But I honestly don’t think he’s physically mature enough to handle the AHL and I wouldn’t went to take that injury risk. I think the Sabres will have him focus on putting on muscle this season. Like you said, he doesn’t have much left to prove in juniors. I wouldn’t mind savoie playing in the AHL though! But even without Savoie rochester will still have some good young prospects hitting the system this year so it should be fun to watch! The amount of talent that will be coming through rochester in the next few years is insane.