BillsFan4

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.

Love the Strbak pick! That’s kind of who I was hoping for at #39. So to get him at #45 is great. We needed a right handed D prospect with high end potential in the system.

There are some really good players still on the board! Hoping one of a few defenseman fall to pick #39.

I think his game is close to being ready (if not already) but he needs time to bulk up. He needs to add some muscle/weight. I’m sure the Sabres will have him focusing on that this coming season. He had a shoulder injury late in the season so I’m not sure if that will impact his summer training or not but I don’t see him making the team either way this year. He’s at least a year out IMO. I could definitely see him skipping the AHL though and jumping right from juniors to the NHL when he’s ready. I don’t even know that I’d want Benson in the AHL even if he was eligible. Too many goons and head-hunters in the AHL that would LOVE to crush a top prospect like Benson. Benson is only 159lbs right now. He needs to add some muscle to his frame before he’s ready for the pros. He would get killed in the AHL right now. I think his game is more suited for the NHL than AHL anyway, which is another reason why I could see him potentially skipping the AHL all together.

his relentlessness pursuing pucks on the forecheck and backcheck is one of my favorite parts of his game and why I wanted Buffalo to run up to the podium to draft him when he was still on the board. He just has an uncanny ability to recover the puck. i can’t wait to see this kid develop!

Savoie must be pumped to see the Sabres draft his linemate. I thought Benson was the better player this past season too. He’s younger than Savoie but still put up more points in less games all while being one of the best 2 way forwards and best PKers in juniors. He’s just relentless. I am still so pumped he was available at #13! I was excited all night and woke up excited today. The way Adams describes Benson’s game is exactly how I see him too. Pretty cool when the GM’s opinion of a player matches your own. I feel like it validates what I saw. It also makes me like Adams more 😂

Nice pick by San Jose. I like Musty.

Great pick by the Blackhawks. Crazy Moore fell to 19. I’d have taken him at 13 if Benson wasn’t there. Man what a first round for Chicago between Bedard and Moore. Heck of a way to kick off their rebuild.

I’m honestly not worried about his size. He doesn’t play small. Just love the way he plays so much! Sabres fans are going to like him IMO. I thought he was one of the top 5-7 players in this draft. I would easily take him over at least 4-5 players drafted in front of him so far. I never thought he would make it out of the top 10. Watch the highlight goal around 1 minute in! Scouting report on Benson https://lastwordonsports.com/hockey/2023/01/18/2023-nhl-draft-scouting-report-zach-benson/

What are they waiting for? please don’t trade back. Yesss!!!!! Love this pick! Can’t believe he was still on the board!

Some good players still sitting there. I thought maybe Buffalo would pick a defenseman with this pick but I don’t see one left worth pick #13. There’s some really good forward prospects on the board! Benson please! I can’t believe he’s still sitting there. Moore would be good too

It was reported that he wanted to be in Buffalo. He just wanted term on his contract (I believe the report was 5 years) and Adams wasn’t willing to give him term. He wanted Ullmark on a short term deal. To me that sounds like a player who wants to be in Buffalo 🤷‍♂️ Comparing Ullmark to Eichel is silly. Ullmark never once bad mouthed Buffalo or complained about being here. He never sulked or pouted. He was always a good Buffalo Sabre and great in the locker room. Always upbeat.