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Buffalo Sabres and NHL: 2019/20: Sabres season officially over. Draft lottery June 26th


BillsFan4

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https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/suomalaistahti-rasmus-ristolainen-vaihtaa-seuraa-nhl-ssa/7493272?fbclid=IwAR3VVkpuzji6gC7deVeJ45_PQhsKzMd9_t4JHaaccQt6dF74te_Qo86fENE#gs.rxhd2d

 

article from a Finnish news source (MTV it’s called) that I am told by numerous Finnish friends is very reliable and wouldn’t report this unless it was true. They said it’s kind of the equivalent of NHL.com - a site that only reports real, confirmed news. 

 

 

Apparently the title of the article is “Ristolainen switches to a new NHL team”. (according to my Finnish friend). He says there isn’t any real details on the trade in the article. no team is named but this MTV claims to have received confirmation that a deal involving Ristolainen is very close and will happen before the season starts.

 

 

Take it with a grain of salt, but I just figured I’d share. 

 

 

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33 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/suomalaistahti-rasmus-ristolainen-vaihtaa-seuraa-nhl-ssa/7493272?fbclid=IwAR3VVkpuzji6gC7deVeJ45_PQhsKzMd9_t4JHaaccQt6dF74te_Qo86fENE#gs.rxhd2d

 

article from a Finnish news source (MTV it’s called) that I am told by numerous Finnish friends is very reliable and wouldn’t report this unless it was true. They said it’s kind of the equivalent of NHL.com - a site that only reports real, confirmed news. 

 

 

Apparently the title of the article is “Ristolainen switches to a new NHL team”. (according to my Finnish friend). He says there isn’t any real details on the trade in the article. no team is named but this MTV claims to have received confirmation that a deal involving Ristolainen is very close and will happen before the season starts.

 

 

Take it with a grain of salt, but I just figured I’d share. 

 

 

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3 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:
MTV Sports reports that defender Rasmus Ristolainen will not continue in the Buffalo Sabers next season. 

The 24-year-old Ristolainen is the No. 1 pick for the Sabers Round of Summer 2013. He has played in the club for six
seasons.

 

 

MTV Sports reports that a player trade is being built around Ristola in North America. The star defender still has 
three years left on his contract.

He signed a six-year contract with Sabers in the summer of 2016, earning him $ 5.4 million (about $ 4.86 million) 
in annual salary. There have been several rumors of transferring from Ristolainen over the summer and the player 
trade is now in the pipeline.

 

Buffalo has not survived the playoffs in the previous eight seasons, so Ristola has no playoff experience. 
He has played from season to season in the backfields of Buffalo in big minutes.  Ristolainen has scored 
42 + 368 = 194 in 424 NHL matches. He has broken the 40-point mark in the last four seasons.
 
 
 
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The deal doesn’t kick in until next year, but they’re going to Have To do something...

 

They still have to sign Point this offseason. How much he gets will determine a lot. 

 

They probably have to make a move this year, but definitely by next year for sure.

 

https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/lightning

 

looking at 2020, they have $14M in cap space (but that doesn’t include Brayden Point extension, so that number will definitely be smaller), but that’s with only 13 players on their NHL roster (14 if you count Point). They need 21. 

 

Plus they have some good RFA’s that will need deals in 2020. 

- Cernak

- Cirelli

- Sergachev 

 

 

The likeliest trade candidates (Palat, Gourd, Johnson) all have NTC’s and took more team friendly deals to stay in Tampa (no tax, cup contender). 

 

Ill definitely be interested to see what they do. 

 

Go get Point somehow, Botterill! lol

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8 hours ago, Alaska Darin said:

I don't think ANY goalie in this era is worth that kinda coin.  These contracts are going to cause a lockout...almost guaranteed.

Florida went out and spent a lot of money on Bobrovsky who was a free agent. Was he worth the contract? To Florida he was. If the organization believed that he was going to be a difference maker then he was worth the money to them. The same reasoning applies to Tampa with their expensive signing of Vasilevskiy. The Lightening are certainly a cup contending team. If they believe that he is going to provide elite goaltending on a consistent basis then he is worth the contract.

 

The amount of the contract isn't the challenging issue. As you imply it is the length of the contract that is the big issue. If you make a bad judgment on a player (regardless of position) with a long contract that will be debilitating. There are a variety of ways to build a good team. If an organization decides that their goalie is  going to be one of their anchor players for a long time then I don't see a problem using a larger portion of one's cap for a superior goalie. 

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I don’t blame them. IMO He was pretty awful and may have set that team backs years in his short time on the job. 

 

 

 

I followed him in Minnesota because he interviewed for the Sabres job and i guess he really, really wanted the job. Who knows, maybe it would have turned out different here since we were rebuilding. He reportedly wanted to start a rebuild in Minnesota but wasn’t allowed to by ownership (Leipold feels the team is a few tweaks away from contending...yikes! lol). 

 

https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/predators-paul-fenton-very-interested-in-sabres-gm-job

 

PREDATORS’ PAUL FENTON VERY INTERESTED IN SABRES GM JOB

‘Just in case the Buffalo Sabres didn’t already know, Paul Fenton is interested in being their next GM. Very, very interested. In a business where most people tiptoe around their prospects for future employment, the Nashville Predators assistant GM has done everything but hire a sky writer and fly it over the First Niagara Center.’

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On 7/29/2019 at 12:08 PM, Alaska Darin said:

I don't think ANY goalie in this era is worth that kinda coin.  These contracts are going to cause a lockout...almost guaranteed.

There is probably going to be no hockey when the current CBA expires one way or the other.


The NHL loves to shaft fans in that manner.  

 

I would honestly miss 3 consecutive seasons with the mother of all labor wars if it would result in the elimination of guaranteed contracts for NHL hockey players.  That has ruined the game, at least in the regular season.

 

 

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46 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

There is probably going to be no hockey when the current CBA expires one way or the other.


The NHL loves to shaft fans in that manner.  

 

I would honestly miss 3 consecutive seasons with the mother of all labor wars if it would result in the elimination of guaranteed contracts for NHL hockey players.  That has ruined the game, at least in the regular season.

 

 

I don't have a problem with guaranteed contracts but they need to max at 4/5 years, not 7/8.  It's ridiculous that the Sabres are going to be paying Skinner that kinda coin in his mid-30s.

20 hours ago, JohnC said:

Florida went out and spent a lot of money on Bobrovsky who was a free agent. Was he worth the contract? To Florida he was. If the organization believed that he was going to be a difference maker then he was worth the money to them. The same reasoning applies to Tampa with their expensive signing of Vasilevskiy. The Lightening are certainly a cup contending team. If they believe that he is going to provide elite goaltending on a consistent basis then he is worth the contract.

 

The amount of the contract isn't the challenging issue. As you imply it is the length of the contract that is the big issue. If you make a bad judgment on a player (regardless of position) with a long contract that will be debilitating. There are a variety of ways to build a good team. If an organization decides that their goalie is  going to be one of their anchor players for a long time then I don't see a problem using a larger portion of one's cap for a superior goalie. 

I know why they do it...I just don't agree with the strategy.  In the analytics era, goalies are among the most replaceable players so it makes little sense to give either that amount or that term.

 

I'd bet good money that they end up regretting that contract.

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5 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said:

I don't have a problem with guaranteed contracts but they need to max at 4/5 years, not 7/8.  It's ridiculous that the Sabres are going to be paying Skinner that kinda coin in his mid-30s.

 

Agreed..NBA i think max at 5? maybe 4 i am not sure. 

 

But what is the NHL willing to give up for the players to agree to that?

 

And in terms of Skinner..are the Sabres still not paying Erhoff??

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38 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said:

I don't have a problem with guaranteed contracts but they need to max at 4/5 years, not 7/8.  It's ridiculous that the Sabres are going to be paying Skinner that kinda coin in his mid-30s.

I know why they do it...I just don't agree with the strategy.  In the analytics era, goalies are among the most replaceable players so it makes little sense to give either that amount or that term.

 

I'd bet good money that they end up regretting that contract.

If a long termed contracted goalie is instrumental in helping your team be a Cup winner or a seriously contending team for an extended period of time then the signing would be worth it. There are ways to mitigate the downside of a long term contract such as front loading, buyout clauses and simply being judicious about who you offer the extended contracts to. If a player is over 30 and signs one of those bonanza and extended contracts then the risks increase. However, if a player such as Jack signs one of these deals when he is 22 then you are actually getting a bargain because the salary scale typically goes up each year.   

 

No one is forcing an organization to sign these types of contracts. It's not a bad strategy for some teams to not sign their star free agent and instead allow the player to leave and then use that salary amount to procure a player or two to add to the roster. In essence the decision to pay out or not has as much to do with cap management and analytics. No one is forcing an organization to pay out to keep a player or bring in a player. If the deal doesn't make sense for you then you go in a different direction. It happens all the time.  

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13 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

 

 

$800k is obviously a bit low, but $2.65M seems way too high to me. 

 

Hoping for something around $1-1.3M. 

I’ll predict it comes in at $1.7m.

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20 hours ago, JohnC said:

There are ways to mitigate the downside of a long term contract such as front loading, buyout clauses 

Nada..neither one of those things are  readily available in the NHL. You can pay the player $60M as a signing bonus and $1M salaries for a 6 year deal, cap hit is still $11M per year for life of the contract.

 

Buyouts are regulated by the CBA..and if you front load the amount of salary cap relief becomes so small compared to say the $11M cap hit you have above. 

 

 

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On 7/31/2019 at 3:03 PM, plenzmd1 said:

Nada..neither one of those things are  readily available in the NHL. You can pay the player $60M as a signing bonus and $1M salaries for a 6 year deal, cap hit is still $11M per year for life of the contract.

 

Buyouts are regulated by the CBA..and if you front load the amount of salary cap relief becomes so small compared to say the $11M cap hit you have above. 

 

 

If a team feels that a contract is so onerous there is a simple solution: Don't sign the player and use  your cap money for other players. The players (for the most part) who are signing these very extended and expensive contracts are the elite players in the league. If an organization doesn't believe that in the long run the value is there for them then they should not sign the player at such a premium cost. No one is being compelled to do anything that they don't want to do. You make decisions and then live with the consequences. That's life. 

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The attached link is a BN mailbag responses to hockey questions by reporter Lance Lysowski. Much of the piece centers on the Risto issue and what his value is on the market. The over-riding question hovering over this team is whether it has improved enough to move ahead of teams that have also improved?  

 

 

https://buffalonews.com/2019/08/01/buffalo-sabres-nikita-gusev-jimmy-vesey-marcus-johansson-nhl-analysis-2019/?utm_campaign=things-to-know&utm_source=home&utm_medium=

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His arbitration hearing was today. I am guessing this was signed before the hearing? 

 

His last contract paid him like $750k so this is actually a small pay cut. 

 

Wonder what the contract dispute was over. Maybe he wanted a 1 way deal (his salary in the minors is only like $70k or something like that)? 

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https://www.tsn.ca/ltir-a-lingering-issue-in-cba-negotiations-1.1345265

 

LTIR a lingering issue in CBA negotiations

 

Quote

The point of the LTIR clause (Article 50.10-50.10) was to offer relief in the event a player on a club became unfit to play for at least 24 calendar days and 10 NHL regular season games. The spirit of the clause is to offer teams a degree of temporary relief when an unexpected injury occurs.

But as more and more teams catch on to the gaps in the current CBA, we see more strategic player acquisition. Consider the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators for a moment. (continued in link)

 

At least the leafs are using the LTIR rules to field the most competitive team they possibly can.  

 

Quote

On the other end of the spectrum are the Senators, a team barreling towards the lowest degree of financial commitment available. After acquiring Ryan Callahan from the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier this week – the same Callahan who has all but confirmed his retirement from the league due to injury – the Senators have a whopping $15.3-million in LTIR. Depending on where RFA Colin White comes in, that LTIR number will be about half of what they are spending on their entire forward group and 20 per cent more than their entire defensive group to open the 2019-20 season.

 

The senators on the other hand are a disgrace. Eugene Melnyk simply should not own an NHL team. He clearly can’t afford it. 

 

The cap floor is roughly $61M this season. The senators are only paying $44(ish)M in salary this year.

 

They aren’t even trying to be subtle about it. Literally every move they’ve made this offseason has been about saving money. Every contract they’ve acquired has a cap hit higher than the salary owed, and in some cases there’s a drastic difference. (Like Callahan, who has a $6M cap hit but the Sens will only owe him like $800k or something like that). Every deal they’ve made sent out more real $$ than they took in. 

 

And what sucks the most is that they even put the importance of saving money over not helping direct division rivals. (it’s happened at least 3-4 times in the last couple/few years)

 

Twice this offseason alone they helped direct division rivals out of cap jams.

And they didn’t even make them pay a premium to do it! The Sens did it on the cheap because it saved them money. 

 

I legitimately feel bad for Ottawa fans. Melnyk is such a joke. 

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McCabe is out of his damn mind if he thinks he’s worth anything near $4.3M. lol

Buffalo’s offer is way more in line with the comparables. 

 

Hopefully he’s just shooting way high, hoping the arbitrator settles somewhere in the middle. 

 

If he was actually awarded that amount in arbitration, I believe the Sabres can just walk away (which I would 100% do. I hate losing assets for nothing but He’s just not worth that type of money)

 

edit - nope. Just looked. The walk away number is $4.397, so he’s just under it. 

Edited by BillsFan4
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55 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

 

McCabe is out of his damn mind if he thinks he’s worth anything near $4.3M. lol

Buffalo’s offer is way more in line with the comparables. 

 

Hopefully he’s just shooting way high, hoping the arbitrator settles somewhere in the middle. 

 

If he was actually awarded that amount in arbitration, I believe the Sabres can just walk away (which I would 100% do. I hate losing assets for nothing but He’s just not worth that type of money)

 

edit - nope. Just looked. The walk away number is $4.397, so he’s just under it. 

I, like you, don't believe that he will be awarded the $4.397 M that he is asking for. But if he is considered a second-pairing caliber defenseman he will be awarded more than what the Sabres are offering him, maybe $2.5 plus. For the sake of argument if the Sabres do deal Risto for a second-line forward then McCabe's value certainly would be more than the Sabre's offer. 

 

This is just my guess but I wouldn't be surprised if the Sabres dealt Risto or even McCabe and additional players to get back one bona fide second line player. It's funny how our cap situation has gone from being wide open to being tight in short order. I'm anxiously waiting for some deals. 

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2 hours ago, JohnC said:

I, like you, don't believe that he will be awarded the $4.397 M that he is asking for. But if he is considered a second-pairing caliber defenseman he will be awarded more than what the Sabres are offering him, maybe $2.5 plus. For the sake of argument if the Sabres do deal Risto for a second-line forward then McCabe's value certainly would be more than the Sabre's offer. 

 

This is just my guess but I wouldn't be surprised if the Sabres dealt Risto or even McCabe and additional players to get back one bona fide second line player. It's funny how our cap situation has gone from being wide open to being tight in short order. I'm anxiously waiting for some deals. 

Yeah, about $2.5M ish is what I was thinking, too.

 

and I wouldn’t be surprised to see McCabe deals either. There were some rumors of him potentially being on the block earlier this offseason. 

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https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/sabres-ink-jake-mccabe-two-year-deal

 

Quote

The Sabres have avoided arbitration by signing Jake McCabe to a two-year, $5.7 million deal. The cap hit for McCabe is $2.8 million and puts the Sabres over the NHL Salary Cap by just over $500,000. Linus Ullmark’s arbitration award will up that number.

 

I can live with $2.8M

 

interested to see what moves are made to become cap compliant. They have a few options (send players down, buy outs, trades. Hamilton goes over them in the article)

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3 hours ago, K-9 said:

I foresee a buyoutapalooza coming soon. 

Paul Hamilton has repeatedly stated that Botts is usually steadfast in not buying out players. I wouldn't be surprised if Botts sent Sobotka down to Rochester in hopes that he leaves the continent. I wouldn't be surprised if the Rochester route was used to help give some cap relief. I see some trades materializing soon that will help a little with the cap. Some players may be dealt for some low round picks. 

 

Next year, there should be a lot more financial flexibility because a number of players are on the last year of their contracts. I believe that Scandella and Bogo are in that category. 

 

 

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On 7/31/2019 at 12:14 PM, BillsFan4 said:

 

 

 

$800k is obviously a bit low, but $2.65M seems way too high to me. 

 

Hoping for something around $1-1.3M. 

Good call, BF4. Ullmark came in at $1.325m. Well done!

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I'm not sure this NHL.com link will come through. If it does it is a six minute segment that gives a less than optimistic assessment of the team. The general thesis by both Dan Rosen and Mike Johnson is that there are so many unanswered issues. They both are not too keen on our goaltending situation. 

 

https://www.nhl.com/

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3 hours ago, JohnC said:

I'm not sure this NHL.com link will come through. If it does it is a six minute segment that gives a less than optimistic assessment of the team. The general thesis by both Dan Rosen and Mike Johnson is that there are so many unanswered issues. They both are not too keen on our goaltending situation. 

 

https://www.nhl.com/

 

I think this is the link to the video segment you’re looking for -

 

https://www.nhl.com/video/31-in-31-buffalo-sabres/t-290549380/c-68680403

 

I haven’t watched it yet (I will shortly)

13 hours ago, K-9 said:

Good call, BF4. Ullmark came in at $1.325m. Well done!

Lol thanks man. 

 

Im actually a bit surprised it wasn’t closer to $1.7. I figured it would fall closer to being split it down the middle like with ERod. 

 

 

Edited by BillsFan4
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It’s Buffalo Sabres day on ProHockeyTalk.

 

Links:

 

Its Buffalo Sabres day - https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2019/08/04/its-buffalo-sabres-day-at-pht-5/

 

Krueger hold the key to unlocking the Sabres - https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2019/08/04/krueger-holds-key-to-unlocking-sabres-potential/

 

Sabres have questions to answer in offensive, defensive zone - https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2019/08/04/sabres-have-questions-to-answer-in-offensive-defensive-zones/

 

Botterill’s plan needs to bear fruit in Buffalo - https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2019/08/04/botterills-plan-needs-to-bear-fruit-in-buffalo/

Edited by BillsFan4
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The attached link is a 45 minute interview with Jason  Botterill on WGR's Instigator show. He went through the roster and talked about how he goes about not just adding talent but assembling a roster and team. My takeaway from this interview is that Botts is a smart guy and has a vision on how to build a team and organization. He was reasonably candid in a public setting talking about players and where they are and what he expects from them.

 

There were a couple of nuggets that I got out of this interview. One is that I get the sense that Risto will be on this roster. The second is that he is counting on Mitts to take a leap forward and center a line with better wingers. This interview is worth listening to in this barren period of the hockey scene.  

 

 

https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/08-07-sabres-general-manager-jason-botterill-instigators

 

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38 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The attached link is a 45 minute interview with Jason  Botterill on WGR's Instigator show. He went through the roster and talked about how he goes about not just adding talent but assembling a roster and team. My takeaway from this interview is that Botts is a smart guy and has a vision on how to build a team and organization. He was reasonably candid in a public setting talking about players and where they are and what he expects from them.

 

There were a couple of nuggets that I got out of this interview. One is that I get the sense that Risto will be on this roster. The second is that he is counting on Mitts to take a leap forward and center a line with better wingers. This interview is worth listening to in this barren period of the hockey scene.  

 

 

https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/08-07-sabres-general-manager-jason-botterill-instigators

 

I dont have 45 minutes to listen, but that sure is not the impression on by some respected guys 

 

 

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2 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

I dont have 45 minutes to listen, but that sure is not the impression on by some respected guys 

 

 

If you listened to the interview and disagreed with his views that's fine. It's understandable that someone doesn't have the time to listen to an extended interview. If that is the case then why bother to comment?  

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10 minutes ago, JohnC said:

If you listened to the interview and disagreed with his views that's fine. It's understandable that someone doesn't have the time to listen to an extended interview. If that is the case then why bother to comment?  

just saying sounds like it was a poop show

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6 minutes ago, bbb said:

 

Any reasons given?  

general gist i am getting

 

1) Mitts is  2C ready

2) vessey drives the net will help Mitts be better and a 2c..yes Jmmey freaking Vesey

3) Sabotka is a valuable/versatile piece

 

 

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20 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

general gist i am getting

 

1) Mitts is  2C ready

2) vessey drives the net will help Mitts be better and a 2c..yes Jmmey freaking Vesey

3) Sabotka is a valuable/versatile piece

 

 

 

Thanks 

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24 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

I wasn't able to bring up the BN article. From what I heard about him he is constantly looking at different training methods. Just watching him play it is apparent that he is a relentless effort player you don't have worry about. Even when he is subjected to periods of scoring lulls the effort is still there. You can't play at his pace without being in superb condition. 

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23 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

general gist i am getting

 

1) Mitts is  2C ready

2) vessey drives the net will help Mitts be better and a 2c..yes Jmmey freaking Vesey

3) Sabotka is a valuable/versatile piece

 

 

Meanwhile, back in reality:

 

1) Mitts is far from having proved himself as an NHL starter, let alone a 2C.

2) Vessey is more or less, a bust.

3) Sabotka is f-ing god awful and if NHL contracts were not guaranteed, he wouldn't be on the team right now.

 

 

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