Buffalo cannot keep sending out good players and getting nothing in return.
Ryan O'Reilly is a player they sorely miss because he played tough minutes in the defensive zone and was still a highly productive player regardless and they will need to wait, and now despite losing ROR, Kane and adding Skinner, Dahlin, sheary, Mittelstadt, and later Montour, they are argulably worse than last season.
Rasmus Ristolainen falls in this same category. He has his shortfalls for sure, but at some point, you need to keep your good players. Right now, the Sabres could have three really good, offensively productive blueliners that can all produce more than 40 points and thats a huge luxury to have, not to mention, if he is moved, Zach Bogosianis the only other RHD. IF you move Ristolainen for a forward, well all you are doing is just opening a hole to close another. Reduce Risto's minutes and gradually continue to give more minutes to Dahlin and Montour. We need a top 6 center more than anything and I dont believe there is a Risto trade out there that gets you one.
Then, they need to trim the fat....this means Sobotka, Scandella, Okposo etc...
They need to add secondary players with grit, hockey IQ, two-way ability, and heart....preferably all of the above.
Brandon Tanev jumps out because he is an all-heart type player with great speed and two-way ability. Carl Hagelin is another, he would be a great two-way conscious forward who would be a safer play to put on a line with Mittelstadt than the one-dimensional one trick pony in Sheary.
They also need to continue to develop from within....they need Alex Nylander, and Casey Mittelstadt to hit and really solidy in the top six, and they could really be boosted by nailing this top 5 or 6 draft pick in April.
They also need to Weaponize their Cap Space for next year.
Lastly, Skinner re-signing is of utmost importance.
I also noticed all of your free agents are putting up a max of 25 points on better teams. I don't think that solves much of the scoring issues. Plus boyle and haglin are on the wrong side of 30. Physical players do not age exceptionally well without a few exceptions. (Doughty comes to mind)
All in all Tanev I wouldn't be opposed to grabbing for some of that Two way ability I also like Iafallo from LAK the same way
Having three 40+ point d-men is too much. We need to get a 2c+ for Ristolainen and replace him with more defensive style d-men to play with dahlin and montour. Strålman would be great free agent to target.
Répondre
CapFriendly
CapFriendly