Équipe: 2020-21 Sabres de Buffalo

Date de création initiale: 25 mai 2020

Publié: 8 juill. 2020

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

8th Overall Lucas Raymond (My mock is; Laf, Byf, Stz, Rossi, Drys, Sand, Perf)
38th Overall Tyson Foerster
100th Overall Eric Engstrand (big fast winger. hits hard. mocked to 7th rnd. 58pts in 37gms in SuperElit)

With the flat cap and no buyouts I don't see Chicago as being able to retain Strome. Kubalik is the more important RFA and the Blackhawks have more depth at Center with Toews, Dach, Barratt, and Shaw/Kampf/Carpenter/Caggiula all capable of playing the position in different spots in the lineup. This trade gives the Blackhawks a solid winger prospect who is NHL ready, a defenseman who still has solid upside to help fill the depth chart for the future and a first round pick. It's a solid trade that should fill needs for both teams. If there is something else that Hawks fans would want I am interested to hear input.

Other options I considered for 2C trade targets were: Cirelli, Domi, Schenn, Danault, Hertl, Zacha, and Henrique. I would prefer Schenn out of everyone but I think Strome is a more realistic option without spending too much in trade capital.

I don't think I need to defend the Detroit trade... They need a competent goalie which Hutton has been before this year and I think this is close to the cheapest they will find. I like Hutton but I think he needs the confidence of knowing he has a clear shot at the #1 job... Ullmark's emergence and the team's struggles made him slip into the shadows a bit.

The Georgiev offer sheet I think is enough to get the Rangers to give him up. They will lose him in the expansion draft if they match it and the cap could be better spent elsewhere. For us, it creates a 1 year competition between Georgiev and Ullmark for who we would protect and keep and who we likely send to Seattle to battle for that starting job with either Jarry or Murray. Having the two goalies also protects our D-core as we would have three of Risto, Montour, Pilut, and Miller exposed in this scenario and a quality goaltender being available negates the risk of losing them. Pending a solid season in AHL UPL is hopefully ready to slot in as backup after expansion draft. I know how rare Offer Sheets are but I truly believe the weird circumstance of Covid and the flat cap etc. will provide a period of a few years where you might see some.

I'm a big supporter of Cozens on the wing with Jack and Skinner to start. He can flat out fly. He's extremely responsible in his own end which will free up the other two to take some chances and isn't afraid to go to the net. He should compliment Jack and Skinner nicely while also having the time and space to grow his game and feel confident with the puck on his stick while other teams are keying in on Jack.

Reinhart is given the opportunity to "drive his own line". Olofsson's shot will continue to be lethal and his overall game will hopefully grow. Strome ranked 65th in p/60EV last season of players who played more than 30 games. For reference, Eichel only ranked 49th. If this line is given primarily offensive zone starts they should be able to produce.

Kahun and Johansson showed some chemistry briefly to the point of Sabres radio analysts wanting to see the two of the with Skinner as a second line. I think pairing the two of them with Raymond in this scenario would be ideal. Raymond is said to be NHL-ready and this line should be capable of creating some offence while also bringing a level of defensive responsibility to the ice. MoJo will go to the dirty areas and allow the other two to grow their games in open space.

I believe Lazar is better than Larsson and this should be an upgrade on last year's solid fourth line.

I'd like to see Jokiharju and Montour on the second pairing together. I think we'll see a more even 20 minutes for each pair going forward as Joki and Dahlin are given more responsibilities. Bryson has earned a shot at the opening night roster with his spectacular play in Rochester and I believe Pilut will be back. He just signed overseas because if the KHL starts in October and the Sabres don't play until January at the earliest then the man needs to make some money in the meantime.

Georgiev has the edge over Ullmark in my mind but I think it'll be a true competition for the starter role.

Expansion Protection:
Skinner, Eichel, Olofsson, Strome, Reinhart, Kahun, Mittelstadt (Cozens/Raymond exempt)
Dahlin, Jokiharju, 1 of Risto, Montour, Miller, Pilut while the other 3 are exposed.
Georgiev or Ullmark the other is exposed and likely chosen to compete with Murray or Jarry in Seattle.

Should have plenty of money to extend Dahlin and Jokiharju as well. I would expect Dahlin to get a 2-3 year bridge due to the state of the Cap where he'd be making around 7 or 8 million and Jokiharju to get a similar contract around 3 or 4 million. It keeps them both RFA's upon expiry and then they can get paid once the cap begins to climb again. The 2-5 million saved on an expansion player, 2 million from McCabe, 4 million from MoJo, and 2.6 million in existing cap space should be plenty to handle raises and still have a competitive team with more prospects hopefully joining the fray, ie; Mittelstadt, Foerster, Pekar, Engstrand, Biro, Ruotsalainen, Samuelsson, Laaksonen, Borgen, and Luukkonen.Buffalo has never been a destination for truly high profile free agents so I can't see us bagging one unless we went after Markstrom or Dadonov. I'm also not opposed to moving a RHD specifically Montour or Risto but I think they provide more to the Sabres than they would get in return from another team... At least that's for sure if you are gonna get what the Leafs fans on here think is fair value. Also if Seattle were to choose a defenseman the added depth would make a big difference going forward from there. If Raymond were to not be ready to make the jump to the NHL I think we could fill the hole internally with either Lazar, Biro, or maybe even Mittelstadt but I'd like to see them all develop in a role more suited to their current abilities. We could also target someone like a Virtanen, Kapanen or Mikheyev with a trade of one of our dmen.

1.

2.