General Thoughts – Christmas edition
By a Casual Sabres Fan
All opinions expressed are my own.
Hello everyone and I hope you’ve all had a Merry Christmas season! It’s been awhile since I’ve written one of these, over six months if my memory serves me correctly. However, I felt an itch to get one of these out while my work/life schedule allowed me the opportunity to do so. I’m not looking to cover anything groundbreaking, but just to share my thoughts and discuss what’s been going on in Sabreland while adding in some ideas of my own. So without further adieu I’ll move on to my first discussion topic.
1. Jarmo Kekalainen taking over for Kevyn Adams.
I’m going to start off by saying that I like Kekalainen and thought that he would take over for Adams at some point this season (especially if it went poorly). With that being said Adams did do some nice things while here, but just ran out of time in my opinion. Five years without making the playoffs wouldn’t be accepted by any professional sports organization nor should it be. It’s unfortunate to me because Adams did a good job drafting and adding young prospects; they just never were able to add enough meaningful veterans to get them over the hump. Hopefully Kekalainen can convince some of these players to come to Buffalo either via trade or free agency. With this in mind I like the hire of Bergevin and Flynn. Flynn is the guy that Jarmo trusts and worked closely with in Columbus. Bergevin is the surprise hire to me and the more I thought about it the more I kind of liked it. He’s got connections within the NHL and can help give the Sabres a little bit more credibility. I will throw in the caveat that I like him as the associate GM and not as the GM. Anyways this is just my surface level view of Jarmo coming in for Adams.
2. Does Ruff stay as coach past this year?
I love Lindy, however I’m unsure whether I want him to continue as coach beyond this year or not. On one hand I think he still can coach and don’t believe the game has passed him by. On the other hand Lindy is sixty-five years old, so I could totally see him taking on a different role within the organization if he wanted to step away from coaching. Personally I think the latter is more probable to happen.
3. Which goalie goes and what happens long term at the goalie position?
The Sabres are once again stuck with a three goalie rotation and I will be fascinated with how they handle it. I would keep Lyon and UPL as they both have the most experience while playing the best hockey currently. If they can find a way to keep Ellis I would love to, but I think the best decision for now is to either trade Ellis or try to sneak him through waivers so he can go to the Amerks. The other part of this is what is the long-term outlook for the Sabres regarding their goaltenders? Do they roll with UPL as the 1a with Lyon as the 1b or vice versa? You also have Levi in the AHL who is having another solid season for the Amerks. How does Kekalainen view Levi? As strictly goalie depth or do they think he can be at least a starter/backup in the NHL. Lyon is only signed for this year and next so maybe you trade him in the off-season if you get blown away by an offer, however I don’t think this is very likely personally. UPL is signed long term, but I don’t think this guarantees him the starting job nor should it if he’s not deserving of it. This is going to be one of Kekalainen’s biggest decisions and he has to make the right choice if the Sabres want to have long term success. So what do y’all think? Is the long term goalie under contract, or do you think someone else will come in and take the job?
4. Do they sign Alex Tuch to an extension?
Before Kekalainen became GM I was fifty-fifty on whether Tuch would sign or not and that really hasn’t changed at all if I’m being honest. I would sign Tuch but if it’s true that he wants 8yrs with an aav of 11mil then that’s a hard pass for me. The highest I would go is 8yrs with an aav of 9.5mil. Overall, Alex Tuch has been one of my favorite Sabres with the current core, however I just don’t think he’s worth 11mil a year.
5. Trade Ideas
Lastly, I wanted to suggest a couple of trade ideas that have been rattling around in my brain.
Kekalainen is going to make a trade to shake this team up and try to push for the playoffs. I’m gonna come out right away and say that I’m not a hockey expert so these should be considered very loose trade packages more like something to get the talks going. All of the cap number and player information was gotten off of puckpedia. Anyways here are a couple of ideas that I had:
– Proposal #1
Sabres receive:
Forward Bryan Rust, AAV 5.125mil, yrs on contract past this season 2, age-33, stats: 13g 17a’s 30points.
Penguins receive: 2027 second round draft pick.
Jack Quinn, AAV 3.375mil, yrs on contract past this season 1, age 24, stats: 7g 12a’s 19points.
Isak Rosen, AAV .894, yrs on contract past this season (RFA), age 23, 3g 4a’s 7points
Why the Sabres do this deal: It’s pretty simple on Buffalo’s side if you want to make the playoffs you need to go all in. Bringing in Rust would add a good top six forward with a stanley cup pedigree who would push everyone around him to be better. Losing Quinn and Rosen could potentially hurt in the long run, but both of those players need to actually reach their ceilings for that to happen. I think this might be a little light on the Sabres end, but I don’t think I’m far off on value.
Why Pittsburgh does this deal: the Penguins are stuck in a weird area where they’re committed to maximizing Crosby’s final years while trying to retool on the fly. I think they would consider this trade because it would bring in two young talented forwards who could potentially fill the middle six roles for you. In Quinn’s case you could argue he could be a top line forward if he hits his ceiling. Lastly, you add another second round pick to be ammunition for a trade or add another prospect for the eventual rebuild.
– Proposal #2
Sabres receive:
Forward B. Jenner, AAV 3.750mil, yrs on contract past this season 0(UFA), age-33, stats: 22gp 5g 10a’s 15points.
Forward Y. Chinakov, AAV 2.100mil, yrs on contract past this season 0(RFA), age-24 stats: 29gp 3g 3a’s 6points
Blue Jackets receive: 2026 3rd round draft pick
Forward J. Quinn, AAV 3.375mil, yrs on contract past this season 1, age 24, stats: 7g 12a’s 19points.
Forward P. Krebs, AAV 1.450mil, yrs on contract past this season 0(RFA), age 24, stats: 1g 10a’s 11points
Why the Sabres do this deal: I’m not in love with Boone Jenner as a player, but I do think he could be a useful piece for the Sabres if they’re looking to make a playoff run. He’s a good defensive forward who plays with heart and hustle while providing extra leadership skills. On the plus side he can contribute offense in a secondary role as well. Chinakov is mainly a throw-in player for me to see if a change of scenery can help spark his game.
Why the Blue Jackets do this deal: Columbus is currently at the bottom of the standings in the east and are reportedly looking to make a big trade. Trading away the captain of your team would certainly qualify as that. They would be getting two young forwards plus draft capital. I think that Quinn and Krebs would be able to replace what Columbus is losing in this trade.
– Proposal #3
Sabres receive: 6th round pick in 2026 draft.
Forward Conor Garland, AAV 4.950mil (6mil beginning next year), yrs on contract past this season 6, age 29 (30 when his extension kicks in), 30gp 7g 13a’s 20points.
Forward Kiefer Sherwood, AAV 1.500mil, yrs on contract past this season 0(UFA), age 30, 16g 4a 20points.
Canucks receive: 5th round pick in 2026 draft.
Defenseman Bowen Byram, AAV 6.250mil, yrs on contract past this season 1, age 24, 8g 9a 17points.
Forward Isak Rosen, AAV .894mil, yrs on contract past this season 0, age 23, 3g 4a 7points.
Forward Viktor Neuchev, age 22, 28gp 6g 9a 15points. (AHL only)
Why the Sabres do this deal: If Jarmo wanted to shake things up this would certainly do it. I also don’t think this move gets done without a corresponding move of a forward or two. Conor Garland is someone that I’ve long thought of as a potential trade target because of the style of game he plays. He’s a pesky annoying pest that gets under an opponent’s skin. When you add in the fact that he can provide depth scoring and you have a good middle-six forward. The caveat is that after this season Garland’s new extension kicks in so he’ll be under contract for the next six years for six million a year with a full no movement clause. I’m not thrilled with the no movement clause but if Garland can maintain his current production for three or four more seasons I don’t think that contract will age too poorly. I don’t know much about Sherwood other than he’s physical and can score goals. He’s a UFA at the end of the year, so he’ll probably be a rental for the Sabres considering that he’ll want to cash in on the season he’s having. Sherwood would slot in nicely on the third line or be able to play up in the line up in a pinch.
Why the Canucks do this deal: The Canucks are moving into a soft rebuild and are looking to identify who’s going to be a part of their next core group moving forward. Bo is from the area and it’s been reported that the Sabres were in on Hughes, plus they’ve shown interest in Byram before. Adding him would replace some of the offense that you lose with Hughes, while bringing in another young talented D-man. For Byram this would be a chance to show that he’s a number one d-man so he can get paid like one. Isak Rosen would immediately slot into the top nine for Vancouver and would get the playing time that will be sparse in Buffalo. Neuchev is just a prospect I threw in to even things up as I felt that the offer was a little light on the Sabres end. You also have the obligatory late round pick swap as well so this trade has a little bit of everything!
Alright, that’s about all I had for this one. The obvious trade that I didn’t make was an Alex Tuch trade, but I feel like we’re going to be discussing that to death in the coming months so I’ll leave that one alone for now. As always, thanks for reading and thank you to the DBTB staff for giving me an outlet to write when the mood comes upon me.
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