The draft was basically a dud as far as trades went, the Sabres made an early exit from the playoffs…are we set up for more disappointment today? We’ve gone over (and over and over) how Buffalo hasn’t been making splashy moves, likes their ‘core’, whatever, but we fans look forward to this day anyway. We love the idea of new players, or moreso current players being gone it seems like. Will the Sabres be participating? The rumor-mongers like to say we’re ‘in’ on all of the big names (other than Kovalchuk), but do we believe that? Only when we see it. That’s the Buffalo way.
Tag: free agency
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RFA Target – Mason Raymond
I said I would try and start some rumors, so here you guy – if the Sabres can’t or won’t be able to afford Bobby Ryan, let’s go after Mason Raymond. He’s been steadily progressing and improving, notching 25 goals last year as a left wing, though his scouting report shows he can play either wing. Raymond was qualified at $708,000, but will command more than that. The rub is he is arbritration eligible. The way I’m reading things, his rights could be traded now, but if he opts for and accepts the offer from arbitration, he can’t be traded.
As for his play, I try to watch the late game on HNIC whenever it’s the Canucks or Flames as both teams have players I like. I thought Raymond was a very solid player for Vancouver, and would look good opposite Vanek, especially since he’s a good playmaker as well as scorer.
While I doubt anything happens to bring Raymond here (or anywhere other than Vancouver) it’s not impossible, as the Canucks are up against it a bit. They have just under $10 million in cap space, 8 forwards under contract not counting several they need to make RFA decisions about (Tanner Glass, Jannik Hansen for example). Just something I’m throwing out there.
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The Hard Truth
What’s the hard truth? The power play most likely won’t be fixed in free agency. At best, this team gets lucky with a signing or trade, strikes on a castoff from another team that maybe will blossom here (sort of like bringing in Briere) and help. But that’s difficult in the best of times. I hate to come off too much like Lindy Ruff, but it’s the system that will bring success. The problem is, the power play system has sucked for a few years, possibly due to the loss of Scott Arniel as assistant coach. I’m not sure how much better it can get this year, without more of a coaching focus on it.
So does that mean GMDR should close up shop? Nah. If there’s a good value, even if it’s trading our Stafford for what amounts to their Stafford (or signing someone like Patrick O’Sullivan), do it. For the Sabres advance past the first round of the playoffs next year, it’s going to take team play, chemistry and good coaching. We know they have the last thing (even with some of Lindy’s quirks), which helps with the first, but that middle item is key.
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Sabres Draft Day Results
The Sabres 2010 draft class is complete, which if you need to refer to it, can be found here. Speaking as someone who is just reading up on these guys now, after the fact, I like it. It sounded like the Sabres missed out on who they really wanted at 23 (Riley Sheahan who went to the Wings at 21), but got a very solid defensive D-man in Mark Pysyk. The rest of the class shows the Sabres’ plan – get bigger (as noted below), and go North American.
The other (more exciting) side of the coin is trades, of which there were few. The ‘core’ is still here, it’s true, but there’s still plenty of time to make changes. Trades and free agent signings can still happen, so judgement is reserved on that front.
By the way, if you played along with my previous post, here are your answers:
- Under. Zero Tylers (the big pick named Tyler came off the board right away, anyway).
- Under. Zero Euros. Not surprising considering the past two years, but I’m shocked there wasn’t even one that was tempting enough to go for.
- Under. The Ballard deal is the only one worth noting.
- Over. Calling this over, two 6’2″ guys, one 6’4″ and one 6’5″.
- Didn’t get to watch the whole thing, unfortunately, but I’m assuming over. I know from Twitter he was shown at least once.
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Backing Up Miller
The backup goalie spot for the Buffalo Sabres is an interesting question for next season. Barring injury, you can probably pencil Miller in for 65-70 starts again in the regular season, leaving 10-15 for whoever the backup is. There are a few trains of thought out there as to who that should be.
- See if Jhonas Enroth is ready. He’s progressed well at the AHL level (2.37 GAA, .919 SP last season), and could be a solid, inexpensive option for next year. A bit more of a wild-card than an established vet, but more upside.
- Trade Enroth for a top-6 forward (center?) or D-man (if neither Hank nor Toni re-sign I imagine) and sign a vet backup. I call this the Marty Biron, as that’s who most folks want back as the backup. Probably costs a bit more than Enroth, but wouldn’t be a huge cap hit.
- Keep Enroth in the AHL and sign a vet backup. Could still be Marty, Enroth would play more, but with Miller here long-term, it may be better to try and get something for Jhonas, especially with the number of teams that have goalie questions.
Stick-tap to TheFinnishLine on Twitter for the idea of trading Enroth, as I hadn’t thought of it. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea. Miller is our guy, and Enroth could net us (with a pick or a prospect or two) a new center to drop next to Vanek, or a top-4 defender to fill in for Hank or Toni if neither comes back. I’d lean toward the forward myself, and give some of the Portland guys a try on the back line, but either way it wouldn’t bother me. If they can’t make a trade, I think I’d want him here as the backup, and not with the Pirates. I don’t think he’s going to get too much better there, and having a mentor like Ryan Miller could be good for him.
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Kassian, Tallinder, Lydman and You
John Vogl over at the Buffalo News has a wide ranging interview up with Darcy Regier, that’s a great readif you haven’t gotten there already. The biggest update is on Zack Kassian, where Darcy is temporarily putting contract negotiations on hold. I don’t think this is that huge, as it sounds like Zack was getting the business from some drunk assholes, and gave it back to them. He shouldn’t have done it, not at all, but it happens. He needs to learn from it, and hopefully this delay in signing will remind him that he needs to be more responsible, as shenanigans like that could affect his livelihood.
Darcy also mentioned that he’s had talks with the agents for Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman, and expects them to continue next week. Doesn’t necessarily mean either one comes back, but he’s putting the work in.
For other work Regier is putting in, he also apparently has talked to ‘all’ the other GMs, including Brian Burke, but wouldn’t comment about getting Kaberle. I imagine some (maybe most) of those conversations have been of the “hey, do you want anybody we have? No? Okay, see you at the draft” variety. Could be wrong, though.
And finally, I just want to thank everyone that’s been reading and commenting. It’s well beyond what I was expecting, you guys are the best.
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Something for Nothing?
Bit of a warning: I plan to ramble a bit here, as I may end up convincing myself I’m wrong. It’s a work in progress.
One of the recurring themes you hear when talking about guys in their walk years (especially on bad teams, or small market teams that ‘can’t afford them’) is that the GMs have to get something back for them. The Sabres recently had that with Brian Campbell, and most likely will hear about Tim Connolly in regards to this for this season regardless of what he does.
But the salary cap changes this, to my mind. You always ‘get something back’ for a UFA, cap space. When (if?) Timmy is not re-signed at the end of this season, you are getting back $4.5M in cap space, a tidy sum. I’m not arguing that $4.5M in cap space is better than $4.5M and a 2nd round pick, but it IS something. And it IS better than $2m in cap space and someone on the level of Drew Stafford or Clarke MacArthur (or Raffi Torres). This makes sense to me, but I *am* sleep deprived, so feel free to poke some holes.
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Interesting Target: Bobby Ryan
Bobby Ryan is a restricted free agent, and a tweet from Jeff Marek of CBC got me thinking about him.
Burke wants a forward who can score w/size. Bobby Ryan remains unsigned in ANA. Ducks may lose Nieds. Kaberle on the mrkt. Just sayin’…
Obviously this is in reference to wheeler-dealer Brian Burke up the QEW, but this is a move the Sabres could make. Ryan would be a solid pickup, adding size and scoring that the Sabres sure could use (back to back 30 goal seasons). Now, the Sabres don’t have a Kaberle to dangle in trade talks, but may be able to work something with picks/prospects. I would love to see Bobby Ryan opposite Thomas Vanek.
Not directly related, but Kaberle has an interesting NTC:
can name 10 teams that he will accept a trade to; if the Leafs miss the playoffs in 2008-09 or 2009-10, he can be traded without restriction from that Entry Draft until August 15
Interesting that you can specify a window when you can be traded, to avoid deadline day, or early season trades., based on playoff performance (or non-performance, in the case of the Leafs).
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Sabres Even Strength Scoring and Defense
I will be breaking down the Sabres’ scoring and defense from the 2009-2010 season, starting with their even strength performance. All stats come from NHL.com. On the year, Buffalo had 159 Goals For (GF) 5 on 5, 7 GF 4 on 4, for a total of 166. On the flip side, they ceded 145 Goals Against (GA) 5 on 5, 8 GA 4 on 4, for a total of 153. They had no scoring for or against 3 on 3, which is pretty rare anyway. The Sabres were 7th at 5 on 5 scoring, and 11th as far as 5 on 5 goals given up.
These are solid numbers, especially in the context of the Eastern Conference, where only two teams were better in overall scoring. Buffalo had a balanced scoring attack overall, with 12 players in double digits. Thomas Vanek led the way with 28, 18 of which were at even strength. Jochen Hecht actually tied with Vanek as far as goals at even strength, though, with 18. Both missed some time, it go to show how much Hecht and Vanek were missed in the Boston series.
Barring a trade or other move, Clarke MacArthur is the only one of those 12 who is gone (traded to Atlanta), so there shouldn’t be a huge dropoff next year. What Buffalo needs, though, is a consistent centerman for Vanek to get his production back up to the 40 goal plateau. Lindy shuffled things a lot last season, trying to get Vanek going. We’ll see what happens July 1.
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Tallinder, Sabres Talking
This news comes to us from Nick Mendola, now over at WECK:
Henrik Tallinder’s agent has spoken with the Buffalo Sabres about the Swedish defenseman’s upcoming unrestricted free agency, and they plan to speak again in the coming weeks before the start of free agency
As we discussed previously, many (including me) believed Buffalo would at least attempt to bring one of the Tallinder/Lydman set back. It remains to be seen if anything comes of this, or if Toni gets a call from Darcy too. I’m betting he will; I think Darcy remembers what happened the last time he had two guys at the same position hitting free agency.