|
The Offseason Pt. 1: Pay The Man |
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome to the offseason.
The weather is beautiful, the Conference Final matchups are going on, and Buffalo Sabres management is watching the NHL playoffs without participating for an NHL-record 11th-year straight. But that’s as far as the drought will go, at least as far as today’s blog is concerned because today, June 6th, 2022, we’re going to spend an unholy amount of the Pegulas’ money and assets to make this team a bona fide playoff contender for the 2022-23 season.
We’re going to Tim Murray this thing and bring in veteran talent to make the Sabres relevant again.
Here’s your disclaimer: “This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.” What follows is a list of moves that the Sabres are completely unlikely to make. Management and ownership seem dead-set on minor augmentations to a 24th-place team because the vibes were good this year, the kids looked fine, and ownership can’t resist the siren song of cheap, cheap entry-level contract labor. It’s more likely that Sabres bring back Malcolm Subban to keep the cheap vibe train rolling than it is that they actively attempt to make the playoffs through acquisitions of players who make more than $3m in real money per year.
Prove me wrong, Sabres! Trade for or sign someone who makes $5m or more a year! I double dog dare you!
Speaking of Subbans, personally it’s not that fun to discuss the possible arrival of Malcolm’s brother, PK, who was last good during the Obama administration when we could be talking about acquiring players who actually have a chance to make Western New York’s hockey team appear legitimately competitive. That’s no slight on the elder Subban and he’ll be discussed at length in part two because it’s the cool thing for Sabres bloggers to do. Sure, he’s old, but his brother loves it here and you have to pay someone to be on your third defensive pairing, right?
Anyway, let’s get to the business of building this fantasy team.
Acquisition Number One:
Erik Portillo, Ryan Johnson and Pick #16 (Vegas Golden Knights) for John Gibson.
This one is called “The People Who Want To Be Here (PWWTBH) Special.” General Manager Kevyn Adams loves to talk about people who want to be here and, frankly, I’m not getting those vibes from Portillo and Johnson. These two Sabres prospects had their chance to hop aboard the vibes train and instead opted to go back to college. To be fair, who could blame them? The Sabres have been a disaster for over a decade, so the ability to go back to school and then pick where to play next year after becoming free agents must be an intoxicating idea for young prospects who have their whole careers ahead of them. This trade also makes it so Portillo can play in the same division as non-PWWTBH alumni Cal Petersen which could be a plus for him.
As for Gibson, sure, he’s had a few down years on some bad Anaheim Ducks teams, but he’s still a hell of a goalie, and he’s only 28-years-old. Now is the part where you say “But Hank, Gibson has a 10-team no-trade clause and surely the Sabres are on that list,” to which I say “Maybe!” He’s also a Pennsylvania native like Terry Pegula, and he came up in the USDP so there may be some Don Granato crossover that would help to bring him aboard. Sure, the sunshine in California is nice, but Buffalo is only three-and-a-half hours from his hometown. That point can’t be discounted, just the same as Jeff Skinner chose to play in Buffalo due its proximity to his hometown in southern Ontario. We’re also going to convince him to come aboard through another signing to prove that we’re serious about winning.
Acquisition Number Two:
Kris Letang: Two Years, $10m per season.
No other team in the NHL would be able to easily beat this offer monetarily during this time of the league’s nearly stagnant salary cap. The Sabres are uniquely situated to make a “crazy” offer as a team with $43 million in cap space during a time when majority of competitive and semi-competitive NHL squads are suffering through salary cap issues. After bringing aboard John Gibson and his $6.4 million cap hit, the team would still have nearly $37 million in available space to spend, and the only RFA of note to spend it on is Victor Olofsson.
Would Letang play in Buffalo? Well, $10 million per season is a strong reason why he may consider it. Letang still has game even after playing for over a decade in this league and he’s a sight better than PK Subban at this point in his career.
Acquisition Number Three:
2022 Draft Pick #28 (Florida Panthers), 2023 2nd-round pick (Flyers) and Casey Mittelstadt for Kevin Fiala
This one hurts. Casey Mittelstadt still has a ton of upside in this league even if his stats haven’t overwhelmed since he was drafted with the 8th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. That said, hard decisions must be made, and Mittelstadt is a Minnesota native which would undoubtedly appeal to the fan base there.
Fiala, meanwhile, is an 85-point forward who would instantly add credibility to a young and inexperienced Sabres top-6. Fiala is a restricted free agent who would need a new deal upon his arrival to the club, and the Sabres would need to shell out some seriously beaucoup bucks to make it happen. Fiala can play either side which would benefit a Sabres squad that desperately needs a dependable, versatile winger to play below Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch. Dylan Cozens and Victor Olofsson need some insulation and proven scoring above them if they’re to maximize their offensive potential. Fiala would provide that in a major way.
Conclusions:
I don’t expect any of this to happen. The Sabres, under the stewardship of Kevyn Adams, have repeated the mantra that they will build things slowly and methodically. Still, there was a time not long ago when the Sabres landed Taylor Hall and Eric Staal in the same off season. That was a time when Sabres fans dared to dream; now it seems like we’re all bracing for management to do the bare minimum in order to find the cap floor next season. The next part of this series will be a more grounded exploration of the moves Sabres management is likely to make.
Buffalo Sabres Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»