Michael Pachla: With no more additions up-front, this is what the Sabres could look like Marcus Johansson and Ryan Dzingel could do wonders for this forward group.

Who makes the big club this year ?
Who’s traded ?
First call up ?

Brandon Hickey D
Andrew Oglevie C
Arttu Ruotsalainen C
Tage Thompson RW
Lawrence Pilut D
Jacob Bryson D
William Borgen D
Alexander Nylander LW
Casey Fitzgerald D
Rasmus Asplund C
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen G
Matej Pekar C
Victor Olofsson LW
Jonas Johansson G
Devante Stephens D
John Gilmour D
Andrew Hammond G
Curtis Lazar C
Jean-Sebastien Dea C
C.J. Smith LW
Remi Elie LW

dO SoMEthInG dARcY

Mike, glad you included Thompson and Nylander in your lines. A lot of people leave them out when trying to create lines. Well done.

I like your second option much better, but current state clearly does not put us in contention for a playoff spot. I know JBotts has always been a slow and steady wins the race kind of GM but he is up against an impatient ownership who wants it done now. Not sure how that will pan out over the next 3-5 weeks but it should get interesting.

Who makes the big club this year ?
Who’s traded ?
First call up ?

Brandon Hickey D
Andrew Oglevie C
Arttu Ruotsalainen C
Tage Thompson RW
Lawrence Pilut D
Jacob Bryson D
William Borgen D
Alexander Nylander LW
Casey Fitzgerald D
Rasmus Asplund C
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen G
Matej Pekar C
Victor Olofsson LW
Jonas Johansson G
Devante Stephens D
John Gilmour D
Andrew Hammond G
Curtis Lazar C
Jean-Sebastien Dea C
C.J. Smith LW
Remi Elie LW
- 22sabresQ

Buffalo girls like dad bods

[quote=lulags]
Makes the club

Tage May start in buffalo or Rochester but I dont see him playing a full season in Buffalo. He may ask for a trade if he is not getting the big club time and could be a good trade deadline bartering chip

Johansson would be a great fit with Skinner and Eichel. My money is on Dzingel going to Cali, guy wants to surf.

Nylander will surprise this year, and this roster sucks balls. If this is the opening night lineup I’m moving on to the Rangers

I like your second option much better, but current state clearly does not put us in contention for a playoff spot. I know JBotts has always been a slow and steady wins the race kind of GM but he is up against an impatient ownership who wants it done now. Not sure how that will pan out over the next 3-5 weeks but it should get interesting.
- lulags

The ownership have no one to blame but themselves on this. Give Botterill some time, this is heading the right way. Maybe a President with knowledgeable hockey sense and experience would help.

Pach in your second scenario, it appears that Oloffson has been abducted by aliens - he vanished. Whassup?

Our LW is set. No need to go out and get another LW in Dzingel. He must fill at least one of the 2C or 2RW spots. BTW, i would move Rhino to line #2 to help drive and stabilize Mitts if he is 2C. Here's what i think they will do:

Skinner/Jack/NEW
Oloffson/Mitts/Rhino
Vesey/EROD/Thompson or Nylander
Sheary/Larsson/Okposo

We have way too much junk clogging up the 3rd and 4th lines. Something has to give. In the bottom 6, i think you can easily pencil in Vesey, EROD and Sheary.. Fighting over the remaining three positions:

Nylander, Thompson, Lazar, Girgs, Sobotka, Smith, Wilson, Larsson

Based on Botts trading for Thompson, I think they carry him as 3RW and either waive or trade Nylander. I think Okposo is your #4 RW. I personally would like to see Lazar moved in as 4C or 4RW because he is a fraction of the cost of either Larsson or Okposo and he is faster/more tenacious than either. But it is unlikely. Honestly, I don't see any scenario where Sobotka, Wilson or Girgs make the team.

Who makes the big club this year ?
Who’s traded ?
First call up ?

Brandon Hickey D
Andrew Oglevie C
Arttu Ruotsalainen C
Tage Thompson RW
Lawrence Pilut D
Jacob Bryson D
William Borgen D
Alexander Nylander LW
Casey Fitzgerald D
Rasmus Asplund C
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen G
Matej Pekar C
Victor Olofsson LW He makes the team out of camp
Jonas Johansson G
Devante Stephens D
John Gilmour D
Andrew Hammond G
Curtis Lazar C
Jean-Sebastien Dea C
C.J. Smith LW
Remi Elie LW
- 22sabresQ

Pach in your second scenario, it appears that Oloffson has been abducted by aliens - he vanished. Whassup?

Our LW is set. No need to go out and get another LW in Dzingel. He must fill at least one of the 2C or 2RW spots. BTW, i would move Rhino to line #2 to help drive and stabilize Mitts if he is 2C. Here's what i think they will do:

Skinner/Jack/NEW
Oloffson/Mitts/Rhino
Vesey/EROD/Thompson or Nylander
Sheary/Larsson/Okposo

We have way too much junk clogging up the 3rd and 4th lines. Something has to give. In the bottom 6, i think you can easily pencil in Vesey, EROD and Sheary.. Fighting over the remaining three positions:

Nylander, Thompson, Lazar, Girgs, Sobotka, Smith, Wilson, Larsson

Based on Botts trading for Thompson, I think they carry him as 3RW and either waive or trade Nylander. I think Okposo is your #4 RW. I personally would like to see Lazar moved in as 4C or 4RW because he is a fraction of the cost of either Larsson or Okposo and he is faster/more tenacious than either. But it is unlikely. Honestly, I don't see any scenario where Sobotka, Wilson or Girgs make the team.
- SabreWest

Still looks like a lot of suffering

I'd like to know if Botts is still kicking tires on the following:

A Risto/McCabe/Bogosian Trade
Signing one of Dzingel, Johnannson, Boyle, Ferland, or Gardiner (if we are still on the rumored list)
Moving out spare parts (Girgensons, Larsson, Sobotka, Scandella)

I see an opening line up like this, without any additional moves:

Skinner - Eichel - Nylander/Smith/Thompson/FA or Trade add
Olofsson - Mitts - Reinhart
Sheary - EROD - Vesey (flip flop the wings if necessary)
Girgensons - Larsson - Okposo

Dahlin - Miller
Scandella - Risto
McCabe - Montour

This is not an inspiring line up, but maybe Krueger has the Nolan Effect and gets more out of the team.

I'd still like a few more changes

Still looks like a lot of suffering
- 22sabresQ

I'm filing a malpractice suit against roster surgeon Botterill

I'm filing a malpractice suit against roster surgeon Botterill
- jcragcrumple

What's the point?

We're still dredging the river for your body after your swan dive.

'twas a 9 1/2, btw. Great form.

I especially liked the two middle fingers and the "f@ck you, Botts!" on the way down.

I'm filing a malpractice suit against roster surgeon Botterill
- jcragcrumple

We need a quality Anesthesiologist to hold us over.

Did you miss Okposso in the first lineup? Or his he assumed to be loaned out for free to an AHL Team, ala Moulson.

For fun last night, I took some findings that Dom Luszczyszyn wrote about in his recent article on calculating Player Salaries from a determination of WAR ratings by Player Performance Level (Elite, Top Line, 2nd line, etc). He did a ton of number crunching but basically came down to Elite Players generate about 3 WARs and each WAR for a Forward should cost about $3.27; wheres for a Dman the WAR cost was about $3.5M.

in plugging that data in for the Sabres, based on my characterization of each player (Elite, Top Line, 2nd, etc) the results were pretty cool. Calculated:
A) Cap Hit of $73.48 for 21 F's & D's.
EDIT: B) Total of 78 pts as the roster is presently constructed.

Stop here unless you want a bit more detail...

- Eichel is over paid by about $0.75m, as Top Line
- Skinner is over paid by about $0.25M. as Top Line
- Sam if rated as a Top Line should get paid about $9M ..so maybe he is a 1st and 2nd line tweener which would then drop his suggested Salary to about $7.25M
- Dahlin, is underpaid by about $9M IF you believe he is currently a Top Line D and will cost about $3.75 more if/when he truly becomes Elite (Total around $13.5m)
- Montour and Miller are underpaid if you think they are 2nd line and 3rd line Dmen respectfully

Gross Overpayments currently to
- Sheary as a 4th
- Okposo as a 4th
- Sobotka
- Risto as a 3rd, spot on if a 2nd
- Bogo as a 3rd
- Scandella as a 3rd
That was not surprising, but did lend decent credence to Dom's modeling.

it confirms what we all know that they have to dump players in the Overpaid catagory above. while seeking to get more from some players who are still very good in their current role like Eichel and Skinner, even Larsson and Girgs if they could add some O to their defensive accument. ERod was tough to nail down, he was cheep and contributed all-over the place. I had him as a 3rd and 4th tweener...could he solidify himself as a 3rd?

Vancouver has 26 players signed with 5 RFAs (including Boeser and Leivo) to sign still. Wonder if they are a good trade partner. 2 or 3 players for 1 and a pick? Boeser, Sutter and Eriksson for Nylander and a 2nd? We take on two contracts they want to shed, but get the best player in the deal. They get a young prospect and a pick to somewhat counter the first they traded away.
Then they can make a trade with the Leafs for the other Nylander which they may be forced to trade in order to sign Marner.

Edit: Leivo signed today

I'm filing a malpractice suit against roster surgeon Botterill
- jcragcrumple

He’ll buckle during the deposition

I'm filing a malpractice suit against roster surgeon Botterill
- jcragcrumple

can you make it a Class Action?

What's the point?

We're still dredging the river for your body after your swan dive.

'twas a 9 1/2, btw. Great form.

I especially liked the two middle fingers and the "f@ck you, Botts!" on the way down.
- Powerslave

I should have picked a higher bridge. My rant got cut short

considering our best d man is on an entry contract, we have an expensive price tag for the other 5 starters, and they are not very good

considering our best d man is on an entry contract, we have an expensive price tag for the other 5 starters, and they are not very good
- homiedclown

It's unfortunate that Pilut will start the season on the IR.

Then will likely need a conditioning stint in Rochester.

Will Bogo be afforded the same ability to condition in Rochester without any implications of waivers (maybe it's better if he is subjected to waivers).

Terry stated "It's time to win now"... not with this 3rd and 4th line.