The
2012/2013 NHL season, which actually is a 2013 NHL season only, has passed mit
midway point and the Sabres aren’t looking like a team that is going to ride a
bus through Buffalo come june in order to present a big trophy. In the past 2
years the Sabres started good, continued terrible and finished strong. This
year it’s not really the case.
I really
thought that I would never say that, but I have reached the “hopefully they
lose every game” point. Not because I hate the team, not because I wanna see
them get crushed out there, no, it’s because I want a high draft pick. In this
years NHL Entry Draft, there are at least 3 players who could have an impact on
an NHL team right away. MacKinnon, Jones and Drouin. I want one of those 3
players in a Sabre sweater next year. And the biggest chance to get one of
these, is finished somewhere in the area of 30th place.
I don’t
wanna say the Sabres need a fresh start, but they have to change many things to
be a contender. They added grit to the team prior to this season, however it didn’t
really pay off. So let’s take a look at the Sabres Roster as of now. I will
focus on the “bigger players.”
Unrestricted Free
Agents
Robyn
Regehr, Jordan Leopold, Adam Pardy, Jochen Hecht, Alexander Sulzer, John
Scott
Here is
what I would do. The Sabres gotta find a way to trade Regehr and Leopold.
Apparently there have been scouts from LA watching a lot sabres games lately
and Regehr seems to be the main target. If you can move Regehr for a pick and
maybe a player that would be a great deal
for Buffalo.
Interesting
side-note. Jordan Nolan is a prospect of the LA Kings. Nolan? Yes it’s the son
of former Sabres Coach Ted Nolan.
Jordan Leopold should be moved as well. Let’s hope for a pick
in return here.
Adam Pardy could be resigned but same goes for Sulzer. Sulzer could be the cheaper
DMen and is very reliable as well.
Jochen Hecht and John
Scott will not wear a Sabres uniform next year. I wish the Sabres would
find a job for Hecht somewhere in the organization. He has been a hated player
this year but people should not forget what he did for this franchise.
Restricted Free
Agents
Cody
Hodgson, Mike Weber, Luke Adam, Brian Flynn, Corey Tropp, Jhonas Enroth
Sabres need
to resign Hodgson, however I hope
the GM is able to hammer down a deal that makes sense for both sides. I am
hoping for a 2 or 3 year deal for Hodgson around 7.5 for 2y or 10.5 for 3y.
Everything above that would be overpayment. Hodgson had a great season so far
but don’t forget by the end of this season he still only has 139 NHL games and
something around 75-80 points.
In January
2009 Jordan Staal signed a contract
with Pittsburgh as his Entry Level Contract
was about to expire. He signed a 4y deal worth 16 million dollar with a cap hit
of 4mio dollar.
At that
point, Staal had 204 games NHL for 91 points.
At that point he was already a very good all-around forward, something you can
not say about Hodgson yet. Staal was even nominated for the Selke Trophy along with Pavel
Datsyuk and Ryan
Kesler, which is awarded
annually to the best defensive forward in the league. So if Staal got 4
million at that point, there is no way they should pay Hodgson much more.
Give Hodgson a 2 or 3 contract and reward him with the big contract
after that.
Mike Weber should be resigned as
well. Currently has a cap hit of 950k. Reasonable for a new contract would be a
cap hit that is somewhere around 1.0 – 1.5 million dollar.
Luke Adam will probably a part the
Sabres would like to throw into a deadline deal. He has no future in Buffalo.
Flynn, Tropp and Enroth should all be resigned as well. Tropp and Enroth could be
both in the same area as Weber.
Free Agency
I have 3
main targets for this years Free Agency.
Ryan Clowe, Rob Scuderi and David Clarkson.
Ryan Clowe
has not scored this year but still is a nasty forward like Steve Ott. He still
has a scoring upside and could be a nice fit in Buffalo.
Rob Scuderi
has won 2 cups with LA and Pittsburgh. This guy could be the veteran the Sabres
need on D if they trade Regehr and Leopold.
David
Clarkson, is a big forward that has improved his offensive skills a lot in the
past. Can you imagine a line of Clowe-Ott-Clarkson in Buffalo. They would be
the fan facourite line from day 1.
Another
player I would trade away is Nathan Gerbe. However his value might not be that
high at the moment so maybe he needs to be waived after this season.
However it is likely that San Jose and th Devils will try to sign their players or trade them. Especially since the Devils don't wanna lose another player for nothing, like Parise last summer.
If that's the case, Sekera could be in the mix as well.
2013 Entry Draft
My Main
Target is Jonathan Drouin. This kid
has put up insane number sin the QMJHL and continued to do so, even when Nathan
MacKinnon was injured. So he isn’t just feeding of him, he creates fantastic
plays himself.
My 2013/2014 Sabres
Team:
LW
|
Vanek, Thomas
|
6.400.000
|
RW
|
Pominville, Jason
|
5.500.000
|
LW/RW
|
Leino, Ville
|
4.000.000
|
C
|
Grigorenko, Mi.
|
925.000
|
LW/C
|
Ott, Steve
|
3.200.000
|
C/LW
|
Ennis, Tyler
|
3.062.000
|
C
|
Hodgson, Cody
|
3.500.000
|
RW
|
Kaleta, Patrick
|
1.250.000
|
LW
|
Foligno, Marcus
|
900.000
|
RW
|
David Clarkson
|
4.000.000
|
LW
|
Clowe, Ryan
|
2.000.000
|
LW
|
Jonathan Drouin
|
925.000
|
C
|
Kevin Porter
|
900.000
|
RW
|
Tropp, Corey
|
1.500.000
|
D
|
Myers, Tyler
|
6.000.000
|
D
|
Ehrhoff, Christian
|
4.000.000
|
D
|
Sekera, Andrej
|
1.750.000
|
D
|
Weber, Mike
|
1.500.000
|
D
|
Pysyk, Mark
|
900000
|
D
|
Scuderi, Rob
|
3.000.000
|
D
|
Sulzer, Alexander
|
725000
|
G
|
Miller, Ryan
|
6.250.000
|
G
|
Enroth, Jhonas
|
1.500.000
|
Salary Cap
|
63.687.000
|
2013/2014
Lineup
Vanek-Hodgson-Pominville
Drouin-Grigorenko-Leino
Clowe-Ott-Clarkson
Foligno-Ennis-Kaleta/Tropp
Myers-Erhoff
Sekera-Weber
Scuderi-Pysyk
McNabb-Sulzer
Miller-Enroth
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