[Fairburn] – Dix réflexions sur l’intersaison des Sabres : échange de Matt Savoie, parier sur Lindy Ruff et plus encore
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Spiritual_Bourbon
@Sabres de Buffalo
[Fairburn] – Dix réflexions sur l’intersaison des Sabres : échange de Matt Savoie, parier sur Lindy Ruff et plus encore
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Spiritual_Bourbon
4 Comments
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### 1. Trading Matt Savoie is a risk, but it’s one worth taking for Adams and the Sabres.
Adams has said he’s open to trading prospects and draft picks to help the team win now. One of those trades materialized over the weekend with Savoie, the No. 9 pick in 2022, going to Edmonton in exchange for Ryan McLeod and AHLer Tyler Tullio. Moving Savoie is a big price to pay for McLeod, who projects as a third-line center. But as the Sabres have been stockpiling prospects over the last few years, it’s become clear they wouldn’t have room for all of them to play.
Savoie made some sense as an odd man out among the top prospects. Injuries have slowed him down the last couple of seasons. First, it was the shoulder injury in his draft year, then he had shoulder and elbow injuries wipe out his training camp last season. Given the way Buffalo’s organizational depth chart looks, Savoie’s future was likely on the wing. He had a chance to come to camp and steal a roster spot, but it didn’t seem like a strong chance. Before the draft I asked The Athletic’s prospect writers, Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler, how they would rank the Sabres’ trade assets, between their first-round pick, Savoie, Jiri Kulich and Noah Ostlund. Pronman said Savoie was fourth and wrote, “I also don’t think Savoie’s trade value is all that high in the NHL based on my survey of teams.”
So maybe getting a third-line center for him isn’t a bad return. Savoie could absolutely blossom into a legitimate top-six NHLer. He knows how to play with top-end talent and has been a prolific scorer in junior hockey. He still needs to develop the playing strength to win puck battles and make plays on the walls. He’s going to have a great chance at success if he gets to play with some of Edmonton’s top players. And the Sabres have plenty of depth in their prospect pool to withstand this loss.
### 2. Savoie’s potential is high, but the Sabres needed the immediate impact McLeod can provide.
He’s a big and fast player who immediately can play third-line center, which has been a big hole in Buffalo’s lineup since the Casey Mittelstadt trade. McLeod may not have the offensive upside that Mittelstadt does, but he’s a faster skater, better on faceoffs and arguably better defensively as well. Over the last two seasons, the Oilers have had 55 percent and 56 percent of the expected goals when McLeod is on the ice at five-on-five. He also won 51 percent of his faceoffs last season. He’ll contribute on the penalty kill, too, something Mittelstadt didn’t do. The Oilers didn’t allow a power-play goal in the playoffs while McLeod was on the ice. Essentially, he fits the role of a third-line center more seamlessly and at a cheaper cost. He’s still 24, so he fits the age of Buffalo’s core, too.
### 3. It remains to be seen whether McLeod can bring more offense than the 30 points he had last season.
### 4. With all of the additions the Sabres have made in their forward group, they haven’t dramatically raised the bar in terms of their offensive upside.
### 5. Every forward the Sabres added this summer comes to Buffalo with playoff experience.
### 6. Peyton Krebs is going to have to earn everything he gets in 2024-25.
The addition of McLeod means Krebs isn’t playing in the top nine unless he’s moving to the wing, a possibility Adams alluded to after the first wave of free agency. With Sam Lafferty in the mix, the fourth-line center spot might not even be open for Krebs when everyone is healthy. Adams talked a lot about accountability at the end of the season. The best way to create that is to build a lineup of competent and competitive players who don’t make it easy for everyone to win and keep jobs. This is a big summer for Krebs, who is a restricted free agent, as he tries to earn a role in Buffalo’s lineup in the fall. I’d be interested in seeing him on the wing again now that he’s developed his defensive game and shown a willingness to battle. With some more strength, he could handle that role better than he did a couple of years ago.
### 7. The addition of James Reimer is more than likely for him to be the organizational No. 3 goalie.
### 8. The Sabres signed Konsta Helenius to his entry-level contract this week and he’s yet another highly touted prospect who could be playing in Rochester this season.
He has a year left on his contract in Finland but could still make the jump to North America. The Sabres could add Helenius to a group of prospects in the AHL that already includes Kulich, Ostlund, Isak Rosen and Anton Wahlberg at forward. Of those, Kulich and Rosen are closest to the NHL, but with each addition the Sabres make, it’s becoming tougher for one of those players to crack the NHL roster. I’m still interested to see how Kulich looks when he gets to camp because he could provide a nice power-play boost if he’s ready for the NHL. The Sabres have built the roster up to the point where they don’t need to force it, though.
### 9. I’m curious how Ruff will put this blue line together now that Henri Jokiharju is back on a one-year contract worth $3.1 million.
You could conceivably have any one of Jokiharju, Mattias Samuelsson, Bo Byram or Owen Power play with Rasmus Dahlin. It’s a depth chart heavy on lefties, so someone will be playing on the off side. Given the price it took to acquire Byram, you would think he’ll be playing in the top four. But there’s only so much ice time to go around, especially on the power play. That could mean Samuelsson ends up on the third pair with Connor Clifton. Or maybe there’s another move in the works. So far the only addition on the back end is Dennis Gilbert, who will likely get NHL time given his toughness and physicality. He gives the Sabres depth they needed, but there’s a lot to sort out in terms of who will play with who.
### 10. Adams has added five new forwards to the depth chart, increasing the Sabres’ team speed and toughness.
Adding some depth on defense and in net was necessary, too. As much as a boost to the top six or another experienced defenseman would have been ideal, this has been a productive offseason for Adams. He came in with a lot to accomplish and checked most of those boxes. The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn has the Sabres as the ninth most improved team this offseason, according to his model. And there’s still time for Adams to improve the team more. We’ll see if that’s enough to make the playoffs.
Most likely Adams’ last chance of being a gm. He probably is fired if they don’t make the playoffs.
The one thing I really like about this offseason is that the acquisitions tell a coherent story: the Sabres want to be fast and physical and have depth that can push players up and down the lineup, allowing Ruff to put a stronger fingerprint on the team. They didn’t just get whoever was available, they selected for the team identity they wanted.
The one thing I’m really ambivalent about is the fact that they have less offensive talent, on net, than they did at the trade deadline. The front office believes they can afford that, I suspect, but it puts a lot of pressure on their young players to all take a step forward.
I think this offseason has certainly been pragmatic. I know we all want to throw caution to the wind, but I’m intrigued with how this offseason is going. Certainly would not complain with another addition however, but I’m just ready to see this all play out on the ice though.