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Free Agent Focus: Buffalo Sabres

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The free agent period is now less than one month away from opening up and there are several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of Buffalo’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents:

F Marcus Foligno – At just 25 years old, Foligno will enter his seventh season with the Sabres organization in 2017-18. While his development has been slow, it’s also been steady, finishing each passing season with more points than the year before. Foligno isn’t the player who showed flashes of as a rookie in 2011-12, scoring 13 points in 14 games, but he’s carved out an important role in Buffalo as a reliable top-nine winger. 2016-17 marked a career-high 13 goals for Foligno, helped along by a team-best 13.4% shooting percentage, as well as his first 80+ game season. As always though, Foligno’s true value comes in his physical two-way game, where he had a career-best and team-leading 279 hits, career-high 57 blocked shots, which led all Buffalo forwards, and was a vital member of the penalty kill. Las year, the Sabres signed Foligno to just a one-year, $2.25MM contract, but after again proving his worth as a defensive forward and top-nine contributor, new Buffalo GM Jason Botterill should have no problem giving the homegrown product a multi-year deal worth $2.5-$3MM annually. Even with fellow priority RFA’s Zemgus Girgensons and Johan Larsson in need of raises, the Sabres have plenty of cap space and will give Foligno what he’s worth.

G Robin Lehner –  The Sabres have no interest in letting Lehner go, but this off-season they need to either commit to the 25-year-old as their surefire starter or establish that they feel he is just a timeshare goalie at this point. Just two years ago, Buffalo traded a first-round pick to acquire Lehner from the Ottawa Senators. In his first year with the Sabres, he was excellent, posting a .924 save percentage and 2.47 GAA… but in only 21 games. Injuries limited Lehner to only a brief showing in 2015-16, but this past season he was able to see action in 59 games and again played well with a .920 save percentage and 2.68 GAA. With Chad Johnson gone, many expected that Lehner would play more this past season though. However, trade acquisition Anders Nilsson routinely outplayed Lehner all season long. The margin between the two wasn’t wide, but enough so that Nilsson managed to make 26 appearances, including 23 starts. The team has nonetheless stated that Lehner is their guy, but actions speak louder than words. The value and more so the term of Lehner’s contract this summer, as well as their negotiations with Nilsson, will speak volumes about their commitment to their supposed #1.

Other RFAs: F Zemgus Girgensons, F Johan Larsson, F Justin Kea, F Jean Dupuy, F Evan Rodrigues, D Brady Austin, G Linus Ullmark

Key Unrestricted Free Agents:

F Brian Gionta – The Buffalo captain may be 38 years old and have over 1000 NHL games under his belt, but he also just completed a full 82-game season and seventh on the team in scoring. At this point in his career, Gionta is not looking to re-locate and perhaps no team could use his veteran leadership and hockey intelligence more than the Sabres, who have few forwards over 30 and certain players in need of mentoring (i.e. Evander Kane). The Sabres have plenty of cap space to play with and are expected to fill holes throughout the roster via free agency, but they’ll have room to bring back their captain who is still capable of scoring 30-40 points and can play in all situations. He probably won’t get another three-year, $12.75MM contract, but if Gionta wants to be back, he will be.

G Anders Nilsson – The flip side of the situation with Lehner is that of Nilsson. Just a little over a year older than Lehner, Nilsson was finally given legitimate responsibility for the first time in his NHL career in 2016-17 and he flourished. His .923 save percentage and .267 GAA were just marginally better than Lehner, but a major step up from his previous performances. Perhaps the Sabres, who truly do need to commit to Lehner or not, are afraid that re-signing Nilsson would send the wrong message, but he has definitely earned that consideration. If the Sabres don’t bring back Nilsson, they’ll have to search for a veteran backup to the oft-injured Lehner anyway. It’s not a simple problem and how Boterill solves it will impact his start with the organization.

Other UFAs: D Cody Franson, D Dmitry Kulikov, D Taylor Fedun, D Erik Burgdoerfer, D Mat Bodie, F Derek Grant, F Cole Schneider, F Cal O’Reilly

Projected Cap Space: The Sabres currently have only $50.2MM committed to 2017-18 contracts by way of 11 forwards and five defensemen. (CapFriendly) The extensions for RFA’s Lehner, Foligno, Girgensons, and Larsson, all of whom will be safe from expansion, as well as roster hopefuls Alexander Nylander and Brady Austin will eat up some of that space. However, even if the cap ceiling remains at $73MM, Buffalo has nearly $23MM of space to work with and if Matt Moulson is an expansion casualty, as has been rumored, there’s another $5MM in relief. That should give them more than enough space to accommodate those young players, re-sign Gionta, extend or replace Nilsson, and still have the flexibility to explore the free agent market for better fits on the blue line than Franson or Kulikov and a game-changer up front.

Latest On Evander Kane Trade Talks

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While this weekend was interesting from a Stanley Cup playoff perspective, ears in Buffalo also perked up when Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet spoke about some rumblings he’d heard surrounding Evander Kane and the Los Angeles Kings. TSN Insider Bob McKenzie weighed in on the subject today on Montreal radio, saying that he believes “Kane will likely be traded by the Buffalo Sabres.”

McKenzie points out that Kane is on the final year of his current contract and “may not fit into the long-term vision” of Jason Botterill and the new front office. Botterill of course took over earlier this spring from the fired Tim Murray, and will likely want to put his stamp on the team as soon as possible. McKenzie also brings up Robin Lehner, who is arbitration eligible and should earn a heft contract this summer as a restricted free agent.

We’ve heard rumors surrounding Kane before, going all the way back to his Atlanta Thrasher days as a youngster. The 25-year old has tremendous goal scoring talent, but has still yet to put it all together for a truly outstanding season. This year, it took him 13 games to register his first goal before blazing through the middle of the season and finishing with 28 on the year, the second highest mark of his career. Capable of logging huge minutes and providing a physical presence, teams would covet him among the top forwards in the league if it weren’t for his inconsistency and off-ice problems.

Kane has been embroiled in several incidents involving police and other legal troubles, making him a risk to any franchise looking to add his talent on the ice. The fact that he would basically be a rental with only one year on his contract and the chance to hit the open market at just 26 next summer makes it tough to gauge the return Buffalo could be expecting. Friedman, following up on his weekend report this morning mentioned he’s heard conflicting reports on whether or not the Anaheim Ducks would be interested.

L.A. Kings Frontrunners For Evander Kane Trade?

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While the Buffalo Sabres have made no indication on what their plans are for embattled wing Evander Kane, who has one year remaining on his contract, it is likely the 25-year-old goal scorer would be highly coveted by a number of teams if the team want to trade him. Yahoo Sports’ Justin Cuthbert writes the Kings could be the favorite to acquire Kane if the Sabres choose to move him.

Whether or not the Sabres move him is up for debate. The Hockey News’ Lyle Richardson wrote last week that Buffalo general manager Jason Botterill will allow the new head coach to have a say on whether the team wants to send off Kane, who is coming off his best season (on the ice) after scoring 28 goals, the most he’s netted in five seasons. The Sabres, who have yet to hire a head coach are awaiting the opportunity to interview Nashville assistant coach Phil Housley after the Stanley Cup Finals conclude. However, with Kane’s offensive success on the ice, this might be the best time to move on from Kane and get something for him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next season.

Cuthbert writes that Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet hinted Saturday that Los Angeles might have the edge on acquiring Kane, “… the word is that the L.A. Kings are one of the teams that’s interested, and I think the Sabres are willing to do it if L.A. and them can strike a deal.”

The Kings, now under new management with general manager Rob Blake taking over, want to springboard the franchise back to its former glory. Adding a bona-fide scorer in Kane would fix the Kings’ biggest issue, which was scoring. The Kings are just one of seven teams that failed to score 200 goals last season. Kane put up huge numbers after he healed from a broken ribs injury on opening night. From December on, he put up those 28 goals in 59 games.

The down-side to Kane is his off-ice issues, which stem from two separate legal incidents in 2016, which include multiple charges as well as his ugly departure with Winnipeg Jets’ management two years ago. Those issues makes him a liability if he doesn’t get his act together. His $5.25MM contract, even if it’s just for one more year, is another obstacle for the Kings, who have limited cap space and still need to strike a deal with restricted free agent Tyler Toffoli. What the Kings might have to trade away to get Kane is another question, although Richardson said the Sabres might be looking for a second-round pick and a player in exchange for him.

 

 

Chris Drury Rejects Sabres Interview

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The Buffalo Sabres are apparently still struggling to woo a capable general manager, according to Elliotte Friedman. The New York Rangers Assistant GM – and former Sabre co-captain – Chris Drury, rejected the franchise’s attempts to interview him for the position. Drury had been in charge of player development prior to promotion to AGM, and continuing acting as a liaison for prospects and younger players. His efforts have been widely praised league-wide, as the Rangers acquired and developed wonderful college players over the years, such as Jimmy Vesey and Kevin Hayes. Bill Guerin has already been interviewed by the Sabres, and other candidates will certainly be willing to sit down with Buffalo ownership, considering that only 31 head management positions exist in the league. But this rejection cannot be perceived as a positive sign for an organization that has struggled to find strong, capable leadership. After the Jack Eichel  end-of-season presser, rumors surfaced that the phenom did not want to play next season for  head coach Dan Bylsma (an allegation which was adamantly denied by his agent). The rumor was lent some credibility when both the coaching and general manager were quickly dismissed thereafter.

Owner Terry Pegula will now be hunting for his 5th different coach since taking ownership of the franchise in 2011 – coincidentally, the same year that Buffalo last made the playoffs. Buffalo has struggled to attract high end talent, whether it be players or staff. The organization had been rejected by Mike Babcock in favor of Toronto when they offered the legendary coach an opportunity. Bylsma was in essence a consolation prize, and his poor overall record in Bufffalo did nothing to alleviate the memory of the faulty hiring process in the minds of fans. With regards to the GM search, we’ve heard very little chatter around the recently fired Kings’ GM Dean Lombardi in connection to Buffalo, which might be cause for concern. Especially in light of Pegula’s re-assurances that any hires would bring a wealth of experience, it seems as though Pegula is content looking to recently retired NHLers to guide the ship. Although Guerin and Drury have both undoubtedly helped their franchises in different respects (both the Penguins and Rangers are consistent playoff contenders), it seems possible that again Pegula is having to settle for second and third choices.

Whichever GM takes over for the Sabres, they will have their work cut out for them. Although the forward corps is stocked with Eichel, Ryan O’Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Sam Reinhart, and Evander Kane, they still have a need for depth that plays up to capability. Goaltending was no longer at fault this season, and coaches have been swapped out like air filters. If success doesn’t come soon, scrutiny will start to fall more heavily upon ownership. Fans can only endure a rebuild for so long before they expect results.

Snapshots: Boedker, Kane, Point

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Mikkel Boedker will be a healthy scratch again for the San Jose Sharks tonight according to Kevin Kurz of NBC, marking the third time this season. He was put in the press box back in January because of his consistency, and sat out game 3 of this series on Sunday night.

Boedker was signed to a four-year, $16MM deal on July 1st last summer, and hasn’t come close to living up to it at this point. His 26 points were the lowest total he’s registered since 2011-12 when he was just 22, and are almost exactly half of the 51 he recorded last season. He may be an early candidate for a buyout at some point, if he can’t return to the solid 40+ point player he looked like in Arizona. The Sharks have several raises to hand out to their young RFAs over the next few years, and may need an extra couple of million to fit them all in.

  • Evander Kane put up his best season offensively since 2011-12, and with it has regained some of his trade value according to Bill Hoppe of the Buffalo Hockey Beat. There were constant rumors last year about his availability, but now the Sabres could likely get a real asset in trade. That is, unless they want to extend the young power forward, as he has just one season left on his current deal. At just 25-years old, Kane will be talked about a lot this summer and next season should he stay in Buffalo. If they do hold on to him, he would likely be one of the top prizes at next year’s trade deadline, whether the Sabres are involved in a playoff hunt or not.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning weren’t expecting the breakout of Brayden Point, but as Bryan Burns of NHL.com writes, they’ll take it. His emergence as a top-six center is crucial to the Lightning’s immediate future, due to the exceptionally low cap-hit he’ll cause the next two seasons. For a team that will be hard-pressed to fit in new deals for Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Drouin even with the great work they did at the trade deadline, Point’s cheap contract will come in handy. He may even make Johnson expendable, and give the Lightning another impressive trade chip this summer.

Atlantic Division Notes: Sabres, Johnson, Johansson

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Despite being separated by just 100 miles geographically, the difference in success between the respective roster rebuilds in Toronto and Buffalo is much greater. While Toronto is closing in on a potential playoff berth, the Sabres appear set to miss the postseason dance for the sixth straight season. The Score’s Craig Hagerman lists three reasons Buffalo’s rebuild has not been as successful as the Maple Leafs.

First, Hagerman argues, once the team landed top draft prospect Jack Eichel the Sabres overextended themselves by dealing precious young assets to acquire veteran forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Jamie McGinn from Colorado. Buffalo dealt two former first-round draft picks, Nikita Zadorov and Mikhail Grigorenko, along with prospect J.T. Compher and the 31st choice in the 2015 draft to get O’Reilly and McGinn. Given Grigorenko’s and Zadorov’s struggles in two seasons with Colorado versus O’Reilly’s solid play for Buffalo, it’s fair to debate that the Sabres have so far come out ahead in that swap. While a case can be made the O’Reilly has been a good fit for the Sabres, able to take the tougher assignments and freeing up Eichel to see inferior competition, ultimately Hagerman believes a rebuilding team should hoard it’s young assets further into the process.

The scribe also credits Toronto for ridding themselves of their most onerous longtime commitments, finding takers for the expensive contracts of Dion Phaneuf, Phil Kessel and Jonathan Bernier, while at the same time bringing in young talent to augment their rebuild. Buffalo, on the other hand, has four players – Evander Kane, Matt Moulson, Zach Bogosian and Tyler Ennis – that account for roughly $40MM against the salary cap at least through the 2017-18 campaign. Finally, Hagerman points out that the Leafs are getting more production from their young players than Buffalo is. Toronto has Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Auston Matthews, all of whom have either reached or are on a 60-point pace as rookies. Buffalo has Eichel, who has been excellent, but beyond that their top picks in recent drafts, players like Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ristolainen, have yet to fulfill their full potential. That’s not to say they won’t, only that Toronto’s top prospects are maturing at a quicker clip helping to advance their rebuild at a faster pace than Buffalo’s.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • While team captain Steven Stamkos is progressing in his rehab from a knee injury and may be nearing a return to the ice, fellow center Tyler Johnson is no closer to resuming his 2016-17 campaign, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. As Smith writes, the 26-year-old Johnson hasn’t even begun skating on his own, lessening the likelihood that he will return during the regular season. Johnson, who has struggled to duplicate his breakout performance in 2014-15 when he tallied 72 points, has registered just 19 goals and 44 points in 64 appearances this season. The Lightning have a decision to make as Johnson will be a RFA this summer and will undoubtedly command a sizable raise despite his decreased production the last couple of years.
  • According to Cap Friendly, via Twitter, the NHL has rejected the ELC contract signed yesterday by Swedish defense prospect Emil Johansson with the Boston Bruins due to “an issue with payment structure.” Johansson was Boston’s seventh-round selection in the 2014 entry draft and is having a solid season with Djurgardens of the Swedish League, ranking second among the club’s blue liners in scoring. It’s likely just a minor setback requiring the two sides to restructure the agreement before re-filing it with the league.

Garrioch’s Latest: Kulikov, Franson, Kane, Sakic, Olympics

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While the Sabres were expected to be active at the trade deadline earlier this month, they wound up being quiet.  In his latest Insider Trading column, Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reports that teams weren’t interested in pending UFA defenseman Dmitry Kulikov as a result of the various injuries he has dealt with this season while there was limited interest in fellow UFA rearguard Cody Franson.

Winger Evander Kane was also a player that some thought could be moved but the scribe notes that interest in him was only mild before the deadline.  He expects that GM Tim Murray will revisit those talks in the summer.  Kane has one season left on his contract after this one with a cap hit of $5.25MM.

As always, the full article is worth a read (including plenty on the potential coaching carousel) but here are a couple of the other highlights:

  • Despite their struggles this year, Avalanche GM Joe Sakic is likely to hold onto his title and will be tasked with completing the widely anticipated Matt Duchene deal in the offseason. Colorado is heading for what appears to be a significant rebuilding process so if Sakic is allowed to retain his role now, there’s a good chance he’ll be given a long leash to work with as it wouldn’t make sense for the team to have Sakic start the rebuild and then change course shortly thereafter.
  • The wait continues for any concrete information regarding whether or not the NHL will stop their schedule to allow their players to play in the Olympics next season and there wasn’t any coming out of the GM meetings this past week. Garrioch suggests a couple of possibilities for the delay – it’s still a big issue for the players and the TV rights holders in the US (NBC – who also holds the Olympic rights) could very well be pushing the owners to allow them to go as well.  There has been talk that the league may be willing to change its stance if they get the right concessions either from the players in the form of CBA elements or perhaps the International Olympic Committee in terms of access and content rights.

Okposo Out 7 – 10 Days WIth Upper-Body Injury

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Buffalo’s dwindling postseason chances have taken yet another hit with news that top-six forward Kyle Okposo would miss seven-to-10 days with a rib injury, as Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma told a pool of reporters covering the team this morning. Joe Yerdon of NHL.com adds that Bylsma compared Okposo’s injury to the one teammate Evander Kane suffered earlier this season.

Okposo, in the first season of a seven-year, $42MM contract he inked with the Sabres this past summer, leads Buffalo in scoring with 43 points. His 19 goals rank second on the squad.

Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News joined Yerdon among the reporters this morning in attendance for Bylsma’s statement and adds that in Okposo’s place, Nicolas Deslauriers draws into the lineup. As Harrington notes in his tweet, the Sabres have already utilized two of the four minor league recalls the team is allowed to make after the trade deadline and that for the time being the club has elected not to spend another. Recalls are allowed on an emergency basis when a team either doesn’t have enough healthy skaters to ice a full lineup or need a second netminder for a short stretch. Those recalls do not count against the limit of four.

The loss of Okposo, even if just for a week, dampens Buffalo’s already long odds of making the playoffs. Currently the team is five points out of the final wild card spot in the East and with Jack Eichel healthy and contributing at a high level, the Sabres could still make a late charge but the task is more difficult with Okposo sidelined.

 

Atlantic Notes: Playoff Push, Carrick, Panthers

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The Atlantic is the most exciting division in hockey right now, and not necessarily for the product on the ice. Often thought of as the weakest in the league this season due to the low point totals, three teams made deals today to strengthen their squads, while another continued their sell off of expiring assets. The Maple Leafs acquired Brian Boyle from Tampa Bay, Ottawa brought in Alex Burrows from Vancouver, and Montreal swapped defenseman to get Jordie Benn into the fold.

With just five points separating first and fourth place in the division, the last 20 games are sure to be full of fireworks. With Boston the only squad of the four yet to make an acquisition, time will tell if they feel the pressure of the other three and move to improve their team in the coming hours. We’re now less 46 hours away from the deadline, and things are heating up in the Atlantic.

  • The Maple Leafs received some further good news today when they had Tyler Bozak and Mitch Marner back as full participants at practice. Both players are expected to suit up tomorrow against the San Jose Sharks alongside the newly acquired Boyle. To make room for Marner coming back off injured reserve, defenseman Connor Carrick has replaced him there according to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. If Boyle makes it in time, the team will have to send down another player—likely Frederik Gauthier—before the game.
  • Craig Custance of ESPN reported earlier that phones have been ringing in Buffalo after their terrible weekend. Whether anything gets done is still yet to be decided, but Custance assures fretting Sabres fans that at least no Evander Kane conversations were taking place.
  • Custance also says that though Radim Vrbata looks like a great fit for the Bruins, “as many as ten teams” are in on the Arizona winger, making it a tough call to project where he’ll end up. After the deals today, perhaps Boston is a little more pressured to acquire a scoring winger like Vrbata.
  • The Florida Panthers shouldn’t be ruled out of the playoff picture either, as they’re only three points back of the Maple Leafs for the final wildcard spot. Executive Dale Tallon had a Q&A with NHL.com today, admitting that he is a buyer this year (as is his hope every year). Tallon recently told the media that he wanted to address his powerplay if they were to do something, a unit that has fallen to 25th in the league at just 16%.

Sabres Notes: Playoffs, Reinhart, Kane

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After defeating the St. Louis Blues today 3-2, the Buffalo Sabres have now won three in a row and four out of five games. After struggling with injuries all season long, the team is getting healthy and starting to show that they shouldn’t be considered straight sellers at the deadline. Now just one point out of a playoff spot—though further by point percentage—the Sabres are legitimately in the race down the stretch. A month ago, you might not have been able to say that about a team that has floundered at the bottom of the league standings for years now.

While the playoffs will still be a tough goal, the Jack Eichel-led Sabres don’t look like they’ll be hard sellers at the deadline. While they might not buy, the team showed it was ready to call the rebuild finished when they signed Kyle Okposo this summer. Now they try to improve incrementally each season and get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2011.

  • John Vogl of the Buffalo News reports that Sam Reinhart will still be a game time decision tomorrow against the Chicago Blackhawks. The team is hoping his flu will subside in time to try and make if four in a row.
  • Vogl also has a quote from Evander Kane, speaking about getting his 20th goal this season. “I’m not interested in the 20-goal mark, to be honest. I’d like to go past that,” Kane said, after his two point game. He now has his third 20-goal season and is on a better points pace than we’ve seen in years from the big forward. At just 25-years old and after a summer filled with off-ice incidents, Kane was considered on his way out from Buffalo, with many believing his hometown Vancouver Canucks would be interested. The rumors are quieting though, as he continues to play well for the surging Sabres. If they did put him into play, he would likely cost considerably more than six months ago.
  • Joe Yerdon of NHL.com adds that the team will not skate tomorrow before they take on the Blackhawks. After the game the Sabres will go into their mandated bye-week, and will get a chance to recharge for the final stretch run. They’ll come out of the break against some weak competition, facing the Arizona Coyotes (twice) and Colorado Avalanche in their first four games after the break.

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