Will the Buffalo Sabres Buyout Jeff Skinner? & 2024 SABRES MOCK OFFSEASONS

Will the Buffalo Sabres Buyout Jeff Skinner? & 2024 SABRES MOCK OFFSEASONS

hello ladies and gentlemen welcome back to Buffalo Sports Center I am Don and yes I still exist I know that I haven’t been on the channel in quite some time but that’ll change going forward I’m back I’m no longer as busy I don’t foresee myself being as busy in the coming months but it’s good because now I along with all of you get to witness the NHL off season Tak and full swing here yes it’s about to get really busy off the ice for all 32 NHL teams including the new Utah Hockey Club oh that name is so weird I don’t like that I haven’t been on the channel so you haven’t gotten my thoughts but the Utah Hockey Club that’s a horrible first name for a new franchise yuck do they really need to pay that franchise or that agency that much money to come up with the Utah Hockey Club probably not that agency just committed a grand Larsen of a financial deal but anyways let’s get back to the point on hand yes the Buffalo Sabers are rumored to be big time buyers this off season and over the last couple offseasons we’ve seen under Kevin Adams he’s been a little gunshy31 skittish about making big splashes but this is the off season this upcoming season is the year for the Sabers to finally make the playoffs they have to they have to end this big long drought they have some of the pieces but they don’t have everything they have a new coach with Lindy Ruff which I love by the way but they need to give Ruff the proper tools that so that he can succeed here in Buffalo something that he did not necessarily have as coach in New Jersey Jersey he did not have a goenda goal tender either although I just saw the New Jersey Devils did acquire Jacob markstrom from the Calgary Flames and that’s one of the deals that we’ll be talking about today because yes we’ll be going through a couple of Buffalo Sabers mock off Seasons so I have three scenarios for all of you guys to sit back and judge my first scenario will be realistic my second scenario will be a disaster off season for the Buffalo Savers and my third one will be a crazy wild card we go all in on this whole we want to make the playoffs thing that will be the third scenario but first I want to talk about some news that’s emerging from NHL camps right now and that is the status of Jeff Skinner the veteran left Winger is rumored to be bought out in the coming days this could actually be happening and I will account for this in one of my three scenarios Jeff Skinner has three years left of his current 8-year $72 million contract that he signed way back in 2018 under Jason Bodo I remember he scored 40 goals in his first season in Buffalo signed this big deal Ral Krueger comes in Jeff Skinner does not do well whatsoever only has 14 goals one year demoted to the fourth line but then Don Granado comes in and suddenly Jeff Skinner is reborn again has a 30 goal season a 20 goal season but this past season wasn’t very good for Jeff Skinner not really he had a strong first half of the year but then he got injured or sick we don’t know exactly what happen he hasn’t really said how it has affected his play going into the second half of last season but it was clear that Jeff Skinner was not playing up to his full 100% potential he was not scoring he kind of disappeared and eventually Don Granado did demote Skinner to the third line and you can’t have a third liner making $9 million a season but afterwards Don Granado is fired postseason right after the final game of the season and the Sabres quickly bring in Lindy Ruff and it was clear from the get-go that Jeff Skinner is not the type of player that Lindy Ruff likes on his roster you could say that Jeff Skinner is a new version of Maxim ainov I wouldn’t really say so Jeff Skinner like ainov does not bring much defensive skill to the game he is a very good finisher however Jeff scanner isn’t really that fast either he’s not fantastic on the transition now is he really good in the offensive zone is his finishing Top Notch will he get you 35 to 40 goals on a real team yes yes and yes but the Sabers at this point they need a different sort of skill set for a first line Winger they need a they need to be a little bit nastier a little bit bigger and they need an more well allround player another Hustler that Lindy Ruff would love to have and J Skinner isn’t really that that’s not his skill set he’s a finisher he needs an he needs an elite Center to set him up he doesn’t really Drive play all on his own he doesn’t drive a line all on his own either so Lindy R doesn’t exactly love that and because of that Elliot fredman Jeff Merrick on their 32 thoughts podcast have revealed that yeah it does sound like Jeff Skinner could be bought out it’s likely that he will be bought out it could happen as soon as right when the NHL offseason begins 48 hours after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup finals now the finals could end Friday in game six in Edmonton or it could stretch all the way to game seven next Monday but either way this decision this resolution is likely likely to be seen within the next 7 days but it’s very interesting jessner will be or could be bought out we’ll see willby is uh the right words we could see about that but uh yeah I’m kind of surprised about all of that it’s very shocking that Jeff skarner could be bought out ESP especially looking at down the line and what could happen in terms of that buyout cap against the Sabers because for the first couple years it’s pretty good the Savers actually get $7 million in cap relief but then you’ll look towards 202 no we keep looking 4 million 4 million 6 million geez 2026 27 season is where Jeff skanner will account for $6 million against the Sabers C won’t even be playing in Buffalo after that it only turns into to 2.4 million but I don’t really know Kevin Adams doesn’t has said he doesn’t want to curb against the cap he wants to keep bringing in Playmakers this kind of would go against that I’d hate to see Jeff Skinner be bought out and then score 35 goals for a team like the Nashville Predators per se but anyways that’s all I have to say about Jeff Skinner let’s get to my three scenarios now for what could happen this off season so let’s zoom on over here yes nice cool isn’t this pretty it is isn’t it so I have a couple of scenarios here you may have just seen the one I’ll start with my realistic and this was before the Jeff Skinner news but I I don’t know if I buy it Jeff Merrick has been wrong about Jeff Skinner so for the purpose of my realistic scenario that’s what this is right here this is the realistic scenario I still have Jeff Skinner on the first line for the Buffalo Sabers being centered by Tage Thompson Alex tuck that’s pretty status quo second line JJ PKA Dylan cousins Jack Quinn you’ll notice in all three of my scenarios that second line does not change it will be petka cousins and Quinn the third line and fourth lines are where things get interesting here for my first realistic scenario I have the sabes going out and getting a couple of free agents named Chandler Stevenson and a trade candidate in terms of Connor Garland Connor Garland I think would be a really nice addition to the Sabers third line he BR brings some speed he had really good finishing there in Vancouver this past season I liked how he performed in the playoffs as well and of course Chandler Stevenson he would fit that veteran top nine Center that Kevin Adams has said he’s looking for and of course Zack Benson would be out there on the left wing now the fourth line does bring up a little bit of contentions here I’m sure in the comments I have Jordan Greenway on the left wing at Center I think the Sabres would bring back Peyton Krebs on a very cheap $975,000 one-year deal I don’t think KBS is warranted more than that and then over on the right winger I think that the Sabres will bring in a prospect from Rochester you could say that’s isach rosan or Yuri Kulik I think in this scenario it will be Kik and uh yeah yeah that fills out the top 12 forwards for the Buffalo Sabers now shifting towards defense my top four will remain pretty consistent in most of these scenarios I have Dalene Bo BM Matias Samuelson Owen power third line as well I have Ryan Johnson making the full-time jump up to the NHL being paired with Henry Yoki yaru I don’t I I don’t understand really why a lot of people in Buffalo do not like Henry Yoki yaru I thought he played fine this past season he was actually really productive in terms of offense in terms of where his he has performed so far in his career he had 20 points for the Buffalo Sabers and I see the Sabers being linked to names such as Brett pesi and I sit back and I go well don’t we already kind of have these sort of defenseman these semi stay-at home these fast transition third pairing guys we have that already with Henry Yoki yaru the only way I can see the SA is now bringing back Yoki aru as if he asks for too much during arbitration now it may not even get to arbitration there was a rumor earlier this offseason that the Sabers may look to trade Yoki aru for a mid- round pick in my opinion that would be a mistake I like Yoki aru I like how he played especially towards the middle to end part of last season and I think Ryan Johnson deserves that full-time jump up to the NHL now Conor Clifton will be the seventh defenseman there for the Buffalo Savers I was debating whether or not you want to buy him out too but he’s only got two years left 3.33 million it’s not a great contract not a good move by Kevin Adams but he’s going to have to deal with it and the Sabers are going to have to deal with it for at least this season and next year maybe hopefully he performs better and gets traded we shall see and then in goal tending I have the sabes inking a nice deal to bring back uko Pekka Lucan on a 4-year $4.5 million per season deal with him and then Deon Levi would be his backup I think that is all pretty sensible although I don’t know how much I love Devon Levi being the backup I traditionally Lindy Ruff has leaned on his number one goalie pretty heavily during the regular season and the playoffs so it may be better in terms for Levi’s development to go to Rochester for at least one more year and to get a lot of playing time but for realism sakes I think that the Savers like Devon Levine they may want to bring him up especially if they don’t have full faith in UPL still being that consistent number one goalie all right let’s keep on moving folks let’s look at my disaster scenario here for the Buffalo Sabers and uh my big theme with the disaster scenario is that not much changes in terms of what happened last season what the makeup of that team was versus what the makeup of the next seasons team could be so on the top line Skinner Tage tuck second L petka cousins Quinn third line the Sabers go all youth With Yuri Kulik Matt seavoy and Zack Benson now the reason I don’t love this is because the Sabers need more experience because they’re trying to win now and this is the problem too and a lot of fans have pointed this out the Sabres have too many NHL ready prospects you have to ship one out if you’re Kevin Adams you cannot keep trying to keep them in Rochester say that their potential is really high and then never stick them on the NHL Club keep them in the farm system you can’t do that you have to either trade them or play them and in this scenario I say that the Sabres would play them and the team wouldn’t be all that good because you’d still have a lot of those Growing Pains that you naturally have to deal with with young players and then the fourth line I see that Sab having Jordan Greenway Lucas rusc and their only Ford free agent Edition in Kevin stenland from the Florida pan if Kevin stenland is the only Center brought in by the Buffalo Sabers this offseason I may scream now I like stenland he’s really good in the faceof dot he’s very good on the penalty kill both are qualities of a center that the Sabres do need but if he’s it then don’t sign me up for that I would rather go all in on offense than just get Kevin stenland in an offseason and then on defense again no additions no subtractions Conor Clifton still plays a prominent role on the Sabers team going into next year and then the goalies remain the same except the uko Pekka Lucan is getting paid $5 million a season instead of 4.5 but the big point I want everyone to take a look at is the cap space that the Sabers have Kevin Adams has a lot of money to work with and if he goes into the season was still $12.6 million in cap space that’s a waste you’re just saying to your team ah we’ll keep trying what we did last year hopefully the young guys can do it hopefully we can ride their coattails into the playoffs and end this drought that can’t be the mindset you have to go all in with NH proven Commodities so to go all youth all inexperience in this scenario would be a disaster and finally let’s discuss my crazy scenario which by each passing day looks a little less crazy from what the rumors are saying so in this one let’s start off with the first line in this one I do have Jeff Skinner being bought out and he’s getting replaced with Tavo terrain of the Carolina Hurricanes this would be a big this would be a big money Splash for the Buffalo Savers terrain I think would complement the finishing abilities of Tage Thompson and be able to maximize the finishing abilities of Alex tuck to a greater degree because to this point tuck has had to be the play playmaker on that line terrain specializes in that he this is the kind of role he played in Carolina when he was on the wing for Sebastian AO so terrain would be an excellent addition a nice replacement for Jeff Skinner and he’s a more complete player pass first finish second but he he leads to a lot of goals that’s my point second line again Remains the Same PKA cousins and Quinn third line is where things get really spicy here for the Sabers because I see them going out and getting two very pricey Veterans for short-term deals sha Monahan on a 4-year 5 million a season deal then Patrick Kane on a 2-year $3.25 million deal both of these would fill out decent roles for the sabes Shawn Mahan less so I think they are looking for maybe more of a defensive Center in the top nine but let’s say they go all out on offense let’s say they want to put the puck in the back of the net a whole lot more next season than they did this past season Shawn Monahan would fit that role Patrick Kane as well and then you have Zack Benson on the left wing can you imagine a line with Zack Benson Patrick Kane on it yeah that’s that’s pretty cool then the fourth line peyon Krebs again returns for the Buffalo Sabers Jordan Greenway stays in place for Buffalo and then isach Rosanne is your Phil in Prospect on that fourth line over kle I do like rosi’s game a bit more even though he’s been involved in more trade rumors than one could imagine now let’s look at the defense here for the Sabers you have Dalene Bo byon Ryan Johnson Owen power very youthful very exciting top four core for the Sabers then on the third pair you have Matias Samson Henry yaru with Clifton as your seventh defenseman and then in net UPL again is getting linked to a three-year $4.5 million deal and then Devon Levi will be the backup so those are my three scenarios I’ll let I’ll keep this one up for a little bit as I continue to talk so that y’all can digest this information but yeah so Skinner is bought out in this scenario the Sabers go all out on remaking their top nine by bringing in Patrick Kane and Shawn Monahan there are rumors that the Sabers are looking to bring in three new forwards to the team and this is exactly what I’m doing here three new forwards all all of them was scoring Tendencies to a team that has found a way to put the puck in the back of the net namely two years ago but last season they really struggled for that consistency and you also notice this is a much deeper lineup than what the Savers had last year last season you had kylo poso playing on the third line at times he was on the second line as well that’s unacceptable and that lack of depth was really highlighted when the sabers traded away Casey middlestead at the deadline so it’s pretty clear the Sabres would like a cheaper third line Center this is what I think happens in a crazy world which is a crazy world so this may actually be more realistic than my so-called realistic scenario but we shall see folks anyways thank you so much for watching I was Don this is Buffalo Sports Center let me know your thoughts on not only Skinner potentially being bought out but also my realistic disaster and crazy scenario in my Sabers mock off Seasons anyways thank you folks so much for watching I was Don I hope to see all of you in the next video peace out

Rumors are swirling around the Buffalo Sabres so far this offseason. It is clear that Buffalo intends to be a major player for next year, and if so, GM Kevyn Adams has plenty of work to make them a big team.

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