Overthought is a semi-regular series that takes a look at some of the more interesting and notable tidbits shared by Elliotte Friedman in his weekly 32 Thoughts column. Each edition will feature some unique thoughts on the state of the Sabres or league as a whole before digging in on some of the notes from Freidman’s weekly column.
This week’s 32 Thoughts was a bit shorter than usual, so it’s not overflowing with threads to pull on, but three are still a few good tidbits. Friedman starts the column with a deep dive on the potential growth in the salary cap. He points out that not all of the league’s teams may be willing to spend up to a cap that’s north of $100 million per year, raising the question of what the league would do if they reach a cap ceiling that only a handful of teams would be willing and capable of spending to.
Assume for a moment that figure it $110 million as Freidman suggests. If only a few teams spend to that limit, the league could quickly be back in a situation akin to the days before the 2004-05 lockout. If the league’s parity was threatened by the ever increasing cap, I’d like to know if the league would need to take action to either depress the cap ceiling or create another function to adjust for smaller revenue clubs. It’s a lot easier to come up with plans that help clubs be more competitive in the cap landscape – the proposed tax adjustment comes to mind – so I’ll be interested to see how this all develops.
8. The Hurricanes and Rangers are two of the teams with permission to talk to J.T. Miller. Believe the New York offer was Filip Chytil, a first-rounder and a prospect. I get very mixed messages on New Jersey. The Rangers have the cap room to do it, but the Devils would need to perform roster surgery to pull it off. Yes, they struggled until pounding Boston on Wednesday, but that’s a good team. I’m not convinced about Dallas, either. I always assume I’m missing something, though.
That proposed package doesn’t come across as the most attractive offer the Rangers could make. I’m assuming they led with Brennan Othmann as the prospect and I think it’s just as likely the Canucks would have asked for Gabe Perreault. That’s also a package that’s fairly future focused. Even Chytil is still just 25. For a team that had a good playoff run last season and are just one point out of the playoff race, I’d think the Canucks would prefer a more NHL ready package, unless they view dealing Miller as a reset of their core.
Either way, I think the Rangers likely need to give up Perreault or Braden Schneider in place of Chytil and/or Othmann if that deal is going to get done.
9. Elias Pettersson communicated to the Canucks he wishes to stay. We will see how all of this unfolds.
I thought this was the case given how far down the road they’ve gotten with a Miller trade. To still deal both would be a wild outcome for the Canucks and signal a really serious changing of the guard for the team.
10. A few days after frustrated comments to a Slovakian newspaper, things have cooled down around Simon Nemec. The Devils communicated to anyone who asked they have zero interest in the dealing the 2022 second-overall selection. If anything, the Olympic qualifier injury last August hurt his chances of making New Jersey. Things will reset next fall. Let’s see what unfolds then.
Nemec isn’t a proven commodity yet, so there would have been some growing pains, but he would have been a worthy target for the Sabres. He’s a right handed, dynamic talent with top four potential. He wouldn’t be a ready-made partner for Power but the ceiling and pedigree are far greater than anything else the Sabres are working with at the moment.
Buffalo has moved beyond the position where they can and should be taking on any and all young players who come available. Not only have they made a lot of draft picks in recent years, but they’re already working to fit young players into key positions on the roster. But Nemec would have been a worthy exception to that rule and i wouldn’t be surprised to see his name pop up in trade rumors come summer.
11. With all of the noise around the Penguins, I believe they have interest in some of Buffalo’s younger, NHL-ready prospects. It fits what they want.
I assume that the likes of Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn aren’t being referenced as an NHL-ready prospect in this note. Not that they shouldn’t be on the trade block, but I’m guessing this is referencing players like Noah Ostlund, Isak Rosen and Konsta Helenius. It’s a shame there aren’t more players worth pursuing on Pittsburgh’s roster.
I mentioned Marcus Pettersson in this space before and he’s a non-starter now as a pending UFA and the Sabres in the conference basement. Back in early November when the Sabres were in the thick of it? A much different story.
The only other players that would make any sense would probably be Michael Bunting and Rickard Rakell. I’m a longtime admirer of Rakell and he has been excellent this season. His contract runs three more years, expiring when he’s 35, so you’d be gambling on the aging curve if he was brought in. He could also bring a bit of what Jason Zucker has as a proven veteran capable of filling a top six role. His trade protection likely makes this all moot. Bunting would be fine as a middle or bottom six filler. He wouldn’t be a marquee acquisition but maybe he could plug in for Jack Quinn if the latter was dealt in a separate trade. Regardless, there are better teams to be targeting in trade talks.
12. Columbus has little interest in mid-round picks for its unrestricted free agents. Everyone’s rooting for them, and I’d go for it too, instead of accepting a low price. A couple of the players referred to captain Boone Jenner, injured before the season, as “our deadline acquisition.”
Columbus has been such a great story this year that it seems like a slam dunk to dangle that first round pick for a deadline addition. They’d be looking at picking somewhere in the teens or deeper, why not keep your expiring players and use a pick or two to target players who can help push them forward?
Two in the Box 