Buffalo Sabres LHD Options: Is Hampus Lindholm Actually Attainable?
If rumors are true, the Buffalo Sabres should begin unbolting the kitchen sink!
You have to love the salary cap, Buffalo Sabres fans.
Well . . . actually, you don’t – the Sabres are going to find themselves with some difficult decisions ahead of them once it comes time to extend the contract of Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart, thanks to the salary cap – but this year, that darn ol’ cap might wind up being the Sabres’ best friend.
More than once, we have discussed the possibility of the Buffalo Sabres making a deal with the Anaheim Ducks that send a top 50 blueliner into the 716. First, we were convinced that Sami Vatanen would be the player Anaheim would be most willing to deal; currently, it appears as if the odd man out in Anaheim might be LHD Cam Fowler, who was recently labelled the 10th most likely player to be dealt on Frank Seravalli’s TSN Trade Bait List.
Fowler’s stock may be on the decline slightly, but he is still fast and moves the puck up ice, plus he scores more than any Buffalo blueliner not named Rasmus Ristolainen, so it would be a really nice get if GM Tim Murray found a way to bring him into the area.
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However . . . and we don’t mean to sound greedy here, but another member of the Ducks formidable blueline whose name has started to surface in trade rumors in none other than Hampus Lindholm.
Just typing that seems really strange, because I covered the Ducks last season and can tell you that Lindholm is the real deal. Both the Ducks fans and their front office believe he can be one of the top-10 defenders in the league, so I am not getting my hopes up about this . . . but Lindholm is now on the Trade Bait List, sitting comfortably at number 21.
I don’t have time to whip up anything fancy, since War On Ice has permanently closed its doors, but I did come across a piece over at Anaheim Calling that presented this graph:
Basically, the Ducks generate more shots and goals when Lindholm is on the ice than when Fowler is – fantastic news if the Sabres find a way to get him. The discussion of which player would work better for the Buffalo Sabres is more complicated than just asking, “Who scores more?” – Fowler’s contract is very cap-friendly at just $4 million per year through 2017-18, while Lindholm is set to become an RFA and will almost certainly wind up costing Buffalo more money eventually – but there is not much debate: Hampus Lindholm is the better player.
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The Buffalo Sabres will be a much better team with either of these two players on its roster, and Cam Fowler is far more likely to get dealt than Hampus Lindholm. However, the fact that Lindholm’s name is getting mentioned tells you what kind of salary cap struggles the Ducks are facing, so I all in favor of GMTM going hard after Lindholm. Shy of getting rid of Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Ryan O’Reilly and Rasmus Ristolainen, the Sabres would not be overpaying if they could steal Lindholm out of SoCal.