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Agree. If I'm going after Byrum with an offer sheet, I'm going 2 years. That would put the Sabres in a position of likely losing him in those 2 years.....while if he is singing your offer sheet, he probably wants to be with your team so you are less likely to lose him.

No. You are missing the point. There's no reason for the offer sheeting team to go to 5 years. Go 1 or 2 with a UFA-esque deal forcing the current club to match it and get their cap stretched while losing the guy for nothing in 2 years. So, if the current team doesn't match, you can get the player for 2 years with a tacit contract offer for a LT deal already in mind that can be signed in 1 year. Yeah, you lose your draft picks, but who cares. You wanted the player. And if the current team does match; well you can get the player IN 2 years with a tacit contract offer for a LT deal already in mind that can be signed as soon as he hits FA. Then you don't lose your draft picks; but you don't get his services for those 2 years. But you're in a great position to get him when he's in his prime and you still won't be buying a ton of 30+ years like you'd be doing if you got the guy after the current club matched a 5 year deal. This way, you put the most stress on the current club. Pretty sure Adams would've loved to have seen a 5 year deal. He'd've known how much cap space he'd have and he'd also know if he really was matching any offer. (Expect he'd not have matched any offers above $9MM; but now we'll never know for sure. Unless of course Byram gets a $9MM+ award and then Adams accepts it or doesn't.)

So Adams said that the Sabres would match any offer for Byram, which could easily be $8 or 9M, and had the cap space to back up that claim, but now is trying lowball Byram in negotiations? Big time offer sheets are usually capped at 5 years because the offering team, by rule can only spread the AAV over a max of five years. So if a team offers Byram a 7 year deal at $7m, the cap number is close to 10M instead of 7, because they can only spread the total over 5 years. So any long term offer to Byram would probably be a max of 5 years.

They are worth about 5x what he paid for them, because he has degraded the product. You're right though, he hasn't liquidated the Sabres assets like Harbor Center or the other things attached to the team he controls. To the bold, you are arguing about the total value of the team which is less than if it were a model franchise competing for cups. I think terry believes his investment is rising and that he doesn't have to go more in the red for that to continue. On top of that I think he prefers not to spend to the cap because it eases financial things around his empire. 10million buys a lot of Yacht fuel. Basically, Terry Pegula looks at the Sabres as an asset that will continue to increase in value even if he underfunds them some. It's a win win for an investor. Why put in more money when the product is increasing its value anyways? But again, I also fully believe Terry is so focused on the Bills that that is where he is spending at the expense of the Sabres.

Leafs got worse losing Marner.

Sure it would be good business if you never plan to win again. Outside the Sabres, Terry is a decent businessman who believes that investment drives revenue, so it's hard to believe that he thinks cost cutting will bring him playoff profits. And I find the argument that Terry believes the NHL is a losing proposition in general to be unbelievable, as league revenues continue to increase, as evidenced by the rising salary cap, and the fact that his $189M investment in the Sabres is now valued at $1.15B. And non-controlling doesn't mean percentage. Even minority owners or shareholders have voting rights in a company. These "owners" have no voting or decision making rights for the franchise. That's what makes them "non-controlling." One more point to degrading and liquidating a product. Pegula doesn't have to do that with the Sabres, since they are worth almost 10x more than what he paid for them, especially since the team can be bought and moved.

Looks like McKenna is headed to Penn State. Pegula finally gets his #1 pick forward. It'd be nice if all Penn State upgrade money could get thrown at the Sabres cap the past five years.

All the owner stuff you added. I am perfectly aware that 20% isn't controlling interest... because 20% is about 31% away from that. You give me another reason why Terry has spent under the cap every single year for half a decade, sometimes by almost 10mil. I think it is to balance the books because the Sabres aren't making him money. Wouldn't that be good business? Lots of businesses run that way, they cut costs and degrade their products and then liquidate what's left and move on.

He "sold" 20% of non-controlling interest of the team because the NFL changed its ownership rules to allow it, and it was a smart business decision. It's was a 'money-for-nothing' deal. It creates instant capital in exchange for bringing in new "owners" who have absolutely no say in the running of the team. The new "owners" are basically buying a vanity stock. I can't believe more owners aren't doing this. I fully expect the NFL to increase the percentage of ownership that can be "sold" so that more owners can easily and cheaply create capital from their investment in their team. And I wouldn't be surprised to see other leagues like the NHL introduce similar "ownership" opportunities. The coincidence of the rule change and the new stadium funding makes it look like Pegula needs the ownership sale to fund the stadium, but that assumption is wrong. Any owner would be foolishness not to take advantage of the rule change. Beyond that, there is no report or rumor that Pegula is struggling with the cost overruns at the stadium. The Bills, under competent front office leadership have not suffered in the least from Terry's commitment to the stadium. And the Pegulas, themselves, have not mentioned the burden of the cost at all. Pegula's net worth has almost tripled since 2020. They are not having difficulty funding their lifestyle, despite using that utterly stupid excuse to cold-heartedly lay off workers during covid. Don't confuse a PR f##k up for their actual financial status.

Only thing is are you jealous of any other team who flipped futures for immediate on ice improvement? I don’t see that this type of trade is available. Not absolving GMKA in any way, but I’m not sure that type of trade is correctly available. Maybe a washed Tarasanko?

why does this thread keep getting unpinned?

NHL teams can sell up to 20% to private equity firms. Figure he could probably say the Sabres are worth 1.5billion on the open market... he could get 300million-ish

Unless the reports aren’t accurate, Byram wants to get paid. He hasn’t demanded a trade.

Long term starts with one. Figure it out. Get in. Make it next season a priority too. ***** happens.

Why? Because the Sabres don't want to pay him $9MM/year and Bryam apparently doesn't see a reason to sign LT for less than that. Not sure why you expect an offer sheet to be on a 5 year deal. Carolina and Moe-ray-all were handing out 1 and 2 year offer sheets. Not sure what the offer sheet term the 2 Eulers got a couple of years ago. Expect if somebody were offering Byram 5 years at close to $9MM, he'd've signed an offer sheet already. But, here we are.

Just maybe KA is counting on that scenario to happen.

I want to be wrong...have Idemo and 7=6=13 and whomever comeback and I told you so all of us to death...

Depends extremely heavily on what happens with Byram's contract and whether they then keep him or not. But yes, they COULD end up $2-3MM below the cap this year. With going to arbitration, expect it'll be closer to $5MM below the cap because am not expecting a Roslovic type FA add nor a Rust type trade add. Hope for both; expect neither.

Im at the point that I'm looking at production and the ability for someone to help us make the playoffs. I'm fine trading Byram for futures and then flipping said futures for on ice improvements.

Paying 3 Dmen 8mil + is completely bonkers, especially when only one of them plays D well

The complicating feature is that Byram's value hasn't been established. His play so far doesn't warrant a long-term deal in the $8/9 M per range just yet. When you watch him play it is evident that he is a talented player. But so far for a variety of reasons it has not been established on a consistent basis. I just believe that it is in his interest to sign a short term deal in order to increase his value. That type of arrangement would benefit him and the Sabres.

He will always be “the one’ for me. It was a blessing to watch his career. Saddest day of my hockey life was his last game. Thank you Gilbert, for everything.

Better be the sweetest sweetener in world history. Kadri will be 35 this season and is signed for three more years (and will have to waive his no trade clause—unlikely). I love the concept of Kadri, but not for three more years at 7MM to pay him until 38.

So why isn't the deal done? Adams has stated that the Sabres are reserving cap space to protect against an offer sheet. The amount they have open could easily cover $8 or 9M. And the cap is increasing the next few years. If Bryam wants to be here, he should be open to signing 5-8 years. 5 years is most likely the length of an offer sheet and gives the Sabres 3 UFA years. 8 years is the max. Both options give Byram protection against concussion risk. And a trade, at this time, is difficult. You point out the task of finding a partner with the need for a 1D and a PP1D, who has the right assets coming back. So the Sabres seem to be committed to a AAV and Bryam wants to be here long term, and a trade isn't possible at this time. A deal of 5-8 years with a $8/9 AAV seems like a no-brainer. So why hasn't a deal been struck yet? Maybe Byram isn't like Peterka, who was unwilling to give the Sabres any more RFA years. Maybe he's more like Reinhart, who was happy to give the Sabres his RFA years, but unwilling to give the them his UFA years.

It depends on how well he plays if he stays. If he has a stellar season his contract leverage goes up and his trade value also increases. If he has a donkey season then he and the team lose from a value standpoint.