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Your scenario is from this perspective sadly the most likely one.

For me, it’s all about the spend after Byram. Realistically, they are going to have enough money to acquire a player after he’s signed, and probably enough to acquire a good player. It’s going to be closer to $5 or $6M than $2 or $3M. I’m skeptical they are going to use that money. I think they will say the market dried up or the prices were too high, when the fact of the matter is they let the market dry up and they decided the prices were too high. Once again, unrealized opportunity. I hope I’m wrong.

We don't really know if the tank would've worked, because ownership blew up the 1st tank after only 3 years of the rebuild phase. When they punted O'Reilly they blew that plan up. They intentionally took yet another step back. And you can't do that and expect to win the race when you've barely left he paddock. But really wanted to see bigger changes in the FO and coaching staff this off-season because they can't get to the point that Dahlin, Thompson, and Tuch all want out too.

Like Michael Aday used to say "2 out of 3 ain't bad." (But even though it ain't bad; 2 out of three likely ain't good enough either.)

This is a dream that will never happen and you have to know that. You can't create a perennial winner without the leagues top players. So how exactly do you do that first so they'll come here? Build from within? We tried that. Tank for superstars in the draft, then players will want to play with them (Eichel)? Nope I mean it sounds awesome and I wish what you said above was possible, it's not, IMO. I think you're totally and completely wrong about geography, that matters to this generation and some of the one before. I love Buffalo, it will always hold a special place to me, but it's a hard sell. I guess if you're right and just ho hum, become a perennial cup contender is all you have to do, then we'll know.

See, that's one other item we don't agree on. You believe that Byram doesn't want a LT deal and that is why there is no deal yet. IMHO, the 2 sides don't agree on what he is worth and THAT is why there is no deal in place. Byram wants $9MM (that # keeps popping up in "insider" articles about the negotiation; so expect it is the # that Byram and his agent want); the Sabres don't believe he's worth that much. AND would go farther to say that NO team thinks he's worth that much. Why? Because none made him an offer of that. Now, yes, there are some teams that don't have the draft capital to make that offer; but there are several (at least 4 if not 6 or 8) teams that have kicked the tires on Byram. Some of those have had it, and even those that don't could have made the Sabres a roughly equivalent offer to the draft pick compensation. Really, truly believe it is a simple matter of Byram believes strongly in himself and sees himself worth at least $9MM. So far, nobody other than his agent has agreed with him. And that disconnect on what he's worth is a far bigger reason for him not having been signed yet than his wanting out of Buffalo soon. It's not that they haven't had the discussions; it's that they don't agree on what fair value is. And considering what the Sabres have given Power and the since traded Cozens, can see why Byram believes he's worth $9MM. Don't agree with him; but see why he thinks this team should give him that.

The reasons I'm using 5 years is because you made the point that Bryam is willing to sign a long term deal with the Sabres (my point is that he's not willing). Adams said that he's willing to match any offer sheet in term in length or AAV, so I took that they are willing to match the deal even if it comes in at 5 years. So if Byram is willing to sign a long term deal, and Adams is willing to match an offer that COULD be 5 years, that indicates that both sided should be willing to discuss a LT deal starting at 5 years. Since there is no deal yet, my read is that one of the sides is balking, and I think that's Byram's side. He doesn't want to be here long term. I could be wrong, but I don't think Byram is signing anything, offer sheet or long term offer, more than 2 years.

TP hired a GM who was unqualified. That same GM imprudently gave out costly long term contracts to players who didn’t deserve such contracts. A more qualified GM would have been smarter in handling player contracts and would have saved money for the parsimonious owner.

Yeah, I just think that's the wrong reading on the situation. $10m isn't moving a needle for Pegula's lifestyle or portfolio. Pegula's net worth is $7B. $10M is .001% of his net worth. To add perspective, for a guy making 35,000 a year, .001% of his income is $35. It's pocket change. It would take a malicious idiot to deny success for his business, customers, and employees based on the perceived benefits of saving so little money when compared to the overall value of his business and portfolio. For all Terry's faults, I don't believe he's a malicious idiot. So why aren't the Sabres spending to the cap if they aren't pinching pennies? It's because they are run by a guy who doesn't believe he has to spend to the cap to win. Adams had made the case several times that he doesn't believe that success comes from spending to the cap. He's stated several times that there are NO constraints from Terry on spending. He's also claimed he knows how to win the Stanley Cup. Terry's problem isn't he's cash poor, his problem is his indefensible loyalty to Kevyn Adams and his incompetence in hiring a legitimate GM for the Sabres.

I ain’t clicking on it. I refuse to give that website any traffic. ***** them.

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.