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The other option we haven't really seen explored (JBD skated 13:55 minutes with Byram) last season, would be to go full #1 and just trade (or buy out) Samuelsson. The problem is -- you're replacing a semi-experienced PKer (Muel --- even though they stunk with Muel on the PK) with another young guy because you can't afford a veteran if Byram gets a sizeable contract. Power - Dahlin Byram - JBD Johnson - Clifton (Bryson) I don't like this approach, but if there's anyone who can bring out the best in Power, it's the guy who makes everyone look good. The sustained times we saw Power-Dahlin was trailing late in the 3rd and with an empty net (they had a 69.3 Corsi For% together which is good, but 5 GF and 8 GA together, which is bad, but empty-netters would've accounted for most of the latter. Edit: Yup. Dahlin-Power together with their goalie pulled 0 GF, 3 GA. Byram-Dahlin together with the goalie pulled 3 GF, 5 GA, so at least it worked a few times.

I have no issue with "redundant" talent on the roster. For me, the concern with the defensive structure is the average age. They are simply too young. The D needs to get older and more responsible.

Let’s say we choose to keep Byram for this upcoming season. He won’t sign a long term contract but he won’t want to sit a year, right? Is that when it would go to arbitration? Is he likely to get paid big if he does? I say keep him unless some team is willing to overpay. Worst case we suck again next year and we trade him at the deadline.

Read this entire thread and you will get an idea that some fans appreciate his play more than others. I fall in line with you that he was a win in terms of trade, but it never translated to wins for Buffalo as a team. The argument to trade (adding on to what Steve wrote) is the Sabres not only paid Power, but also overpaid Samuelsson and Clifton. They have, going into the offseason $28m committed to the blue line and they still don’t have a veteran to pair with Power. If you pay Byram $8m+, then you would have ~$2m more than any other team in the league on Defense and unless you can somehow trade for the stabilizing force to help Owen and remove both contracts of Samuelsson and Clifton (call it $7.8m), then you have the top paid Defensive unit in the league. But are they better? I fall into the category of trying to extricate three players - Mule, Clifton and one of Power or Byram. Rasmus can play either side so it frees you up to trade for a L/R player that is hard nosed and a top PK guy. Then another similar stay at home defender to play alongside Power/Byram. If the third pairing is JBD and say Novikov (entry level) your cap is aligned and balanced. Lastly, the handedness of the D makes it challenging to keep Byram. Left hand D - Dahlin, Byram, Power, Samuelsson, Bryson, and waiting in the wings, Novikov and Johnson.

Well, yes. People keep making it out that you have to get rid of one of Power or Byram because with them there are 3 offensive D-men on the team while wanting 2 Offensive, 2 2-way, and 2 Defensive D-men COMPLETELY overlooking the fact that Dahlin IS the team's best DEFENSIVE defenseman. He is the DEFINITION of a 2 way defenseman. Keep the "big 3" D-men; bring in another top 4 guy (ideally someone that allows Dahlin to fully unleash his offensive game; but if that doesn't work out, his offensive game is still pretty darn good when paired with Byram) and if Bernard-Docker plays well enough to also effectively be a top 4 guy, well then you've actually got a good thing in having 5 guys that can all be top 4 with one able to eat up 25+ minutes a night and 2 others able to eat up over 22 minutes per night. Your 6 can be darn near anyone at that point: Clifton, one of the Ra-cha-cha kids, a FA you pick up off the street for a particular usage (PK, toughness, whatever), or even the undersized Bryson (NOT this kid's preference btw by any stretch of the imagination) and it doesn't really matter. He won't get enough ice time to have HIS weaknesses fully exposed. If both Samuelsson's and Clifton's contracts are gone, you CAN afford all 3 of the "big 3." Whether Dahlin is paired with Byram or you're giving him a more defensive partner and letting Byram and Power run the 2A and 2B pairings; it SHOULD work. And ideally having Kekaliainen in the room saying WTF are you weakening this part of the team that was already weak might cause somebody with decision making authority to ask that same question. And IF Byram going out the door ends up being the grease that gets Robertson IN the door, well, then there is a logic to weakening this part of the team that was already weak as there can be other opportunities to bolster it.

I don't want Rust. Rakell would be OK, but that's just Tuch insurance. Getting Rakell means Tuch walks next summer and I think that's a significant downgrade to the roster. Now -- Rakell, plus a trade return for Tuch might be an improvement-- but that'd be very dependent on the return. Sheevyn is not a skilled GM, but I think you can take solace in that I don't think he needs to be worried about his job. He listens to Pegula and that's all that he needs to do to stay involved at the highest level within this organization.

Bridge all the RFAs to two-year deals; get a Tuch extension in place. Get past the Skinner $6M hit season. Move upstairs to a cushy POHO gig with a nice salary. Let the next GM sort it all out in 2027, so long as the kudos go to the all-powerful Sheevyn. Ride that Power Timeline. Power will turn 25 in November 2027 and be entering his prime, and he'll be better defensively and more Powerful than any of us on the Power Play. Appert will unlock his true Concept of the Cup. It is unavoidable. I have foreseen it.

We shall see. You know what my position is that he won't. We'll just have to wait and see. What I can say is that this is an intriguing offseason. I expect some action here once the SC is concluded and draft day approaches. With the addition of the experienced former GM added to the organization, I see things happening. I still contend that the goalie position is the biggest issue to address.

This is just my opinion, I don't see him on the roster when the season starts. And my sense is that he doesn't want to be here because he sees himself in a Dahlin role that is already assumed by Dahlin.

Well, all of this is going to play out in the next month or so. Again, if Byram won’t extend long-term, then he should be moved for the best return possible.

He doesn't have a current contract. He's a restricted free agent, he's not under contract, we just retain the right to sign him. I suppose if he refuses to sign he gets offer sheets which we can match or he goes to arbitration where I think Buffalo can select a 2yr deal. But there's no current contract to ride out.

This is my fear. While there have been no real credible rumours this off-season, the two things that have been whispered are: - Byram to San Jose for pieces with the big piece being #30 overall; and - We are interested in Rakell or Rust from Pittsburgh and they like Helenius. I look at those two scenarios and see us trading maybe the best player right now in Byram, who is only 24 and plays a position where it is hard to find really good players, and the best future asset in Helenius who might be a middle 6 NHL centre, for an older winger with depreciating skills and value and a late 1st in a not strong draft. I know these things haven’t happened. And I know I have advocated for acquiring Rust. But these would be, in my view, the desperate moves of a man trying to save his job and not the calculated moves of a skilled GM.

Alas if only there was a top shelf NHL coach available with no coaching vacancies to fill league wide at the moment….oh wait.

You made the crushing point in a previous post that because of this franchise's extended history of ineptitude, this franchise isn't an appealing place to come to or be locked into for a long time. And as you searingly noted, it did it to itself. When you shoot yourself in the foot it is difficult to run a race. What happens if he refuses to sign a new deal and rides out his current contract?

He has no contract.

Ruff benched Benson for taking a penalty while the rest of the team plays defense like trash. Ruff is a fake tough guy coach and he's unfair. As always and has been repeatedly said here, depends what we trade him for. If it's Robertson, sweet.

Why do we always have to trade our better players? I guess we just can’t have nice things.

Certainly we would need to lock up Byram before considering a Power trade. Of course if Byram is dead-set against staying in Buffalo, then he should be moved.

Do you think that Byram would sign a 4-5 year deal when waiting another year he would be an UFA when the cap gets bigger? My sense is that Byram is willing to bet on himself and ride out his current contract. Then he would have more teams bidding for him.

It's not certain either way who is going to be the better player. But that issue is somewhat neutralized because Dahlin's style of play overlaps Byram's style of play, and he is better. Byram wants to be a #1 defenseman and a #1 on the PP unit. With the Sabres, he is bumped from that top role because Dahlin assumes it. The one issue that tilts the situation in his favor with his current team is his contract status. After a year, he's in control of his destiny in where he wants to be and whether his contract aspirations will be met. In my view, it would make little sense to jettison Power for Byram unless he is locked up with a long-gilded contract. I just don't see it making sense for Byram to bind himself up with this franchise when he will have better options in the not-too-distant future.

Doomscrolling has become popular.

So true. Benson is an outlier who is simply a good 200ft player. Benson would have good d-metrics in any system because he is defensively responsible and committed. The narrative a year ago was that players were craving structure and accountability. Adams and Pegula see Ruff as the sort of old school coach that demands from players what they perceive to have been missing; but a closer examination would have allowed them to conclude that Ruff hasn’t been that coach for some time (if he ever truly was). This team needed a Hynes or an Evason.

I think that's right? He's arbitration eligible, I know that. I'd sign him to a 4-5yr deal.

I respect this. I just think Byram is a better player now and their respective ages, skills, and personalities, make it far from a certain thing that Power is the better long-term player.

I'm dead set against trading Power over signing Byram to an extended contract, which I doubt will happen. If Byram believes that he is a #1 defender, then his AAV will be in the $8 M plus range or even more as the cap goes up. I don't believe Byram wants to sign a long-term contract here. (My opinion) From a contract standpoint, his best approach will be to ride out his contract and then pursue an even bigger contract as the cap goes up. The best response for the front office would be to trade him this offseason and get the best deal that they can get. What will the return be? I'm not sure. But there should be multiple teams interested in acquiring him so the return should be reasonable enough. I want to be clear that I like Byram as a player a lot. But sometimes what a player wants and what the organization wants to do don't mesh with each other's best interest. If we use him as a chip to get a different type of defenseman and we upgrade the goalie position, those transactions would be substantive roster upgrading acts.