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If we take on a bad contract, then what's the point of making the deal. The financial handcuffs are still on. It would still hurt the ability to get a Byram deal or deal for another upper tier player.

Quite simply, Buffalo may have to take on a bad contract in return to get rid of Muel

I don't see it happening. The issue isn't so much the return as it is another team willing to take on the contract. And an interesting question is whether the coach has such a jaundiced view of him as many here do? I'm not so sure he is as negative about him as many people think. We shall see.

His only other leverage would be to publicly state "I don't want to be a Sabre anymore" to test Adams' "we only want guys that want to be here" rhetoric. And even Adams can't be so stupid as to Larry Quinn himself into a move. ("We will match ANY offer Thomas Vanek receives." Idjit.)

David ####ing Clarkson was tradable. EVERYBODY is tradable. The contract will lower the value of the return. But he's not a guy that doesn't belong in the NHL. And don't discount the "the Sabres have no idea how to use anybody" factor being figured in on how much value he'd bring to another team.

I found that funny as well. Isn't "compete" Carter Bear's best attribute? I haven't (and won't) do my usual deep dive into this draft, but Bear seems like the right choice for the Sabres at 9 unless something crazy happens early in the draft.

I’m on PST and it’s an hour drive to work one way.

With Samuelsson's contract, is he tradeable? I have never diminished Byram's talent. I consider him a first pairing caliber of blueliner. My sense is that Byram would prefer being somewhere else where he would be the blueliner who is the #1 player on the unit. And it appears that the organization and player recognize that he is going to be dealt. Sometimes what appears to be doesn't turn out to be; and sometimes what appears to be does turn out to be. KA has made a lot of personnel and salary mistakes. His misapplication and judgment in handling contracts have boxed this franchise options in their options in reworking the roster. (As you noted.)

Sure. Ten first round picks plus their 3 best roster players.

For everyone complaining about the lopsided officiating, did you not see the high stick before the 3rd Florida goal? McDavid or not, a cup for Edmonton is not in Bettman's best interest. It won't grow the game much more in Canada, and it certainly won't grow the game in the US compared to what a repeat for FLA would. It's just the same thing we see every year... Don't expect anything but the most blatent penalties to be called late in a Cup Final game... And if you're not coaching your team to play with this in mind, you're doing it wrong.

Take a half day at most. Nothing will happen until after noon.

It's exciting for sure, but before you dig into your PTO, remember we don't get to see them play until training camp. I'm excited too since this would have been my son's draft year and he's played with or against a lot of the Ontario and US kids (he wasn't quite big/good enough to play major junior). But with all the lead up, I'm expecting to feel a bit of the "now what?" feeling once it's all over.

I might just take this day off. I’m genuinely excited to see what the Sabres do. KA better not screw this up.

Even Seravalli explicitly stopped short of saying Peterka won't re-sign. The fact of the matter that seems to get forgotten in the hype and recent trend of locking young players up long-term is that Peterka has no arbitration rights and is under Sabre control for another 4 years. the team has the hammer. He can sign an offer sheet and risk the Sabres matching. Or he can hold out. Not sure he has any other leverage here if he actually wants to move.

Hegseth admitting to having contingency plans for invasion is just one indication. The first clues were laid bare when the director of the NSA was fired and the longtime deputy director resigned. Since then, every intelligence agency has been ramping up spying efforts on Greenland as well. The idea of invading a fellow NATO territory is anathema to everything we stand for as a country. Why am I not surprised that MAGA scum voices are silent?

Another reason is that Byram’s metrics have been relatively terrible outside of a small cherry picked collection of games unreflective of the lions share of underlyings which accurately reflect the poor player he has been - and that his play here hasn’t been as good as Casey’s was this is Bowen Byram

No shame in being the Ekblad, the Sergachev or the Guy Lapointe. I hope they can get something done.

All this is why I don’t think they trade him without getting a significant return. They would prefer to keep him but he would like to be traded and not because he hates it here or doesn’t like the team’s direction. He wants to be the man and doesn’t see that as likely as long as Dahlin and Power are here. My feeling is that Buffalo would love to sign him to an extension.

Is there any actual evidence Peterka wants to leave and won’t resign? Or is this all speculation based on that Frank Seravalli halfwit’s ramblings.

And Zito already has the "he'll never live up to that full contract" Bobrovsky deal as a counter example. Through year 7, they sure seem to be regretting that one. Not.

And the biggest reason to have not liked the Bryram for Mittelstadt trade at the time was he was ~21 years old when he was brought in. He's now actually finally close to his prime and SHOULD be ready to start putting it all together like most high pedigree D do around his current age. Once again we'll have suffered through the growing pains and let somebody else reap the rewards of having him in the window you actually want him in.

This. So much this.

Personally, am expecting the next results of the next 30 days or so worth of wheeling and dealing to be significantly underwhelming and also expect to dislike the net effect of all the moves. (But will likely talk myself into believing it isn't that bad by the time October 5 or so rolls around. 😢 ) But, if, at the end of that span either the top 6 F's and G are better on paper than they were today or the top 4D and G are better on paper than they are today; will have to consider that a win. Don't have a lot of hope all 3 will be better on paper a month from now. And have 0 hope the coaching will be better then than now.

“Byram is terrible” as an argument is, well, terrible. If you’re talking performance he’s in the top half of the league, if you’re talking toolbox he’s in the top 1/4. He is the Sabres 2nd-best defenceman. There are 3 good arguments for trading him: he wants a role that may not be available to him; he wants a contract that may be an overpay for the role he will play; he has trade value that could be used to improve the team in other areas. You have control over him for 2 years. You run the risk of arbitration or an offer sheet taking you down a path you’d rather not take, but none of those options result in untenable situations. It’s a complicated situation but it’s not “bad” in and of itself. He has value both as a player and as an asset and you have flexibility in how you choose to proceed. So you determine his contract demands, you determine his trade market, you consider the other roster options you have available. I believe they have decided to trade him and that the return will likely make the current roster worse. But it may also create the space for other moves that will lead to an overall improvement. I don’t have confidence that will be the case; I think Bo’s best years are ahead of him and I predict many “he wasn’t that good in Buffalo” posts in the future.