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I believe they are better because; 1) they will be better defensively 2) UPL will have a shorter leash, and 3) They have plenty of offense, especially if they figure the power play out. They were one of the better 5 on 5 teams, albeit with a high shooting percentage. I think Quinn, Benson, Doan, Kulich, McLeod and Danforth will outscore last years numbers of JJP, Quinn, Benson, Kulich, McLeod and Lafferty All that said, I still want Bryan signed and another top 6 forward (Rust?) brought in.

The numbers around players who go to arbitration and then stay with their team past that season is super low. I assume the numbers around "threatening" arbitration are better if they never actually go. But I'd be very curious to see that broken out. That said, it just makes the whole JBD thing look dumb...again.

I believe he’s correct, and I’d pay Byram. The cap isn’t so bad on the defense side as when we signed Power. I’d pay the term and amount. We can hash out who goes in another couple years, but now, ya, I’d re-sign him.

Kev thinking makes me nervous. Your inference is likely correct, though.

Yep. The hype ain't there because of the Buffalo stink. But in my opinion Dahlin was — at worst — the number 4 D in hockey last year when you look at all the measurables. It's really a shame they've failed to build around that. It's Eichel all over again.

That makes sense if your primary goal is to move the player, or lock him up long-term. Kevyn Adams is hanging on to his job by his fingernails and hasn't found a Byram trade that he thinks makes the team better in 2 months of trying. There's incentive for him to lock Byram in to arbitration, back fill behind him with whatever cap is left over and try make the playoffs, especially if Byram has made it clear he's not signing a long-term deal with Buffalo. If he's wrong, the poison pill will be something for the next GM to deal with. Not filing for arbitration tells me Kev still thinks he can make a trade, or sign Byram to term.

It felt like every other team had some optimism. Of course not Sabres! Yet again come across a joke. It really is insane.

Thanks! Yep.

No offer sheet if team arbitration is chosen. And the ability for the player to pick a two year deal and walk to UFA is pretty much a poison pill. The sense is KA will not take this to arb, which would make your Plan B moot. It also sounds like Bo has no problem being a Sabre - he just wants to be paid. That is the North Star driving all of this, meaning your Plan A would be flawed. Feels like we’re in the same place we have been with trade and offer sheet being the two most likely outcomes. A new potential outcome that has emerged if/when both refuse arbitration is an ugly hold out a la Swayman. What is interesting to think about is what could be holding up the trade. It could very well be Bo and his agent’s stubborn negotiating for a long term, “$9 mill AAV” deal with the accepting team. It could be convincing a vet to drop their NTC/MNTC (I keep coming back to Justin Faulk). Either way, there are certainly other factors that could be at play outside of teams just agreeing on the players involved.

With Bryson’s contract, that’s actually pretty easy to do.

I agree, but Carolina isn't swimming in toughness, size, grit, and wankery. Yet they are consistently among the top 5-6 teams in the NHL. When they lost to the Panthers last year, there was the beginning of "Brind'Amour won't get them over the top" talk. It's crazy. They are 80% Brind'Amour. The Sabres need more of that element, but we need not worry about competing with the Panthers. For now, we just need to bridge the cap between us and Montreal, Ottawa, NJ.

No thanks.

This is just my opinion, but I think this speaks more to how good Dahlin is than it does to how bad the rest of the D is. Dahlin is elite. The rest of the D, mostly, would thrive or be fine in a better system. Dahlin is so good that he rises above; put him on a contender and he is maybe the best there is. It cannot be overstated, how much Dahlin's talent is being wasted.

And Buffalo has been lacking in that for a while. Last season, even in the less-physical 'pest' role (someone to annoy the other team and draw them into penalties), who do the Sabres have? Benson? Krebs, maybe Kozak? Thats about it, not exacly top-of-the-lineup guys.

It was on @GASabresIUFAN fantasy wish list. Be kind and gentle because he’s in a high state of agitation. And be cautious and tread lightly because he can get ornery when told his fantasy wish list will not come to fruition.😀

Of course it's fantasy. Reality has never stopped us from fantasy before.

The Guardians stink this year.

We will know by 5pm today, right? Isn’t July 6th the deadline to file for club elected arbitration?

This is all fantasy. Not one credible source has brought up Kadri as being available.

Center spine of Norris at the 1, Kadri at the 2 Mcloed at the 3 would be very very good, as well Kadri could take first line minute if Norris misses any time we would have to do a consolidation trade of some of your bottom six guys and young guys to clear up some spots and bring a dman to replace Byram but it’s a really good idea, if he will waive

Just looking over some stats regarding Dahlin this past season: -When Dahlin was on the ice, the Team was a +33 in goal differential (+20 in 5-on-5) -When Dahlin wasn't out there, the team was -53 in goal differential (-19 in 5-on-5) Thats not short term, that is over the entire season. When the guy is on the ice, they are a very good team. The difference in goal differential with him out there vs not out there is 86 goals over the season. For comparison, Cale Makar has a 57 goal differential with him out there vs not. For Werenski it was 42. For Quinn Hughes it was 90. For Morrisey it was 20. I think the difference in goals on-vs-off the ice is exaggerated a bit for the bad teams compared to the better teams but still, the Goal differential with him on the ice vs off the ice is the 2nd highest in the league among D-men...and he might have passed Hughes for the highest if he didn't miss those games in the middle of the season.

No team got "Panthered" in the playoffs, more than the Hurricanes. It's interesting to me that they have not made any significant attempt to address the grit-gap between then and Florida (Miller perhaps does this to a minor degree). To me, it speaks to the reality that there really are not that many players in the Tkachuk, Bennett, Marchand mold. It's easy to say that a team needs players like that, but how many of them are there? Somehow, 31 NHL GMs fell asleep and let Zito acquire 3 of them.

I'm down for getting Weegar in here .. I missed on Ehlers, again, but maybe the Sabres will trade Bo(hemian) for him. WEEGAR !! 😎