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Bro.

It ALL depends on the return. And as Adams only got 75-80% value for Peterka, see no reason to expect he'll get full value for either player. Would rather have 100% of Bryam's value and 75% of Samuelsson's value as the team tries to make the playoffs for the 1st time in 1-1/2 decades than 100% of Samuelsson's value and 75% of Byram's value. Though by having Bryam go out the door, there will be additional cash in the owners' pockets to not be spent on extending the Sabres own FAs nor adding anybody else's. So, from ownership's perspective there is a value to making Byram the trade piece. And as have stated elsewhere, will believe that they're going to use any savings from trading away / buying out players the minute they actually use those savings and not 1 minute sooner. Like Pete Townsend wrote and Roger Daltry sang - "won't get fooled again, whoa no."

Washington got Logan Thompson and Charlie Lingren for miniscule prices. I would be very receptive to trading UPL to get a more experienced goalie added to the roster. As you point out, with goalies there are no guarantees of consistency of play on a year-to-year basis. But with Levi in the system I would be less reluctant to move UPL to get more consistent play from that critical position. I also agree with you that the success of the goalie is inextricably linked to team defense.

Kicks off at noon eastern today.

Samuelsson has a lot in common with one type of NHL archetype.....the IR

Certainly isn't ppl spelling his name correctly.

The NFL 1st round gives 10 actual minutes (used to be 15) between picks. The NHL clock is 3 minutes but it starts whenever they feel like.

Your view makes sense. However, Byram has more value on the market than Samuelsson does. And getting Byram signed to a long-term contract here is going to be a challenge considering what the player will seek financially and role-wise. I thought that after the non-intervention incident when Samuelsson ended being sent to the suite that he stabilized his game and played soundly. It just seems more likely that dealing Byram with an add on or two can bring us back a top six forward or another thumper for the blueline. We shall see.

So what's more likely with Byram at this point? A trade or a bridge deal?

My goodness, what a joke this is turning into. A worn out lazy joke.

Okay. But you can count consistent goalies on one hand, and teams don't trade them. So what you have to do is play better defense.

But none are ready now.

Mrtka needs to add more physicality but he's already got more than Power. He also seems far more aware of that element than Power even is today.

Always liked the kid not sure what the coaches saw to make him part time I am sure it was something

The best hope for these young draft picks is for the team to be able to see some success in getting to the playoffs the next couple of years and getting a series win or two. That will create additional energy and drive in them to improve and move up to the NHL with the Sabres. still need a goalie or two and still need to add another player / forward with real quality.

You can tell i am jaded after all of these years reality is kids 18 let's see he does have size you can't teach but all to often we get these size players like we have mentioned and they are just not the nasty aggressive hard to play against type we want. This kid isn't coming out with a narrative that says that. So I assume the worst but I need to back off on the assumption and wait for it to play out... bottom line is I am not colored inspired with this pick and am more concerned with the direction of the FO in making it... like do they see we need more ass$*les ? Time will tell

Yes I know this and have said it before for sure... I think my sentiment was if they are in active shoe string mode that's bad if they are in gather money to try and take a big swing then good the difference is in the attitude not the result. Bottom line is one big hit doesn't change it all... they need consistent transformative positive change in attitude toughness and skill as well as experience

Being constantly negative is exhausting. For a long time, the Sabres have been an irrelevant NHL team. Just maybe, the tide might be changing into a more positive spot. I really believe that if the front office handles this offseason smartly, it will inch up the ranks from irrelevancy to respectability. One step at a time moving forward instead of backward.

One of the many that makes this team really easy to root for.

ESPN’s pre-draft take: 12. Radim Mrtka, D, Seattle (WHL) A 6-6, right-handed defenseman with decent mobility who plays in all situations has scouts very excited, and he could be the second defenseman drafted on Friday. He's very difficult to get around, routinely thwarting attackers in their tracks and killing plays. He projects as a top-four, shutdown defenseman because of his excellent stick work, mobility and transition defense. Mrtka uses his mobility to escape pressure, activate in the rush and make quality passes to the middle of the ice. Mrtka should develop into a strong transition defender, a reliable penalty killer and efficient puck mover. He shoots the puck hard and could become more of a scoring threat if he can pick his spots to get pucks through. While everything flowed through him in Seattle, there are well-placed concerns about his lack of offense. His size and physicality give him the tools to develop into a minute-munching, shutdown defender if his mobility continues to progress. His late birthday gives him lots of development runway to refine his skating, offensive playmaking, and physicality in all areas of the ice.

Can we stop this? He's 18, he's in a foreign country speaking a dif language and half this thread is about him not smiling enough? Y'all sounds like a creepy redneck telling the waffle house waitress to smile more.

On the Byram points. The only argument against the metrics point I have is that it is a big challenge to play with Byrson and Clifton or even Power and help carry them. Maybe the metrics are right but there a lot of permutations that I question about using them to write a player off. In the D zone he is better at defending the rush, (makes good use of his speed to get back and drive attackers wide) than playing in a box and pushing out or blocking shots. A lot of times the results of defending around the net depend on the communication with the other players on the ice. The Sabres in general had a problem with this. It could be a Lindy thing but not knowing what the other player is going to do will have you make mistakes or make you cover for theirs. If nothing else Byram seems more than willing to work on his flaws and certainly has the skill set to improve. In the O zone I don't think he is a better pure shooter than Power or Dahlin but I might be the best passer on the team, especially on the breakouts. Playing next to Dahlin he was expected to be more stay at home guy which limits his chances to score. He did not rotate down behind the net very often. He also had limited power play time limiting his scoring. At 246 games he is right in the zone to take a big step forward. Where ever he ends up playing I am pretty confident he will be very good.

My God it is depressing to watch this organization. This kid looks like he already wants to be traded. I guess you can’t blame him.

That 400 billion will be paid by consumers. So you'll have trumps tax bill taking money from the ppl and giving it to his rich friends and then his tariffs doing the same thing. That 400 billion in revenue will be paid by you.

There's a good chance he destroys the WHL this season and makes everything look good. His 35pts in 43 games is good for 55pts in a full 68 game season. Really curious to see how he improves after dragging that Seattle team to relevance and logging Dahlin level minutes. Give him a couple more years in the WHL and then some ncaa or AHL time. If he gets stronger and adds more physical play, he's got tons of upside. Now go draft some forwards.