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The highlighted sentence is a succinct summarization of the Skinner saga. The GM took a big risk signing a goal scorer on a long-term contract. It didn't work out as hoped. The problem wasn't the large amount of money he was paid as it was the length of the contract. To state the obvious, bad decisions lead to bad consequences. All GMs make bad decisions. No GM is immune from such miscalculations. The problem with the Sabres is that they don't make enough good decisions to compensate for the decisions that don't work out. Because of the caliber of our decision-makers and the financial restrictions they have to work under, there is less margin of error.

Exactly. And “free persons” makes no distinction on citizenship. There are numerous outdated terms in the Constitution but outdated or not, the SCOTUS will decide.

For the harder core fans, you are correct. For many of the casual fans, and kids who go to the games that might be bored of staring at the action on the ice, that stuff matters. Ideally you get both. Winning is MORE improtant, but the other stuff matters to many of the casual fans.

No. The Sabres decided that Skinner didn't fit in with the direction they wanted to move. Had he not had a full NMC they SHOULD have been able to trade him without having to pay out $6MM of the $9MM he was due each of the remaining years on his deal. Botterill took a risk that he'd be worth $72MM over 8 years. He wasn't. BF-LTIR had nothing to do with rhe situation. He wasn't eligible for it and he qouldn't have been eligible for it. And should the Sabres have tried to put him on BF-LTIR, he would've filed a grievance he would've won. The Sabres miggt even have been caught up in cap circumvention on top of it.

Truth

What it excludes are "Indians not taxed and three fifths of all other persons." What it includes is "free Persons, including those bound to service for a term of years." Those terms seem outdated. Tens of millions of illegal immigrants was not a concern back then. I don't believe a favorable Supreme Court ruling is the slam dunk you think it is.

I think this is a great point... certainly not the players... it would have to be the minority of owners who feel like they cant compete.. or others who hate that they are constricted in their GMing because of these things... but again to your point, I cannot see them dying on this hill as a collective group... so the only way that I see something like this happening is if the NHL itself decides that it is not good for the overall competitiveness of the league... and good luck with that... but I wasnt talking likelihood more what people thought.

Again, the Supreme Court will have final say when the Constitutionality of this proposed new law is challenged. And I’m not certain that even a majority GOP-led Congress and will be unanimous as excluding non-citizens from the census is a direct violation of Article 1, Section 2.

I'm not sure I would say no risk. Had Skinner not had a NMC, the Sabres could have (in theory) ate 50% of his contract and attached a pick or prospect to trade him to any team in the league who would take him. That would have got them out of the dead-cap situation in 3 seasons instead of the 6 seasons that the buyout will apply to; and they would have avoided the worst of the buyout seasons ($6.44 million next season).

Do we even know what the LTIR rules will be next year? I don’t remember hearing of the players actually accepted the deal yet so that the details could start to come out.

Boasberg ruling vacated https://amp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/08/08/politics/boasberg-criminal-contempt-trump-immigration?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From %1%24s&aoh=17546688721971&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2025%2F08%2F08%2Fpolitics%2Fboasberg-criminal-contempt-trump-immigration

That the LTIR rules mean there is no risk to adding a NMC to a player contract.

Oooooh-kaaaay. What does that have to do with NMCs?

I mean at least you put “boat” in there so people like me, who still view anchors as a good thing, get clarity.

Does anyone care anymore? This team lit its fans base on fire. Why does anyone care what amenities have changes when the important things still haven’t been addressed?

This is kind of a weird topic as this stuff is negotiated through the CBA. Who would advocate for the fan’s desires in the CBA negotiating period? The players? ***** no. The owners? Laughable. I’m just not sure how we as fans would have any say in this at all.

I guess we’d need to have locker room access to correct disposition everyone’s hardness. Some guys really do love hockey. I’ll borrow a quote from MLB: “When they played together on the Cubs, Mark Grace once noticed Maddux walking around the pitching mound in a very strained, uncomfortable manner. Fearing his teammate was hurt, Grace approached the mound, only to find Maddux in an state of obvious physical excitement, the kind normally reserved for passionate endeavors. “Man, you really do love to pitch,” Grace marveled.”

Good - the place is in massive need of major overhaul. The physical seats are garbage, there are 0 sightlines from any concourses outside the 200s. The TV's around the stadium are probably 10-15 year old pieces of junk. The pre-game on ice production is terrible. The circle around the stadium is small and difficult to see. It feels like it's basement lighting. Peeling paint. Dust. Just an absolutely soul-less place that reflects about as much care as the team they put on the ice. I sat in the front row behind the goalie - there's a gap between the bleachers and the boards, a hole in the wall so they can run an extension cord for the goal light, and the seat bottom dips forward. My back shouldn't hurt from going to a hockey game. Also no freaking cups fit in the cup holders! Not a 20 oz soda, not a beer can, not a draft beer. Nothing. It's insanity! The other major overhaul I'd like to see is with the MSG production - it has gotta be the worst TV produced hockey in the league. Terrible angles. Dark. Sound is consistently off, and quiet. Like i hear the annoucers more than the action. And nothing takes me out of a game more than hearing a post clang like a second after it happened on the ice. Ok, rant over :-). I feel better.

There's like no risk anymore with them, if they get hurt you get the space back from LTIR. Who cares if the guy can't play the last 2 years of his deal? I'll just get another guy. The only risk is if they play poorly, and that your roster is largely locked.

Not to my knowledge, no. I would imagine congress republicans can push it through and we know that Trump will sign it. Trump didn't have a bill in 2020. If it gets through the republican congress, and i think we all believe it will, Trump will sign it into law. Carter made the mid decade census lawfull. This happening is a real possibility.

Oh. And football one day away 🫶🏼

Bump its Friday!!!

Well, ultimately, for this part of the debate, the sales pitch was an upgrading of the 4th line from Girgs, Krebs, Okposo and what they did instead was toss away a 2nd round draft pick and add two stiffs in Lafferty and Kubel who didn't even last a season. Just another example of why the team doesn't get better. So this year we added some guys BUT we also subtracted some and thus it seems unlikely we are any better yet again.

Trump tried to have non-citizens discounted in 2020 by adding a citizenship question to the census but the SCOTUS did not agree and he will face the same challenge this time around. Bottom line is that it would take a Constitutional amendment to Article 1, Section 2 to have non-residents discounted in a census.