All Activity

Look at Panthers' management and ownership. See any familiar names? A guy named Campbell, maybe?

But the money has to come from somewhere in your allocation Lets just look at next year, the cap is projected to be about $104 million. -The Sabres have already signed a tad over $38m in forwards, $32m+ in defense, and $7m in goalies. That takes them just over $77m. So $26-$27m left. -Next year Skinner's cap hit is $6.44m. That leaves the team with a shade over $20m to spend. The lesser spots on the roster, Krebs, Malenstyn, and Bryson are all up. Whether you bring them back or not, you are paying them or their replacements. At current they total $3.7m. With the cap going up, its going to be hard to replace them cheaper than they are, so odds are it will be at least what you pay or slightly more. Lets say they get lucky and replace them dollar for dollar at $3.7m. That leaves you with about $16.5m. So, If you want to sign tuch for $11m per year? Lets say $10m per year. At $10m per year, that leaves you with $6.5 m left over. That $6.5m has to be used to sign Benson, Doan, and Kesserling. I don't think you are going to sign those guys long term, or even short term, and get them under $6.5 per year combined. Now I know you can try to trade Quinn, Greenway, maybe even UPL, but if the Sabres WANT to trade them becasue they don't think they are worth it, good luck finding another team that wants to take on those players at their salary. We aren't even considering haveing a little bit of cap money left over in case of injuries next year, or just to keep a bit in reserve to give you flexibility with a trade or free agent signing if someone becomes available that you want. If Tuch re-signs long term at $10m per year or more....it very well might be at the expense of NOT signing Benson, Doan, Kesserling, or more than 1 of them long term. Unless the front office pulls some magic out of a hat, as much as I don't want to see Tuch leave, I'd rather have him leave than sign him to a big deal where he is aging and starting to decline...rather than possibly locking up the younger guys that...so far...are you looking good. Maybe not rushing into a deal is a good thing, give some time to evaluate just how everyone fits in. Tuch currently is the best all-around, most versatile winger on this team. Right now. But his next contract isn't paying him for what he is right now at age 29. You are going to start to pay him at age 30, 31, 32, and likley 33, 34, 35 and beyond. He will NOT be the best all-around winger on this team through the majority of his next deal.

What would you offer?

Tage at 7x7 is an overpay? Might be the best contract in the NHL other than McDavid's 12.5 mil.

I don't care if the cap is going up. Bad teams overpay players. In no world is alex tuch a 8 figure salaried player.. BYE

too bad nobody on the Sabres punched him in the face.

If Benson ever licks an opponent's face, I'll lose all respect for him as I have Marchand. I DGAF how good he is. But that is not Benson and never will be so I ain't worried in the least. As someone posted elsewhere, Benson is Dougie Gilmore more than anyone else currently.

It’s so great to have a day where I can actually think this team could amount to something good. Hope this feeling lasts for a while.

Caught up with the game and post match interviews. They seem to be on track with their identity. Whoever gave Lyon his hat deserves a raise!

That's always disappointing...

It was listed as 16,015.

Refs gonna ref...

What’s incredible to me is the refs didn’t deem it unsportsmanlike.

Everyone is reading way too much into this. It’s really a case of an exploding cap and everyone, other than McDavid wanting to maximize their market value. Kempe and Tuch are almost in this together and my guess is that both will sign for a comparable number. LA has finally gone over $10M so it shouldn’t be too much longer. If you think Tuch is a top three forward, $11M is not out of line.

I can't believe nobody has caught on to the fact they were likely cynically lowballing Tuch trying to take advantage of the fact he's a local guy who would like to stay, he saw right through it, was insulted, and this was his response.

While I would like to see Tuch get re-signed, in no way do I support giving him a blank check and bending over Adams & Pegula.

Doan’s net front and Benson’s playmaking are big differences to the PP.

Josh Doan is also a RFA next year

As a Sabre fan I'm not criticizing any player for being feisty and passionate. When Marchand acts out it is not an act. It's who he is as a player and why he is a winner. Benson is a tamer version of Marchand. And that is a tribute to Benson.

I could use that 5k, if he wants to shred a helmet with the #26 on it I’ll go out and buy 5, 10, 20, and toss 1 to him every game he’s in the penalty box at 5k a helmet. Bettman doesn’t need the cash, I do 🤪

I love Marchand. I hope he never stops doing this stuff. Just glad the Sabres finally got the better of him.

Good. Its not going to stop him at this point in his career, he keeps doing the stuff over and over, so at least its something. (although it should be a bit more)