All Activity

I like Byram, I like the look of the defence right now, and see this getting us closer to adding a Rust or someone similar while keeping that D. So I like it in that context. I just wish I was more confident they will be able to make that moves if they want to. If you look at all the excess cap space around the league, there will be a lot of teams looking for Rakells and the price will be high.

Yep. Left after my post and didn’t pick up this thread and see your follow-up until now. Short version: it’s not the arb decision itself pissing you off, it’s the mounting evidence that this is turning into a squandered opportunity to make the team better? Absolutely fair, if so, particularly in the context of your low opinion of Byram.

The thing is, a short term deal vis arb is going to come in a lot lower than he wants. The Miller contractor 7.5 million per year, but it buys up a lot of UFA years. These are only RFA years we’re talking about which are less valuable in terms of contract comp. so he will probably come in under that with an award, and I’m sure that’s not what he’s looking for with his injury history. also, not being too on the nose, he had a chance to do the same thing yesterday and declined to do it. Therefore, it does not seem the path that he wanted to take… For those saying the Sabres are doing a dumb thing. He must’ve thought it advantageous to not be in the situation that he is now in.

I went to the Jays/Guardians game in Cleveland a week or so ago

No idea, and I am not inclined to expand upon one of an uncountable number of possibilities and run with that to some conclusion. It’s literally fiction.

Do a lot of people from the American side of the border go to Blue Jay games?

I'm going against the analytics but I believe (maybe naively) that Quinn will surprise a lot of people. He's been plagued with injuries that have set him back. If he can turn out to be what was expected of him when he was a good prospect in Rochester, then maybe that will plug a gaping roster hole. A couple of years ago, I thought he was a better prospect than JJP. Entering the season, there are a number of "what if" questions that need to be answered. Will Benson, Kulich, Power and Quinn make a quantum leap? Maybe. The biggest issue for me is the goaltending. If it can be at a consistently solid level, then we should be in the mix for a fringe playoff spot. Just maybe.

When he spent money, he did it foolishly. And when he didn't spend money, he foolishly didn't spend. He's run a mistake riddled operation because he has run a mistake riddled operation. The onus is on him. The franchise is a failure because he is a failure. He's a self-sabotaging stubborn man. I'm so tired of him.

Pegula came in guns blazing when he took over too. Unfortunately he was stuck buying out the second tier guys after the top would be agents chose to either stay home or go somewhere else. He spent on the likes of Leino, Ehrhoff, and Okposo. He tried, but he got the wrong people. Then something changed along the way and the purse strings tightened. Only time will tell if Utah is heading on the right path.

He’ll be rewarded 6.5 or 7mil by arbitration would be my guess. He certainly won’t get 8 or 9 mil AAV, especially if he asks for 2 years.

1/2 of the arbitrators are selected by the union and 1/2 are selected by the league. They alternate in getting to choose dates and arbitrators.

So then why hasn’t a trade been made yet? Aside from SJS and Philly, the other teams apparently interested in Byram are playoff teams not looking to subtract from their present roster. Adams wants NHLers and those playoff teams are unlikely to either have the cap space or present pieces to make a deal. I highly doubt Adams has 5 great offers on the table of NHL players and is sitting on his hands for the sake of it. Less actual evidence and more the general threat of one would be my guess.

When the new owner took over he didn’t have a high end roster. He’s doing things the right way to have a successful franchise. Compare that to Terry P. who has presided over a flailing franchise for a full generation? The Utah operation under their new owner is already so much more professionally run than the Sabre franchise is under the ownership of Terry P.

I always thought arbitrators tend to favor the players.

That's because Friedman gets his into fed to him by player agents but that's not what he's going to get in arbitration and not what the Sabres offered or he'd be signed.

Who was this offer sheet coming from? 4 things: 1) You need all your own pick next year to make one. 2) You have to be a team that is confident you will make the playoffs next year and have enough cap space to fit Byram’s salary in. 3) Next year is the McKenna draft. No team with a lot of cap space is going to risk handing their unprotected first to Buffalo and watch them win the lottery with it and draft McKenna. 4) Sabres aren’t in a Cap crunch so they can match the offer. The offer sheet was made up by Byram’s agent and spoon feed to Dreger to release publicly. Notice that all the other insiders disputed that one would come.

Sabres elected arbitration?

I agree they're doing things right. But let them make the playoffs first.

I was basing the $9MM figure from a 32 Thoughts pod where they were guessing Byram's next deal. They felt that's his worth.

Sabres just don't make moves like this. They just don't.

Well of course he does. He's better than those stiffs but you aren't going to build a winning team and culture with these sort of temporary fixes. Now I have heard Byram wanted 9 million and no way do I think we should have paid that, but I'd rather have traded him and made moves to fill that void. Orlov or somebody could have been signed to temporarily fill the Byram hole if Adams was on the ball. The way this is trending I think it will all fall apart within 2 years.

If he continues to run the franchise in the same manner that he has already run it during his tenure, then the franchise will continue to sputter along. So far this off-season I haven’t seen any urgency or appreciable difference in how he has been operating. I find his casual behavior to be odd.

Fan fiction.

It's funny how everybody says that about everybody who leaves and yet they keep leaving. The team is NOT committed to winning and it shows. That's the difference. Utah at least appears like it will do everything it can to get better. When have we felt that way about the Sabres? Players know this.

I'm good with 3 years of Byram in exchange for 6 months of Mitts. At this point, I think Byram on defense makes us better than Ryan Johnson or Bryson or more minutes for Samuelsson