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My why is simple, he doesn't play hockey how I think the Sabres should. Maybe not a good reason but it's how I feel. It hurts the defense in the short term. Mrtka impo will make Power expendable but that's 2years away.

Some context is needed. When Mitts left Buffalo it was in a season where many of our scorers had been injured. I think when he left his rank in NHL scoring was over 100 so best of a bad situation. I posted this before but I was following an Avs. board quite a bit and the best description I found said he was an east west player on a north south team. I think the other situation is that he is a much better player along the wall than he is in front of the net. Granato was the key to his play. The best thing he does is gain and maintain the puck. When he is playing well he distributes the puck nicely but he can go into streaks of bad turnovers. That is the kind of thing that gets him on the bench. I haven't seen the Boston Mitts too much but he would seem to be a better fit for teams that are more about puck control than run and gun so you would think it was a better spot for him. There has been no injury that I am aware of. It's just the regression to where he was in systems and rolls that don't fit his game.

does it really though? he's getting to the point where what he is... is what he is. he has shown no inclination towards changing in a way that will allow him to be better on our side of the rink. if he had shown any willingness to engage to this point, I would say that this would be a bad idea. but I just haven't seen it yet. I'm starting to lean towards trading because I think his value is going to quickly depreciate as the luster of being the number 1 overall pick wears off.

Yes, and I said this same thing several times. I do not recall Xhekaj or any other guy on Montreal playing in fear either. What I recall is Thompson out there playing without a playmaker, which is the wrong way to utilize him.

It certainly is premature. As you yourself stated, he has a lot of value around the league. If that is the case, then why get rid of a talent that will shine for another team and leave a big hole that will need to be filled. Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing that we don't need more Doan and Benson type players on this roster. But it makes little sense to deal off a hard to replace defenseman whose return will not come close to the value sent packing. And why do it now when his probable partner is ready to return to the lineup? And as you and others have stated on many occasions: Why would you have our shallow GM making any deal, especially when he is in a position of weakness? Hard no for me.

There is a 0.0% chance Owen Power is traded. Adams doesn’t have the guile or stones to pull it off. Also, anytime I utter something into the interwebs, I’m usually quickly thwarted as the exact opposite happens. Here’s hoping…

The Sabres should find a way to pry Nathan Gaucher out of Anaheim. He's the type of middle 6 player that we need developing. I'd be willing to send Quinn for Gaucher and a 2nd. Is that to rich? Maybe, Anaheim might bulk but they have forwards and we could add a rhd from the prospects to help. Obviously not Mrtka.

I think we hang on to him, let him play with Kesselring for awhile and see what happens. We don't even know what we have with Kesselring yet, so it is too soon for me to trade Power. Until Power hits 24-25 we wont know what his ceiling really is. On top of that I do not want Adams trading Power, his track record is not good enough and I want him out.

It depends on the compensation, if we get a bottom pair Dman and top 6 forward back I'd take it. As I'll admit think Power is the poster child (next to Cozens) of guys who got paid way to early in their careers and have hurt this team more than helped.

The team isn't good enough. We need more Benson and Doan types. I don't think Power is going to change his style enough and I think a 40-50pt defender of his size will have a lot of value around the league. If we move on, it hurts the defense but we could get a haul for him that might save the season. Is this premature? I don't think so but I think there will be a lot of varied opinions here.

I responded to this earlier, but after last night we have proof this happens. Ruff had Geertsen and Dunne in the lineup over Östlund. Östlund is clearly the better player and should have played as the Sabres needed his speed and playmaking to compete with the Habs. Ruff should have the inserted Östlund as the 3rd line center and dropped Krebs to the 4th line with Kozak and Dunne.

The league changes and then you see it. The top teams all have a very physical aspect to the roster, the ones that have the least amount do not win the Cup. Winning the Cup is about talent, unity, and survival of the fittest.

No, the $20M available does not count Tuch’s current contract and like someone else pointed out, Skinner’s buyout is $6.4M. However, there are easy ways to pay Tuch, Benson, Doan and Kesserling if that is what you want to do.

Skinner is 6.4 next year. He's 4.4 this year.

Everything I see shows Skinner's numbers accelerating next year to 6.44..for one year. I got my numbers from cap wages also.... I looked just that next year. That also doesn't include Tuchs current contract. Unless their data is incorrect... But I don't think it is because they've had those numbers out for quite some time now. I'll double check when I have a chance later... But my initial post about this a couple days ago was partially in response to another person who came up with the same numbers I did.

Benson is absolutely a pleasure to watch play, especially because he's our guy. Less of a connection because he's so new to us, but I think you'll agree, Doan has been equally fun to watch.

I partly agree. Until Adams and Ruff are gone we are not making significant progress on a sustained basis. From that angle, it’s not worth fretting over. I do think that Dahlin and Thompson are definitely foundational players for a GM who has the skills to build a team. I love Tuch, but would not quite place him in that category.

This is a great post but I think there's a couple issues with the numbers. I came up with similar totals on the forwards spend, but it includes Tuch's current contract. So you can't take the entire 10 mil from the numbers. It would be the difference between 4.75 and 10 mil. I show Skinner's hit to be 4.44 next season, not 6.44. So in just those two, there's an additional 6.75 mil. IMO, there is a path to sign all 4.

I enjoy Chad D’s stuff, and he is right on Norris (in my view they should not have traded for him, let alone relied on him to be their #1C). But I think his comments on McLeod and Krebs are an overreaction. The focus should be on the GM, HC, and coaching staff. I understand the desire we have as fans to assess the skills and attributes of players, but outside of the very obvious (Geertsen, Bryson), there is just no way to properly assess what a player is in an environment so poorly constructed and so inadequately structured.

It’s the NHL, so whatever the worst outcome, they will choose it.

Both games scheduled for Saturday night at same time. Since venues are only two blocks apart, the logistics of it will be interesting.

Would Minnesota be interested in Quinn? I know Quinn and Rossi were teammates in the OHL. Were they linemates? Not sure what could come back from the Wild. Even at his advanced age, would be nice to see Marcus Foligno back in the fold.

I still want to, and do have patience with Power. I just know that it seems like too many D-men in the league...you look up and say "yeah, that guy is pretty darn good" but it took to age 24 or 25 to get there. Quinn I was done with last year. He is showing nothing. Even if he put in 20-24 goals this year, its not good enough with his black hole of play in every other way. And my opinion on Tuch is the same as it has been for the last 2 months: short term extension I'm OK with. But something like $10million at 8 years...heck no. The team still needs the chance to add some talent, or if you get a young guy that is legit good, to lock THEM up. I don't want a guy starting his new contract in his early 30's to take so much money that it prevents either of those things.

I finally figured out my Tuch issue, motor. His motor runs hot and cold. Some shifts he skates hard and goes after pucks, others he kinda floats around the ice and really loves to glide with the puck on his stick. I was honestly shocked to see he's got 4pts on the season. He needs to be better, the entire team isn't good enough. Except Zach Benson, that dude is a joy.