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Yeah I’d like to see a young D prospect and probably draft picks. I think the Sabres are doing them a bit of a favor.

Tell that to Jeremy Swayman.

I think you are wise to point out that Kesselring isn't exactly a shutdown D; I've fallen into that trap myself as recently as a few posts up. I think he's better described as a very large, competitive, mobile late-blooming defenceman who is better than average on both sides of the puck and just coming into his own as an NHL player. Speaking strictly for myself, I noticed him without looking for him when he played: he was assertive and effective and enormous. He looked pretty physical to me, not running around looking to kill guys physical, but winning battles physical, clearing the crease physical and smartly finishing checks physical. And I think he fought 5 times last year. That aspect of his game looks nothing like Power. He covers a lot of ground and has a huge wingspan. Scouting reports from those who have watched him more often – fans and pros — seem to match my eye test, and the analytics numbers and counting stats are both solid. Not entirely part of my point, but as an aside, I'm not as sold as everyone else seems to be that he's going to be Power's partner.

Both RHD they signed they want to play up top. Not any PO time, but hold the fort. Timmins made Karlsson look good defensively; there’s precedence Both RHD they signed they want to play up top. Not any PO time, but hold the fort. Timmins made Karlsson look good defensively; there’s precedence

If we can get Kadri+ for Byram, sure

I am a biased sabres fan. All I wanted was one upgrade at F one at D and one at G to be satisfied. A real college try. Kesselring is an upgrade on the guy who’ll come out of the lineup, notably Bryson

I'm a little confused by all the love being thrown toward Kesselring. Solid player? Sure, but he isn't exactly a proven top 4 D nor is he a shutdown defender. The guy had his best season last year, but only averaged 17:41 (16:24 at ES) a night. For his career he has averaged less than 17 minutes a game. Power, who Kesselring is penciled in to play with averaged 21:19 (18:13 at ES) last season and is a 22:39 a game for his career. Kesselring also doesn't kill penalties. He also has started most shifts in the Ozone (55%). He also isn't overly physical. Frankly he looks on paper like Power from the right side but maybe better in the D zone. Then again, who can be worse in the D zone than Power?

My personal, oft-stated goals for what I deemed the “no stone unturned” offseason our fanbase deserved: 1) management overhaul 2) assistant coaches/special teams coaches overhaul 3) a clear upgrade to the F unit 4) a clear upgrade to the D unit 5) a clear upgrade up the G tandem 1) negatory 2) negatory 3) negatory (as of now, downgraded) 4) affirmative (Kesselring) 5) negatory ..still time, but 1,2, and 5 are a lost cause Can we accomplish 3 while maintaining 4? Time will tell 3,4 5 are the roster components and with a backwards, forwards, and no significant change, respectively, currently, I see the current roster in about the same place, and in about the same place as dudacek does above: same old same old 79

Kadri would be an excellent fit to this roster. I think Byram is a more valuable asset in a vacuum and I think a one-for-one is just filling one hole by opening another. In conjunction with another complementary move though, it’s well worth exploring.

I already gave my feelings about the Sabres off-season as a whole - that at best they’ve maintained themselves as a 79-point team. These are my opinions individually on their moves so far: Signing Jones: I guess I like it on some Intellectual level - you can’t have too many defencemen - but honestly I don’t care much who the stopgap 8 is. Maybe he still has some untapped upside, but really I don’t see this player ever being more than a tweener. Especially as an offensive puckmover on a team that doesn’t really need any right now. Signing Lyon: This was a solid move. In a market bereft of goalie talent, adding a guy capable of hot streaks and of being a tandem starter for back-up money felt like a bit of a coup. He’s nothing special, but he’s competition that is capable of actually being competition and better than what I thought would happen. Re-signing McLeod: I expect some regression from McLeod, but this is a good contract for a good 40-point 3C, especially with the rising cap, and he could give you more. Glad they’ve locked him up for his best years. Signing Danforth: I like the player and I also like that we added the type of player in terms of both his work ethic on the ice and his underdog mentality off it. He’s a go-to-the-net forechecker on a team that needs more of that. Maybe we’ll get the 4th line right this time. Trading Lafferty for a late pick: I think he’s a better player than we saw, but he was completely useless last year and clearly wasn’t Ruff’s kinda guy. Just clearing the salary and the roster spot was a win. Signing Geertsen: guy sounds like a total plug on the ice and I don’t care. Glad that he’s available the next time we need someone with that specific set of skills. Re-signing Johnson and Kozak: good, no-risk moves as far as I can see. Great value if they make the NHL, no damage if they don’t. Not qualifying Bernard-Docker: He’s probably not as good as he played down the stretch and I understand the logic in how Adams explained it. I’d shrug my shoulders if I thought they were going to spend to the cap. But they won’t and you can’t have enough defencemen. Pennywise and pound-foolish. Re-signing Quinn: The dollar value was a little high for 2 years and I might have pushed for a 1-year prove-it deal, but there’s a chance this could be a home run if Jack plays to his potential. With Cozens and Peterka already out the door, he’s the last best hope for a skilled scorer in the system. He’s got a lot to prove. Trading Clifton and a 2nd for Conor Timmins: I almost drove off the road when the friend I was with read it to me off his phone. My immediate reaction was “we traded one ***** defenceman for another ***** defenceman and we gave them our 2nd pick? WTF?” I now understand the cap and analytic reasons why this trade was made. I still won’t like it until I see Timmons play significantly better than Clifton did and I see the Sabres put the cap savings to good use. If somebody took Lafferty for free, why not Clifton? Why not use the 2nd to trade for someone better than Timmons? I still hate this trade. Trading Peterka for Kesselring and Doan: I’ve warmed to this one after an immediate reaction of “that’s it?” Trading skill with the puck for effectiveness without it was my goal for the summer. Using Peterka as the best way to make it impactful was my strategy. I’m willing to gamble on the concept of what we got over the concept of what we gave up because it was the type of trade we needed. It becomes a clear win if they use the reality of the extra cap space, but I’m not confident they will. What they haven’t done: I wanted them to move skill for will and add a goalie, which they’ve done in some form. I also wanted them to reshape the D-core by moving on from Clifton and Samuelsson and keeping Byram. One yes, one no, one work in progress. Instead, they moved on from Clifton and JBD, kept Mule and got their shutdown RHD at an unexpectedly cheap salary. And finally I wanted them to move some futures for some immediate help. They’re still set up to do exactly that once the Byram situation plays out. It will be incredibly frustrating if they don’t use all the resources at their disposal to make that happen. But it’s what they’ve taught us to expect.

This does not bode well for Terry's Yacht upgrades.

Byram to Calg for Kadri with other pieces worked out to make everyone happy.

The cliff can, but the Sabres need to take some risks at this point to change the direction of the ship. If we get 2 good years after the trade, then the deal is well worth it. Also if the Sabres stink, but Kadri remains solid, he could be traded to a contender for a return of assets. I agree he likely isn't a No. 1 center in the McDavid sense, but he was 27th in points and 8th in goals among centers last season. He also is incredibly durable playing 82 games each of the last 3 seasons. His addition would make our lineup so much more flexible in case of injury to any of the top 3 centers. We know McLeod can play up and Kulich and Thompson can be effective at center.

Finger Lakes for the win

Ooof to that contract... Nope.. Pass Plus, I'm not sure he's a #1 center at this point, that cliff can come hard

So what would the offense look like with Kadri and then what happens with Kulich? Kulich might get sent down at that point and is that really the worst result? He can also play wing. Line 1 - Thompson Kadri Tuch Line 2 - Benson Norris Quinn Line 3 - Zucker McLeod Kulich Line 4 - Doan Krebs/Kozak Greenway (Malenstyn is an extra)

No doubt he knows the rules. Lots of doubt on both his player evaluations and his contracts. He has recently used a 2nd on Malenstyn, a 2nd to secure Norris and JBD, and a 2nd to dump Clifton (and salary) and get Timmins. You would think that he knew what he would pay for Timmins and would work that out in advance? Especially as part of clearing space for a Byram offer sheet. So, using your explanation, Timmins is forcing negotiations to get serious and Adams offer was too low. Again, I would think they would have worked it out in advance.

Lets get the prelims out of the way. Yes Kadri is 34. Yes he has 4 years left on his deal at 7 per season. Yes he has a NMC. Yes Calg said they aren't trading this offseason. Now that the prelims are out of the way, despite comments to the contrary, I think Kadri is available in the right deal. I'm going to assume Adams has the assets that interest Calg (we know they are interested in Byram). The question is can Adams and Pegula convince him to come to Buffalo? If I were Adams, I'd kick the tires and talk to the Flames and Kadri to see if there is an interest. I think Kadri could be the piece that move the Sabres into playoff contention. He is a veteran center with tons of playoff experience (including a Cup win in 2022). He is a pest and very hard to play against. He also still has his offensive game. In fact, he out scored and out pointed JJP last season. He is an instant culture change for this organization. Byram for Kadri is a good place to start. So who do you replace Byram on the defense with? Well, Grzelcyk comes to mind. Also we could promote Kesselring to play with Dahlin and then add a vet like Rutta to add depth and experience. Or we could trade Rosen, Krebs or other prospects to get a D.

2nd or no, it doesn't matter. To not re-sign him for 875K and create some internal competition is frankly stupid.

That’s what some people concluded at the time because they wanted to believe Cozens and Norris had equal value and that made them feel better about the trade. Subsequent events have shown Gilbert and JBD were inconsequential filler and the trade was basically Cozens and a 2nd for Norris. Reports out of Vancouver indicate the Sabres added the 2nd to outbid the Canucks who were aggressively targeting Norris. Those same reports also indicate that the 2nd may have not been necessary because the Sens liked Cozens better than any of the individual pieces in the Vancouver offer. Again, none of this suggests Adams made good decisions in the Norris trade, the Timmons trade, or the JBD qualifier. Just helping you point your wrath in the proper direction.

Your post is perfect. That’s exactly how you’re supposed to feel.

Not sure why it’s easier to believe Adams is too stupid to know the the rules than it is to believe he’s too stupid to judge the difference between Timmins and JBD. I’m not aware of other examples of him screwing up the rules, but I’ve seen plenty of bad player evaluations. This is right in line with “Clifton is worth $10M over 3 years, and Beck Malenstyn is worth pick #43. As others have said, few of those who elect arbitration ever get there; they usually select it to force the other side to get serious about negotiations, so they can avoid it.

JBD signed w Det for 875K. We paid a 2nd to get JBD but wouldn't part with 875K to keep him. Pure genius. Maybe re-sign JBD, who played well in his 15 games, and also trade for Timmins. Guess what, you'd have depth behind Kesselring and maybe real competition for jobs. G-d forbid. I defer to Adams guaranteed roster spot system because that has worked so well.