Taro T

Buying another lottery ticket in net. ####ing hate even more that Carolina got lucky as #### in '06 injury wise and goaltending wise. Not only did that keep the Sabres out of the pantheon of champions; it convinced a certain GM that a kid and a has been/ never was can find magic and lead a team to great things. So it continues to keep the Sabres out of even being relevant for another year. ####, what was one of the FIRST things Kekalainen did when he took over in C-Bus - it was bring in Bobrovsky. (And yes, Bobrovsky was Russian for sieve while he was in Filly; but ALL goalies there face the curse of Pelle Lindbergh. It's one of the things that city is known for.) Why Santy Claus, why? Why are you taking our tree and replacing it with a picture of last year's one?

So give Allvin an offer that blows his doors off and makes him go back to believing that the guy they gave the 5 year deal (his name escapes at the moment) and Silvos is the way to go. He wants to make sure Hughes stays a 'Nuck, right? Well, send him some pieces that makes that remotely plausible. Think outside the crayon box for once, Kevyn.

True. But at some point when we wake up on July 1 we shouldn't have to hear Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe."

Not giving Bernard-Docker a QO makes soooooooo much more sense now. 😉

OR they figure that Lyon has a better chance of passing through waivers when Levi outplays him in TC than Reimer did. So, when one of UPL or Levi spit the bit they'll be able to get him back onto the parent club in October rather than having to wait for whoever took him off the waiver wire to send him through waivers themselves in November.

Get Demko. Worry about extending him AFTER he's gotten you into the playoffs. Take a friggin' shot. Is that truly too much to ask for?

Yes. He was "alright" for Detroit. Not actually good, but alright. The Sabres don't play defense well enough in front of their goalie to be making their addition in net Carter friggin' Hutton. Not heading into year 15 of an already 14 year drought. At least it's better than dropping real money on Jake Allen. Realize Allen is better; but not enough better to justify the significantly greater salary he'll likely get. Tell us ownership and management STILL don't mind missing the playoffs without telling us ownership and management still don't mind missing the playoffs.

Cool. 😒 Lyon kept the Sabres out of the playoffs in '23 and he can repeat the feat in '26. 🤬 Lyon played lights out while Bobrovsky was out in '23. He's done pretty much nothing since. We can't say the Sabres don't have a type when looking to the outside for goaltending help.

Is the answer because Bernard-Docker isn't?

Thatcher Demko.

W. t. F.? How do you need to throw in the 2nd in that Norris trade if you've already had to throw in Gilbert and ALL you want is Norris?

D'oh!

Haven't they already used it and then some on Marner?

That is roughtly what a 2 year deal would've looked like. His AAV on his last (2 year) contract was $805k. His QO would've been $866k. He would've had arbitration rights upon receiving the QO. Don't know how many games he missed this year (and in total over the last 3 years) out on IR. IF he was on IR long enough, the offer would've needed to be a 1 way offer. He didn't qualify to automatically get a 1 way offer from games played.

Probably Sabres call as to whether to make it a 1 way or 2 way QO. He only played 40 games this last season and only has 131 GP the last 3 years. But IF he missed at least 20 games this past year due to being on IR or a total of 49 games due to being on IR the past 3 years combined, then yes, the QO needed to be on a 1 way deal. Know he missed time in January due to a LBI suffered in practice, but don't know how many games he missed while on IR. Good call.

Yeah, not sure if they're following the Bryson model of not handing out a QO to a guy or if they're following the Kahun model of not handing out a QO to a guy. Guess we'll know which it is pretty soon.

Veteran. Cheap. Has looked good AT TIMES. Pretty sure this describes every goalie brought in by the Sabres from the outside post-Lehner. (Not including Levi.)

Yes, prior to the MOU a player needed to essentially be on a team for a full year to be eligible for an 8 year contract with his current club. This was done to keep players from getting traded at the deadline and then become eligible for the 8 year deal. This was supposed to be an incentive allowing teams to keep "home grown" talent as the team the player had been with was the only one that could offer 8 year deals; new teams could only offer 7 year deals. With the MOU, they modified that and allowed players that get traded by the deadline to also be eligible for 8 year deals. So, while the rumor was Vegas and TO were negotiating a trade for Marner because TO was going to press tampering charges, it is also possible that the reason they were negotiating was to allow Vegas to give him an 8 year deal even though technically they could only offer him a 7 year deal. And as to somebody else's Q about teams interviewing upcoming UFAs, that practice was eliminated with the MOU. (Was pretty sure hadn't seen that allowed since then; and that's because that is when the practice was removed. Really don't understand why they did that. It seemed to be a useful tool for teams, players, and agents. Thus they must disallow it. It made sense. 😉 )

Don't see any reason at all for them to not want Bernard-Docker. He played very well with Power last year (and there weren't many D that have done so). Would want him as the 7 in an absolute worst case scenario. Am hoping that @thewookie1 is onto something with his thought that this allows the Sabres to work out a contract with him without him having arbitration eligibility. (There's nothing to arbitrate over when neither side is locked in to the other.) Don't recall ottomh ANY Sabres going to arbitration under Pegula (maybe Kennedy's was under TP but thought that was in the Golisano era); maybe that's a hill that Pegula WILL die over - NO salary arbitration.) If that isn't it, really don't see a solid rationale for the Sabres to have not offered him his $866k as a placeholder to keep his rights.

Correct. They had a "legal tampering period" for about 2-3 days prior to the new league year starting for a few years, but that is no longer a thing. Don't recall the exact year they got rid of that, but it's been this way pretty much at least since the MOU was agreed to.

He was on his 2nd contract. No performance bonuses allowed.

Kisakov not getting a QO makes a ton of sense. On the surface of it, Bernard-Docker not getting one doesn't make nearly as much. Seemed to be worth at least $900k IMHO. Not sure why the Sabres would sweat the extra $60-100k unless they plan on using that in FA &/or trading for pieces that are significantly more expensive than what they currently have. And that's completely outside their MO.

He played well for the Sabres after he arrived. The only way this makes sense is if they have a deal for less than $866K that Bernard-Docker said would be acceptable to him provided nobody else beats it and if for some reason the Sabres are confident that nobody will beat that deal.

Why Santy Claus, WHY? Per puckpedia, his QO is only $866k. If they already have a deal in place with him that they'll re-sign him to $805k again provided nobody else tries to sign him, cool, I guess. But are you REALLY going to go THAT hard after a true difference maker that you need that extra $60k in your quiver to make it all work?

Well, it did and it didn't with Zucker. He was one of their best forwards last year (definitely in the top 4 or so). But the team still fell further back from the playoffs than they were either of the 2 prior years. So, on a microlevel it worked. On a macro level, at best it was too little.