Taro T

Normally would agree w/ this, but we're at an unusual point and IMHO longer term won't necessarily mean lower $'s. Three years from now there's a very good likelihood the players will have reimbursed the owners for letting the players get more than 50% of revenues in 2020, so the cap could rise fairly substantially (as @tom webster likes to point out) and players aren't necessarily going to drop their AAV expectations significantly, if at all, to gain the security of another guaranteed year of getting paid. This year & next year could see really u usual contracts being offered to find deals that work for both parties.

Jiricek didn't attend the combine.

Yup. This move doesn't limit them in any way. They aren't going to have 49 other contracts and be prevented from adding a college FA because they're already at 50 bodies. (99% sure of that.) As far below the cap that they are and with how many of the kids that are making figurative pennies, but will be earning & making big $'s (or at minimum ramping towards big $'s) in 2-3, there is no way this team is spending to the cap or even w/in $10MM of the cap minus these sort of deals. Which means they're going to waste at least $10MM worth of cap. A 7th rounder isn't much, but it beats the big fat zilch all this year's wasted cap space amounted to. Would have preferred last year that Adams hadn't followed the path he did - pushing relevance out another couple of seasons, but he's started down the current path that will have this team improving in large part by young kids getting better as they gain muscle & experience (aka reaching their primes, or possibly as developing hockey wisdom 😉 ) and he isn't going to bring in big $ FAs, though he might & we can hope he brings in expensive AND good GTs. With that being the case, this is a very minor move that is actually a good thing & doesn't truly have any real downside. And like somebody said upthread, should Adams want to trade say an Olofsson or one of the new goalies or that vet D-man to make room for Johnson or somebody else, he doesn't have to worry about needing to make a separate deal to bring in an extra $3MM of cap salary to keep the roster compliant. Truly doubt that the roster Adams assembles won't reach the floor on it's own, but who knows, but something like this just guarantees that there won't be any issues arising from technical issues of the timing of deals down the road; and as stated above it converts an asset that expires on 7/1/23 into something that will still have value, small as that may be. MHO. YMMV. And remember, not only did a 7th rounder turn into Olofsson; another one turned into the majority of Sam Reinhart. (Presuming Levi will be more valuable than whatever pick 28 becomes.) Yeah, most 7th round picks end up being worth nothing. But ALL expired, unused cap space IS worth nothing the instant the last RS game ends.

Quite likely. But prior to this they were showing $16MM in cap space w/ 16 players under contract. Considering you can be over the cap by 10% in the summer, which gives them ~$25MM to work with if necessary, not sure why the timing was what it is from their perspective either. Not many "real" trades until the playoffs end most years. (Not that this is a real trade by most definitions either.)

Considering that there's $21.5MM between the cap floor & the ceiling, hoping they buy another (ideally better) pick for $4-5MM worth of cap space.

Don't know that it means they WON'T bring in a 4th (& ideally a 5th) but it now means they don't absolutely have to or end up buying a Boychuk just to insure they stay above the floor regardless of other moves. It also means, should they now be close to the midpoint of the cap that after the season starts they could still be part of a 3 way deal & not worry about having to be part of the 2nd trade to make sure they never fall below the floor. The timing is interesting. It had to happen before the draft to end up w/ this year's pick, but the draft is still weeks away. Curious as to why it happened NOW. (Maybe, it's as simple as this is when the GM's finally agreed to it. But it just seems strange timing.)

Asked that question earlier. Don't know the answer. Not sure his contract is big enough that Dallas would've been willing to pay the premium to have; & if they did, no data on whether the beneficiary is transferable (but would expect it is). If there wasn't a policy in place, they won't be able to get one at reasonable cost. And even if there is coverage, it typically doesn't kick in until after the 20th missed game. So, they still paid nearly $1MM for a 7th round pick at the end of the day in a best are (for them).

Doubt they don't see him as a good fit. More expect that they have at least 3 other LHD & arguably 4 when including Bryson that are better at what they ask than Pilut is. They have 3 REALLY good LHD & 1-2 others waiting in the wings . Not everybody does. It may end up a #'s game.

The only ones of any consequence are Olofsson & UPL. Olofsson's deal likely will take a little time as both sides have several variables working in their favor for why it should be at least x/ years or no more than y/ years. UPL's contract isn't of much consequence in the grand scheme. Everybody else that the Sabres hold the rights to is either under contract for this year or Ra-cha-cha bound. (Possible outlier being Johnson. He still hasn't officially made a decision yet afaik.) So, they don't factor into cap space discussions. The only ones of any consequence are Olofsson & UPL. Olofsson's deal likely will take a little time as both sides have several variables working in their favor for why it should be at least x/ yr or no more than y/ yr. UPL's contract isn't of much consequence in the grand scheme. Everybody else that the Sabres hold the rights to is either under contract for this year or Ra-cha-cha bound. (Possible outlier being Johnson. He still hasn't officially made a decision yet afaik.) So, they don't factor into cap space discussions.

Does it normally happen often enough that it's newsworthy when one doesn't? Yikes!

And this is the opposite of the owners being cheap. They literally paid over $3MM for an extra 7th round pick.

Likewise, but it's kind of the opposite of Botterill's 6th this year for a 6th next year, so it's good.

🤔 Grier, Varada, or Andreychuk? Answer should be obvious. 😉

The only drawback to that scenario (minus the possibility that his heart might just not be in it, which my expectation is he wouldn't sign if it wasn't) is expect at this point he's more of a 3rd pairing guy than a 2nd pairing guy & if the Sabres see it the same way then we end up w/ Jokiharju paired w/ Power rather than the wily vet. The Joker may grow into a 2nd pairing guy & he was OK w/ Power, but they should be striving to get him a guy that can truly cover for his inevitable rookie mistakes not a guy that Power will have to be covering for. Now, if Subban can bring it like Patrick & Teppo did early in their Buffalo tenures, then PK is Power's partner & Bryson can hold down the role of Joker's partner until an upgrade comes along (Johnson, Pilut, trade, other, ???). Actually like the idea of PK better than Campbell in the net (who would be an upgrade, & w/ only looking ST w/ him it wouldn't be awful to land him. Just hoping for better. And this beggar will be a chooser, common adages be darned. 😉 )

Well stated.

As others have stated, it's $3.5MM of the owner's cash (& wonder if there's an insurance policy that the beneficiary can change from Dallas to Buffalo so that it's likely 1/4 of that out of pocket) for $4.9MM of cap. Bringing them to ballpark $15MM below the floor rather than around $20MM below the floor. As he is almost definitely LTIR bound when appropriate, he'd only effect their ability reach the cap by however many $'s they are shy of the cap when they designate him to LTIR (should it even become necessary). So, he'll likely knock only a few $k off the max cap should they miraculously get offered McDavid for Krebs or some other fantastic s entries that sees them pushing the upper bounds of the cap occur). It's only the owners' money that's an issue here & if they really want to win (& IMHO they do want to do so) then it's chicken feed relative to their personal wealth. (Have no compunction w/ them spending their money. 😉 ) It's only for this one season & now $4.9MM of wasted cap will become an asset which still holds value beyond next season. Absolutely hope some of that cap space goes towards 1-2 ACTUAL goalies, not just theoretical ones & a couple of other upgrades, but there was no realistic way that they were going to be w/in $10MM of the maximum cap w/out moves like this. It's not a homerun, but it's at least a single unless it is literally a "for future considerations" move.

So, what will the Sabres get in return for taking him off Dallas' hands, Mr. Weekes?

Can see an argument to add 16 to that list. Understand why some wouldn't want to do so. But that's pretty much it. And really enjoyed watching the others who've had their #'s retired, but don't believe their #'s should be retired.

This already exists. The Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame.

Yeah, Jiricek is still the dream. And honestly would be willing to give up 28 to go high enough to get him. (Realizing that trades in the 1st round are rare/ don't happen & wouldn't give up more than that unless it's something like R2 Rou2 that doesn't seem to fit in long term.)

Basically reiterating both that upper management will lie when it suits it and the dreaded "vote of confidence" is the kiss of death. Hopefully they keep Sweeney a long time. 😉

Obviously, the crowd was small on almost all nights. There was no disputing that. The item that was commented upon was whether those that were interested enough to attend were "lifeless." IMHO, that was an unfair characterization. And still not sure what your original comment about squandering cap space meant. It appears based on what just wrote above that you didn't mean anything by it. Which is fine. And didn't comment on your GTing comments because we are pretty much on the same page & it has been discussed close to death.

Lifeless? The building was louder most nights than it's been in years and w/ a fraction of the crowd as you point out. And not sure what you mean by "unwisely" squander his cap space? That happened this past season. Are you referring to that or suggesting that it's been suggested that should happen this year? Agree w/ the former but disagree w/ the latter.

Art & book deals. The way the rich launder money. This NFT stuff? The way the tech savvy launder money. My 2 cents. YMMV.

Maintaining flexibility when a majority of your assets won't maximize their value for literally years & one doesn't know which of those assets will appreciate the most significantly over that time is smart, if not necessarily "clever." (And isn't as common sense an idea as it appears on the surface as both of his predecessors significantly reduced the options available to them by choice with far less to show for it than there should have been.) But now that he doesn't have multiple fires to put out (other than goaltending TODAY), he needs to convert some of that flexibility into tangible value and IMHO he NEEDS to convert some of the ridiculous cap space the team has into tangible assets that will still maintain value on 7/1/23. His letting $15MM or so of cap space last season to simply evaporate into the ether is nearly as egregious as his inability to get a legit NHL starter brought into the fold in either of the 2 previous seasons.