Taro T

Aka 13 skaters. 😉 Still would be mildly surprised if they don't add 1 more F to the mix that can actually earn a top 12 role.

Could be he was threatening to sign w/ his SEL team if they didn't give some assurances on what he needs to do to be playing in the NHL.

Also, looks like Mittelstadt's wingers are known. And in house.

Provided it'd only have at most a limited NMC would've preferred a longer deal. 5-6 years.

Well, the tickets have already been punched for most of the others heading out of the station, so ...

Because upthread somebody posted rumors of the Buffalo born Kane getting traded to Edmonton. Thought it was far likelier that the non-Buffalo native re-sign there. Posting that that Kane ended up in Edmonton again, was a post-script to the earlier discussion in this thread. (No idea why anybody else is discussing it here. 😉 )

Expecting this'll be the year when Asplund shows whether he's ready to assume Girgensons' role moving forward, that of the 4C, or as the forechecker on a scoring line. Z has at most 1 more contract in him & tends to get injured frequently. Pretty sure his job in the near future is Asplund's to lose. And getting back to a more standard 3 years (or even 4) before bringing prospects up to the big club w/ a regular role will be a positive benefit of having a fully stocked pipeline once again. And will have people outside Buffalo noticing that the kids pretty much plug & play into holes caused by losing cap casualties &/or injuries. (Presuming the revamped scouting, analytics, & development departments all did/do their jobs well. If they haven't, then Asplund & Z will both be here for the foreseeable future.)

This one goes out to you, Woody:

Would rather have him in Filly. Joisey might be getting their act together and would then be more of a threat for the 2nd WC spot when the Sabres finally challenge for it.

Yes. He brings something different than they will. If he reaches his ceiling it will be as a Girgensons that can actually contribute more than just forechecking in the offensive zone & is equally adept at C or W. (Aka, what we'd've hoped Z's ceiling was going to be.)

Neither is being a nine time winner of a Grand Slam event and a stint as the best female tennis player in the world. Only 4 Grand Slam events per year (assuming they don't slide the Austrailian back into December in which case there could be 5) & only 1 top ranked female player at any given time.

Copp going to Detroit will hurt. He'd be a great fit in Buffalo.

Guess those Kane to Edmonton rumors were true. Oh, it's the one they already had last year & not the one born in Buffalo just like everyone expected? Cool.

For Giroux it's probably because that's where he played junior. (Gatineau)

Seems somebody needs to get a clue.

Realize that. Don't care about where they are cap-wise now. But barring some major move that will likely once again cost them a 1st, they're still cuurrently sitting with only $5.6MM in cap space with 3-5 skaters to add. Dropping at least $2.5MM of that off to upgrade the backup (or slide Murray to backup) doesn't give them much wiggle room. Especially if they try to keep the standard $2-3MM of space on opening day they need to still move more salary out to fit Comrie (or anybody else) in. Didn't they also want to try to fix the dysfunction they call a D-corps?

How do they pull that off? They've got something like $5.6MM of cap space left and only 16 skaters under contract.

Such a trivial pursuit.

It HAS to be someone better than Tokarski because if it isn't, Anderson is the starter AGAIN & that will turn to doo doo by early November once again. The skaters & fans deserve better.

Could see Tokarski wanting to leave to get a bona fide opportunity to be the backup somewhere. Realizing Adams may not find a starter, but Anderson pencils in as the backup, UPL the Amerks starter, & Subban the Amerks backup but likely 1st callup. Toker deserves a legit opportunity to be a backup somewhere. MHO.

OK, let's rephrase that, they wanted a guy that would be an NHL backup on THEIR team rather than a possible AHL starter for their farm team in return for Talbot.

Minny wanted an NHL backup, not an AHL possible starter.

Guess we know who UPLs battery mate will be. Nothing against Dustin, but please dear God don't let Adams also bring back Tokarski at this point.

That stinks.

Don't believe anybody said that he ignored it; if they did it was hyperbolic. But this would have been far and away the biggest & longest player contract he had handed out and he was still professing he thought EVERYBODY should be on a 1 day contract (even though the CBA & reality made that an impossibility). He mulled it over too long & might as well have ignored it as the excessive length of the delay is why Drury backed out. You honestly don't see where he'd want to mull this over a bit? Well, mulling it over too ####ing long started a domino chain that to a certain degree we still feel today. He didn't negotiate the deal but he darn sure was the one who would or wouldn't sign off on it. And he didn't want to lose money in ANY season and told his people that was the mandate. No way a contract like this doesn't give him pause. Unfortunately for all of us, it gave him too much.