Taro T

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.

Depends on who you're with & just how little of the movie you actually saw. 😉

Yeah, just too much of a Cooper or Grigorenko vibe. (Even though the mono was a big part of Grigs sliding, it wasn't the entirety of it & both are cautionary tales regarding guys w/ a ton of skill but maybe not so much drive or other Qs. And this kid was happy the Sabres landed Grigs. Ooops.)

ESPN's main PbP announcer for college lax is Anish Shroff. He is great & has done some college football too as he moves up the ranks. He'd be excellent at hockey.

??? Sean McDonough is Indian? Since when?

Cross country.

It doesn't sound like Miroschnichenko has much likelihood of going prior to 16 (though anything is possible) but really can't see him making it to 28. Pretty sure the other 2 teams w/ 3 picks have their 3rd coming up before the Sabres, so at a minimum as we expect the Sabres might take a flyer on a high ceiling / not even playing in the NHL floor would expect one of the others to think that way too. W/ 4 of the top 41, really hoping they hit on at least 3 of them as NHLers & 2 of those as actual good NHLers. Get lucky & hit on 1 more later in the draft & about the time they have to start deciding who to keep & who to move on from off this year's roster they'll have bodies ready to backfill the guys not deemed to be core. And if a lot of rankings for Nazar are 10-14, says they need to spend 9 on him if that's their guy.

Would be happy w/ that, but doubt the 2nd & 3rd picks he's got heading to town are available at those slots. Expect they'd have to pass on Lekkermaki to land the other 2.