Taro T

Are you hearing Girgensons might be protected? Why, Santy Claus, WHY?

Very interesting point. (Technically, the Q is whether he'd be top 8 or not, but the point stands nonetheless.) Maybe Miller really is Seattle's play regardless of whether Francis coerces a sweetener or not.

Might have actually been born in a hospital in Vancouver which would make both @dudacek and your Googling accurate.

😄 Pretty sure one of the, if not THE, last thing we need is another generation of 'them.'

Pretty friggin' ballsy. The Habs become a bubble team that needs a break or 2 to get into the dance without a healthy Price. Would almost definitely take that. Barring injuries, he'll be worth his contract for at least 3 of the 5 remaining years. They can figure out how to dump ithe contract when the time comes.

Because Florida lost Marchessault AND Riley Smith last time. They have 2 better goalies, though 1 is long in the tooth and VERY expensive. They'd rather lose their 3rd goalie (who they'll end up losing anyway even without an expansion draft as he's not going to re-sign to be their AHL affiliate goalie) and NO skaters than lose him and a skater at the price of gaining a 3rd round pick. The 3rd rounder isn't equivalent value to Dreiger nor the other guy they'd then lose.

The protected list was due FIFTEEN minutes ago. Why, oh why, must we suffer through not knowing the Sabres protected list? 😝

Except Sanderson's scoring didn't tail off because he was broken up from Cassels, it tailed off because the way goalies played changed. They were creatures of reaction when he began & few had the reflexes to kick out a leg & a glove before he could rip that shot by them. They became more anticipatory & the butterfly / hybrid styles came into vogue and he couldn't hit the small gaps they left him nearly as often.

Realize that the white splotches are supposed to represent ice shaved by stopping skates. But it evokes pigeon doo doo and just ends up appropriate on soooo many levels. Celebrate the Tradition.

Still have a bit of time before the roster freeze sets in. But GMs understanding the process better probably is dampening some of the trade enthusiasm relative to prior to Vegas. Unless a team gets close to full value for their 8th F, 4th D, or 2nd G; sending them out essentially loses the team 2 players rather than just 1. Nobody wants to be Florida's nor Minny's GM.

At that point, especially if Adams knows Ullmark won't re-sign, then Adams offers to Francis to keep Linus exposed for a 3rd or 4th round pick to enable him to talk to Linus in the exclusive rights window. And he doesn't even end up losing Miller as a result. 😉

Which would be fine. Have been an advocate for not trading any of the "big 3" but if 1 of the 3 were to be outbound, Ristolainen would be the preference and that would be a worthy return that doesn't appreciably sacrifice their chances THIS season. (And, that stated, still expect all 3 to no longer be wearing crossed swords when they suit up in October.)

Any word on Bales status? Really hoping they keep him until he decides to retire.

Not just "kind of how," it's exactly how. The Sabres also traded away the pick that became Eric Daze along with Ruuttu.

Darn it. Meant to include that one. Nice call.

Sorry. It just seems that once the owners have a comfort level with someone, they stick with them until something causes them to go all Red Queen on their arse. Can see Dunleavy avoiding that perceived major F-up to get punted. At least for the next 3 or 4 years. Regardless of what the fanbase might think of the quality of his performance.

If they KNOW Ullmark won't re-sign, then they shouldn't protect him on the off chance Seattle signs him during their exclusive rights window. Makes the whole rest of determining who to protect moot.

And for a guy "that only gets PP goals," he did a nice job getting helpers at ES this past season.

Linus Ullmark is a taller, blonder, less gregarious Marty Biron - aka bottom 1/3 starter, top backup. This team will be a solid regular playoff qualifyer in 3 years regardless of how the "big 3" deals pan out. This team will make the playoffs this year if the keep the big 3 and bring back McCabe & Ullmark and add Danault & another Ullmark. Eichel will never exceed 75 games and will average 70 games moving forward. Would still keep him. In 3 years it'll be obvious that the Sabres ended up with the 3rd or 4th best player in this year's draft. Ristolainen will be missed when he is gone. Jokiharju will be a 5. Adams will be the 1st Sabres GM since Regier to last more than 3 years. Dunleavy will be the full time replacement for RJ starting in the '22-'23 season. Skinner's issue was the knee was nagging & he'll be back in the low 20's this year on the 2nd line. He'll still be worthless on the PP.

Ancestors paying tribute to English & German heritage: Wall-City. What better name for a goalie can you get? 😉 He's not just a wall, he's an entire CITY of Wall, or perhaps he's that barricade surrounding the entire city. Either way, Adams would be a fool not to take him #1. (Ducks from whatever it is Liger is throwing now. 😉 )

Don't know why they didn't pull the trigger on a goalie upgrade during the off-season nor in-season either. Seemed quite a waste, but it did ensure the Hall signing worked its magic, so 'spose there's that. Have to believe Adams is trying to have that empty slot filled. Whether he can successfully do so remains to be seen.

They're required to EXPOSE 1. If they decided to go off the board and protect absolutely noone, that would be foolish but their perogative.

Would expect Ristolainen rather than Borgen, but yes. That's the list at present.

Does anybody know if a player traded before the expansion draft maybe traded back to his original team after the expansion draft? I.e., could the Sabres trade a 7th for Allen & then get a 2nd-4th plus a 7th back from the Habs for him sometime later this summer? Would increase the Sabres assets while leaving their options open on finding their starting pair.

FTFY. 😉 Just because we expect today that there is no way Ristolainen re-signs, that isn't an absolute given. Several players, most notably Stamkos, expressed interest in testing the waters but ultimately stayed put. Also, several here has speculated, and it is likely reasonable, that Ristolainen's trade value will likely remain relatively constant until the trade deadline so he has value in exchange until then. It also is likely that his trade value is greater than that of Borgen &/or Adams has a gentleman's agreement in place with Francis to get Ron to take the Sabre of Adams choosing for an additional prospect or pick and the quandary of choosing Risto or Will isn't really applicable as they may both defacto be protected. And Ristolainen has a value on the ice this season which the Sabres currently holds the rights to. If Adams sees more value in that than he sees in Borgen, he'll keep Risto.