Taro T

Really don't get the point of TO protecting 4D. Their D is not impressive.

Can't see Seattle grabbing him. To have him this year they'd have to buy him out of Russia. See him back as a Sabre in a year though.

Forgot him as well. Would be surprised if they make a play for him in their exclusive window. Could see them talk to him but wait until after the expansion draft to sign him if they had interest. He won't be ready to go until November or December. Might as well take Borgen or Miller for free & then try to add Jake if Botterill sells him up to Francis when everybody else can talk to him.

Very reasonable take. As mentioned several times, my guess is Borgen is the target with Miller a possibility. Had Girgensons not missed all of last year expect his contract wouldn't be too scary and would have him ahead of Miller on likeliness to be selected. But Miller is a safer bet.

Okposo & Miller too. Likely 1 of the 2 D is the selection. With Botterill's ties maybe they go off the board & select Girgensons. There are others like Eakin available, but would be shocked if the selected player weren't one of those4. (With Seattle getting something extra for certain should Okposo go.)

Which is exactly what the list should've been. Hopefully this means Adams expects he can re-sign Ullmark.

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.