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Yes.

Without a Quinn or a Peterka added to that list it wouldn't be enough IMHO. And at that point you're certainly gutting the roster train KA has been building up. You're doing this when scoring is not an issue. There would need to be a guarantee McDavid extends his contract here If you're giving up all of those assets. Right now I'd rather use those assets on an elite goalie and/or a top 3 defenseman.

Last season: Oilers scored 325 (1st) Sabres scored 293 (3rd) Vegas scored 267 (14th) We don't have a scoring problem that's worth gutting the team to fix.

If McDavid wants out and he wants to come to the Sabres specifically he might have to wait until he's a UFA to make that happen. There is no way whatever we would give up will amount to a fair trade for McDavid. We absolutely will not give up any of our core players and our high-value prospects. It's not even worth speculating that we will because we know we won't. The only exception that I see possible is if McDavid actually does start saying publickly that he wants out (which I would be surprised if he goes that route being "the face of the NHL" but it did work for Eichel). If he does then that leaves the Oilers no choice but to accept whatever the best offer is from the team(s) McDavid is willing to go to. We could send them a single high-value prospect but not one we value the highest, another non-valued (to us) prospect, plus a Middlestadt and a Jokiharju. It would clearly, obviously, not be enough but unless the Oilers want to suffer the bad press until McDavid walks in free agency, they'd have no choice. It would be the NHL scandal of the year +.

If the Bills can remain relevant in the NFL for the next three seasons and the Sabres can start making the playoffs the media will have no problem promoting a Sabres team with McJesus on it. We've all seen the numbers from years past: for some reason the Sabres draw viewers when they do well. In addition to the McJesus-choosing-the-Sabres angle to pumping up those playoffs, they'll have the first-time-to-win-a-Cup narrative to whip out. For a content-stagnant media entity like the NHL, it would be like manna from Heaven for the years the Sabres contend for the Cup with McJesus on the team.

He'll still be better than > 95% of the forwards in the league. He won't be motivated by money because he will have already made his money. He'll be motivated by Cup wins and if KA's vision for the team plays out we'll be in a position to provide one of the best opportunities to achieve multiple Cup wins. It's a bonus that he actually likes the area and the team. In fact, it's the last box to check off on KA's player acquisition list.

Exactly.

I have no problem with this. For all we know he's spending his summer working on faceoffs. He proved to be a team-first guy last season who put in the work with 4th line, maybe 3rd line, skill. Gives him a chance to raise his value and earn a better contract next season either here or elsewhere. Can't dismiss the fact he got along very well with his teammates.

Isn't the effect of this injury the same as when Pominville's leg was sliced by a skate? Sabres’ Jason Pominville understands long recovery Erik Karlsson faces - Buffalo Hockey Beat

I like this point. I think Krebs, Mitts and Power should definitely be expected to exceed their goal totals from last year. Not by leaps and bounds, but a modest increase for each. Let's say Krebs gets 14 (+5), Mitts 19 (+4), and Power 10 (+6) then we have +1 goal added over last season. So, if Rousek gets penciled in, whatever he totals for the season is in addition to that. If he gets 10, then our goal total, all other things not discussed here being the same, is 304.

This is incredibly helpful to someone like myself who is too lazy to compile such a list on my own. I would be very interested to read assessments of our prospect pool now that that the draft is over. For example, I recall Pekar from years ago and am surprised to see him still considered a prospect and not an AHLer by this point.

He definitely does speak with an accent. He's very sharp and smart, I like him. Hope he does well.

Benson won't be able to immediately play his game in the NHL. He will need time to grow and transition gradually otherwise he'll get crushed. Remember, the NHL is where the world's best hockey players play - even a 4th liner is good compared to the typical competition the elite guys see in the lower leagues.

If this forces them to keep VO for the beginning of the season then it merely gives VO the opportunity to raise his trade value. It could be a blessing in disguise.

Uh-oh. Am I going to regret posting that? Most of the people here should get the joke.

It's pronounced like "Trebek" except the "S" is slient and "bek" sounds like "back". That reminds me of your mother last night, Trebek, on her back and unable to speak - although she wasn't exactly silent!

What makes this pick such a smart one is that it gives us a lot of flexibility when it comes to making trades. We have a solid selection of forward prospects, if we lose one or two of them it won't hurt the forward pipeline at all.

I love this kid. Everything about him is perfect: attitude, skill, the way he instinctively uses his team mates and how he thinks around the opposing players, the look in his eyes makes me smile. As @LGR4GM said, he is instantly our best prospect. He's young and could easily grow a few more inches before seeing the NHL. This kid was a steal and we're going to love him when he gets here.

Capisce is a neutral word. It literally means to ask "message received?" or "are we clear?"

I think we'll have enough information to make a solid preliminary judgement long before the season is over.

I wouldn't mind the idea of banking on Levi emerging early for a goalie but that is quite a gamble. He looked pretty good for the games he played but in the end he, like the others, was not good enough to cover for poorly executed defense. I mean, a lot of people are leaning on Levi as the answer for our goaltending issues but the reality is that there's nothing to back that up. It's a matter of faith. If that is KA's philosophy on this matter it's certainly an Olde Skool one. Just a little perplexed over the rationale of the three-goalie statement. The whole concept makes no sense when there are clear paths to virtually guaranteed improvement right in front of him. He wants to have his cake and eat it, too. I believe I see what he's trying to accomplish from a 40000 ft view, but it is ambitious and requires a lot of things ultimately out of his control to work. He literally needs to be a wizard at decision making and anticipation which I would never mistake KA for being.

My impression of KA lately is that if he publickly supports a decision or idea, like keeping three goalies (or re-signing Okposo), then he actually means it. The only off-season change he's supported publickly that I recall offhand is that the defense needs work. Therefore, my suspicion is that his priority is a D man and contract extensions for Dahlin and Power. If this turns out to be the case then it's obviously good work but an incomplete job. Going with a goalie trio for the NHL roster is madness especially when only one of those goalies, at this point, seems like they may give us a chance in a playoff round.

Have you lost a bunch of bets to buffalonill in the recent past?

The more I think about it, I wonder if this makes one of the kids in the AHL trade bait. KA's sexy smile isn't going to win us a top 4 D man and a good goalie.