nfreeman

And, I believe, drafted by Winnipeg with a first-rounder provided by Tim Murray in the ill-fated Evander Kane trade. So maybe GMTM still has a chance to win that one?

Serious question: wasn't it just like a week or 2 ago that the Sabres were crawling with young, talented, highly-drafted forwards (some of which were supposed to be consolation prizes for being forced to trade Eichel and Reinhart)? But now there is a big hole in the top 6 and not enough offense? It kinda feels like when Botteril accumulated too many RHDs, then squandered them via terrible GMing, leaving a hole at RHD.

Most likely outcome: BB is traded next summer. Sneakily possible outcome: BB outplays Power convincingly next season, Power is traded and BB signs a long-term extension.

It just feels 90% likely that Byram will take the 1-year deal and start counting the days until he can force a trade next summer. Great job, KA!

This is how I've been feeling since they traded JJP. It also feels 90% likely that they will be bottom-5 in payroll yet again. They are officially not a real NHL team until proven otherwise. Such a disappointment.

Whoa. This isn't just "good skater for a tall guy."

I respect Tom’s opinion, but I would be stunned if Stahl were named GM of any team in the next 3 years, and I can’t see KA and JK staying in their current roles for more than 1 year.

Upon some reflection, I think JK is likely to be the next GM, but it hasn't been promised to him and it won't be this summer. I think TP wants to take a look at JK, see how things go this summer with JK a full participant and see how the season starts off. If it's a poop show, KA is gone and TP can decide about JK at that point. If it goes well and the team looks good, he can decide about both of them at that point. No one is hiring either of them away in the meantime. From JK's perspective, the 2024 and 2025 GM hiring seasons went by and he wasn't able to grab a spot. So this keeps him in the NHL and in the on deck circle for a GM job that is reasonably likely to open up soon (and for a billionaire owner who hasn't done so lately but previously spent to the cap and showered the franchise with money). That's a pretty good landing spot and probably the best one he could find.

Interesting, and very plausible. Not sure that JK would perish in the Red Wedding, being an experienced and presumably leaguewide-respected GM who was very recently brought in -- I'd guess he'd probably just replace KA or, possibly with Lindy, advise TP on choosing a new GM.

Ekblad is a RHD who turns 30 in February and has played 61, 71, 51 and 56 games in his last 4 seasons (56 this season, with 33 pts, and 51 last season, with 18 pts). His AAV on his expiring contract is $7.5MM. Florida probably can't afford to keep him. Would anyone rather have Ekblad at, say, 5 years x $8.5MM -- which is what the Sabres would need to pay, because they'd need to beat the market to get him -- than Byram on the same deal? Or for that matter than Power on his current $8.35MM per year? In other words, if you can have 2 out of Power, Byram and Ekblad at the contracts stated above, which 2 do you want? Byram turns 24 in a couple of weeks and Power turns 23 in November.

Serious question: was hiring a real, experienced NHL GM as a senior adviser KA's idea? Or did TP give him an ultimatum? It seems pretty unlikely that it was KA's idea -- when does a GM ever want to bring in a guy to look over his shoulder, especially when the GM has overseen a crappy team for years and the new guy is an obviously strong candidate to replace him? If that's right, and it was done at TP's instruction, it at least shows that TP's Sabres heart is still beating.

This move has restored hope in me that they are still trying to be a real NHL franchise. At some point about 2/3 into the Bills’ pre-TP drought, I realized that Ralph had stopped trying and was just cashing the checks — and this past season I kinda got there with TP and the Sabres. I hope I’m wrong. This move helps. But I won’t feel confident that TP is all in until I see them spending close to the cap this year.

This is an interesting and, I think, an encouraging move. JK's track record isn't great -- in 10 full seasons as CBJ's GM, they made the playoffs in 5 of his 1st 7 seasons, but only won one round in total, then missed the playoffs the next 3 seasons, then he was fired during the next season. Still, JK is a real NHL GM with real experience. And he's someone from outside the organization. And FWIW, he had a number of obstacles in Columbus that were difficult to overcome -- i.e. losing Panarin and Bobrovsky as FAs, Laine's injury, etc. He's also almost certainly the Sabres' next GM unless they magically don't stink next season. Good move by KA, if it was indeed his move.

Speaking of the Bills' D relative to Philly's...

If you're still there, and if either team is playing, and you are in the vicinity, I would recommend going to a Barcelona or Madrid soccer game. I'm not a soccer fan at all, but went to an FC Barcelona game around 10 years ago (they still had Messi, who had a hat trick!) and it was really a cool sports experience. In any case enjoy your trip! I really like Spain.