nfreeman

I kinda think Zucker will play on the 2nd line with Cozens and JJP, putting Benson on the 3rd line with Greenway and please-let-it-be-an-interesting-new-acquisition-who-isn't-Krebs.

Unfortunately I had the same impression of KA's answers. I hope I'm wrong.

You don’t see too many 3-year deals at the vet minimum. In any case, farewell Zemgus. I hope you get to have some fun in the playoffs.

It kinda feels like they're done in the FA market and will look to add a 3C via trade -- which may not happen for a while. That's fine with me, and probably the correct approach, but it will of course depend on whom they bring in. I think the likelihood of Florida trading Lundell is about the same as the likelihood of TB trading Cirelli -- i.e. zero. The good teams don't trade their core guys. They figure out how to dump a couple of overpaid fringe guys instead.

OK. Time to take it down a notch.

Well, we all wanted, and expected, a major renovation in the bottom 6. No surprise so far.

Was that reported, or is it your assessment/guess? "Generational" is a bit strong here. Datsyuk was a great player, to be sure -- one of the best in the world for quite a few years and one of Russia's all-timers. Good range of outcomes here. I like Krebsie and want to see him at age 25 after 2 years of being coached by Lindy. It's very possible he could develop into a credible 3C by then. OTOH, I despair of his hands and I have a hard time seeing him producing offense in the NHL.

OK, so I guess this trade is now officially Helenius vs Sam Dickinson, a 6'3" skating defenseman drafted by SJ from the OHL at #11, and, to a slightly lesser extent, vs Zeev Buium, a 6'0" NCAA defenseman drafted by Minny at #12 and Jeff Luchanko, a 2-way C drafted by Philly at #13 from the OHL. If any draftniks here have any thoughts -- please fire away. I bet Helenius is the best of the 4 of them.

As stipulated upthread, buying out Skinner constituted a major move. Don't hate the playa, hate the game (although in this case of course the playa created the game, sooooo...)

I think there's been plenty of up-and-down in their oeuvre (and there's today's Sabrespace word of the day!), but the highs are very, very high.

Well, I agree with some of what you've said in this thread, but taking a victory lap on the Eichel and Reino trades at this point is just insane.

Looks like the ayes had it! Not a very sweet victory yet though.

The Coen brothers did an excellent remake of this movie about 10 years ago starring Jeff Bridges and … Josh Allen’s GF!

I think they’re all available in a package for a good veteran forward coming back. OTOH, we could say that about each of these kids. They will probably only trade 1 of them this summer (if even that) and I’m looking forward to seeing each of them develop. Each is promising in his own way.

Certainly an underwhelming day on the trade front, but IMHO the buyout is still a pretty significant development. I think I heard on a podcast that this is the biggest or 2nd biggest buyout in NHL history. It's not a move that a franchise would make unless it's trying to win. Now KA needs to fill some holes over the next 4-5 days. Don't give up just yet gentlemen.

I kinda think that even where there is no NMC/NTC, most of the time GMs will try to send players into good situations -- which the Sabres assuredly are not -- unless there is a big spread in the trade return. I doubt the Caps could've gotten a good #2 pick for Beck anywhere else.

Seems like a respectable move to me. He's probably an upgrade over Robinson, Jost and Zemgus. As others have said, there of course needs to be much more over the next week.

How many forwards drafted last night are currently over 200 lbs? Please be specific.

I agree on the #5 defenseman. If the #3C is someone like Cirelli or Eriksson Ek though, I'm in. Here's a question: how do you feel about trading good prospects for a higher-end guy who only has 1 season left on his deal and doesn't sign an extension as part of the trade? I'm sorta undecided on that one.

Yes -- it is hereby decreed that a jettisoning of Skinner by any means constitutes a major move for purposes of this poll.

By "major move," I mean a top-6 forward or a top-4 defenseman, or other move that even KA's staunch critics would grudgingly admit is a major move -- even if they don't like the price, or the player, or the contract, or whatever else. EDIT: as noted downthread, buying out, trading or otherwise unloading Skinner would qualify as a major move. As always, the question is not what you want to happen, it's what you think will happen. The draft ends on Saturday night. (I guess that makes it alright.) My optimism is being sorely tested, but I voted yes.

Plan the parade!

Savoie and Cozens.

Skinner's contract really was one of the very worst moves the Sabres have made in this whole misbegotten era. Well done JB! As for the buyout, it strikes me that there are a number of possible reasons for it, with a corresponding range of indicators as to whether this bodes well for the franchise: - Worst case: the buyout is simply to save the cash. - Medium case but still not great: addition by subtraction -- i.e. the buyout is because KA or Lindy or both have had a long look at Skinner and decided that they simply cannot win with him on the roster -- but they don't intend to use the freed-up cap space on any significant additions. This would be positive in the sense that it would demonstrate a willingness to cut their losses and spend a lot of $$ for someone to not play here, but that's pretty much the only positive. - Best case: they are going to use the cap space on a significant addition or 2 from the outside whom they've already identified and are going to act decisively to secure those additions. This would obviously be great, depending of course on how well the additions pan out. Like most here though, I'm at the point where I'll believe it when I see it. Dude.

You're right -- KA needs for Byram to be really good, or at least more value-added than Mitts, AND for the Sabres not to be handicapped next season by poor 3C play. Otherwise it's a major mistake. I'm fairly optimistic that Byram will, under Lindy, be a substantially better player than Mitts, but I'm not terribly optimistic that KA will bring in a good 3C. The good players usually have options, and a big chunk of them are not interested in coming here due to years of suckitude. We'll see.