nfreeman

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.

Whether Mitts would've signed a similar deal here is an interesting question. The Sabres stink, NYS taxes are higher and they had just given fat long-term deals to TT and Cozens. Either way, the pressure on KA for Byram to be a really good player here just got a bit higher.

So I got around to watching the long interview with Lindy by Matt Bove (who did a pretty good job with it IMHO). I think it's a lock that they bring in a fighter. I also think it's a lock that they are going to be a much better team next season.

I found myself rooting for Edmonton last night. I really like that they didn't quit on the series when down 3-0, and that they gave their fans a great, great show in their last home game of the season last night to force game 7. And that crowd was awesome. And Zach Hyman is the kind of guy the Sabres are dying for. BTW, the Oilers got off to a terrible start to the season, just like the Sabres -- but they didn't just write off the season like the Sabres did. They fired their coach, and look at them now.

I generally agree and would just add that there is no way they would buy him out without Lindy’s assent.

Awesome. Congrats to you and your family.

Got a link to support this?

Every once in a while a poster really goes off the deep end. Usually, no one gets hurt. But hoo boy the board has a long memory. Chops will be busted in perpetuity.

I will be pretty surprised if they buy Skinner out. If they do, though -- that would be a pretty substantial indication that they are determined to break out of the rut, and that TP wants to give Lindy a fighting chance.

Well that thread was a real thrill ride.

Well done gentlemen. It ain’t easy but it’s the greatest thing in the world.

Wait just a second. Who said this and when? If it was his mom when he was 13, we can't go throwing around this kind of assertion.

...he said bravely. I sure hope so.

Great thread @JoeSchmoe I haven’t seen many of the lakes mentioned here, but I will say that lake George is beautiful.

I agree with most of this but would point out that Eichel's price was substantially discounted due to the injury/surgery risk. I just don't see Minny giving up JEE without getting back a good, young, NHL player with upside and a good contract, plus a really good pick or prospect. I think the Sabres meeting that standard for the first component are JJP, Quinn and Byram, and I kinda doubt KA will give up Byram so soon after trading for him. This also raises IMHO an interesting question: as a Sabres fan, if you had to trade one of Quinn or JJP to bring in a difference-maker like JEE, which one would you rather keep? I think I'd rather keep Quinn and part with JJP, but it's a very tough decision, not least because of the Quinn injury risk.

An army of sheep led by a lion is a pretty good description of this team at present. Very nice.

Interesting. Foligno turns 33 this summer and is slowing down. He also has a 4-year, $4MM per year contract extension starting next year. That is exactly the kind of contract a rebuilding team typically looks to unload. I would make the trade you suggest in a heartbeat. Foligno shouldn't cost much due to the contract, but JEE will be very expensive. I'd guess that Minny would demand either Quinn or JJP instead of Rosen though. Would JJP, Savoie and #11 be too high of a price? Or maybe JJP, Jokiharju and #11? I think I would do the latter but not sure about the former.

Good stuff here. For a bit more context, I'd note that Krebs's first full NHL season was 2022-23, when the Sabres had a good offense. He had 26 pts in 74 games that year, which is a 29-pt pace. That's not bad for an aspiring 3C in his 1st full NHL season at age 22. Then, like most of the roster, he was pretty disappointing this past season when the wheels fell off.

I agree that Krebs hasn't seized the opportunity he's been given repeatedly here, and that there's really no reason to be confident he'll ever amount to much. My point is simply that Krebs was one of the key pieces in the return for Eichel. GMs typically don't like to give up on a guy in that situation -- and if KA does, it will be because he knows he doesn't have the luxury of "letting the kids develop for another year and seeing how it goes" -- i.e. it will be because his feet are being held to the fire, as they should be. I doubt anyone has Krebs penciled in as 3C. I'd guess that if he's here, he's penciled in as 4C with the hope that he develops into a 3C.

Good stuff here, and I too would freaking love Eriksson Ek (and would pay through the nose for him). But I think Guelli's calculus in taking the job with TP was at least 90% driven by the Bills, which are an elite NFL franchise. I'd guess he viewed the Sabres as an interesting extra item but not much more than that.