nfreeman

He’s missed quite a bit of time with injuries but when healthy has pretty consistently played 12ish min per game for an upper echelon team. He has more upside than Lazar.

We got a second which could be the 17th or so pick in the 2nd round and a prospect for a guy no one was going to give up a first for and a likable JAG. I think this is entirely respectable.

A bit more on Bjork: he’s 6’0”, 198, he had 52 pts in 39 games as a junior at ND, then turned pro. It looks like he missed about half of each of his 1st 2 pro seasons with injuries — he played 39 total NHL/AHL games in his 1st year and 33 in his 2nd, before playing 65 last year. He’s played in 30 out of Boston’s 39 games this year.

No GM with functional eyesight would’ve valued Hall as equal with Palmieri or Foligno for a playoff run starting in a few weeks at this point. He’s been freaking terrible. Palmieri is a smart, consistently productive forward who can score it and pass it and Foligno is a warrior. No one was giving up a #1 for Hall. I’d guess you’re right that they view Bjork as having more upside than Lazar. Bjork, by the way, is fast, turns 25 this summer, played 3 years at Notre Dame, a very good NCAA program, and was very productive, a 2nd team all-American and a hobey baker award finalist. Maybe this one will cash in. In the meantime as noted upthread he comes from a winning organization.

Pittsburgh probably didn't have to give up much for Carter. They might still be interested in Hall (if they were to begin with).

Pittsburgh's 2022 first is interesting. It gives them a #1 for Hall, which is inherently a good asset, but it does nothing for them next year and presumably for a couple of years after next year, unless they include the pick in a trade this summer. Certainly it would represent recouping real value from the very disappointing 2/3 of a season they got from Hall.

Well, I only saw the 3rd, but I thought Casey looked pretty bad -- he was turning it over in the offensive zone every time he had it...until the very sweet move for the ENG...which the coach enabled by trusting Casey to close it out at the end of a 1-goal game. Marty Biron said something I found interesting on the post-game show about that line -- he said Mittlestadt is a quick-starting skater, but not that fast overall, while Asplund is really fast, and that Asplund uses his speed to be an effective forechecker, which is the key to that line's success. Also, I sure enjoyed seeing Skinner look like a force again and seeing Cozens again. R2-Cozens-KO was an interesting and entertaining line to watch. Against all odds, this team is giving us a reason to watch the games again -- even without Eichel!

This is reasonable, but I need to know what they can get for him before I decide whether I'm on board with keeping him. If it's a #2 or a good prospect -- I'd probably trade him.

If he wants to test FA it's at least 75% likely that he leaves. I'm OK with that outcome. Depending on the contract I'm OK with them keeping him but if they are determined they can bring in 2 goalies who are at Ullmark's level.

FTR, I'd much rather have Foligno than Hall.

Well, he's another guy to watch in the "how bad did the Sabres make player X look" competition. I think he he's not the guy to drag the Sabres out of the ditch they've dug themselves, but he has all the tools to be a bona fide top-4, 19-plus min per game guy on a good team.

That seems like a low-rent rumormonger site. I will be shocked if they get 2 firsts for Hall.

I’d guess it will be at least 3 years and at least $4MM per year. I’d rather 3 years x $4.5MM than 4 years x $4MM.

Interesting. Friedman wouldn’t say this without a good reason IMHO.

I think @dudacek upthread stated correctly that Montour will be better on Fla than he was here. He's a nice player that in the right situation could've been a mainstay.

I generally agree, but they didn't get 3 seasons out of him -- he was acquired in Feb 2019 and played 112 games as a Sabre. I was hoping for a 2nd but thought that was the ceiling. A 3rd is OK IMHO. Separately, even if the value received is another example of not-so-clever JB arbitrage, it was either re-sign him for a pretty expensive contract or trade him for whatever they could get. I kinda like his game, and I think his lousy analytics are more a function of general Sabres suckitude over a small sample size than an indictment of his game, so I would've been OK with keeping him. OTOH, I can understand their decision not to do so -- they have young D-men to move in, and they want to change the mix in the locker room, and they need the cap space for goalies/Reino/new blood/other. I hope they make a few more good moves.

Well, they are also drafting at the top of each round every freaking year. They should be well above average.

Well, this is insane.

Here’s an article about Philip that those who watched “The Crown” may find interesting: https://spectator.us/topic/tribute-prince-philip-1921-2021/

From Scott Burnside of the Athletic today: The whole valuation of Taylor Hallis going to be one of the stories of the deadline and the fact he’s been pulled from the Sabres lineup as of Tuesday suggests GM Kevyn Adams is fielding at least a few calls. But your point is a good one. Two goals (and 19 points) in 37 games hardly speaks to good value for a guy making $8 million. The debate is whether this is all due to circumstance, or has there been a dramatic decline in Hall’s ability to drive play? A scout I spoke to has been down on Hall since his arrival in Arizona. So, what’s his value assuming Buffalo eats half of that salary? No way he commands a first-round pick, in my books. If I’m a GM I’m holding out and offering no better than a third-round pick. But what if Toronto, the Islanders, Boston, and just for fun, Carolina are interested? Does that change the dynamic on his value. Sure it does. But the fact still remains he’s a shadow of the player he once was and it will be buyer beware.

Interesting. MJD's points are good, but there has to be some penalty for getting every number wrong in a post. Or maybe a reward!

But those age groups now include everyone age 16 and older.

I didn't think this line was very effective last night in 5-on-5, but Mittlestadt undeniably made 2 very nice NHL skill plays with his pass on the 1st goal and his "posting up" and tip-in on his PPG. Signs of life are better than signs of death.

Well, I don't want to be the downer here, but I feel like I should say that the Devils, a pretty crappy team, had the better of the play for most of the game last night. The Sabres certainly look better than the dead-eyed zombies they were for the last 15 games or so under RK, but they still have many miles to go IMHO.