nfreeman

Marchessault is interesting. He's a C, shoots R, turns 30 in December, 5'9", 180, very good skater, pretty productive at about 55-60 pts per season, plays about 17 min per game, and has 4 years left on a contract with a $5MM per year cap hit but $4.25MM per year average cash hit, and no NTC. This is another guy that would usually either not be available, or available only at a steep price in trade, but this year might be available at a pretty discounted price. Yes please.

Serious question: if KO's contract had expired now, or last summer, or the summer before, would he still be on the team? I think the answer is that he almost certainly would not be, and that he'd likely not be in the NHL.

I like Friedman alright and I don't think he peddles BS, but I'm not a big fan of his. I find him pretty long-winded and I think he definitely provides vague responses when he doesn't have any specific info instead of admitting a lack of knowledge.

Sooooo... I realized that the 1st round of the draft is a mere 5 days away, with free agency 3 days after that. Stuff's gonna start happening. I'm optimistic.

I hereby nominate @Wyldnwoody44's gif for the top moment of the year on SabreSpace, if not the planet.

The buzzards are circling. The only way to get them to scatter is to ice a good, competitive team that stays in contention for the entire season and gives Eichel and everyone else confidence in the organization. Until then, there will be more of this, not less. In the meantime, it's a major challenge for RK to keep everyone focused and positive, and for KA to find the right guys and convince them to come here.

Yes, but this was TB's decision, not the Sabres'. Bogo forced his way out because RK decided he couldn't play any more, not because the Sabres were trying to save $$. Now, if one wants to ask whether this was a poor decision by RK, or whether RK should've been able to get more out of Bogo (like he should've been able to do with Skinner) I think that's a legit question.

The Athletic is reporting that Nick Leddy may be available due to an Islanders cap crunch. Leddy is a terrific skater, turns 30 next March, and has two years left on his contract at $5.5 million per year cap hit but a total of $13.5 million in cash. He played over 21 minutes per game this year for an excellent defensive team that made the final 4 and is a no-BS top 4 NHL LHD. Due to his contract, he’ll probably be available for a song, and the Islanders might even retain part of his contract.

Well, KC looks unstoppable. Holy mackerel.

Interesting. I can see this being leaked by a rival GM who might want to sign the same FA or trade for the same guy as KA wants. The problem is that the Sabres have squandered their credibility as a franchise by tanking, stinking for so long, trading ROR, hiring and firing a bunch of people, etc. -- so this kind of rumor is given more credence than it would if it were instead being said about a respected franchise.

Dude. Do you think on balance the Bills benefited more from questionable calls in that game or were hurt by them? The interception looked like a bad call. But even your fellow conspiracy theorist @SwampD soberly agrees that Kroft was guilty of offensive pass interference. More importantly, the Rams started that drive down 18 pts and 59 yards away from the end zone. The Bills' D was unable to stop the Rams' O from doing whatever they wanted for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the game was over when the Bills didn't convert that 4th-and-9 with 15 seconds left... until THE REFS, THE REFS, THOSE DASTARDLY REFS gave the Bills a first down on a borderline PI call drawn by a rookie WR. In any case, I'm glad that JA gathered his wits and led a terrific game-winning drive. He was Bad Josh for most of the 2nd half, but he didn't fall apart completely and he won the game for them at the end. The Bills definitely need to improve on D, though, especially the pass rush.

That was a very nice drive!

OK, so Gaudreau is a LW with 2 years left on his contract @ $6.75MM per year, both cash and cap hit, and then he's a UFA. He's reportedly already indicated to Calgary that he intends to leave in FA -- so any acquiring team has to assume there is a high likelihood that he decides to test FA when his deal is up. He's a dynamic offensive player who is a top-liner on almost any NHL team. I think in most non-2020 years, he's bringing back at least a #1 pick plus a very goo d young player -- i.e. a F or D who's already demonstrated top-6 F or top-4 D ability, as well as upside to potentially move higher in the lineup. What's his market value in this nutty year? Could the Sabres get him without giving up Cozens, #8 or Reino? It seems impossible that Calgary would take, say, Montour, Mittlestadt and the Sabres' 2021 #1 -- but will Calgary get an appreciably better offer than that elsewhere?

Major test today. The Rams are a big step up in class relative to the Jets and the Dolphins. And the Bills will be without 2 of their offensive weapons in Knox and Moss.

This is obnoxious and not how we communicate here.

This is ingenious: https://www.sciencealert.com/dogs-deployed-at-helsinki-airport-can-detect-covid-19-with-near-perfect-accuracy

Totally agree with these and would just add that motivating Staal will be a good challenge for RK’s talents.

Here's some speculation: I think TB is is more likely to trade Gourde than Killorn or Cirelli. Pretty fast and skilled player who plays center and wing, is feisty and fairly productive, but on the small side and carries a hefty $5.1MM cap hit for 4 more seasons. Pretty much the same cash number too. He turns 29 in December. He's one of a number of expensive TB vets who has a NTC, which he probably wouldn't waive to come here, so it's probably academic, but still: he's a pretty good player who will likely be available at low cost in trade, and maybe TB would retain part of the cap hit.

Can't decide if you're joking about this and don't want to spend 60 seconds looking it up either.

Darthie, you know I luv ya, but this is like when a certain poster whose name rhymes with "shmiger" was arguing that Robyn Regehr might get power play time.

I would be very happy to pick up Grelzzy. He's an exceptional skater and good playmaker with good hockey IQ. NB though that he's only 5'9", 175 lbs -- so it would seem unlikely that the Sabres would have both him and Bryson in their top 6. In any case I think dudacek is right that the Bruins aren't going to let him go, since he's good and relatively cheap and they control his rights.

Excellent post. I agree with almost everything, although I think they are more likely to bring in 1 defenseman or possibly zero. I agree that Montour is the most likely to go. I also think that KA will be quite open to bringing in another top-6 forward if another Staal-like bargain presents itself, and that it's reasonably likely to happen given a wave of NHL cost-cutting. This would push TT down to 3RW (or lower) and/or push Cozens from C to RW. They have some positional flexibility with Kahun and Cozens, and I can also see VO playing 3LW if a higher-end LW is brought in. The 1A/1B goalie is at the top of my wish list, followed closely by another good top-6 forward.

Lazar reminds me of Adam Mair with more upside and less fighting. Not a high ceiling, but fast, good size, decent hockey IQ and great enthusiasm.

Well, I totally agree that until they actually deliver good results, we shouldn't assume that they're going to do so, or that they have the right people in place to do so. My point was just that it would be pretty strange if they were actually prioritizing marketing over winning, and I have a hard time believing that they are doing so.

You seem to be assuming that they are focused on marketing and not on building a better team. I don't see anything to support this assumption. They haven't succeeded in building a good team, but what specifically is there to indicate that they aren't trying? Did they not just trade for a legit player to fill their biggest need on the ice? Do you think the hockey staff bloodletting means they don't want to build a good team? That hockey staff delivered a terrible team for an extended period of time. It's much more likely that they are focused both on improving the team and on marketing.