nfreeman

God bless you and them @SwampD. I bet they like Stefon Diggs.

Out of the employees that have left PSE, how many do you think have been fired vs left voluntarily? Separately: for those unhappy about the possibility of an internal cap: how much money do you think the team will lose next year at a $72MM payroll? And how much do you think it's reasonable to expect TP to lose? $10MM? $20MM? More?

I sure hope you're right, and I agree that the signs of immaturity are there, and that this often improves over time. My bigger concern though is that Casey's alleged talent simply doesn't exist. I do not see any signs whatsoever of Mitts being able to process the game at NHL speed. When he has the puck in the o-zone -- which is pretty rare, as his line spends most of its time chasing the puck in the d-zone -- the opposing defender is able to simply take it away like Mitts isn't even there. And it didn't sound like it was much better when Mitts was in Rochester either. Time will tell. Max was also able to produce in the AHL substantially better than Casey did (18 pts in 15 games vs 25 pts in 36 games for Casey). Max was also essentially a 40-pt guy in his 1st 3 NHL seasons, other than the 11-pt season, which he missed more than half of with a concussion, and the following season, in which he had 31 pts. Apples and crabapples. Overall, I will reiterate that, as with Nylander last year, I'm in no hurry to cut Casey loose. The Sabres should not do so until he needs to clear waivers or they have to make a significant contractual commitment to keep him. Until then, he should stay in Rochester. In the meantime, I'm happy to include him in a package for a good player if the other team wants him, and I'm definitely not counting on him.

Yes please, although I doubt Vegas will include Glass, as he is their top prospect. Someone will probably take MAF off their hands for Vegas' first-rounder this year.

Well, I think this is fair for the early part of Max's career, but over time he developed into a major, and not occasional, contributor -- not on par with Drury or Briere (and I agree with your point on leadership), but right there IMHO with Vanek, Roy, Pommer, etc. His speed put a ton of pressure on the opposing D. He was also an underrated playmaker who could pass it as well, if not better, than he shot it. Also, the Sabres sending him out with a couple of talented linemates on their 3rd line created major matchup problems for the opponent. If Mitts ends up contributing as much as Max did, it will be a major win for the Sabres and a big surprise to me. I never saw Max looking anywhere near as lost and hopeless as Casey looked this past season.

I generally agree that the Sabres aren't as far away as some might think -- but I also think Mitts has many miles to go before he can play in the NHL, and that there is a good likelihood that he won't get there.

That would be amazing, but I'll eat my hat if it happens. Max had 3 seasons of 61 or more pts (one of which was 61 in 56 games, and another of which was 73 pts). I have a hard time seeing Casey putting up 40 pts at any point in his career, and I think it's close to 50/50 that he washes out entirely.

Well, the Bruins are indeed a good organization, but it should be noted that Edmonton tried hiring their GM and he crashed and burned there, leaving McD's teams to this point in his career only marginally more successful than the Sabres have been.

On the Reaves hit, I thought he was going for a big hit, but Motte kinda ducked and stuck his head in there at the last second, which turned it into a kill shot to the head. I would prefer that the NHL adopt a stricter policy -- ie that the hitter needs to make it his business to avoid the head at all costs -- but they aren't there yet. Under the current rules, I think Reaves' punishment was about right, and I don't think a skill player would've been suspended at all.

TP continues to spend lots of dough on the Bills. Good for Tre and good for the franchise.

Come on. We know you are more generous of spirit than this. Robin was young and he made some poor choices that were fed and exacerbated by mental health issues. Then he had the guts and selflessness to come clean about it publicly because he wanted to help others. He is certainly responsible for his choices, and the consequences of those choices. But he’s suffered and been embarrassed publicly, and he’s lost millions of dollars in the process. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life. I sure hope there aren’t that many people out there rooting for me to fail in the future because of those mistakes. FWIW, I also think rooting for someone to fail has a corrosive affect on the person doing the rooting. It’s not good for you. Kindness, forgiveness and supportiveness is.

Well, I think if he had crashed and burned in the playoffs, he’d have been looking at another short-term deal from someone, especially in an offseason with plenty of available goalies.

Lehner had 3 shutouts in this series. If he plays well in the next round, someone will give him a nice contract in the offseason. Good for him.

This game kinda feels like Vegas will continue to dominate but Vancouver will jump on a loose puck at some point and beat Lehner. I think they just said that Demko has saved the last 96 shots he's faced.

An undrafted rookie with a hat trick and the OT GWG in game 7! Awesome. And the GWG was set up on a very nifty play by none other than Reggie Sekera, working from Wayne Gretzky's office.

I need to throw up and then cry for a while. I'll be back in a few hours.

Krug is a very good player, and in the abstract I'd be happy to add him to the lineup, but IMHO the Sabres need to allocate that cap space to a 2C or 2RW (or both) who is too expensive for his current team to keep.

First, welcome to the board! Second, I agree on Risto for Ehlers and would be willing to include a good-but-not-premium asset -- ie Mittlestadt, Borgen, Samuelsson, Smith or a #2.

I listened to it a little while ago -- good stuff. One interesting point Pagnotta made, IMHO, was that there are expected to be fewer top-4 defensemen available this offseason than goalies and forwards, which will help the Sabres if they trade Risto and/or Montour.

I would rather have Anderson, although I agree that he won't come cheap, either in trade assets or in the contract he'll want. And I think CBJ would only trade him to save cap space, so they won't be interested in Montour or Risto. Maybe Mittlestadt, a #2 pick and Borgen or Samuelsson for Anderson?

Not sure why, but now it's working on firefox. Thanks @SDS!

So, I can log in on my phone, but not on my desktop (running Firefox) or iPad. All suggestions appreciated.

Indeed. Further evidence that a SabreSpace committee would've done a better job. It's probably harder to spend as much as the Sabres have spent, and be as bad as they've been, than it would've been to spend less and be as bad. You're a kinder man than I am. But wasn't it JB's masterstroke move of Scandella for Frolik that put them into the overage?

Outstanding, and it gives me hope. Where's @MODO Hockey to bask in the awesomeness of the possibilities?

I too like Montour and am in no rush to give up on him. I just think there will be sufficient interest in Domi that it will require at least an asset at Montour's level to get him. I'm also in no rush to unload Mittlestadt for that matter -- he's young, cost-controlled and has upside -- but if another team wants him in a package for a #2C, I'm fine with including him.