nfreeman

Very sorry to hear this gents. You gave them good lives, I'm sure, and they enriched your lives quite a bit. God bless.

We had my son home for the summer after his freshman year of college for a great, and long, summer break, and now he's gone again. I am proud of him and I know he can't stay home forever, but I really miss him. Also -- a truck owned by the college hit my car in the parking lot there yesterday! They will pay, but it will be a PITA to deal with.

Adding a guy like Clowney for his contract year sure seems like it'd be worth a 3rd-rounder. And giving up on Zay Jones would well demonstrate why BB/McD are being too clever by half in their habit of giving up mid-round picks to move up for the 2nd/3rd round diamond in the rough they've supposedly identified.

The bolded is fair -- I was thinking more of the 2nd half.

I agree 100% with the bolded but there is NFW that Bogo is re-signed. He can't stay healthy and his D zone play nose-dived last year IMHO. OTOH, if he plays 65+ games this year, I agree that someone will sign him. But it won't be the Sabres.

So the immediate cap concerns are resolved. Buffalo Sabres @BuffaloSabres GM Jason Botterill has issued the following statement today in regards to defenseman Matt Hunwick:

You're certainly right about KD's and Kawhi's teams not being crappy organizations. My point as to those 2 was more on the trade-off between the huge long-term contract $$ on the one hand and freedom/flexibility/leverage on the other that the players have to evaluate.

McD finds himself in exactly the type of situation -- being married to a crappy organization with zero prospects of winning anytime soon -- that has driven LeBron, Durant, Kawhi and many other NBA stars to sign a series of short-term contracts instead of long-term deals. This gives the player the ability to walk away if the team doesn't hold up its end. OTOH, the price the player pays for this freedom and flexibility is the risk of foregoing the huge guaranteed $$ that is available in a long-term deal. It isn't exactly apples to apples, as NBA contracts are shorter anyway, and NBA teams have a shorter period in which they can hold onto their young players, but I think the core concepts are still applicable. McD could've signed a deal that took him to UFA and no further. If he had done so, he would've held the Oilers' feet to the fire to build a good organization around him. He took the money instead (which is what I would've advised him to do) -- but that security comes at a price.

Coincidentally , I was thinking today that there is at least a 25% chance, and maybe 40%, that lousy goaltending materially hurts the Sabres this year. If that happens, it’s another huge strike against JB. For some reason, I am less concerned about 2C. I think I’m sorta counting on improved D play and better finishers in Vesey, Olofsson and Jojo to generate offense. Also, Skinner is their 2nd best forward, and I’d be fine with Reino seizing the 2C spot, but I think his game is better suited for RW.

Interesting. So the expectation in Winny is either a short-term bridge deal or a trade?

So are Risto's, but if you were on a different team, wouldn't you rather take a shot on Risto -- a young guy, like Vesey, with a lot of tools and potential who has shown flashes on a relentlessly lousy team but has bad #fancystats (and, in Vesey's case, is in a contract year) -- than the D equivalent of a thoroughly washed-up Pommer who is probably going to retire this year because no one gives him a contract?

I am pretty confident that Vesey will have a season that obliterates Pommer's last few seasons, and Pommer's effectiveness will be even more diminished this year. We shall see.

Thanks boys and @Ogre I'm glad you enjoyed your evening!

If anyone who watched the game would like to describe Allen’s play, I’d appreciate it. Thanks.

I too would take Mantha for Risto.

Waiving Sobotka is a real possibility IMHO. KO still brings more to the table than Pommer and probably enough to have an NHL roster spot (although I'd be perfectly happy with, say, CJ Smith or Asplund in that spot instead). I don't think waiving KO this year is realistic, although I can see him getting the Moulson treatment in KO's 2nd-last and last year.

I think all of the following can be true and are true: - Pommer is better than Sobotka - Pommer on a 1-year deal is preferable to KO on a 4-year deal - Pommer is not good enough to be on the Sabres this year

Well, he might be good enough as a rookie to handle that #1 RW slot, but not good enough to beat out Mittsie for #2C.

Excellent post @GASabresIUFAN. The notion of a Skinner-Eichel-Cozens top line starting in October 2020 makes me happy.

Pominville has been done like dinner for a couple of years now IMHO. I will be pretty surprised, and disappointed, if the Sabres sign him.

'Twas indeed an excellent point, and it could indeed result in one of those "rich team pays for the expensive injured guy and gets a good asset from a budget team in return" situations. Of course, the incentive for Anaheim disappears if Kesler's contract is in fact insured.

Well, I don't know anything about Kase, but he'd better be pretty GD good if the Sabres have to take Kesler, who turns 35 in 9 days, has a $6.675MM cap hit for 2 more seasons after this coming one and had 8 pts in 60 games last year. OTOH, I've always liked Kesler's blood-and-guts qualities, and if the Sabres could unload KO as part of the deal, I would probably do it (assuming Kase is the real deal).

Mittsie's development is IMHO a huge under-the-radar swing factor for the Sabres' fortunes this season (the more obvious ones being whether they get better goaltending and coaching). I am pretty skeptical that they will be able to bring in a legit #2C this summer, so the job -- which is a critical role in the lineup -- is open. If Mittsie can step up and fill the #2C role capably, then the 2nd line will be much better than it was last year, which will make a major difference. But if he's unable to process the game at NHL speed -- which IMHO is the biggest risk here -- he again will add negligible value and the Sabres will need someone else to fill that role, and do it well, or else they'll be screwed.

Only the professionals go out boozing on Monday nights!

So I binge-watched season 1 of "The Last Kingdom," which is a joint BBC-Netflix production (there are 4 seasons so far). It's a bit like Game of Thrones, but historical fiction with no magic, dragons, etc. It's based on the history of the 9th-century war between England (when England was more like Westeros, with a bunch of regions, each with his own king) and the invading Danes (before they became known as Vikings). It's not as good as Game of Thrones (and the sex and violence quotients are lower, but still ample), but it's pretty enjoyable and beautifully shot. I give Season 1 a B to a B-plus, and I'm going ahead with Season 2, at least until TV sports resumes.