nfreeman

Again: the fact that other teams overpay JAG forwards isn't a good reason for the Sabres to do so. Prudent cap management requires GMs to keep their cap powder dry so it can be used on real difference-makers. You mentioned Sheary -- Pittsburgh is a good example: http://www.spotrac.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/cap/-- they aren't paying any JAG forwards more than $1.1MM. The Sabres look like they are moving in that direction -- i.e. their stars are going to get paid and young/cheap guys will cycle through the lower spots in the rotation. As for Foligno, perhaps it's not a coincidence that he was traded before JBott had to pay him $2.5MMish per year. In any case I agree that it's a good price for Beaulieu.

Just because a number of other teams have overpaid for JAG forwards doesn't mean doing so is prudent cap management. Beat me to it. Of course, as you say, the proof will be in the pudding. If Housley and the new defensemen are good, then JBott has done quite a bit more than tie his shoes.

Weber was not on the ice when that happened. It was Pommer, Vanek, Gaustad, Myers and Sekera. Weber was a very tough player (although a mediocre fighter) and a good soldier who overcame his limitations and put together an 8-year NHL career.

I too like the job JBott has done so far. Calm, steady, prudent and effective. I disagree with the bolded though. Good cap management does not include handing out $2.4MM contracts to JAG forwards.

He also played for the Habs and was generally a tough MF -- I heard him described on TV once as "a nasty piece of business." Think Mike Weber but a bit more speed and skill. He's from NYS.

Seems like a pretty reasonable deal for the Sabres.

I generally don't much care for the X-men movies. I watched about half of Xmen Apocalypse over the weekend and found it as tedious and overwrought as the rest of them. Bah humbug.

Well, I think they have a more or less unlimited budget, and that Battle of the Bastards showed a very high level of battle-filming skill.

fantastic Harold Snepsts reference. Gold Jerry gold!

OK -- time to chill out in here.

Well, he just turned 26 and has had 1 full year as a starter here (since his first year here was substantially impaired by injuries). I certainly didn't want them to give him a long-term deal, and I think XGMTM overpaid a bit for him, but at the same time, I thought he was pretty solid last year. I thought he showed the potential of developing into an upper-echelon NHL starter (although he could certainly go either way). I also think if he'd made 5 saves in the shootout over the course of the season instead of zero, he'd have had an average shootout SV%, and the overall level of confidence in him here would be much higher. Let's see what happens this year.

I voted for Nobel Prize winner Casey M.!

Good for him. I wouldn't be surprised if he carves out a Brian Flynn/Tim Kennedy sorta 3-6 years of an NHL paycheck.

Justin Faulk

Well, Vanek made $2.6MM last year, so his ask is probably in that neighborhood -- which isn't that high.

Serious question for those advocating password managers: what about the risk that the password manager site itself is hacked? I would think those sites are highly appealing targets for hackers. If that happens, aren't you at risk of losing everything?

Then why has no one signed him? (Now, I do expect that he'll be on an NHL roster next season. But I also think it'll be on a one-year deal and that he'll probably be on a different team, or out of the NHL, the following season.)

Boom! As I've said previously: there's a reason multiple coaches and GMs -- including those from his own Olympic team! -- have had Vanek for a little while and said "no thanks" to any more time with him. There are plenty of guys whose production doesn't justify their negatives. An in-decline Vanek is one of them.

It's at least 50/50 that Moulson drops far enough off the table this year that no one is willing to devote a roster spot to him next season, let alone pay him $2MM. I wouldn't give Zemgus $5MM x 2 years or $2MM x 5 years. He's earned, at best, something like $2MM x 2 years. I think Lehner's shootout struggles are indicative of allowing himself to get mentally intimidated by the situation -- kinda like a baseball player in a hitting slump who knows he's struggling and just wants to get his at-bats over with, so he swings wildly at anything and of course keeps striking out. Beat me to it!

Well, he sure looks substantial enough to play in the NHL. Nylander stepping up and developing into a productive top-6 winger in the next couple of years would certainly help rehabilitate XGMTM's legacy.

Brandon Saad.

Good, smart move by the Sabres. It's a fair salary -- maybe even a little skinny -- and Lehner is RFA again next summer, so they will still be in control.

karlsson is the 2nd most valuable asset in the NHL, IMHO.

It gets pinned in the dog days of summer as part of SabreSpace's ongoing efforts to entertain and enrich.

That was a great scene to finish tonight's episode.