nfreeman

My two cents: - I too will miss Foligno. His talents were limited but he was still a solid player and a very good soldier and he gave us everything he had. – still, this trade seems like a definitive upgrade for the Sabres. I thought Minnesota was a deep-pocketed team, but this just seems like an asset sale for them. Perhaps they needed to free up cap space for a big move tomorrow. – It is possible that Ennis finds his game and emerges as the best player in the trade, but this is realistically at best a 30% chance. If not, Toni Lydman 2.0 is clearly the best player in the trade. – Speaking of which, Scandella is 6'3", 205, can skate and has played between 18 and 21 minutes per game for a playoff team for the last few years. That sounds like a lock for at least #3 in the Sabres' rotation, and quite likely Risto's partner. – JBott has now turned over three of the Sabres' top six in a few weeks on the job -- and without mortgaging the family farm to do so. Pretty solid work. -- Pommer never should've been made captain here, but he was a good little player for quite a period of time. I sure hope he has something left in the tank. We should not assume that he does – he had 11 and 13 goals in his last two seasons, and it sounds like he's lost a step. Still, I am about a million times happier to bring him back then I would be with bringing back Vanek, especially if this is what it took to get a good defenseman.

Yuck. Hard pass. There's a reason multiple coaches and GMs have had Vanek on their teams for a short period and said no thanks to additional servings.

Good man iTinSn. That was beautiful. God bless you and your family.

BTW: a really good and under-the-radar cop movie was "The Guard" with Don Cheadle and Brendan Gleeson.

Those are 2 very strong contenders. I would nominate: Chinatown and Speed.

And that's that.

As for why I think Fedun will play more in Buffalo than in Rochester: I think that by New Year's he will be ahead of Gorges and Falk, that he is already ahead of Nelson and will stay there, and that Guhle will play most of the year in Rochester. If those assumptions are correct, then he'd be #6, and even if they add another 2nd pair defenseman, Fedun would be #7.

Me too, and I think he'll end up playing more games with the Sabres this season than with the Amerks.

You were joking in a goofy teenage-girls-up-too-late-at-a-slumber-party way, though, innit?

For the barbarians among us: prediction threads are highly informative. When there is a substantial majority on a prediction, it is almost always correct. So if you want Kane not to be traded, you should be pleased.

Well, we'll be in good shape if the NHL flips back to allowing offense again. Could someone who doesn't like the pick explain his/her specific reasons? And if one of your reasons was that you wanted Liljegren, is your thinking affected by the fact that he fell to #17?

As always, the question is not what you want to have happen -- it's what is going to happen. I voted no. I do not think the Sabres will trade Kane or Reino this weekend. I don't think anyone will deliver enough for Kane without having an extension agreed with Kane to make it worthwhile for the Sabres, and that can't happen until July 1. And I don't think they are going to trade Reino, period. I can certainly see trading up or down in the 1st round, but JBott strikes me as more of a conservative guy, and that type of trade seems like more of a GMTM move.

Hope springs eternal.

This. With which draft pick? The 6th-rounder? That wouldn't have done it. Vegas would have had zero interest in the $2.25MM Foligno (who is an RFA) or the coming-off-a-major-injury Larsson (also an RFA) without a real sweetener.

Vacation starts tomorrow after work!!

Well, Kessel took quite a bit of criticism from the Toronto media for being a "me first" guy who didn't do much on his own time to improve.

I think a key point in trading him now vs at the deadline is that if you trade him now, you're much more likely to get an NHL-ready defenseman who will play this year, whereas if you trade him at the deadline, you're only going to get picks and/or prospects. Even that point, though, is dwarfed by 2 much more important factors: 1. Is Kane interested in signing an extension with the Sabres? 2. Are the Sabres interested in signing Kane to an extension? We have zero information about either of these questions, and until we do, it's all just highly uninformed speculation.

I caught up last night. Really good last couple of episodes, although I would've preferred more Mike and less Chuck losing his marbles in the finale. I also think they should've provided some numbers in the whole Jimmy/Irene/settlement plotline -- i.e. the amount to be gained by waiting another year or 2 wasn't fleshed out at all, other than Jimmy claiming it was negligible. Do we think Gus knows about Nacho and the meds?

Great thread. Some of my favorites: - Family trip to California (LA, then driving up coast to SF with overnight stops along the way in Morro Bay and Monterrey). - Family trip to Spain (Barcelona and Valencia) - Family trip to Edinboro, London and Paris - Honeymoon in Hong Kong and Thailand - Men's ski trip in Colorado - Weekend trip to San Diego with wife for a wedding with a bunch of old friends

That doesn't bode well for them taking Moulson.

I too liked what we saw out of Fedun last year and would like to see the Sabres re-sign him. I kinda expect someone else to overpay for him (relatively speaking) though.

This trade would be great but it seems pretty optimistic to think that we'd get a defenseman AND dump Moulson for exposing Carrier plus a #2.

The only problem with this theory is that both Harrington and Hammy are advocating it.

well, we'll sho 'nuff notice it if they take Moulson. and you're right that it's somewhat redundant, but I think there is something to the "wisdom of the masses " theory, so I think the poll adds a reasonably interesting element.

Y'know, if you've got a prediction, there's a neat little thread going on right around the corner...