nfreeman

He was the Michael Houser of defensemen.

What? if this guy isn’t at least 3x better than Pratt I’ll be deeply disappointed and deeply concerned that KA has poop for brains.

Who did you want them to get?

That's another savvy move by Carolina and another painted-themselves-into-a-corner move by Vegas. Pacioretty turns 34 in November, but he was still pretty productive last year (19-18-37 in 39 games) and the year before that, and he's only got 1 year left at $5.25MM. Carolina got him, plus Coghlan, a 24-year-old 3rd pairing Dman who played 59 games for VGK last year, for nothing.

This seems like a pretty credible move for a goalie IMHO. I don't see any of the other goalies who moved being unquestionably more attractive than Comrie when cost, age, contract, etc. are factored into the analysis. It's not like Hasek or Roy was on the market. I would've preferred MAF, but he stayed in Minny. I had zero interest in a fat long-term contract for Kuemper or Campbell. Husso, Talbot and Murray were all interesting, and I would've preferred the Murray move since it would've included the draft upgrade, but that was out of our hands and again it's not like any of those 3 represents a clear and certain upgrade over Comrie. OTOH, KA is 100% accountable for his choice here. Comrie needs to be good, Anderson needs to stay healthy and not fall off a cliff and UPL needs to look like he belongs (or at least 2 of those need to happen) and the Sabres need to have credible goaltending next year. Otherwise the Sabres are going to miss the playoffs by 30 points again and I'm quickly going to lose interest in the new good vibes in the locker room.

So at 24, is he still exempt from waivers if they want to send him down?

Interesting. I think he was 1 year away from UFA, right? He turns 27 next week, so this keeps him here for his age-27 and 28 seasons. If he continues to improve, he'll get a fat contract from the Sabres or someone else. And if the Sabres don't keep him, he won't be locked in a position where he'd be blocking, say, JJP or Kulich. I too would've preferred a longer term, but I can see the appeal from KA's perspective.

I kinda hope Lindy gets a chance with a decent NHL roster, so I won't be disappointed if NJ gets Gaudreau.

I appreciate you perfectly refuting the 1st bolded part with the 2nd bolded part! I am reasonably confident that KA will bring in a credible goalie, and will be as PO'd as anyone if he doesn't do so.

TT had 38-30-68 last year and turns 25 in October. If he has, say, 36-36-72 this year, he'll get more next summer than Thomas just got from STL -- and he'll be worth it, since he'll be a no-BS #1 or #2 NHL center who can score it and pass it and who will be just entering his prime. And at that point we'll likely be glad we didn't give a huge contract to Jack Campbell or Darcy Kuemper.

They've been married for a while now. Good for them and I hope they are happy. You're allowed to like what you like.

Sorry to hear that friend. It will be alright.

Giving Kane more than a 1-year deal is a terrible idea. No good will come of this.

Could be. Or maybe he's just in one of his moods. I'll bring him that lime jello that he likes in a little while.

In this case it’s quite possible that Giroux is out of gas and Ottawa is the only team willing to give him a big contract.

^^^^ especially when @PASabreFan ‘s well-documented fear and loathing of the wealthy manifested so early and often during the OSP era.

Good. As it should be.

And are you…solo these days?

So this makes a PK signing a bit more likely, innit?

FWIW, Scott Wheeler of the Athletic was on WGR with Bulldog yesterday and said he though Savoie would be in juniors next year and then would be ready for the NHL. He also said Savoie has elite speed and skill and has the potential to be a "top of lineup" forward.

No one is saying OSP ignored the Drury deal or fell asleep at the switch. I, and I think others, believe that OSP felt like he had a free option sitting on his desk that he could exercise whenever he wanted -- and it was in his interest to wait to exercise it. He waited too long, and Drury, who was ambivalent about staying but willing to do so, got PO'd and bolted.

Good to see ya sir! This is a good way to describe it -- thanks. The bell would seem to be tolling for at least 2 of Bjork, a hypothetical FA acquisition and JJP's chances of starting the year in Buffalo.

Well, no one said unscrupulous or psycho or that OSP didn't know anything about leadership or management. What did happen is that a number of posters -- all of whom almost certainly have not built a company the size of Paychex -- criticized the management technique that OSP was bragging about in that episode and compared it with their own professional experiences. If you disagree with those comparisons, you might characterize them as "inappropriate" or even "ill-considered" -- but not obnoxious, which is how your last couple of posts in this thread read. Welcome to the board, and you are free to defend OSP all you like (as I have done on many occasions), but this is not how we communicate here. What does his race have to do with it? Are members of other races immune from this type of poor behavior? You are probably correct that the loan was already in the default, but OSP was the one who got the benefit of the loan forgiveness, which was borne by the state.

OSP saying this isn't the same as it being true -- and in fact it's of a piece with his description of the Drury debacle. The state forgave $25MM in debt as part of the deal: https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/tom-saved-hockey-in-buffalo-how-the-golisano-years-rescued-the-sabres/article_6ae709fc-fac8-5e61-bb8d-ea60ff8e35cb.html https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/en/Daily/Issues/2003/04/02/Franchises/NY-May-Pave-Way-For-Golisano-Purchase-With-$25M-Writeoff

I asked you about the insult because it seemed unwarranted and strange. I agree that Black Sunday isn't top of mind for OSP at present, but since he took the time to write about it in his memoirs, he clearly cares enough about it to present his version of events. As for why he wouldn't be telling the truth -- this has been asked and answered. I'll just add that someone tone-deaf enough to brag about making a huge profit on flipping the Sabres in a deal involving substantial public money from a state with a crippled economy is also likely to think that the public will eventually start to believe him if he keeps insisting on a version of events that whitewashes his culpability. Nosirree, unless you define success as making a ton of cash on the purchase and sale of the team. He was in the right place and right time to buy the team with almost zero financial risk, and for the magical 05-06 run, which he followed up on by providing terrible stewardship and running the team into the ground before cashing out. This is obnoxious.