nfreeman

A 3-year extension would be nuts, IMHO. I think the most likely outcome is that he plays out his contract and maybe signs a 1-year extension with the Sabres in the summer of 2023.

If we know Helly would re-sign, I would give up Ryan Johnson and the Vegas #1 for him.

C’mon. You don’t really mean this, right? Just exaggerating to make a point about not overpaying to keep VO?

Well, Levi staying in college and Portillo turning pro would be a bit of a curveball, innit? But I agree it’s not a bad outcome. All the more reason to sign a credible vet to be the #1.

I think @Brawndo is right that you can't give up real assets for a guy who's 2 years away from UFA. Having said that, it seems pretty likely that the Sabres' pick will end up being #10 or #11 or so (as someone will probably get lucky in the lottery and jump in front of them). In theory I could see trading that pick for the right goaltender.

What a great game. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that last night could have been a turning point in Sabres history. The city’s relationship with the team may be healing. How fitting that it was RJ who, in one of his final acts here, delivered the penicillin. A smaller, but still significant, factor in the resurrection of the franchise from last night: Cozens is becoming a force. Go Sabres.

That GWG last night was a thing of beauty and pretty close to vintage VO. I continue to think that the Sabres have nowhere near enough scoring depth to trade VO. Nor should they want to — he’s homegrown, his all-around offensive game improves a bit each year, he seems like he has a good attitude and the slapper, if it’s all the way back, is an elite NHL weapon. I also don’t think they would get anywhere near a legit top-4 NHL defenseman for him. Of course, it all depends on the kind of contract it will take to extend him.

Not sure I follow -- does this mean that you think one of them will not turn pro this year?

Beat me to it. The Bruins never would've given up Swayman. He is their future in goal, they knew Rask was probably done and they had the Sabres over a barrel. There's a reason the Sabres only got Bjork and a #2.

I beg to differ. Mitts moved up to the top PP unit vs Pittsburgh, in which they went 0-3. Then 0-1 vs the Caps, 1-1 vs the Rangers, 2-3 vs Chicago (one of which was VO's goal, so not the top PP unit, and the other of which was TT's freaky broken-stick GWG) and 0-2 vs Winnipeg. I'm not seeing Mitts make any plays from that spot -- he either plays catch with Dahlin or he takes an unscreened shot into the goalie's chest. As I said, his line has been effective, for which he deserves some credit, and having a 3rd scoring line has made a big difference in the team's overall performance. But with VO slowly but surely returning to form, I think Mitts need to do more to keep that spot on the PP.

I agree but it just feels like this is probably KA's plan.

This is fair, but it's also fair IMHO to say that the Sabres #1 job is wide open, and that no NHL team is going to hand Portillo the #1 job -- he's going to have to beat out a credible competitor wherever he goes. And of course the financial considerations are heavily in favor of turning pro now.

FWIW, I thought Casey was up-and-down last night. He made some nice plays, and his line was pretty effective, but I also thought he made a number of poor passes that became turnovers. I also thought he was pretty ineffective on the PP, which is really in a rut, and that VO should reclaim that right faceoff circle spot from Casey.

That news about Portillo being UFA if he returns to Michigan for 1 more year is concerning. KA needs to close this deal.

Most lenders wouldn't, although some would make unsecured loans at higher interest rates based on the team's cash flow. My understanding, having seen some internal NHL documents, is that the league is pretty focused and has pretty strict rules regarding debt that the teams can take on.

A line of credit, sure, but I don’t think the NHL allows a situation in which a lender could become an owner if the loan goes into default.

Not really -- it's just that Vanek, whatever his flaws, was a really good NHL goal scorer. Given how rare of a commodity that is, the odds are always going to be against Quinn or anyone else developing into that good of a scorer, especially since we've only seen him for a moment in the NHL. Perhaps my use of "super-confident" gave the wrong impression. I'd say I'm optimistic, but I'm not counting his 30-goal seasons just yet.

Well, I'm pretty skeptical. I think they are going say the right things, but in every single new arena/stadium, the seats are always further away than in the old ones. I just don't want any more of that than is necessary, and accommodating soccer isn't necessary IMHO.

While I agree that VO's all-around game continues to improve (and as such do not want to trade him as many here have suggested), I do not think the slapper is back. Both of his goals against Chicago were great shots, but one was a snap shot and one was a wrister. I still haven't seen him blast the one-time slapper like he used to.

I've become semi-convinced that Zemgus' return is a low-key important factor in the Sabres' improved play. That 4th line with him, Eakin and KO is pretty effective, and Zemgus is substantially better with the puck and on the forecheck than Bjork or Hayden (or Eakin for that matter).

I am optimistic but not super-confident that Quinn will approach Vanek's scoring productivity. I am certain that Quinn's coaches will not detest him the way Vanek's coaches did. And I will let the continued Drury blasphemy slide.

But isn't the soccer field (or "pitch" if you must) bigger than the football field? Doesn't that mean the seats will be pushed further away?

The soccer thing concerns me. I think the inevitable result is that the seats will be further away from the football action. As someone who doesn't give a crap about soccer (and my kids played it all the way through HS -- and neither of them particularly likes it either), I don't want the football viewing experience in the new stadium to be impaired even a little bit in order to accommodate soccer.

I am pretty sure the NHL does not allow an owner to pledge an ownership interest in the team to a lender as collateral.

Good stuff. So will there be a state issuing authority and a separate county issuing authority? I'll be interested to see whether there will be state or county guarantees here, and how the principal repayment will be addressed. Also good stuff. If true, it's another reason to thank TP, as this will end up pumping probably an extra $300MM or so of his money into local pockets (most of which will be unearned graft and embezzlement, but still).