SHAAAUGHT!!!

I think we are all pretty close on this. As a stand-alone move signing Lazar doesn't make or break this team. To some of us the jury is still out on Lazars ceiling and/or where he slots in to the line-up. Depending on the overall team chemistry, it is possible he could play an effective 2nd line winger role on good Sabres team. He's fast, creative, defensively responsible, gives'r hard, and comes cheap. That might open up more money for a scoring 3rd line winger.

Exactly. There are usually one or two surprises during camp, and line-ups get juggled throughout the year. This is a quality signing that provides Krueger some flexibility in the line-up vs having a one-dimensional player in a bottom 6 role.

Everybody mentions him as a 4th liner, but I think that sells Lazar short. He was great at killing penalties, skated hard every shift, converted from a skilled to a banger type player, great attitude, and is the type of player that can complement a lot of lines in different ways. I think he could be effective from the 2nd line down to the 13th forward - depending on line chemistry. This is a great depth signing at a great price that has promising upside. 2for2 Mr. Adams. Well played sir. I don't think this signing impacts Larry's contract at all at $800K AAV. It's likely going to be what contracts are signed and trades occur for the top 9 forwards that dictate what type of money the Sabres are willing to spend on Larson and/or Girgs...

This is an impressive first move. I have a similar lineup: VO - Eichel - Samson Skinner - Staal - TBD Kahun - Cozens/Casey - Tage Lazar - Larson/Girgs - Okposo My guess is they are looking for a top 4 winger in free agency if they can't make another trade.

This right here is a huge benefit to the GMs that signed bridge deals that expired this season. GMs are going to be able to play hardball during RFA (and UFA) negotiations, and it doesn't matter if it is a long-term or short-term deal. There is so much out of their hands the next year or two (flat cap, no fans in the stands, global recession, etc) that agents don't have as much leverage in the past knowing GMs were going to have an extra couple million to play with next year. I'm curious to see how/if this shows up in the arbitration awards. This is the perfect storm for teams with cap space to make franchise altering deals. There may 3-4 teams next year completely loaded with 1 or 2 year contracts that run the league, similar to what happens in the NBA (or so I hear). And then in 2 years they will have all that cap space again, so it won't necessarily hurt them long-term if they make these deals in free-agency, or with late round draft picks.

Yes they do. What they spend their money and time on is 100% at their discretion. For example, building/buying/renovating another apartment/home does not improve their investment in the Buffalo Sabres. Yes I understand people can make money doing this, the Pegulas are not trying to do that. The Sabres are an asset that would benefit greatly from proper investment. I'm not buying into the "cashflow" propaganda.

Let's start with what should be a universally understood fact about personal finances: the Buffalo Sabres will not bankrupt the Pegulas Hot take: This is a team owned by a Billionaire that has lied to our face when he says there are no fiscal constraints when making sure we have the best product on the ice. He forced a trade that set this franchise back 1-2 years because O'Reilly was due a $7.5MM bonus in few hours, but was fine spending $9MM for 8 years on a 27 year old winger. They mass fired people so recklessly they had to hire one of them back the next day. They had 3 GMs on the payroll at once. There is nothing fiscally judicious when it comes the Pegulas anywhere else, why is ok with some people the Sabres can be an exception? This is a great opportunity for them to capitalize on other teams financial woes to make up for their past mistakes and gain some trust back from the fanbase (aka their stakeholders). Chill take: They have done a lot of good for this team and for the area, but they had some HUGE blunders we shouldn't gloss over as well. If anything its time for them to put their money were their mouth is. They've had more than enough years to figure out how to run a hockey operation and should know where they need to invest. Now is a time for them to GAIN on other franchises, not pinch pennies. I'm confident the Pegulas can still turn this team into a contender, but they still make amateur mistakes that should give us all cause for concern. Cutting costs now is an amateur mistake I hope they don't make...

If I'm a new GM I'm doing everything I can to make a deal that management wants, and will gain some respect around the league. Doesn't have to be a lopsided deal, just big. Or at least a deal moving a player the previous administration couldn't pull off. And I want to do it ASAP so it gives me something substantive to discuss with other GMs so I can develop some sort of rapport in an time when face-to-face contact is limited. That said, I don't want him to pull the trigger on a deal to just make a deal or else he loses credibility. He's had more than enough time to observe the league and FO and develop a strategy for this organization. All we can hope for at this point is that he isn't sitting on his hands hoping someone is going to help him out and he's out there making it happen. But if I'm Kvn Dms I'm working to my own internal clock and it's getting close to crunch time... And until he starts taking vowels seriously he gets none in his name...

This. As Rouseau once wrote, and I paraphrase, one has to give up some natural born rights in order to participate in a society. And a society that contains extensive rules and laws is a society in which the individual person maintains few, if any, natural rights. I don't know if I've seen any instances of this forum preventing one from expressing their thoughts or opinions. And in general, overbearing bias is an indication that someone is attempting to control a narrative due ones inability to articulate their point of view to another, or to accumulate and/or maintain power. I don't think the later is the case here (at least from what I've seen), which is why I'm not overly concerned about having additional mods.

This was enjoyable, and I usually dislike anything new right off the bat (music, people, flavors of chips, etc)

If Reino signs long-term for under $6.5MM AAV I will be extremely impressed with KA. And deals are great if other teams are willing to make them and you're based in a destination city. More than half of the top 60 centers in the league have some sort of NTC/NMC. Players get trade clauses put in their contracts because they are good (or had leverage at one point), so we can assume 50% of players that don't have trade clauses in their contracts aren't the type of players that are guaranteed to come in and crush the 2C role. Which means the pool to select from will be limited by players without trade restrictions so getting an above average 2C will likely require a significant over-payment by the Sabres if it happens at all. Not saying it can't/won't be done, but it's not easy either. Add in a rookie GM and a losing team and it gets even tougher. It's more likely we get natural 3C center that we hope will overachieve in a 2C role...

The article talks about a potential $8.8MM/8 year contract. The Sabres FO may feel they have to move him if that is his price, if they can get a favorable return. Vogl mentioned a contract in the $6.5MM range a few weeks ago and that seems more inline with a flat cap. I would think anything up to $7.25MM would be manageable.

The 2001-2002 Sabres needed offensive, not defense. We had puck movement and ruggedness from the back-end already and a good crop of young dmen in Soupy, Kalinin, McKee, and Tallinder. The Sabres needed a scoring forward (Vanek) and ended up getting their own two-way scoring center and captain when they traded for Chris Drury in 2003.

Take one ref and one linesman off the ice and allow them to make their calls from a box seat with video support

Don't sleep on Dalmatia Hotel either. More of a local spot but they have 70+ flavors, crispy wings, and inexpensive beers.