SHAAAUGHT!!!

Jumping in late on this convo, but I don't see anyone considering the impact an increase in player escrow contributions and/or a flat cap for 3+ years will do to contracts. We shouldn't expect the same year-over-year increases that we've seen over the last 4-5 years and that could have multiple impacts: 1) players may be more inclined to sign 1-2 year contracts than long-term deals, especially younger players. High potential and/or impact players will still command a decent salary, but everyone else will see salaries go down 2) older players looking for longer term contracts may have to settle for less money, shorter term, or be willing to play for a bad team with available cap space 3) players may select to play in the US vs Canada, or even specific states to reduce the amount of income tax they have to pay so teams like Tampa Bay and the Panthers could be stacked vs NY and CA based teams. 4) There could be a player strike; and I think that likelyhood increases if escrow goes over 20% I think Hall fits into #2 and would be ok signing another 1-2 year deal. He seems like he values flexibility, opportunity, and quality of life as much as salary so it really depends on how year 1 goes in Buf and what the NHL landscape (financial and roster-wise) will look like for the '21-22 season. I could see him signing for $7-8MM if all goes well, but I think Reino gets the shaft again and won't see the payday he expected.

He almost broke Sly's shoulder and he put three stunt guys in the hospital while filming his scenes for Rocky3

Thunderlips is going to be upset he didn't make the list...

New rumor. I had a dream last night the Sabre's traded for someone with a $7MM salary (not sure if it was cap hit or actual salary for 2021). We did not send money back the other way so I was thinking "wow, more moves must be on the way." So right now the Sabre's are working to trade for one of these guys: Or one of these guys: I feel this is just as legitimate (if not more) than an Eklund trade rumor...

No, its the old nickname name for Rt104. It's actually on the 1940 census map as the "Million Dollar Highway" because of the cost to increase the width of it between Lewiston and Rochester at the time.

Don't forget about the "Million Dollar Highway" too...

The bolded phrasing has broken my brain. I had to re-read this around 6 times before I understood F was forward and I'm still struggling even now lol

Yeah, 3-4 years for 3-3.5MM AAV is what I'm expecting and for me the risk is low. Snipers are always serviceable and teams will spend that type of money to bring in a guy to fix a PP or round out the 2nd PP line. I think he still has some potential to increase his effectiveness by learning the nuances of the game at this level, but I agree he probably performed at 80-90% of his ceiling last season.

This makes a lot of sense because it puts Cozens next to Staal, which is exactly what RaKru said he wanted to do with the rookie while he learns the game at this level. And then when he's ready to run his own line he slides down to 3C, Reinhart moves up, Eakin slides over, and they get decent matchups and sheltered minutes. I can get on board with this.

Bolded is my key point. He made the moves he could (or was allowed to) knowing it was at best an incremental stop-gap improvement that would at least give him flexibility to make some big moves in subsequent seasons. He also brought in RaKru which led to us getting Hall (and he tried getting him before settling for Housely). I get some people are still raw and a bit too stubborn to admit or recognize what he did contribute and try to do during his tenure. k.

It's still $1MM a year for 2 additional years (through 24-25). If the pick isn't until selection 25 or later it may take a first next year with a flat cap.

This was JBotts plan and Adams is cashing in. Say what you will about his personnel decisions (see Frolik, Sheary, etc), but it's not by chance Adams has all this cap flexibility. They brought in a guy 3 years ago known for cap management (JBotts) and we now have two seasons (this and next) of increasing cap space with an opportunity to dump more through the expansion draft. Credit where credit is due.

I still think the goal is that he goes to Seattle with a pick. If it isn't it should be lol

Yeah, it will be interesting to hear why they settled on a 1 year deal. It's a great deal for Buffalo and for Sam. Gives the Sabres options going into contract negotiations after the season with Hall, Dahlin, Joker, Sam. So much cap space after next season and it should be easy to protect the players we want to protect for the expansion draft.

Aren't we giving NHL arbitrators a bit more credit than due? From what I remember when it comes to middling players they usually just take the average of the two offers (I'm still drinking coffee and waking up so my brain isn't ready look up examples yet). I feel like even pulling this together goes above an beyond what their arbitrators actually do..

Not a problem. This is where the expansion draft is going to help us. Okposo and our 2021 1st or Skinner and our 2nd to Seattle for the win. Throw in a prospect or two to make the Okposo deal happen and we are in business. We can be win now and win for the next 5 years if this is played right.

Seems reasonable because you still need game ready call-ups when injuries/illness/etc start to happen. Injuries could have a much larger impact this season than normal without the A as an option as a feeder league, and with the anticipated condensed schedule.

Yeah, he will be 100% be out there working down low and cashing in on some Andreychuk-esq goals in front Especially now with Hall, Eichel, Stall, and Skinner. They can cause fits with their puck possession and passing abilities down low My PP lines right now looks like this: Hall - Reino - VO Eichel - Dahlin Skinner - Staal - Cozens Joker - TBD

If the NHL is the only major sport that doesn't figure out how to have a season it will expose them as poorly run and inept. It would reduce their leverage in negotiations for the tv deal, and even the teams would be valued less (or at minimum their value would grow at a slower rate). Long-term they would lose hundreds millions more cancelling the season and not paying players than abbreviating it. Quantifying the $ impact of a cancelled season would be difficult, but I think there is only a 10% chance it's cancelled outright so I'm not sure its even worth getting into. For me, the only aspects of the NHL that makes this decision is different than other sports is the shear number of teams outside of the US, and high percentage of non-citizens that participate in the league.

Normally I'd agree with you here but I'm assuming his linemates are going to be 1) Staal and VO or 2) Eichel and Reinhart. For #1 he isn't going to be the only sniper on the line that other teams can cheat towards. They will have VO on the other wing. Staal is also going to clean up a lot of those pucks that Skinner likes to put into dangerous areas. I think this is likely the line that Krueger roles with out of camp and it's going to be hard for other teams to match up against because their best guys will play against the Hall-Eichel-Reino line For #2 he's going to have Eichel and Reinhart feeding him puck. Eichel is Eichel so other teams are going to have to assume he will Eichel in which case Skinner has closer to 40g but less assists. PS - I'm so glad these are the conversations right now instead of how the draft lottery is going to screw the sabres again next year 😁

I'm thinking he's expecting 30g/70pts this season with better line mates

Is Eakin really the "experienced" center we want Cozens learning from?

Me too. I thought Kahun-Cozens-Tage could be a fun line to watch that could give other teams fits, especially with the Top6 we will have when Reino and VO sign