SHAAAUGHT!!!

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.

Yeah, I can see this come across an exec's desk and him going full Mutombo

I agree we would get fired and that JR chose to say stupid *****. 100%. But I don't think he is whining. He believes he was fired for behavior that would be acceptable if one of his peers did the same thing, and he has cited specific examples to back up his claim. JR thinks he is the victim here (I'm not saying he's the only one) and he has made a reasonable argument up to this point (which is almost as shocking as going on vaca....nevermind). Interestingly enough this topic reminded me I was overdue to take my companies NYS mandated harassment and discrimination training. I kept this example in mind and it 100% could be sexual harassment on his part if she felt harassed, even if that wasn't his intent. To me this is the grey area. I think its safe to assume if they are friends and vacationing together they most likely have a certain level of rapport and have had conversations about what's appropriate to discuss at work. He may have crossed that line, and if so the firing is justifiable and his lawsuit will be dismissed. But if he didn't cross that line, and she didn't feel harassed, NBC may have over-reacted and the termination may not have been just. It's like Law and Order: NHL Unit

I listened to the podcast when it happened and I'm surprised NBC took the action they did. I'm not sure if more came to light recently, but here is what I'm working with: 1) JR was warned beforehand by NBC to keep it appropriate - so he knew they were listening and this was his version of appropriate 2) He made some comments/told a story about a female colleague that would be inappropriate for the workplace around her appearance and about a potential threesome 3) The comments/story centered around a personal trip JR, his wife, and the female colleague took together 4) He made similar appearance comments about a male colleague, although they were not positive in nature 5) During the podcast JR spoke at length on the professionalism and intelligence he felt his female colleague brought to the table I think a lot of this case is dependent on the conversation NBC had with JR before the podcast. My assumption is they reviewed the nature of the podcast, JR's personality and candidness, and applicable NBC rules around appropriateness. JR may be able to point to deficiencies in training or around expectations based on the feedback he received, or previously received. The discussion had to do with a personal trip which makes the HR implications a bit dicey. What role was JR representing on the podcast, is he always a representative of NBC sports, or is he also afforded some leeway since he has multiple roles and a public personality. Curious what NBC's policy is here and how liability is contractually quantified or assigned (if at all). I'm very interested in watching how/if this will be litigated because not only does it have the the potential to set precedent when it comes to protected classes, it also exposes some of the fundamental flaws we see in today's "cancel culture" where preponderance of evidence is not met before a verdict is rendered.

I'm sick of riding my bike around and not being able to go inside and cool off in a bar I've never been to before, or even one I've been to a thousand times...

When and how did you become a fan? It think it was pre-1985 and I was around 5-6 years old at my grandparents house for a family dinner. Everyone was glued to the TV watching a hockey game (I think it was the Sabres, but may have been two other teams in a playoff game) and it was nuts. There was fight after fight, there was hardly anyone left on the bench to finish the game even though they were skating 4-3 or 3-3 due to so many penalties, and the excitement was palpable. Everyone went to the other room to eat but I couldn't stop watching. In the dying minutes of the game someone took a puck to the face and went down hard, making the benches even shorter. The skill, the violence, and the characters - who looked like they were out of a Sergio Leone Western, ready for war, with pure exhaustion but no quit in there eyes. From that moment on I was a hockey fan for life. Who is your all-time favourite Sabre and why? It's hard to pick one so I'll pick 2. I loved watching Geoff Sanderson play even though a lot of people hated it. He was the epitome of the 80's scoring hockey player - fast as lightning and had a HUGE one-timer. Didn't matter if he was on a clean break away - he was going to wind up and let it rip from the hashmarks if you let him. The second was Dom. The guy was a legend and it was like watching poetry in motion. Most exciting moments as a fan? I think it was the first game of the 2005-2006 season when Briere scored a huge goal to either tie it or put them in the lead. It was apparent the Sabres were a totally different team and I was able to get a lot of my friends back into hockey, or interested in it for the first time. I'll also never forget how crazy the building was after winning Game 6 against Carolina. Most frustrating? Patrick Lalime's inability to win a game costing us a playoff berth. Tie Domi not getting suspending for pulling on Miro Satans ankle in the playoffs when they got tangled up and fell near the boards at center ice. Satan had just gotten back from missing a few games due to the ankle. I lost all respect for that man at that exact moment. How would you improve the current team? A legit 2C and some accountability among ALL the players to show up every game.

This. We need to add a top 4 forward without subtracting a top 6 forward. That's why I really like Risto for Boeser - its a good hockey trade and the Sabres instantly get better. There would still be a hole at 2C though... I'm not sure what the complimentary pieces of the trade would be since the contracts are similar in value and both run through 21-22. It wouldn't surprise me if we swapped a 3rd for Vancouver's 4th round pick, or there was a prospects swap, for optics sake

I thought it was appropriate since we are talking about using that 8th round pick to get a 2C and help shape the line-up

Kahun could make it on the top line if he is with Skinner and Eichel (and maybe even Reino and Eichel), but I don't know if he fits with Eichel and Olof yet. Kahuna and Olof and both undersized wingers and I would worry about their effectiveness - on the same line - down low. A "True 2C" would immediately give Kyvyn some credibility, and I think it's doable with the cap crunch a lot of teams are facing and the number of serviceable players and prospects the Sabre's have. More importantly it places less pressure on the 3rd line to do anything more than chip in every other game and get better, properly allowing the younger players develop. I'd be happy if we saw the following and only had to part with Risto, 1 or 2 prospects, and #8 overall: Olof - Eichel - Sam Skinner - True 2C - Johansson/Kahun Tage/Casey - Cozens - Johansson/Kahun Girgs - Larry - Okposo Extra: Lazar & tbd

Great post. The biggest job for GMKPAP (General Manager Kim Pegula-Adams-Pegula) is to get a proper return on any trades for the players you mentioned in paragraph 2 (Reinhart, Montour, Risto, Casey, Tage) so the team is stronger, not just different. With regards to which forwards from the AHL may make sense to bring up, I think that depends on how the first 2 lines look after trades and RFA signings happen. I would be ok with Cozens playing with Kahun and Tage/Casey if we are only looking to fill a third line out. But if any of those players are expected to see time on the 2nd line, I don't know if I bring Cozens, Tage, or Casey up without a crazy good camp. I think the guys that win spots out of camp are guys that will fill a need in Krueger's system, and it's hard to consider who that may be with so many question marks on the roster right now...

I guess but that's semantics to me. If they weren't willing to offer him $ over league minimum they basically opened the door, and shoved him. But technically yes, he walked.

This could be one of the reasons the Sabres let Pilut walked. He is fast and skilled, but not big enough to be "gritty" on the back line.

It's standard to fire your NHL GM and scouting staff 6 hours before firing your AHL HC and front office, have a press conference in between the two events, and then not even have a prepared tweet ready to go to address the future of the organization? This seems lazy and haphazard, not standard. After 9 years of owning and running a team, they should know how to do better.

Why did they have this presser before they fired the entire front office of the Amerks later in the day? Have they announced another PC yet to discuss the CT firing? Wouldn't a cohesive message about the future of the organization be appropriate at a time like this??? Who made (or didn't make) these decisions? It's not a good day to still be associated with the Buffalo Sabres organization (unless you're RaKru)...

I guess my point (and ironically I likely could've done a better job conveying it) is that a good leader would recognize this as an opportunity to address a major issue with this franchise - the lack of a clear message and/or strategy about their future plans. It hurts ticket sales, it hurt TV ratings, and it hurts attracting talent on and off the ice.