SHAAAUGHT!!!

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

After the Hall signing it's more Ka-who than Kahun. I saw an article earlier that he would be a good low cost option for a cash strapped team (2MM AAV/2 years). I would hope the Sabres are in on him at that price, but as you mentioned they are running out of spots so I'm not sure he's still in their plans.

Watching the interview it is apparent this is thoughtful man who knows exactly what he wants and is making a well-thought out and informed decision on his future. This makes the signing that much better to me. At first I thought this was a 1 year lets-take-advantage-of-open-cap-space-before-we-open-the-wallet-for-Dahlin&Joker-next-year signing for us and Taylor was just looking for a payday before he left for greener pastures next year. This really does seem like a tryout for both sides and I can't be happier.

What a great letter from Taylor about the signing. Also, he works out with Skinner in the summer. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/fans/letter-from-taylor-hall?fbclid=IwAR1K5gYAgQ1318nXpyEKpcA6GcYjeZT6GKSBnuyh5HtIszg7kWruZEhIyzE

If the Sabre's buy his contract out after next season it will only count $833K against the cap for 2 more years. That is the best part about this deal IMO...

This has to be it. No numbers have been reported yet, but just hearing the statement from "one" of his agents, looking at how his last deal was structured with over 2.8M in possible performance bonuses per year, and the fact the Sabres are worried about overpaying in arbitration, it has me thinking the player is asking too much given the current marketplace. Adams made a statement he wanted to give the Sabres "flexibility." I can't hate on KA not qualifying Kahun if that means the Sabres chose to not overpay a middle 6 winger, in a year with a flat cap, when there are other RFAs hitting the market like Duclair.

Agreed, but only on a 1 or 2 year deal. Anything longer is going to cost more. Maybe he feels he shouldn't take less money than his last contract, and it's hard to disagree with him in a normal year. But you know, flat cap...

But if that's what he was asking for I feel they would have qualified him and worked this out. I really didn't think he would be getting anything more than 3MM a year unless he is looking for term as well. I could see that complicating the discussion if he's looking for something like 7 years at 5MM. It's just a bit odd how this is going down. I can't wait to see how it plays out 🍿

My guess is the Sabres thought there would be no player with a discernible skillset left at 38, based on who they thought the teams from 34-37 would pick...

Tage's cap hit is 1.2MM this year, 1.4MM year 2, and 1.6MM year 3. If signing back loaded deals is the only impact of the "internal cap" I'm on board.

I'm curious if Casey gets a similar contract. Tage is one year older, taken around 20 spots later, but Tage projects as a winger while Casey still projects as a center.

Comparable to Marcus and he checks the money box for this season. Wouldn't be a slam dunk like the Staal trade, but this is exactly the type of move I expect KA is working on.