apuszczalowski

I wonder if he uses some of those assetts to make a bigger move tomorrow? Also, maybe he thinks its time to rebuild/retool instead of falling short of making the playoffs?

Said no one ever about Bergevin.... (atleast according to Canadians Fans, which makes this worse....) He's looking at making connections for future job opportunities?

Maybe they could get him to bring his dad?

I saw something earlier today where they said the Leafs have a good chance of picking him up since they can get him cheap and not have to give up prospects/picks to get him.

But they also dumped a bad vet contract to get a younger player who could help eventually replace some of the older players. Usually the deadline deals would be the better team giving up future (prospects and picks) to get something for the present (rental veteran). Most of the deals aren't for younger players with potential that aren't going to be UFAs in the summer.

$6 mil for another year IIRC but he was buried down in the minors

Well the 1st is essentially for taking Backes cap hit off their books

I think the problem with this though is that the even smarter move would have been to do something with Botts sooner so someone else could come in and use the deadline to make some moves too, instead of letting things stay as is and preventing the guy in place from doing much now.

I think it's more frustration that we are sitting here watching other teams make moves while Botts hasnt made one yet after watching another season slip away

The Sabres 2nd, a prospect and BOGO might have worked too if Anaheim was so interested in taking back a cap hit. Of course when your drafting near the top like the Sabres are, teams don't want your 2nd just because it's close to being a first, they want your 1st....

The only reason doing nothing would be smart is because hopefully by the end of the season he's out of work and a new GM who should have already been in place by now would have the chance to pick and choose who they want to keep and let go of.

Sounds like he should be a pro wrestler with that name.....

Botts is still evaluating the roster...... So far the majority of the deals seem to be minor, moving around depth guys with a couple of deals seeing talented players being moved. Nothing huge yet, seems more Quantity over quality overall

The difference I believe, in those picks compared to the recent ones, they were picks in the bottom half of the drafts 1st round, the recent ones are in the top 10 of the 1st round..... Missing on players in the bottom half isn't that bad because that's were things get tough trying to get really good talent. If you are picking in the top 10, you need to get talent and hit on those picks which should be easier to get talent from I also think another factor is their dislike of the Canadian Hockey League players because they can immediately put them in Rochester. Your limiting your chances again by trying to stay out of that talent pool just because they have to play there if not in the NHL

But didn't Botts love Tage?

Better chance Scandella then gets flipped by Botts back to the Habs for a 7th.......

Everybody has a tradeable price, just depends on what your willing to accept for them. Someone may be willing to take Frolik for a 5th if the Sabres throw in a sweetner to the deal ( and not the ones that TG used to pocket/steal)

To be fair, they may have been hot with offers that weren't considered 'serious', or maybe there was an electrical problem in the office caused by Kane that made the phones overheat?

Why not? Maybe Botts is working on an even worse deal to get his next Tage and is hoping that the deal will make us all forget the ROR one, or atleast say that the trade wasn't as bad in comparison? He was willing to sign their former goalie after one good season in his early 30s....

I believe your right, because of their cap situation they need to unload someone and he appears to be the one most expendable for them

3-4 years? Recently Sabres fans have barely had to wait 3-4 weeks to say the trade was stupid...... As for Risto, of course his value is going down because teams looking for defense are making their moves already and getting others cheaper then what they Sabres asking price is so with less teams desperate for help or looking for help, his value will go down.

He's still working on evaluating the current roster before he makes any big decisions.......

Thats if you believe that Pittsburgh intentionally made themselves bad in order to obtain Crosby/Malkin/etc. and not that they were just a bad team trying to rebuild They did get lucky with the lottery after the strike year.......

To be fair, that's probably the guy other teams will want because of those exact reasons. Very few GMs and teams want to give you quality for your garbage. If there's a better player with better contract terms, that's what will get you the best return.....

I've been told many times you replicate it by losing intentionally to get the top draft pick.......