dudacek

I’m not sure about right now, but probably right on for next year. Im liking the idea of pairing him with Krebs.

Big, big dude, good defensively too. Young enough to stick around, 2 more years at 3 per. Great fit as 3rd line winger, changes the mix up front nicely. 2nd is fair value. Hope it’s not the Philly pick.

Oh my god! Board meltdown averted!

And the Sabres social media team can film and post it!

I meant will NOT become better, but I do agree that they think he can provide something different than Bryson and may be an upgrade there.

Stillman is not better than Jokiharju and Lyubushkin and will become better. EDIT: meant will NOT become better

Disappointing for Curtis on the personal level. He signed with the Canucks for 3 years to go home, didn’t even last a full year. Definition of a journeyman: 449 NHL games, 5 NHL teams.

Right, but if they aren’t drafted in their 2nd go-round, they do become a free agent right away, pretty sure that’s what happened with Brandon Hagel.

He's a dick who thinks he's too good for us and we hate him forever. Come on guys, follow the script and just be fans. 😜 It's pretty clear from Lysowski's article in the Buffalo News that Portillo's agent helped stickhandle this deal and he is going to sign with the Kings.

Do I even want to be here today? Not playing particularly well since the all-star break, best winger and best player out with injury, coming off a 7-1 loss to a hated rival, the playoffs in sight for the first time in a decade yet feeling like they are probably just out of reach, and a GM sticking to his plan. Could get ugly.

Well, I guess with Bjork gone we no longer needed Josh Bloom in the system to replace him.

You want a left-field prediction: Casey Mittelstadt for Thatcher Demko.

Just don’t get your sights set too high. Gibson would be far more likely, and far less likely to get people excited. I think a goalie upgrade is the biggest need and such an obvious step we haven’t talked about it much. It also has the potential to give us the biggest boost.

So that help will have to come from other sources. And just to be clear, we have 2 number #1 D and a good second-pairing guy set for years. Jokiharju and Boosh are, in my view fine on the 3rd pair, are relatively young and can be re-upped if necessary. The issue is adding another 2nd-pair guy and replenishing the pipeline alongside Johnson. We've got 4 high picks to do the latter in the long-term. And in the short-term, we have plenty of forward prospects to invest in a Nylander/Jokiharju type trade if we wish. So, I agree this needs to be addressed. I just think the path is open to get there. This. 100 per cent.

Those were supposed rough conversation starters. It was a top 5 protected. Personally, i believe Adams was unwilling to gamble a top 10 pick in this year's draft.

Big picture question: would the Sabres be better off on Oct. 1 2023 having: Traded an unprotected #1 and 2 2nds for 2 years of a Jakub Chychrun level player at $4.6 million at the deadline Traded 2 2nds for 2 years of a Jake McCabe level player at $4 million at the deadline Traded 2 2nds to rent a Dimitri Orlov level player Signed a Radko Gudas level player to a 2-year $6 milion deal in free agency Signed a Scott Mayfield level player to a 4-year $15 milion deal in free agency Signed a Damon Severson level player to a 4-year $20 milion deal in free agency Keep your powder dry to see what pops open on the trade market at the draft due to contracts and rebuilds I guess what I'm saying is, the only real problem with not trading for defence yesterday is missing out on the defencemen who have been moved. Opportunities remain and Adams will make a move when he thinks the price and timing are correct. Hopefully it's sooner, rather than later, hopefully it's for the right players at the right price. It was just over 2 years ago we had way too many RHD and only a year ago we were desperately worried about our prospect pipeline at centre ice. Defence definitely needs to be addressed, but depth charts are pretty fluid. (To answer my opening question, I haven't got a clue)

It is stunning how many good players have moved, with the deadline still more than 24 hours away. I haven’t had time to process everything, but in terms of the wild card, the Caps and Wings appear to have been sellers so far, the Islanders and Senators big buyers, the Pens smaller buyers, and the Sabres and Panthers have been quiet. It will be interesting to see how this affects the race.

I wonder if Buffalo had a similar offer on the table but Ottawa was willing to risk a top 10 pick and Buffalo was not

I feel vindicated as to the cost and disappointed KA was unwilling to beat it. OK, Ottawa's first might be slightly better than ours, but I'd have had no problem adding another pick or prospect to compensate.

Which is actually light years in @brawndo time

Chychrun would be around for two more years after this one on a cheap salary, maybe more. that's why he makes sense: It's a move for now and later, which is what Adams said he was interested in.

Or Detroit Did the give up on the playoff race, or are they going to flip the picks for something better, like Chychrun?

Do you ever wonder if Adams has yet to pull the trigger on a minor upgrade to the defence because he’s been working his ass off for months a major one?

So, you agree: player evaluation issue. The issue with Schenn or Jensen is that they in all likelihood would represent operational hypocrisy on Adams part, unless he had a good sense he would have been able to sign them. He’s made it clear he’s not interested in trading futures for pieces who won’t be here in the future.

I think @Thorny has the rights of it: you were framing this as an operations issue, when what it really is (or it least could be) is a player evaluation issue. It’s clear from your posts you’d have no issue whatsoever with Adams trading a 3rd-round pick for a 24-year-old physical defenceman with a year left on his deal and the potential to upgrade the bottom pairing. On the contrary, it’s what you have been yelling at him to do for months. The objections come from people who think Bloom has value in excess of of a 3rd-rounder, and people who don’t think Stillman is an upgrade to Bryson/Clague. Each of which is a legitimate concern, although probably not worth the pixels we’re using to discuss it.