dudacek

I think he’s made it abundantly clear he can be trusted to keep Bryson. 😜

I’ve come around to JBD as simply a case of them not liking his game enough to lean on in the top 6 and feeling confident they had (Bryson Johnson) or could find (Timmins, Jones) better depth choices. Sometimes a puck is just a puck.They just weren’t that into him.

I’m surprised anyone is thinking Doan isn’t inked into the lineup already. It may not play out this way in terms of lines, but Thompson, Norris, Tuch, Zucker, Greenway and McLeod are going to be Lindy’s top six in terms of ice time, and Malenstyn and Danforth are there to keep kids honest. Doan is right there battling with Benson, Quinn, Kulich and Krebs to carve out his role. His NHL production matches all of them except Quinn and only Benson is better in terms of defence/grit. Kozak is not taking his spot and neither are any of the kids from Rochester

In terms of the depth chart, it now sits at Dahlin Byram Power Kesselring Samuelson Timmins Bryson Jones Clague Johnson Rathbone Novikov Komarov Beliveau (Metsa) Edit: scratch Clague. Thought he was still under contract, but he signed a deal with the Jets. So basically, Jones is replacing him. Also not sure if Metsa got an AHL deal or an NHL deal.

Jones, Metsa, Rathbone, Timmins, Docker, Brannstrom, Poolman, Clague, Bryson, Davies, Prow, Cecconi, Bartkowski, Priskie, Stillman, Davidson, Clifton, Hagg, Pysyk, Butcher, Wolanin, Lyubushkin, Fogarty and the immortal Matt Irwin. 24 of them! In 5 years! And most of them actually played for the Sabres! I mean maybe it’s unfair to include Clifton and Lyubushkin, but none of these guys advanced to the 2nd pair and all of them were healthy scratches, if their NHL careers continued at all after Buffalo. Finding an NHL defenceman on the border of an NHL career and ending it seems to be Kevyn’s signature move.

My god, how many Tweener defencemen can Kevyn Adams sign before he’s finally through? Seriously. He seems to acquire 4 or 5 every ***** year.

These things are in the eye of the beholder, but I’d say he’s better. This sets a benchmark and is line with what similar players have returned in the past

I’m going back to the idea that a Rust for futures deal is still available and that Rust is also a dawg, but one that can score 25 goals. Add him to that top six and you might be on the verge of an identity up front. Benson and Krebs have that edge and you’re halfway there in terms of numbers. Zucker has some of that. Greenway and Malenstyn can pound, Tuch and Tage are massive men who are ready for a pack behind them. Maybe they can be effective in the way last year’s mix wasnt. Maybe showing up for 70 games instead of 55 gives them the 10 points they need? Of course I know this is peak off-season blue sky thinking. Bear with me, this is always a tough day.

This group certainly doesn’t spark fear in anyone. On a brighter note, from everything I’ve read and seen says Doan and Danforth are dawgs, beloved by their former fanbases for non-stop effort. Maybe they’ll be a little easier to cheer for this year? I know we got fooled before.

Scrimmage is usually 3-on-3

Small kudos here to Fairburn. Rare thing this day and age to see a Buffalo reporter break Sabres news.

Somebody good wanted to be be here for a fair contract. I honestly can’t decide whether to go with joy, cynicism or weathered indifference. Maybe:

I don’t know if it’s tied at all to Byram, but I suspect the SAbres have legit interest in Ehlers and probably made a pitch: they have the roster fit and they have money. But I suspect other teams have more money and/or better fits. I think in terms pipe dreams, we have a better chance with Robertson if that one is real. Dallas has been quiet and we have the picks and prospects.

And there’s your Lafferty replacement. Kozak still gets to be Kozak and Terry pockets only $300K. But we can still make up the difference in the Byram trade. But maybe in Rochester? In other news, didn’t Danforth used to play in Rochester? Was he ever Sabre property?

Byfield is their only young forward with top 6 potential, they don’t want to give him up. The Kings also signed two D this morning. Doubt they are adding a 3rd. I suspect they’re out on Byram.

If I’m Calgary I make this move any day of the week. You’re not beating that hanging on to to Andersson until the deadline, Vegas isn’t giving you that and Andersson’s not helping you out by signing anywhere but Vegas. Maybe the Sabres get another 1st for Andersson at the deadline, maybe they ride him into the playoffs. Not sure they’re going to get a better player for this season than Andersson in a Byram deal. And is term that important if only going to be for a guy like Cam York.

Here is the roster situation for an alleged Byram suitor, with him allegedly looking for a $7M deal. Blues are a $1M over the cap, and a full roster. They are actually 2 players over and looking to create roster space for rookies Snuggerud and Dalibovsky. Jake Neighbours is someone the Sabres would be interested in, but some kind of big contract would also have to go. They’d almost certainly prefer to dump Falk or Leddy to clear space. Fowler, who was very good for them but is a UFA next summer, makes more sense for the Sabres. Brayden Schenn was also on the market and would fill a short-term hole for Buffalo. A better target for the Sabres is Parayko, but the Blues are weak at RD, so that’s probably a non-starter. The Kyrou ship has passed. He has full trade protection along with the Blues other top forwards. Would the Sabres do something purely short-term by building a deal around Fowler or Schenn, if either would accept a trade? Would they take as little as Neighbours and a pick? To me the best case scenario might be that the Blues primary goal is to get younger. They have 1 LD under 30 and that might make them more willing to deal Parayko,a 32-year-old RHD. Maybe the Mailloux deal this morning for Bolduc was a move to get another RHD in the system to insulate moving him out? More likely, they decided to address that issue, at least for this season, solely with the Mailloux trade. Seems like a tough match here to me.

Yeah, I mean it seems fair, but it seems surprising given the lack of UFA choices. Maybe no one else was offering 2 years?

Sabres have more than most with $21.3M.

Lots of bad teams with room for a big get: Ducks, Jackets, Hawks, Penguins Flames and Wings all with at least $15M to play with.

SAN Jose has $44M under the cap and 8 roster slots open. Potential for some bad contracts there. Ehlers and Granlund the two top 6 forwards left. Winnipeg and Carolina the 2 good teams with room to sign them.

Looks like UPL has some competition: “Niilopekka Muhonen signs ELC with the Stars”

I warned you guys; Helenius for Rust, Byram for a pick and a lesser D. Those deals are still out there.

Millions? From Terry?