dudacek

Nothing in there but speculation. But @nfreemanneeds to give this reporter a call. "He’s a speedy playmaker..."

Thanks for posting. I've been expecting this point of view and surprised that we haven't seen more of it. We are going to be trading an elite talent for a grab bag of parts. No one will be impressed by the return. It will feel like the O'Reilly trade. For us oldsters, it will feel like the Alex Mogilny trade. The ROR return was even worse than it appeared. Hopefully, this trade skews more to the Mogilny trade over time. But get ready, it's happening. (PS: Comtois is better than you think. He's definitely top 6 and hard to play against. He's good enough that I worry that they won't trade him. He will help.)

He’s trading him. He’s too far down the path to stop. And we will not win the deal.

Is this that darkest moment before the dawn? February 20, 2013 was a significant day for the Buffalo Sabres. On that day, the Sabres fired Lindy Ruff after nearly 15 years, officially drawing to a close the most successful run in franchise history, straddling two eras, the Hasek years, and the post-lockout years. It also officially marked the start of the tank years, the least successful run in franchise history, eight nightmarish years that began with intentional losing and has continued with a revolving door of bad executives, bad draft picks, bad players and bad spirits. Sometime before the end of July, another significant day will dawn. On that day, the last of the tank fruit - Ristolainen, Eichel, Reinhart - will be scrubbed away from the franchise. A handful of young players, unblemished by the stink of the tank will arrive to complement a new coach and the bright-eyed group that finished the season. Our neophyte GM will finish hiring his people and begin to put his stamp on the organization. I don’t expect to be happy with the return of these trades, or with the new hirings, or the results next year. I don’t blame the players who are being discarded. But I am weary. I am beaten. I want to move on. I crave new, something fresh to fire my ambition. I crave hope. The proverb says the definition of stupid is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. This does not feel good, but it at least feels different. And I can’t help but feel that with this off-season, for better or for worse, a page is being turned. And whatever story these new Sabres become, it won’t be the story of the tank. Maybe this story will be a better one. I’m ready.

I think you might be Jack’s biggest supporter left on here now.

I wonder if there will be outrage over the Eichel trade. I don’t sense that here, mostly fatalism, and less love for the player than most would expect.

If Risto truly is a #4 then there is a limited market for him ahead of the ED. 4s don’t get protected. That said, that might be moot if the Devils are poking around. Risto might be the 1st or 2nd guy on their blueline chart.

And it looks like @Randall Flagg also called this shot as well, @Weave Hope we’re all as good as calling this one as we were with the ROR deal. As to the OP, Jack gets done first. He’s the highest priority, he’s the one Kevyn actually wants to trade, and his return dictates what’s next. And his medical treatment is something all parties want underway as soon as possible.

Assuming we sign him, Elvis is worth an early 2nd. An early 2nd and 5OA is good value for Sam, IMO. I can see us throwing in a sweetener, but not two other assets almost equivalent to Elvis on their own. But we can all see it happening.

(The Ducks veteran in my scenario isn’t a dump, more like a cap equalizer. He will help the Sabres next year, but he won’t be part of their long-term plans. Might even be a Rakell or a Manson. The more value he has, the more the Sabres add. Might be a 4th added to Jack. Might be Johnson. I’m worried our guy might be Henrique.)

I don’t see it happening. Compare it to Peca, Wilson and a 1st for Mogilny. Comtois will be a top-six forward and a tone-setter like Peca, and he’s more proven. The prospect, be it Perreault or someone else, is the Wilson. We just hope he fulfills his potential better. And the pick is top 3, not top 15, which is the 1C premium.

Looks like @LGR4GM beat me to it, at least the main parts. The guts of the deal will Comtois and 3OA for Eichel. The Sabres will also get a 2ndary prospect and a well-paid veteran. The Ducks will get a lesser Sabres piece depending on the quality of their two lesser pieces.

I think from previous conversations you tend to draw sharper lines between prospects than I do. To answer your question, if I had Beniers, I would not trade him for Cozens. If I had Cozens, I would not trade him for Beniers. I consider them roughly on par in terms of ability, very much the type of player I would want on my team, and project each developing into a Ryan-O'Reilly level NHL player. Zegras I see as more of a Willie Nylander/Mitch Marner type, with a higher offensive ceiling than Beniers/Cozens, a lower floor, and less all-round utility.

Not disagreeing with your point — the deal is going to be short of what we want, regardless of return — but I am disagreeing with 3OA being below Dylan Cozens, or Trevor Zegras for that matter. Those two still have that fresh off dominating the WJC sheen on them, but they project as top-6 to 1st-line; they probably aren't franchise guys. 3OA should be Eklund or Beniers, so of a similar tier. They are on par perhaps, but not below.

Friedman’s comment about Anaheim “keeping their powder dry” and preparing “something big” are getting way too little play, IMO. As I pointed out in the Ducks Shopping thread, there are too many matching parts and needs for this not to be a serious consideration.

Eklund just gives off that Backstrom/Petterson vibe: talented Swede undervalued in a year with no obvious franchise guy.

This is a valid argument. It does not at all fit with the messaging coming out of Vancouver and where they seem to see themselves.

Why would the Canucks trade any of them for Sam though? Petterson is a better 1C, Horvat is a better 2C and they aren’t trading for Sam to be a 3C Boeser is a better trigger man and Miller a better power forward. There aren’t any roster-building reasons there. Tnere aren’t any contract reasons either, given what Sam will be signing for. I’m not aware of any dressing room reasons other than Miller’s temper.

Personally, I agree with you. I would not trade Sam for pick 9 in a vacuum, or if I was the Sabres. Pick 9 is also far too much to give up for a rental, any rental. Top 10 picks have only been moved for players a handful of times in the past 20 years. Assuming I have been given a good indication I am going to be able sign him, I see Sam’s market value as approximately pick 9 and a lesser pick or prospect. Jordan Staal was traded for more than that. So was Jeff Carter. Ryan O’Reilly was traded for less than that at least once, maybe twice. Derek Stepan was traded for approximately pick 7 (Raantta and DeAngelo were part of the deal). For the record, Elliotte Friedman had no problem thinking a top 10 pick could be on the table for Sam. And Podkolzin. The fans would riot if Hoglander or Pod was traded as the main piece for Sam, let alone the throw-in. I would rather use the Bruins pick on a prospect than trade it for any of their other prospects. Justin Bailey level prospects, IMO. The issue with the first three is they are all of a similar tier to Sam. I think the point of a Canucks trade for Sam is they would like to add him to that core rather than shuffle it. Horvat is their captain and worth more than Sam, IMO. He isn’t going anywhere. Boeser can score goals and could be made available. But he’s a better Olofsson and doesn’t drive play. He isn’t as good as Sam and isn’t a good fit on a team without good centres. Miller mostly plays wing but could be a stopgap 1C for us post-Eichel and is the best fit for a trade between the two. He is older than what is ideal for the Sabres. He is also a bit of a volcanic personality and maybe not the type of leader we might be looking for in a rebuilding year.

I've seen a fair amount of bad Vancouver fan offers for Sam, but there does seem to be some willingness amongst the fans to give up pick 9 (which is fair value, more or less) and a sense that Benning would do it. The issue is the cap piece. They are going to have to add to get us to take their junk, but they don't have a sweet spot where the add is worth the junk. One name I'm watching is Nate Schmidt, who has a big ticket, but is still useful (especially as a Risto replacement) and may want out. Separately, I am placing way too much focus on Elliotte's use of "teams" (plural). Multiple bidders, or multiple trades?

Elliotte’s exact words were “another pick high in the draft…someone said to me ‘watch some of the teams that are picking high and Buffalo’.” Jeff responded with Anaheim and Elliotte said “that’s one team, you know I feel that they’re going to do something big” Jeff said Columbus has three 1st round picks and Elliotte said “Columbus is going into draft and develop mode here, I don’t know how high a pick we’re talking here, but that makes a lot sense.” Elliotte then said “the other one too, is LA” He gave credence to the Hovan report, linked the Kings pick to Reinhart and Seth Jones and said teams who are talking about moving up into the top 10 are talking about the Kings.

To me it is fairly obvious that Kevyn was hired and told that Ralph says we’re close and knows what we need, work with him, and that’s what Kevyn did. That in no way excuses him for what happened last year. But I do chalk a large chunk of it up to naïveté and eagerness to please more so than anything. Let’s see what he learned and how he will use it.

This seems highly inconsistent with the other info that’s out there.

Sure, but we're talking about him as a return for Risto here, not Eichel.

This is sliding under the radar a little. Coupled with Hovan's bit about the Kings and Eichel, and Friedman's news to expect another top 10 pick for the Sabres (which could still be Reinhart), it makes me wonder if we are down to the serious players in Adams' trade talks. If we take ^^^ at face value, are we looking at the Ducks, Flames and Wild as the leading contenders?