dudacek

I think you and I have a different take on "core player"

I would trade Mitts as the key "young talent" element in a blockbuster that brings in a core player. Just like I would have before he started playing well.

I don't know, are you? I don't perceive you to be. I don't think we are too far off on the rest of it.

I think much of the past season's hockey department strategy was predetermined based on the mistaken premise handed to Adams that the "Sabres are close" and all of the pro players added were added based on anecdotal references instead of a thoroughly vetted pro personnel process. I do think Adams has to be accountable for this, which is a manifestation of his inexperience, the gutting of the hockey department, and the misplaced organizational faith in Ralph. I need to see what he learned from this and what is his vision for fixing the franchise. Collecting whatever assets he can by dumping the UFAs is the first step, seeing what he has in the kids down the stretch is the second, rebuilding the hockey department (including the coach) is the third, determining what to do with core assets (most notably Jack, Sam, Linus and Risto) the fourth, and acquiring good players over the off-season. What happens in these areas will shape my view on whether he can overcome his naive start, or whether he is the disaster some of you have already decided he is.

Or for 2nd-round picks either.

Worthless? Did you know you can sometimes trade 2nd-rounders for players as good as Taylor Hall?

Leaving a 2nd-rounder on the table and cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Watch the clip Brawndo posted. Taylor Hall drove this trade to where he wanted to go.

Please. Buffalo had to get a deal done. Boston did not. What leverage did Adams have under the scenario?

If Hall said "I will only report to Boston" — which was his right — then Adams did a helluva job getting a 2nd out of them.

Only peripherally related to Linus, but Paul Hamilton just reported on WGR that Terry Pegula was of the opinion that UPL should have been in the NHL this year. You know, the goalie who has yet to match Linus' heights in the AHL, and, at the start of the season, hadn't even been a regular in the AHL.

The reason I ultimately tipped on Jason Botterill was because he showed no ability to identify and acquire good hockey players. Kevyn Adams has yet to show he is any different in that area.

No knowledge of his situation, but if he drives to join the team can't it be sooner? I thought the 7 days was about commercial flights?

The reporting coming out this morning seems to indicate you are right on this. The Bruins needed to a little more salary relief in the deal and they swapped a couple low roster players to give them that. If the Sabres liked Bjork better, or the Bruins liked Lazar better, it was a secondary consideration.

Robin Lehner got traded to Vegas at the deadline last year for a 2nd and warm bodies This is the best news we will hear today, even though it is essentially hearsay. Ullmark is not the same as Hall. He is a huge part of our present and should be a big part of our future.

He definitely should be. But I'm not sure who is going to be paying that price for a rental goalie, because he would have to be a starter. I think the Leafs, the Bruins and the Avs were the only options in the goalie market at all, no? Caps maybe? And the Leafs and the Avs have made their moves.

LOL. That come-from-behind win in the last 4 minutes in Philly this morning sure got forgotten fast, didn't it? 😘

It's interesting what's got you guys mad. I'm not arguing the fact that few of Adams off-season moves have worked out, I just don't think any of them were particularly costly. Hall cost nothing and gave us a free 2nd-round pick, Staal was trading one lousy vet for a cheaper lousy vet and ended up giving us a 3rd and 5th. It took him a couple weeks longer than it should have to fire Krueger, but it wasn't his hire and there were extenuating circumstances (partly our COVID bout, but particularly Ralph's connection to ownership and his considerable power initially because of it) And his path of trading off expiring contracts for what he can is the correct one, no matter if the value of his assets has dwindled due to their poor play. The things that concern me most with Adams are the two things he has failed to address: goaltending and the front office He failed to recognize how bad Carter Hutton truly was and take steps to upgrade there, essentially costing us any hope of being competitive if Ullmark went down He failed to recognize how good Ullmark truly was and take steps to lock up that asset, essentially walking him to free agency, and without any clear succession plan. He has less than 12 hours left to at least partially address this. And he failed to have a support staff in place to help him negotiate his first trade deadline: no advisors to help him investigate or negotiate, no assistants to to help him multitask, and a very limited player personnel department to help him identify talent. Will that be addressed prior to the draft and free agency?

I certainly don't believe the bold (other than maybe the negotiating part). I believe Adams tried to set up a bidding war and that he almost certainly had other offers on the table. And after all that, this was the one he chose, because this was the one he thought had the most value. No GM with the possible exception of Sweeney thought Hall was worth beating Bjork and a 2nd and Sweeney didn't have to beat it. There was no real deadline on the ROR deal. Whether it was Botterill or Pegula that created one, they did not actually have to take the best offer available. With the Hall deal, they did. The irony of the ROR deal is how many stupid GMs could have and should have beat that offer. You think MOntreal wouldn't have been better off with O'Reilly than Kotkaniemi?

This is bang on, and what I was alluding to as well, when I said I liked the deal better without the throw-ins, and what @Thorny was saying too. I think what we will see when the Sabres start talking about this deal is how much they like Bjork, and how much untapped potential they think he has. And all we can do is be skeptical based on his numbers and the Sabres track record and hope we are wrong and they are right.

The market did not say he was worth more because of the Foligno deal. Your argument only holds up if Foligno and Hall are similar players. As to the bold, how? I'm always baffled when people say "we should have got more" in these situations. You hold an auction, you take what you perceive to be the highest bid.

To your point: I agree there is a non-negligible chance that when the dust settles Curtis Lazar will have had a more useful career than either Bjork or the 2nd round pick. I would also say there is a better chance that when the dust settles either Bjork or the pick will have had a more useful career than Lazar, and a decent chance that both will. As I said upthread, 2nd-round picks aren't just lottery tickets for young players, they are also currency that you can use to buy real NHL players To mine: Push or shove, two minutes to deadline, the Bruins 2nd-rounder straight across is your best offer for Hall. Do you take it, or let him play out the string and walk for nothing? Do you think a decision to let him walk for nothing will generally increase your credibility in the eyes of the industry? Personally, I would you view you as prideful and irresponsible for leaving real money on the table.

I don't think I'm the one going out of my way to miss the point being made. I was responding to Eleven saying he would turn down a 2nd for Taylor Hall in order to give him respect in future negotiations.

And what is necessary? Do you have any insight in terms of dollars or term?

LOL. It's Evan Rodrigues all over again. I shoulda saw it coming. (To be clear, I have no more insight into Bjork than any other 4th liner I've read about occasionally)