dudacek

Still out there, pretty much all the biggest names. Pieterangelo, Hall, Markstrom, Crawford, Barrie, Granlund, Krug, Hoffman, Dadanov, Brodie, Toffoli, Tanev, Galchenyuk, Vatanen, SMith, Hamonic, Haula, Wilson...

He's not signing in Vancouver. They couldn't reach a deal. the Canucks signed Holtby instead.

Carolina is the other team in on Markstrom. Edmonton apparently out.

Here's something interesting: There are maybe 10 teams with enough cap space to sign anybody to big ticket contract, and maybe 5 who can do it comfortably. Doesn't mean another team won't step up, but then they will have to be dumping salary. Patience could be rewarded.

ERod back to Pittsburgh? LOL! Or they are speaking to other players.

Exceptional circumstances call for exceptional measures.

SOunds like Holtby to Vancouver, Markstrom moving on.

Somebody get @Thorny a shot of Scotch.

Sure there is. You like the player and you don't think you can find someone better or cheaper for the same role.

If they don't trade away a single player, the Sabres are going to start the season with 7 players who have been on the team more than two years.

That's about entertaining fans. I don't think it's relevant to building a good hockey team.

I think that contract helps the Sabres. You can make an argument that their value is pretty similar around the league. Sam's clearly more talented, but Anderson's skillset is more rare, and is a huge draw for NHL GMs.

This would make me happy.

Can Stralman still play? If Ryan Murray is worth a 5th, shouldn't they be paying people to take him?

Zemgus is good at his role and I'm glad he re-signed. I don't buy into the idea that he is a reason the Sabres have been bad. The bad thing about this will be seeing similar guys signing today for less. I suspect Adams misread the market on this one.

Merrill? Nnnnooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Should that not be Olofsson's contract?

I wouldn't have signed him for anything. I stand by my earlier prediction: he will get one fan base very excited for a month or two and will be in the press box by season's end.

To me, this is the roster depth chart right now (guys in brackets are pencilled in) Skinner Eichel Reinhart Olofsson Staal (Thompson/Cozens) Girgensons _____ Okposo ____ _____ (Thompson/Cozens) Lazar Dahlin (Ristolainen) _____ (Montour) McCabe Jokiharju _____ (Miller) Ullmark (Hutton) Maybes: MIttelstadt, Asplund, Ruotsalainen, Borgen

Dreger saying on the Instigators just now that they are a long shot, but the Sabres are one of about 10 teams expected to reach out to Taylor Hall.

Montreal has jumped out. Who else is anywhere close to finalizing their roster? Most have yet to even start. Tampa has done nothing. Boston nothing. Toronto dumped Kapanen's contract and still has no defencemen. Florida made a lateral trade and acquired a depth D, but still has to replace Dadanov and Hoffman, let alone make improvements, Ottawa and Detroit added depth defencemen on terrible contracts. If Staal isn't the biggest acquisition made so far in the division, he's right there with Anderson. How many teams around the league are clearly improved already?

This is the statement I thought was premature: it’s becoming clear that KA either has no game plan or lacks the ability to create a coherent plan.

Tristan will some day be sharing mushy peas with Britney in the old folks home. When little kids start sharing my name I will officially be old.

Easy to see why this slipped by with all the other things going on. But Max Domi was one of the contracts to watch this summer as a Sam comparable. (Anthony Mantha being the other) Max got 2 years, $5.3 AAV, which walks him up to UFA.

Interesting post two hours before free agency starts. Let’s revisit this Monday morning.