LGR4GM

None of what you wrote here is accurate, other than Norris being a wildcard. The rest is flat out nonsense. Benson should be AHL based on production... you realize Steve Ott had 1 more goal and like 10 more assists than Benson? I mean what the ***** are we even doing here. Nonsense.

Y'all keep spelling Bear wrong but yes Mrtka has a lot of upside.

I dont think that is a stronger roster than Benson - Norris - Thompson Zucker - Kulich - Tuch Quinn - McLeod - Doan Greenway - Krebs - Danforth Kozak Tage better than Vanek, Norris is better than Hodgson, Benson is probably not yet better than Stafford in goal scoring but is a better 2-way player so we will call that a push. Zucker is better than Ott, Kulich is at least on par with Ennis although I guess we have to give it to Ennis until Kulich proves that. Leino v Tuch... come on now. Quinn is better than Zemgus. McLeod is better than Grigorenko. Doan is better than Flynn. Greenway is better than McCormick. Krebs and Larsson are probably equal-ish. Kaleta and Danforth are similar enough. So the 2013 roster beats out Buffalo maybe when we compare Stafford to Benson, maybe Kulich is worse than Ennis playing center and then... no where else. For some it is laughably not close. The Sabres forward group is far better than the group they started 2013 with.

Or you just trade Byram in 2026. Or you trade Samuelsson. Or you do what they did this offseason which is clear out fringe guys and replace them with cheaper yet similar alternatives.

There's not a ton of forward talent in the pipeline these days. Since 2022, Buffalo has selected 8 forwards with picks that hold some type of value (1-3 rounds) and 5 defenders. If we go 2023-2025 that changes to 4 forwards and 5 defenders with those picks. The 2026 draft will need to focus on re-stocking a forward pipeline that is headlined by Helenius (1st) and... idk Östlund (1st) I guess? Wahlberg (2nd) maybe? Ziemer (3rd) looks good. While it has enough RHD to sink a small boat in Mrtka (1st), Kleber (2nd), Strbak (2nd), McCarthy (3rd), Bedkowski (3rd). Before you counter this remember we have 2 first overall defenders on the team as well. On top of that you need 3 RHD total on the NHL roster but 12 fowards. Just something to think about. Maybe a late round forward jumps up into the mix this year and it helps balance it out but we are somewhat imbalanced with a lot of defenders in the pipe.

They should trade Byram and Rosen for Riley Heidt and Marco Rossi.

Come on now. Alex Tuch's cap hit won't matter until 2026.

How about I word it this way. I don't believe Kevyn Adams when he says they dumped salary to prepare for a Byram offer sheet. I think that was in their minds, sure, but they dumped salary to dump salary until proven otherwise.

Unless they either sign Byram to the saved space or trade him for a player that takes that space, what adams said is nonsense.

yea, he tore a core muscle like an oblique or something like that

If this were true he would sign Byram and move on. Or he's incapable of pivoting.

Samuelsson: 14pts... 14 entire points. -12.3relCF%, -11.6xgf% and yet they start him in the defense zone 73% of the time, even though he's not good at defense. He might be average or so but woof.

I secretly hope we don't draft high enough but Roobroeck, right now, is my 2nd behind McKenna.

I like Šimon Katolický a 6'4" LW from Czechia who won't be 17 until the end of July.

Draft season will kick off with the Hlinka tournament and yea... so here's the primer for the 2026 draft for those who are interested.

I would argue 2 deals. McLeod but your point stands. I suppose if you put McLeod in that working class parts bucket it doesnt apply.

Adams has no clue what a 2nd round pick is worth. I stand by that statement.

Am I the only one who has almost no faith that Ruff has it in him? He's known for playing favorites.

Adams is either a liar or just not very smart. Sorry to be so blunt Kevyn. JBD has played more NHL games, been more successful, and is bigger, more physical, and plays the right side. Everything about JBD makes him a better fit to be the 7th defender or even 6th defender compared to this ridiculous AHL signing.

What is hilarious about keeping Adams is that because the Sabres have kept Adams and are allowing him to drive this bus, he will not get the best trade for Byram. He can't accept futures even if they were good picks and prospects because Adams has to make the playoffs this year. He can't sign Byram because he stupidly gave Samuelsson too much money AND compounded his error by convincing himself he can't move off of Samuelsson or simply sign Byram. The solution is so blindingly obvious, sign Byram to a 4-5yr deal at 7.25 or whatever and then move on. Instead Adams is trying to force who? Calgary? St Louis? into a trade that they clearly aren't going to make and in the end it is just pushing Byram towards an offer sheet. Bo Byram: 246 career games, he had his point total go up again even though he got basically no pp time. He had 7g, 38pts this past season. He had 75 hits and 116 blocked shots. He was a -5.8xgf% and only -2.6relcf% Rasmus Andersson: 536 career games, he has had his totals drop every year since his 50pt peak. 49, 39, 31 this past year. Most hits is 63 and he had 36 last year. He is good at blocking shots with 196. -8.9xgf% last year. -6.4 relcf% Why the ***** are we trading a younger, better defender for an older not as good defender? Byram has upside and Andersson wants to play in Vegas next year. Sign Byram and figure out the logjam of highly paid defenders some other day. Or trade him for a top 6 forward (which will cost the same on your cap) but we can't do that. Adams decided he was moving on from Bo and that's that. Adams is a narrow minded, one track sort of thinker and it is so painfully obvious he lacks the abilities needed to be a successful NHL gm.

Adams has demonstrated he has 0 understanding of what a 2nd round pick is worth.

The Sabres have almost no forwards in the pipeline of note. It's basically 3 guys. They've spent almost all their 2nd and 3rd round picks on defense, goalie, or trade. The Sabres RHD pool is deeper than their forwards pool.

He's not ready.

There's no chance in hell St Louis offers to Thomas because they singed Suter. That's a 3rd line center.