LTS

Salary? $4M vs. $1.3M? I think other than salary it would be possible. Is giving up Scandella See, thats the thing. It's easy to say it. But can we propose a trade that would be similar that Colorado would have accepted? I think they were going for a D that's a UFA so they can clear the decks for the following year. They seem like they could take on $4M no problem... the Sabres could retain too. So yeah, you hope if there's something else it would be good or else I think you judge Botterill on missing out on this opportunity (or explain why he would not be interested in Soderberg). I mean, he's a UFA after this year as well.

I like these trades.. because I would think Soderberg wouldn't be a bad choice. So given what Arizona gave up.. what would be the equivalent Sabres offer and would it make sense for Colorado? Clearly the pick is the pick. Who's the Cannaughton equivalent?

My guess is that he's going to get an Okposo like contract... and if that's the case I think you have to steer clear. However, if he's coming in on the right contract I would take him. I remain genuinely curious just how much the expansion draft and the upcoming collective bargaining expiration will have on how GMs are trying to build their teams. Any NMC's handed out now have to be done with care unless you want to get screwed over at the expansion draft (like the Knights were able to do to teams). I'm sure it will be chock full of stupid though.. as usual.

He was drafted by an NHL team. That makes him better than a large majority of hockey players in the world. As for whether or not he'll have an impact? The statistics say it's unlikely. As it is for all players picked in and around this time and later in the draft.

God, I so hope this is true.

Used to be on the board for the baseball league in another town and we used 14/15 year olds for some of the 8U/10U games. The parents would chew them up. We had to police it heavily. It's ridiculous.

That was an entirely different comment.

Works for me.. and he's right. The only real skill I need from a center is the ability to win face-offs and understand D zone coverage.. after that it's pretty much turned into a free for all of play a spot on the ice that's designed for your skill set.

I understand the sentiment. The player movement aspect is just one point that I made. The rest was that players moving around all the time really lessens the attachment to a team, at least for me. I mean, why not just redraft the teams each year? The ultimate in player movement right? The drafting process is questionable, but it's also a one time event. With minor exceptions, players only get drafted once and almost never is the player playing professionally where they were playing prior, so there was going to be a move required. Trades come after a player is establishing a life and has far more impact. I don't hate trades, but leagues where players move from team to team to team every year and contracts can be nullified on a whim really lessen the value of the sport. It seems like you devolve into, buy your championship mode.

Yeah.. I get it. But it's not fleecing by any stretch in my opinion. It's all he's worth. Because he's a $9M defender who is not worth that salary.

People all about NJ fleecing Nashville. Again, you have to wonder why Nashville is willing to let him go for a perceived low amount and also why others aren't stepping up. Bottom line, and i think it was stated on here somewhere, PK just isn't as great as people think he is. He's a great person and a good defender. But not a $9M defender.

No. But that would be an easy way of dismissing my opinion.

The last pick the Sabres had at #31 is sitting on the Rangers now right? I'm not getting too upset about things here. I just would have thought forward. Again.. I'm not sure it matters.

Fun for you. To me it makes things less of about how you build a team and more about how you can just throw people around wherever you want. What is a team at that point? Uprooting people for the hell of it was never all that appealing to me. I also pay no attention to the NBA. So.. I'll take your word for it. But what's good for the NBA isn't necessarily what's good for the NHL.

Yep. And we all have our opinions, but as soon as someone has an alternate opinion, especially on something so subjective as a uniform design, then you shouldn't go around calling the organization fan deaf. Because there clearly are fans they are listening to, people are just upset it's not them.

Well, the question, as always, is... what, if anything, was offered for it and was that worth it? The "chatter" was that the Sabres were fine with trading it. But it doesn't mean they would give it away, right? We just don't know.

I suppose. I think they are all equally bad. The horror stories are everywhere. Soccer always intrigued me. It's not like US born soccer players ever achieve much of anything in the world, especially compared to basketball, baseball, football, and hockey. But parents go off on it just the same.

For what it's worth, when I told my 15 year old about an all white with gold trim uniform his response was "That would be sick!". This was echoed by his buddy who was on FaceTime at that moment. So, your world doesn't necessarily equal the actual world. I'm not picking on you here. You are certainly entitled to your opinion. However, to call the Sabres fan deaf when you only consider your opinion as the opinion of the fans is misguided. There clearly are fans who are interested in seeing this concept.

When I coached I always let parents know that their bad examples would be the burden of their children. In other words, shut up and enjoy the game. if you want to make a scene and be a problem you can explain to your child why your actions were keeping them from playing. Of course, I said many other things as well and generally never had a problem. I have disagreed with officials, but in the end I've never coached a game where scholarships or paychecks were on the line. Just not that important.

Fair enough. I don't pay enough attention to know better either. I suppose even Brink would have been someone to look at. Clearly they weren't the only ones who thought something was wrong since NBCSN was going on about Kaliyev and yet no one was grabbing him.

Because they don't make all kinds of goofy ass trades?

I would have preferred they go to Kaliyev with the pick. I guess they felt the need to balance. I dunno. I don't know enough about Johnson, but I figured getting some goal scoring talent into the pipeline would trump a slight reach for D.

Which, building off my first post on the subject, is what I said. Originally, he brought in advisers and those of us who were around then can recall the discussion of whose agenda was being followed. They are all gone now and I do agree that Botterill is 100% a Pegula hire. And, if Botterill turns the team around it will demonstrate that the early years were rough, he listened to the wrong people, and eventually learned enough along the way to get the right guy. Or, it could still be the wrong guy. I don't care what Terry says or how he says it to be honest. If he wants to talk about his 3 gold medals, then so be it. I care about Botterill hmself. He had all the qualifications and had spent a long time in a successful program helping to build it. I don't Botterill is inexperienced. He might not have been THE GM, but he was part of the general management team. He has a team now as well to help support him. I don't think the Sabres have given him long enough to build things out. This year is critically important to how much more rope he'll be given.

Damn.. give the man a minute. He's been away for awhile. His skills need time to recover.

I won't go deeper into this because it would be politics.. but it feels the same to me. Well, you'd be happier to not get upset about things outside of your control. But, to each their own. If I were as upset as some people around here appear to be I would just stop paying attention to the Sabres. There's enough grief in life.