LTS

Yes, but that's where we were at in November. The trade deadline was just a stop along the way.

I would encourage you to view Kane as the most easily moved bargaining chip, not necessarily the biggest. I firmly believe that the value for Kane went downhill when the Blues decided to dump Stastny. It might have been waivering if people knew the Jets were going after a 3rd line center that would solidify their lineup and make them a strong favorite for reaching the conference finals. They whiffed on Brassard, they missed out on Plekanec and ended up with Stastny and ultimately I think they ended up with the best player of the three. I suppose my view on where the Sabres are at is more optimistic at this point than others and that might play into it. I am sure Botterill can move a few players if he wants to do so in the off-season. There are players on this roster than can improve the team in trades made in the off-season. Improve the team far more than what Kane was going to get the team today.

Here's where I am at.. There were 2-3 teams in each conference that said they are all in on the Finals. The rest decided that rather than make stupid moves to try and compete it would be wiser to make moves in moderation and see if they can be competitive. If not, well, then let's give ourselves a shot for next year. There were a LOT of names out there and I think that make it more difficult. Very few all out buyers and a lot of "I could go either way". I look at the Blues dumping Stastny and basically signaling to their fans that this year probably is not it. The Kings made no moves. Calgary basically nothing. Dallas, nothing. Anaheim got Chimera. San Jose got Kane but they were unlikely to want to give up too much to try and compete with Nashville, Winnipeg, and Vegas. Any surprise that Nashville thumped St. Louis on Sunday and the Blues decide to basically pack it in for this year? The East has become a race between Boston, Toronto, and Tampa. Pittsburgh is hoping that Brassard can get them there and Washington pretty much passed. The Islanders appear willing to waste a season as one of the highest scoring teams when they could have shored up their D and goaltending. What does that say? They've pretty much written off their chances of beating Washington/Pittsburgh this year. Let the countdown to the draft begin.

And we wonder why politics threads aren't allowed here? I swear some of you would shoot your dog the first time it crapped on the carpet all the while ignoring the fact that you fed it 6 bowls of food and didn't let it leave the house for 24 hours.

If Dan O'Regan becomes the equivalent of Jake Guentzal or Conor Sheary are you all as upset about the deal? He's basically the same size as those two. Here's what you need to know about Tatar. He's signed for $5.3M for another 4 years. The 2nd round is next year and the 3rd is in 2021. Totally comparable... 100%.

So you want to ignore the differences and just compare the two deals? He's a salary commitment of $5.3M for 4 more years. The 2nd round pick is 2019 and 3rd is 2021.

Perhaps they can believe he can be the Sheary or Guentzal for the Sabres?

Tatar is a controlled player for many more years. He was going to get more than Kane.

Are you hoping that people say it would have been better to keep Kane around for the rest of the season? I am glad he's moved him. I'll have faith he did the best he could. There's not enough body of work to suggest otherwise.

And a lot of upcoming pain... Vesey chose wisely. ;)

Yes.. you should have known better. You should know that half of what gets reported is BS and posturing. We've spoken about this on all the lead up to this day. Because I don't worry too much about who says what.. did those words actually come out of Botterill's mouth or was that what was "reported"? I honestly don't care too much what people say.

Inexcusable? If a "real prospect" wasn't available then what do you say to that? Do you refuse to believe that possibility? As for a pick this year.. I guess a 7th this year would have been better for you? Kane is not the "one asset" this team has. He was the most available asset this team had. He was leaving one way or another. It was going to be basically nothing or nothing. There are other pieces of this team that can and might move before next year.

How do any of us have enough information to pass judgment on this trade? Superficially it can appear one way. Again, we are not in the business, so we don't know. It's not like information about moves and trades have not come out days, weeks, months, or even years later that make you rethink why something happened. So why get bent over something within 30 minutes of it happening as if that's all it will ever be?

Don't confuse can't with won't.

That's pretty much every day here for everyone involved isn't it? Our opinions don't matter when it comes to hockey business. Our belief that we somehow know more than people in the business is what I would call fantasy sports. The entirety of any deal take a long time to play out. I don't believe it's wise to pass final judgment on this move. On the surface it appears to be a less than stellar deal but that doesn't mean it really is a bad deal. There are plenty of potential avenues this deal can take that will improve the overall value. None of those avenues are going to play out in the next 4-6 months so it's really hard for people to be patient and see what happens. I know, no one wants to be patient because this franchise has been losing. I understand. So be it. Be mad about something you can't change then.

There is no evidence that a better offer ever existed. There's speculation of course.

This is a fun thread to read...

Now you know why I went through hoops to stop listening to those morons. :)

Nope.. that's not it. Nash is UFA.

Islanders send Chimera to Anaheim for Chris Wagner.

Here we go... fire up the postings! The jam up is over.

No big surprise thought right? Botterill is known to move quietly isn't he?

Back to Calgary?

Similarly I saw a tweet saying that many Sabres fans had requested they be traded to another team's fan base. I'm not going to go back and dig that up. I believe it though. :w00t:

Not sure how early people want to meet up. I will be driving in that morning. I'm probably more inclined to worry about after the game more than before the game. Who's grabbing control of this? :) (not it)