LTS

caught this posted elsewhere.. I think it sums things up a bit. When the FBI stops a plot to kidnap a governor, and the President can't thank the FBI because he's fighting with them AND he can't be thankful for the governor's safety, because he's fighting with her AND he can't condemn the terrorists because they're his supporters ...it's time for a new President.

I think it is a bad practice to equate his play on the ice with his off-ice interactions with his teammates and the remainder of the Sabres organization. He was a professional on the ice, doing what he needed to do. As I have said in the past, the information provided to me by someone with intimate knowledge of his off-ice interactions definitely suggested there were issues large enough to not be overlooked.

Absolutely. If nothing else Taylor Hall is an $8M marketing message... one that fans have already bought into and I think others will as well. No matter what happens next year things can be spun in any number of ways. But I think he's genuine enough (as any player can be in this business) and he came here and nothing we are hearing would suggest that there was reluctance. I don't see a negative to this unless someone really screws things up between now and next year.

Dahlin redefines "Tank" in Buffalo Puppy chow for a full year.. til they're full grown.

People seem to forget the division they play in... it's not easy, even with these upgrades. They have a chance now, that's how I see it.

Thought I saw it reported he had a full NMC. So he's here unless he doesn't want to be here. Gotta feel better. It's a 1 year shot to see what they can do. It's not going to be easy with the way the division stacks.. their division seems to be the toughest in hockey right now.

So now one player has come to Buffalo because of Kevyn Adams and one has come because of Ralph Krueger. That's not so bad.

The concept of "concept of" around here is strong.

Please.. please, let that be true. Because I am sure that Cup success lies heavily on a hot goaltender more than anything. He wasn't so hot this year and Bozak and ROR were golfing with the rest of the league.

You underscore my thinking. You want the team to be a positive distraction but at what point do you realize that perhaps this team isn't going to be that and hasn't been that for you? They are on a 9 year drought from the playoffs and have been pretty much a miserable wreck. So, the thing you hope to be that positive distraction is anything but, so now it just adds to the rest of the supposed misery and is not a release. Instead it's amplifying the other issues.

It would seem so. I'm not sure how people who are so fanatical about a hockey team to let it affect them to this point could ever speak ill of fanatics in other disciplines. This is just a game.

You keep crackin' me up more and more. You might want to buy one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Cat-Nine-Tail-Scourge-Whip/dp/B01M7SS161

All depends on what happens with him. Montour is 26 now. He turns 27 next April. He's a UFA next year. He could go to arbitration and potentially get less money or just sign a 1 year deal and get $3.85M and be a UFA next year.. because he would be anyway. The Sabres can still move him and with him locked in at $3.85M it might be easier than if he had been awarded more. Both sides get something in this deal and Montour was going to be a UFA regardless after next season unless he signed on longer.

No. What you state could be the case, but do you then think it's case where he stated his number, the Sabres said see ya, and then moved on? Could be. Ultimately ends up making a paltry sum but by the time he found his value in FA the Sabres had moved on. Overall I gotta hand it to those posters on here who are checking in multiple times a day just to make derisive comments on anything that happens or gets reported. It must take a certain level of self-loathing to put yourself through that.

It was a crap shoot. But the pressure is clearly on Johnson now to be more accepting of a potential trade or he's going to be playing in the AHL (if they even play). Sure the Lightning don't want to keep his cap hit on the books but I bet Johnson gives in. So, now the question is.. what does Tampa have to give up to move him? Where would he agree to go? Tampa was always going to be in this position.. and they still have not signed Cirelli, Cernak, and Sergachev.. 3 players that aren't all going to fit under what appears to be about $4M in cap space. Point and Killorn are the only decent level salaries that are freely movable... everyone else has control. It's going to be interesting to see what happens.

Reports were that he took less money and the 1 year deal to go to Edmonton. Guess he's hoping that next year he can earn an even better deal. As it was reported, the Sabres didn't want him back. I'm kind of shocked. I liked Larsson but he certainly wasn't someone that had to be kept at all costs. It makes the retaining of Girgensons interesting, but I suppose Girgensons has shown he can move up and down the lineup when needed and Larsson really hasn't.

The numbers are wrong. Yep. Kahun probably thinks he should get paid $4MM or $4.1 or whatever it was that he would have asked for in arbitration that scared the Sabres off from qualifying him. I am sure the Sabres said, go get a deal and give us a chance to match it. Let the market dictate your value, not an arbitrator. Kahun would honor that because he knows that an arbitrator could have just as easily ruled that $2MM was his value and he would be stuck with it. Kahun hasn't gone anywhere yet. I think that's because of the Tyler Johnson waiver. No one knows where he's going yet and that will trigger the rest of the moves.

Crawford - borderline. Plus that's $3.9M for 2 years of a 35+ goalie. Markstrom - great goalie, but $6M is steep.. and 6 years is a long time. Murray - overpaid.. and how. Khudobin - wasn't going anywhere, he was just on a team that made the Finals Holtby - maybe he rebounds, but he's been pedestrian and not worth $4.3M - that said, his contract allows him to be flipped across the border next year to Seattle. So the Canucks likely overpaid just to give Demko one more year of experience. Could the Sabres do that? Yep. Would moving from Vancouver to Seattle be easier than Buffalo to Seattle? Yup. Things to think about. Lundqvist - damn right, he was only going to a team that had solid Stanley Cup chances this year.

You probably have had aspirations that you've not met. I know I do. That said, not many people here, if any, are defending the Pegula family and their performance to date. I'm sure you feel better after posting the quote though, so you've got that going for you.

Patiently? Which goalie did you want the Sabres to sink $6M into? I didn't see any goaltender deals yesterday that would have been good. The belief is the Sabres are talking to CBJ about one of their goaltenders... so that's something. Wennberg wanted to play for Bill Zito Merrill took a 1 year deal to play in Detroit, where he played 3 seasons in Michigan in college. Kahun was covered in the Kahun thread. The risk of his arbitration award pushed him to UFA. He's not signed yet, so the league clearly didn't bust his door down with a deal. I never saw any Fast to Nashville report. The only Kahun reference was some fan or something posting a Kings sweater with his name on it.

And accounts on Wennberg is that he went to Florida because of Bill Zito. Verhaege would have been an interest, without a doubt, but is he going to change the landscape of the team? No. I do wonder what the Tyler Johnson waiver is doing to the market. Are teams waiting to see who claims him?

So Kahun would accept a 2x2.5M offer from the Sabres... People think that's a steal... He's not signed with any other team yet. So, either no other teams think he's worth 2.5M (or close enough to it) or those numbers are not right. I know which I believe.

Yes.. he went out and drafted players. But you are impatient, so it won't matter. You love to start the "just do something" threads. There's plenty of talk about what he is TRYING to do, but he does not control the player. Could he get some players here by overpaying? Potentially. Does that help the team? No.

Haha.. how many times are you going to have to tell people that? I've only seen a few deals that I would have liked the Sabres to be in on, but the players control where they go and frankly Buffalo probably needs to pay more just to get players at this point. That said.. there are some stupid deals out there. The 2 year deals look like the players that will end up in Seattle after next season. 🙂 It's not over.. there's still time for more stupid!

Lias isn't going to find his silver medal in LA either.