Sabre fan

often overlooked is Sam;s ability to stay healthy as well..does not miss many games and is very consistent...he is far better then the team has apparently thought of him nickle and diming him while giving stiffs like Hall and even Skinner crazy amounts if cash...

Sportsnet had the following on their website... Heading "Bruins take advantage of Sabres"... Buffalo’s inexperienced front office will take more heat this week when the trade deadline’s ledgers get tallied up. All told, Adams has dispatched Hall, Lazar, Eric Staal and Brandon Montour in exchange for a second-rounder, two third-rounders, a fifth-rounder and Bjork. By comparison: The other big seller, Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen, has recouped two first-rounders, a third-rounder, a fourth-rounder and a seventh-rounder for Nick Foligno, David Savard and an injured Riley Nash. Any way you prefer to look at this, and whether you like or dislike KA this year has not been pretty for him. he has signed some awful players to bad contracts and at the end of the day has done nothing to improve the team. We are wining with players already in the system and on the big team. We seriously need experience running the team and coaching as well.

clearly KA cannot be trusted to handle the team and I fear that he'll give away Linus now that he (Ullmark) has voiced his intention to try out free agency. We wil have Hutton and whoever as our goal-tending next year? I would have much preferred he not trade Hall at all then do what he did was embarrass the team yet again. No wonder we are the laughing stock of the NHL...

Pretty pumped for trade deadline day today...hoping we can continue and trade Risto for a 7th, Sam for a 5th and retain and maybe like a 2nd and 3rd for Jack? We would of course retain half of Jack's salary as well. In all honesty I really fear we will give Linus away today as well. 40 saves yesterday and the team is clearly much better when he plays and we need to sign him. I see other teams getting NHL goalies for backups yet we cannot seem to do anything right. There are people out there who actually trust this current regime to make "smart" moves? Giving away Lazar is the kicker...he will excel in Boston for sure

I think at this point I would have preferred not to trade Hall at all then to further embarrass the team by making this pathetic trade. And there are some who have confidence in this team to actually trade Sam or Risto or even Jack for anything worth while? It becomes more clear every day this team desperately needs a guy like Rutherford who knows how to wheel and deal like we keep seeing in TO and Long Island. This was making a trade just to get rid of Hall but would have beenm fine with not bothering if this is the return (making the team worse)

I think it is safe to say that other teams do not figure they have to give much for our players in trades...I am thinking we'll be real lucky to get a crappy 2nd for Hall. Again getting a 2nd from a team at the top of the standings (like Florida) is basically like a 3rd which is pretty-much useless. Florida's 3rd will be like 75th to 80th overall which is well...and a 2nd from a likewise team will be in effect like 50th overall or in that vicinity and again we cannot expect much from that spot. Does make one wonder when we get only a 3rd from Montreal for Scandella then they turn around and get a 2nd for him...

Florida's 3rd is like around number 85 to 90 overall...does anybody really think we are capable of drafting someone even remotely useful at that position? Been a lot of trashing the Sabres for their poor drafting even in the 1st and 2nd rounds with our picks which are much higher then this 3rd from Florida. I do think Montour will be fine in a good well-coached structure and situation like Florida has happening. Has Montreal traded Staal yet for a 2nd? That may very well be next.

where the heck did this Jack Campbell come from? 10 wins in a row for the Laughs who are sure enjoying beating up on inferior teams up here in the Great White North (where it is over 70 degrees today). Wild destroy Avs 8-3. Wow

agree hardly think we gave up a ton for ROR...fact is that was probably the team's best trade ever (right up there with Briere steal). Of course we can also say that the ROR trade to St Lou was probably the team's worse ever trade...

Skinner did however seem to really mesh with Jack (when he was healthy) and hopefully once we get Jack back (probably not til next year) we can put Skinner back with Jack and Sam and get the kind of production we got a few years back (which was great!). Obviously we desperately need Skinner to contribute at his salary...

I guess one can also state that maybe they are just living up to their billing, as both Casey and Tage were 1st round picks and highly regarded...amazing what a little confidence and some momentum can do for a player and/or a team

while it sure is nice to see the team playing better and more in tune with how we all wish and desire them to play, I think it is also safe to say that it is truly impossible to get a full sense of Granato's coaching skills and whether he is capable of being the team's head coach on a permanent basis without first getting back a bunch of players healthy, most notably Jack, Cozens, McCabe and Borgen. Take away four key players from any team and you will see a big drop. We cannot expect to beat the better teams without those guys back healthy. Then we will see just how well Granato can and will do...

Just read that we are sitting Hall for tonight's game in anticipation of a trade...good move! Team will probably be better without him anyways

I was toying with starting a new thread but there are so many started for reasons that are already covered so I will just ask here: do you think that the success that Granato is enjoying to be a good or bad thing? One wonders if it will lead the Pegulas to go cheap and just keep Granato who is already employed and I assume at a reasonable rate. Obviously a coach like Boubreau Julien or Torts will not come cheaply. And a argument can be made how would any other new coach do any better then what we are seeing now? The team is slowly changing back into the kind of team we long for and this without some of our best players. One can only imagine how good we may be with a healthy Jack,Cozens, McCabe Borgen back in there. The big question then becomes what is best for them team long-term? Do they take the chance that Granato is capable and give him at least next year? Or do they move now while there is a choice of some pretty good coaches? I am kind of on the fence here...love to see any of the three I mentioned but Granato seems to have a grip on the exact style of hockey we need to pay to win (and it is fun to watch too). Thoughts?

One big thing in our favour is the fact that it seems that many teams are interested in Hall and hopefully one team will try to out-bid the others so that they add him while keeping another team from adding him to their roster. TO Boston, Montreal, and others are most interested as al think they have a chance at the Cup and adding Hall can make a big difference to their chances. I like Kerfoot and say even a 2nd (hopefully a 1st but TO's 1st will be just like a 2nd as they are not losng to much and racking up big points against inferior opposition)

does that not mean that Linus is very valuable and we should re-sign him? I keep hearing some who say we should trade him but seems everybody is now looking for goaltending help

I guess New Jersey must have read my thread here as they are not playing Palmieri in anticipation of trading him soon...I am so afraid Hall will get hurt and totally ruin any chance of getting something/anything for him as that would be in line with our crappy luck over the years! I also think Hall will not re-sign here and certainly not for 5-6 mil per year...I am sure someone will pay him more in the summer

THIS IS NOT A APRIL FOOL's JOKE...repeat this is NOT a April fool's joke...final Detroit 5 Tampa Bay 1...in other news big trade between Jackets & Jets seems to be helping no one...strange. Laine is not producing and Jets keep losing

At this point, Hall is a complete bust and playing him is dangerous as it would be our luck that he will get hurt and create a situation whereby either he is de-valued in a trade or possibly we cannot trade him at all if it is a season-ending injury. We cannot be much worse without him and obviously we need t trade him to get value for al that money the Pegula's forked out for him and it seems to make more sense to play someone that does fit into our long-term plans (say a youngster from Rochester?).

Rangers a big surprise as I thought they were rebuilding but are playing well and scoring tons so tough game but hockey isi such a game of momentum and confidence and I think the Sabres finally got some of both so hopefully we'll prevail 4-2 or 5-3...

I live north of Toronto but I fear the Sabres getting new owners as that may lead directly to moving the team and I don't think you want that. Finding another billionaire who will throw money into the team will not be easy in Buffalo so I am thinking that the better solution to new owners is for the Pegulas to step back and hire say Rutherford as President and let him run the team which in effect be the same as new owners. As has been stated the team is not that far from winning and a healthy Jack alone would make a huge difference

no actually he has been getting piles of chances for sure just can't seem to bury them. I am just thinking maybe he'll regain his scoring touch with Jack

totally agree this team can be fixed and have clearly shown signs of that in most recent games. Heck, we looked really good and we are still without a healthy Jack (who by himself would make a huge difference) as well as McCabe and Borgen and we are stil not getting any return from Hall or Skinner and I think the first thing we should do when Jack returns is put Skinner and Sam together and try and get our 9 mil worth out of Skinner. Guy did great with Jack and we got him for a bunch more years might as well use him where he helps the team most. If we get even 20 goals from Skinner that would help immensely

of course sad part is we had the absolutely perfect 2nd center and basically gave him away for nothing.

seeing how we have some good young prospects on defense and that is where most of the top picks this coming draft seem to be, do we entertain trading our 1st for a 2nd line center and maybe someone else's 1st?