Trettioåtta

Arnott is older than Hecht, not as defensively responsible and has not played with this team for the last decade. I understand why people think this is like putting on an old comfortable jumper again, but if we are wanting a player to slot in and be a third line defensive presence for a year, i'd take that comfy sweater over a 'new' one. Not to mention Hecht has been tearing it up in Germany, whereas Arnott has been doing nothing. Older players take longer to get game ready and adjust to the speed

Better than his usual spot of the goalie's crest

Coho, Pommers and Vanek are better at playing against the top competition as they are more experienced and better defensively. That means weaker and more open ice time for the 2nd line. I want Helm, let's trade for him, please

Shorter season could help us with Coho's contract. But yeah, I think we will see a 3 year contract (which would keep him an RFA) for 2.5-3.5, depending on this season

Sabres' fans aren't winning many model competitions are they...

Good spot. So Sizz now has the honor of a picture that includes Chz hair. Gotta admit I'm jealous dude.

When Coho arrived, he said that Ennis/Gerbe instantly invited him over to play games and chill with them, and he said how it made him feel veyr at home. Grigs is not much younger than those guys, so it wouldn't surprise me if they did it again. I think that adjusting to a different culture has two elements, 1) the actual understanding of how it is different and coping with homesickness of how different it is and 2) feeling like you belong there. IMO number 2 is more important, and if the Sabres players make him feel at home as part of the team, the older players and foreign players can help him with number 1. I.e. if he is in a team where he feels he belongs and is comfortable, then he will be less homesick and can ask the other players more practical questions about missing home and dealing with it. If I was going abroad, to say, China, I think having a North American to talk to about missing home would be almost as effective as having a Brit to talk to. Or having a Swede would aslo make me fee less homesick. So i'm not sure our lack of Russian players is a problem, we have a lot of international players

I'm glad he is back. Pommers says he is back to his old self, and I believe him. The guy is a professional hockey player, i'm sure he can tell! So i don't think Hecht will get that hurt this year, he will be fairly cheap, he is a good presence on the team and can teach defensive responsibility and chip in 30-40 points. Good signing. And i'm glad someone who has been on this team for so long remains. His main problem was winning that faceoff. If Grigs stays, then Hecht would be a good winger to cover Grigs so he doesn't screw the pooch defensively. If not, then Ott/Hecht as the draw taker and defensive centre would work for me. Hecht also goes to the corners happily, something not all the Sabres do

Frattin is 25 and has played in less than 60 NHL games - i wouldn't describe him as a prospect anymore. As Matt said, it might be a bias, but it is true that the AHL serves the NHL and so we will not trade Leopold for AHL talent. I don't see why we could lose Leopold for less? He has a year remaining on his contract and is a solid D-man, presuming we don't try to re-sign him, we can still trade him for NHL talent/picks. D'Amigo might have a chance at developing further but i think i'd rather take my chance on the pick instead of trading it for a player whose limit appears to be 4th line talent. Rochester might not have many players who are natural wingers, but i don't see why we can't just sign some talent or have the odd throw in. rochester are nto going to win anything for the next few years anyway. They are barely in the playoff picture with Coho, Foligno and Brennan, all three of which will be on the Sabres roster in a few days. Not to mention we have no goalie prospect with much hope (our Swede and our Russian might show signs but they are aways off). If we trade an NHL player like Leopold, it is to get an NHL player back, or a prospect with NHL potential. Frattin and Kostka are career AHLers at this point and D'Amigo doesn't have much potential. Adam might not be hugely in our plans and has regressed a bit but he still has more upside than any of the Leaf 'prospects' and has more NHL games/points.

I don't really get why we would do this? We trade a d-man for a worse d-man, a prospect for a worse prosect and a 2nd round pick for a career AHLer. Re-reading what you said it is because we need depth in Roch and Buf. Well nobody really cares about Roch, so we will not trade a decent NHL asset to fill in depth at the lower leagues - we'll just sign someone. Buf doesn't need depth, we have plenty of mediocre forwards, we need talent through the middle/gritty wingers

I'd like to know how much he expects - you'd have to think they would give up anything up to $4 million. The fact he is refusing to play for the Avs does lower his value, I think we could still get him, we would just need to trade Sekera (2/3 D man with a great contract) and Pysyk (good prospect with a good upside) or something like that

Well at the moment they don't have him, he has signed a 2 year contract in the KHL. I agree it would take a fair amount to get him, but he isn't playing for the Avs in the next 2 years unless they up their offer. If they were going to up their offer, they would have done so already.

"That made me chuckle," Holmgren told the Daily News. "It's safe to say those rumours aren't true. They have no basis or merit."

One idea i read was that they will simply not play him at all this year, to ensure he doesn't get hurt. I feel really sorry for the guy, he used to be a decent D-man, and it isn't his fault he got offered that awful contract

BOG ratifies the CBA http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=649585&navid=DL|NHL|home

Jones, Erhoff, Myers, Sekera, McNabb, Pysyk and Mccabe - that would be an awesome defense

So we traded Roy for Ott and Pardy. Roy is better than Ott, so I don't think Pardy was a Kotalik style throw in to lower the cost. This means we have 9 NHL D men, who could possibly play...Yeah it does feel like there must be some movement before the season starts. Having 2 guys start in the press box is a lot, having 3 seems down right wasteful

He was so calm when he got the puck, even with a player charging him - good to see. Lovely goal

This rule will also really help the players make a decision - always surprised me how many big names signed new contracts on day 1, having never properly seen the city/rink (bar for the 12 hours they are there on away games)

I dunno, our issue is we already have two very young centres. I think if we trade, we trade for a more established veteran. I could see us signing Hecht instead of trading for a veteran 2/3 centre and running the lines below: F - E - S V - H - P L - Hecht - O 4th liners

Had spinal surgery over summer, still recovering - might explain his poor season

What did Darcy say about Hecht?

I would love Hecht back. He has played so long here i don't want him to just slink off. If he has recovered he is very useful, very good on the PK, defensively responsible and combine him with Ott and Ott can win the face offs and Hecht can swap into centre and take the defensive responsibilities of that position

http://www.ukamericansportsstore.co.uk/ordering-items-on-request/info_18.html I used this, i don't know if they ship to Sweden though :/

That sucks! I'm confused why they are allowed to impose restrictions on citizens like that, or is it just if they are under contract? What if a player's parents move to N. America on work? Are the kids allowed to go but not play hockey?