DarthEbriate

Utah. This is where the fun begins.

It was that, or make a comment about how I avenged my mom's death by slaughtering a bunch of Sand People. But... that seemed... inappropriate.

Except against the Sabres. Then screw him.

It's true, but we already have Kesselring, so we're totally fine. We're all fine here, now. How are you?

Columbus had to take on a bunch of salary for the floor (Gaudreau); Colorado had to move salary to tinker with their lineup to stay competitive. Win-win. Columbus got better (with Monahan fully healthy again). Colorado will make corresponding moves to get better today and on July 1. Palm trees named McKinnon and Makar grow there.

One team took a long time to become good, but then managed to do so by building a good culture and taking advantage of some absurdly good contracts (Barkov, Ekblad, Bennett, Reino, etc.) and one wild contract that worked out anyway (Bob). The other took a long time to.... and built the youngest team in the league and pittered away the first half or entirety of their absurdly good contracts (TNT, Tuch) and one wild contract because he's a stud (Dahlin).

Still an RFA with 1 season until UFA at the end of the deal, correct?

Or they're eyeing their next escapee who gets growing pains under his belt in Buffalo before heading down south to be yet another complementary piece in the machine.

Gilbert, Clifton, Samuelsson, Bryson, Clague, Jokiharju?

@krakensabr56390 is an Imperial Probe Droid? Welcome to the board! We need all the new posters we can get. It's gotten quieter and quieter these last 14 years thanks to the quality of the product on the ice.

The question is: What is bust? Does anyone truly believe that Adams believes that he'll be fired if the Sabres don't make the playoffs this year? The team is on a Power/Levi mid-to-late 20s timeline. Ruff will be retired, the assistant coaches will be able to be renewed or let go, and Appert will take over behind the bench. But Adams?

Hey NHL, you can announce the Isles-Habs trade anytime now. Sheevyn needs to know how the market is set before he wildly undersells a guy who would be on his team's top pair this coming season or two.

Wait, wait, wait. Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father?

Rust is going to look very different if he goes from Crosby or Malkin as his center to Norris or Kulich. Helenius is the Sabres' best center prospect. I'd say by quite a bit over Östlund. He's not untouchable, but for Rust? Hell no. Edit: And from Sullivan's coaching/scheme to Ruff's, I might also add. But it's more about that he's had two HOF centers for his career.

This is where I'm at after the Kesselring move. There wasn't a plan when he was acquired, but now, Byram has a valid spot on the roster. "Hey, here's a bridge that takes you to UFA. No, you might not get a bunch of PP time -- sorry. But guess what, you get to play on the top pairing with Rasmus ######' Dahlin and get all the O-zone starts you can stomach and matching against the opposition's best for 23:00 per night. When you get to UFA, you can ask for $10M+. In the meantime, help us end this drought."

From Fairburn's Athletic article 6/16/2020 (the day of the press conference). I hope he'll not be too upset I'm quoting his quotation from an article five years past. This was, and remains, the Sabres business model until Pegula publicly says otherwise.

Byram has played behind Dahlin, Power (1st overall already signed [foolishly] to a who is going to be gifted every opportunity), and some guy named Makar. If he goes to St. Louis he immediately jumps to the top of their offensive defencemen list. Fowler? Nothing to write home about. Broberg? Some solid offensive potential, less than Byram. Leddy? He's pretty cooked and a UFA at the end of the season. Before a trade is approved, St Louis would have an extension for Byram in place, so the duration of Kyrou's contract is immaterial. Kyrou's numbers are JJP's numbers with an NHL-level coached powerplay (a bit above league average, but 16th overall in the standings). Every non-tanking team in the league has a 70-point pacing winger. Kyrou is a good piece to have, not a player you build around. And Byram could be the same, but that doesn't mean you have to give away Byram + + to get a guy that every team has.

Eeek, no. Why are we overvaluing Kyrou so much? He's not a multiple-1st Eichel-level move. I'd argue Byram is the best player in the draft (certainly with regards to upside).

If Byram (projected PP#1 will score 50+ points) is the primary piece for Kyrou (70-point forward), then you shouldn't need to include 9OA. A shrewd (non-desperate) GM making that trade might move a lottery-protected 1st, but then there would need to be assets coming back. For Kyrou, 9 is off the table for me. Heck, Utah just got a 68-point winger for a depth D-man and a bottom-6 forward. If you want to throw in Lafferty... or Rosen, fine. But Byram should be considered a stud and has a higher ceiling at his position than Kyrou does at his.

The defunct Rossi trade from the Wild perspective. They're not national guys, they know the Wild but know nothing really in any detail about Sabres. Though they do call Buffalo a hockey hellhole, which is funny because it's true. The first bit is about Rossi/Peterka. But then they're looking for a center. Tavares, and then they float -- could you trade Rossi ++ for TNT. No. No you couldn't. And TNT isn't a center anyway. And that's where I can stop listening.

The soapbox I’ve been on all this last season. Pegula has to make the statement public that EEE is over. Until he does that, Adams just runs the defense that he has all the resources he needs. Say it’s over, say we’ll spend to the cap to win, and that the expectation is playoffs. Then fire Adams when he fails because he is still relying on UPL for 50 games.

It’s always hope for the future with Adams. If Kesselring plays every game next year like the game he played in Buffalo, and if he settles Powers’ game and allows the kid to grow and learn how to clear a net (even if slowly), it could be a fantastic pickup. But… it’s no Ekblad, you know. It’s another guy who’s never proven anything. Edit: I should add, unproven on the D-corps (except Erik Johnson, who was a 1-year rental like Hall, who was sadly well past his prime to run their then-Granato game.) Zucker, Greenway, McLeod had all proven their ability to do their jobs before.

Which makes sense for a scoring forward playing top line minutes most of the season. Ruff was heavy on the Krebs and Kozak/Lafferty lines in their d zone. For Doan it surprises me a bit because he’s a bottom six guy and they wanted him starting in the o zone if possible. Utah may have had a dynamite checking line though that got all their d zone starts.

C’mon, Big D. Fly….

I do like that Doan has had a very good Corsi relative to his team the last couple seasons as a youngster. But he’s not provided any PK time (a few minutes over 2 seasons). 60% o zone starts overall. Fairly protected thus far it would seem on the defensive side.