DarthEbriate

But Mitts wasn't here before the draft. He only has to keep one person happy.

But it's also a great problem to have if you have multiple excellent players deserving of cash. Sometimes they'll win you the Cup and you gladly let them walk, and others you prioritize to extend, and others you trade for renewable assets. This front office operates out of fear. And this front office's fear leads to alienating their best young players so that they would rather get to UFA ASAP, or to demand trades after signing long-term deals, rather than stay with the franchise's ineptitude.

That's not how the Force Cap works!

Yeah, Zucker has always been kind of a poor man's Pominville. Second/third line guy who gets top 6 minutes because he's healthy (because of play style) and skill. But he's never going to be a top line threat. You know when this move would've been perfect? Last year. When Zucker was a UFA and you needed a temporary 2/3W to complete the lineup until Quinn returned from injury. Most of today's Sabres signings are a year late.

He wants to be... here?

And it's not that the start date of Dev Camp even matters. It's the optics and perception to your fanbase and to the rest of the league. The Kraken Dev Camp starts tomorrow 7/2. Why? So that it doesn't appear that leadership is sitting on their duff on the opening day of UFA. And the Kraken (who finished worse than Buffalo and aren't any more of a contender in their division than the Sabres are in the Atlantic) went out and got Montour and Stephenson, both arguably top-5 UFAs at their respective positions.

This is a really important distinction with Ruff. At 5-on-5 Malenstyn could be playing with Cozens/Quinn, for example. Greenway with Krebs/Zucker. Benson on the 4th line with Lafferty/Aube-Kubel. It'll be about finding those fits. Except on the Sabres, is he a 3C or a 2C?

Huh. Do other franchises just opt out of the afternoon on day 1 of UFA to go do an employee onboarding call? Seems like Dev Camp could wait until 7/2 to get started.

Bryson cromulence achieved! Sooner than expected.

To be fair, at points during the Angry Larry phase we had prime ROR and up-and-coming top-line center Eichel ahead of them. And Reinhart, et. al. The 4th line was extremely important then. (As was goaltending.) Skinner to Edmonton; Henrique to 2/3C in Buffalo. Edmonton misses the playoffs in a massive post-Final letdown.

Is he good?

Our GM is telling you without telling you it's Kulich or Helenius. Look at the amazing training camp he had! Really wanted it and outworked Krebs for it.

What's sad is that they had cap room for this type of move last season, and the season before that. Say a Tarasenko last season. Or anyone in 22-23 to help get that extra point in the standings that might've made the Sabres an attractive UFA landing spot. Zucker as a one-year option is fine.

JJP already replaced Skinner last March-April.

Yup. Six years is a bit rich for his game. Edit: But with LTIR, you can always save him for the playoffs in the 2nd half of the year after he gets a shoulder injury.

Five million? We could almost buy our own ship for that.

Girgensons and a 4th line center to take draws. Edit: And a 7D who is over 30 years old.

I already am.

Bryson is a perfectly cromulent 8D, which is why you don’t tender a qualifying offer and let him test the market. If he comes back on 7/13 and says “I like Buffalo and Rochester. I’ll take that 2-way $850k.” Then you sign him up. In the meantime, it’s Novikov time in Rochester.

The more prudent move is a Monahan + Martinook (the names/faces are interchangeable, but a C and a W) for the bottom 6, but another way to improve the bottom 6 is to slot in a true top 6 forward and push everyone down. It won't happen, but take a legitimate run at Stamkos. Cozens moves to 3C or the wing. Stamkos knows his departure from TB leaves a void with them, and his addition to a BUF/DET lifts that team that much higher.

Can I interest you in some RFA and Zemgus re-signings news this week?

And that's just it. Either enjoy the rental and set a realistic re-sign price/term, or deal him at the deadline when he's near 40 goals and get prospect/2nd to recoup some of what you traded. But everyone and their non-hockey-watching wookiee knows he's not a 3-zones top line winger and should not be paid as such. Fans don't deserve anything, good or ill.

Eventual battler with Strbak/McCarthy for Clifton's spot. I like it.

GM Sheevyn says:

Possler pre-injury, Olofsson.... Zelenov's got a cool name. It has a Z in it.