jahnyc

Shannon is right in that the Sabres do not have any quality depth. They do not have a second line (or, arguably, a third line) center and they can use an upgrade in goal. Given the overall weakness in our pipeline (at least in my view), I do not think we are very close to being a playoff caliber team.

I really do not understand this interest in Vesey. I do not think he is a top six forward and we all know that he did not want to sign here after we traded for his rights. Makes no sense to me.

ROR getting the Conn Smythe is just the cherry on top of the hot fudge sundae. What an awful trade.

I do not know what the underlying locker-room dynamics may or may not have been, but the trade, in terms of value received in return, was awful. Not only because we received almost no contributions from the players acquired, but also for the bad contracts that were part of the package back to us. I think we were lucky that Berglund walked away, and, as a result, we received significant cap savings. He would have been way overpaid for a fourth line player. We still have one more year of Sobotka at $3.5 million and Berglund would have cost us $3.85 million per year in cap space through 2021-22 if he had continued to play for the Sabres. This was a poor deal based solely on the contracts we acquired as part of the trade. One open question is how much of an impact the team's reluctance to pay O'Reilly his bonus had in the making of this particular trade and the value that we could have received in return from the Blues or other teams if we were willing to pay the bonus and then trade O'Reilly.

We need a lot of upgrades at forward, but it feels like the defense is more settled now, and has potential to be a strong unit next year, assuming that we do not trade Risto. Our top line generally looks good. The other three lines have all been disappointing. I really hope that we see improvement with Mittlestadt, but I am not feeling confident about that at this point. I also do not believe that we have much in Rochester that will be of immediate help next season, or maybe at all. JBot has much work to do to fix the middle six without many easy answers.

Not sure I like the way this sounds. At this point, the Sabres need Skinner a lot more than he needs the Sabres. All bets are off if he hits the offseason without a signed contract with the Sabres.

What a terrible trade. Not only did we not receive anything of value in return other than a first round pick likely in the lower end of the round, we took on bad contracts for Berglund and Sobotka that had years remaining. It is pure luck for JB that Berglund decided to leave the Sabres and forego the remaining amounts due under his contract.

I hope JB knows whether Skinner really wants to re-sign with the Sabres, assuming the money is right. The worst possible result would be if we do not trade him before the trading deadline and then he does not re-sign. If we know he will not re-sign with the Sabres, he should be traded before the deadline.

I really have no idea whether PH is a good or bad coach, but I do think this team is full of players that have not developed, never will develop or are past their prime (i.e., Girgensons, Larsson, Elie, Sobotka, Okposo and Scandella). Mittelsadt has had a very disappointing season, exposing our weakness at center after Eichel, and I do not think that Reinhart is playing like what would be expected from a second overall pick in the draft. I am not sure a different coach could do much better with the current roster.

It is amazing to me that after years of misery including two last place overall finishes that we don't have a stronger prospect pool, particularly wingers who can score. The Kane and O'Reilly trades failed to provide us with players that were ready to immediately contribute in a significant way and now we have to hope that the draft picks we received will be hits and eventually develop. At this point, if JB can land a player that can contribute now, he should, even if it means giving up one of our first round picks. JB has made one very good trade in getting Skinner and a poor trade in terms of what we received in the O'Reilly trade. I get it that trading O'Reilly may have been a must, but taking on the contracts of Berglud and Sobotka was kind of shocking to me (although we are fortunate from a financial perspective that Berglund decided to leave the team). Mittelstadt was not ready to be a number two center and now we lack quality depth at center after Jack. Still feels like we are a ways away from being a consistent, good team.

I would have hoped that we would sign at least one decent free agent forward, preferably one that played LW. I wonder if we pursued any available free agents. Probably tough to get a quality free agent to come here because of our last place finish.

I am sure that internally the team was something of a mess last year and in years prior. Chad Johnson seemed to allude to it and you get a sense that there were a number of frustrated players, not just about the losing part of it. If this is the case, it is not just the players that need to step up, but Housley and the assistant coaches as well. I would be surprised if trading O'Reilly solves the problems that may have affected this team's performance. Have a feeling that is why we also heard that Risto could be available at the right price. I hope some of the guys that we have brought in through trades will help as role models/mentors and add some additional maturity to the locker room. We also need to hope that some of the younger players mature into team leaders. I would love to see immediate improvement, but I have a feeling this is going to be a long process and JBot is taking a long view of things (i.e., the three first round picks acquired for next year).

One current prospect. Three draft picks for Kane and ROR, none of whom we likely will see playing for the Sabres for four plus years, assuming that we draft well.

Trading Kane and O'Reilly for one current borderline prospect is a poor result.

Just seems very strange to me that JBot would take on contracts for players that no one else would want when trying to rebuild. All of these players (Hunwick, Sobotka, Pominville and Berglund) cannot be in our long term plans, yet account for more than $15 million of our cap. JBot has received very little in return for agreeing to take on these salary obligations. Add in Bogo and Okoposo for another $11 million in cap and you have a total of six players with about $26 million in space that are untraceable. I am really worried that JBot is in way over his head.

We have assumed the contracts of Hunwick, Sobotka and Berglund. Salary cap space is at a premium in the NHL, and we are taking on contracts for marginal and older players. Separate and apart from the O'Reilly trade, which did not yield significant enough value to justify assuming the contracts of Sobotka and Berglund, why are we doing this? If it was one year thing, maybe it is okay, but we are now stuck with Berglund (30 years old) for another four years!

Just an awful trade. Could have picked up similar depth in free agency as Sobotka and Berglund at a lower price and a shorter term. I really do not understand taking on these obligation for players 30+. Makes no sense to me. Overall, I think this trade was a complete failure because we did not get a top prospect. Would have been okay to forego either or both of the 1st and the 2nd round picks for a player that would have been added to our young talent and could have grown with them over time. We may not see these draft picks (and the ones received from San Jose) break into the lineup (assuming they work out, which is not a given at all) for four or more years. Not impressed with JBot at all. In the trades for Kane and O'Reilly, we have received one marginal NHL prospect that may or may not be playing in Buffalo next season (Thompson). That is a poor return for assets.

This is awful. Taking on long-term salary from under performers and not getting a true prospect back. JBot is in over his head and just wasted one of our only real assets.

FWIW, that Eklund guy says something in the works with the Islanders.

Where are our toys? Feels like a big lump of coal so far in free agency (I know it is only the first day). Some of these guys could have helped us. Not to state the obvious, but maybe we are a tough sell because of the last place finish? Was hoping for some improvement at the forward position.

I think some of the moves will pay off for the longer term and I certainly see improvement with the depth in our prospect pool, but I do not see a lot of immediate help from what JBot has done so far. Really no upgrades at this point unless Mittelstadt and Dahlin can make an immediate impact. We will see about Sheary, but he is not a replacement for Kane. Not sure about Hutton and Ullmark has not been tested at the NHL level, so I am not convinced our situation in goal will be much better than last year. We will see.

I bet Risto will be the focus for a near term trade (Edmonton?). Wouldn't do this either. Sabres should make work what they have and add rather than subtract quality players. Was hoping for at least a couple of upgrades in free agency.

Agree with all of this except about moving him as the right move. By the way, shouldn't the GM and HC have a significant role in making this work going forward? A good HC should pull the team together and handle the personalities. If Housley has been unable to do this, then maybe he is not the right coach for this team.

Kind of feeling like the Kane situation where they almost need to trade him now. For Kane, it made some sense since he was going to be a free agent. With O'Reilly, it does not, and only serves to hurt our negotiating position. May not be great for him to stay with Sabres after all of the trade rumors since you would think it could hurt him as a leader/role model in the locker room if there is a sense that management wanted to trade him, particularly if there were already players who he had issues with. I don't think this is being handled well by management and I think he is a player that should not be traded, absent reasons that none of us seem to know.

Seems pretty clear that the Sabres have a strong desire to trade O'Reilly. At this point, with all of the constant chatter, I think it would be hard for him and the team for him not to be traded since the optics of all of this could diminish his standing in the locker room if he were to return (with a sense that it would be inevitable that he would be traded at some point if not now). Must be some underlying reasons for this situation, but I continue to believe that this is a big mistake. Hard to find quality centers with some leadership ability and he is not old. Are we really ready to say that this is Jack's team? Does he have the maturity and leadership abilities at this point of his career?