Curt

Oh, I suppose it’s possible. I don’t buy it though. I feel like they had a good idea of what it would take to sign ROR before making the trade.

Yeah, sure. That’s possible. I just don’t think it’s fair to describe Bogo as some big whiny pouter. I think he is a guy who has been through a lot to try to continue to be an NHL player and just wants a chance to play somewhere.

Ryan O’Reilly and Jamie McGinn for Grigorenko, Zadorov, Compher, and the 31st pick in the draft. Reasonable

That shows it’s not all about the money for him. If it was, he would just go to the AHL, as you say. He wants to try to catch on with a team and show he can play in the NHL.

I’m going to go with what GA said. Bogo was probably hoping that someone would pick him up from waivers. It was unlikely, but for amount of money Bogo stood to keep, it was worth a shot and there was no reason for Buffalo to not oblige him.

People generally say nice things about him. Hasn’t he been described as Eichel’s best friend on the team? Yes, I think he is a victim of his contract. If he was making $1M per year all these years, no one would care to speak ill of him.

This seems likely. Even if they thought it was unlikely, this was probably the hope.

Well, these are real people who work together, so I would assume that before waiving him, they have a conversation. Tell him that they are planning to waive him and then send him to Rochester. If he had no intention of reporting to Rochester, which would lead to a suspension, you would think he would just tell them. Instead of going through the hoopla, they could just terminate the contract.

I wonder why, if this was going to be the outcome, Bogosian and Buffalo didn’t just agree to a mutual contract termination? Perhaps it’s an easier or faster process in a case where the player is suspended?

Slightly harsh. He is by all accounts a good guy. He just got injured a lot.

Cozens can’t play in Rochester next season. Too young. Unless the rules change.

3rd round pick? 2nd round pick? I know we sometimes think about 3rd/4th round picks a throwaways, but they do have some value. As trade currency just as much as actual draft selections. Next year when the team is actually fighting for a playoff spot, a 3rd/4th could be useful to add a depth piece around the deadline. Like Montreal just did with Scandella.

You put together the best team possible in the summer. In February, when you are out of the playoffs and you have UFA’s who aren’t coming back, acquiring assets for them is the best thing you can do for your team.

For as much as you can get. If you don’t plan on resigning them, why not?

Then it’s a good time to move them.

I disagree. You can’t count on them until they have actually shown it. Is it such a stretch to think that Cozens comes in next season and doesn’t look ready? I think that’s a 50/50 shot. Do we really want to be counting on him to be a 3rd liner? As Randall says, just build a team you are confident in without them. Then if they show that they are better than someone else, play them. Don’t be dependent upon them.

Shorter players often look more explosive. It’s hard to look as explosive with long 6’3” legs taking big strides. For example, Eichel generally does not look explosive, he looks smooth, but we know for a fact that he is extremely fast.

I like hockey, but I don’t spend much money on it. I can still be a fan.

I’ve never been to a game in Buffalo and haven’t even bought any Sabres merchandise in years.

FTFY

Fair enough. Trump certainly does have a strong personality that obviously resonates strongly with some people, but also repells others. I think you are right about that. I would be surprised if Trump has ever walked into a room without saying anything though. Lol I don’t really see Buttigieg as having a significantly stronger presence than Sanders. Biden, I honestly think, is just suffering the effects of being old. He is 77. Most people start to slow down by that age. I don’t think he has a diagnosable neurological issue.

I disagree. Buffalo still has an excess of D, which could be used in a trade to acquire an impactful forward. Particularly on the right side. Moving on from Scandella and Bogo did not change that, and they were never going to be the pieces that were used to acquire the forward Buffalo needs. It seems like you are saying, now that Bogo and Scandella are gone, Buffalo can’t use a D to acquire a F. I strongly disagree with that. If you want to criticize Botterill for not acquiring a good forward, I am totally on board with that and share in the feeling. However, it has nothing to do with Scandella and Bogo.

I think you might be using hindsight too much to your advantage. I’m not saying that Botterill has handled everything perfectly, but when he traded for Montour, he didn’t know he would get the chance to acquire Miller and Joki. When he traded for Miller, he didn’t know that he was later going to be able to trade Nylander for Joki. When he acquire Joki, he didn’t know that he would play so well. We don’t know that Scandella at the deadline gets more than a 4th. I can’t imagine it would be much more. Imagine how much we could skewer him if he sat on his hands until the deadline, then couldn’t move Scandella. Bogo was coming back from a big surgery. They didn’t know that he was a lost cause before he started playing. If he had shown he could still play a little, maybe Botterill could have gotten something for him. But you have to play him and let him show what he has. He only played 19 games. Should he have only played 10? Maybe, but it’s easier to say with hindsight. It seems like you are mostly saying that Botterill did everything either too soon, or not soon enough and using what we know in hindsight to justify it.

You think that trading Risto or Montour would create a hole in the top-4. Ok, that’s a defensible opinion and a debate that could be had. However, Scandella and Bogo (that’s what this is about, right?) have absolutely nothing to do with that. Neither of them is an answer to a hole in the top-4 and neither of them was going to return a good C in a trade, as a substitute for trading Risto/Montour. So, I think that’s why GA and I are sort of confused about what you are trying to get at.

What would you have done if you (1) couldn’t get more than a 4th for Scandella and (2) couldn’t find anyone interested in trading for a Bogo?