Derrico

He had some issues in the d zone but overall I thought he was pretty decent. I seem to be in the minority on thinking that. He didnt get an assist but he made a great pass to start what led to the mitts goal. Thought he had some nice breakout passes as well. Looks to be very good skater which is how the NHL has trended. I was fine with his first game.

Agreed. If they're trailing in the third push him into the top four.

Ya I think he was there in time to easily play. Facing the leafs, I selfishly wanted to see him in there. Can't blame botts though. Have him watch a game from up top and try to give him the best opportunity to succeed may have been the right play. Then again, we need every point in the standings as we can and maybe the Sabres get out of last night with atleast one if he's in there instead of one of the bottom pairing guys.

Looking forward to seeing the new guy!

Agreed but I'm still not going to get too worked up over losing a third round pick. In fact, give me another upside guy similar to Beulieu and I also make that trade again all day. Didn't work out in this instance but I'm still not upset by taking a low risk chance. This Montour deal is a whole other thing. You're right in they need to start hitting on some trades. They gave up way more than the Beulieu trade and this will really set the Sabres back if botts is wrong. If he's right then we have may have a legit top 4 and really top 6. Probably the best on paper we've had in forever. Need the on paper to translate to wins and losses though.

Yep. Fair point. I like this calculated move though. This team is crapping away core years of eichel, Reinhart et al. A shake up had to come and I can't think of taking a better shot than a 24 year old top 4 rhd.

Wow. I'm usually right in sink with most of your points but completely disagree on Montour being close to Beaulieu level. Beaulieu was being benched by Montreal in the playoffs prior to acquisition. The third round price tag reflects that. Montour with a bit of a down year but seems to have enormous upside based on everything I've read. Admittedly I haven't seen him play much. Again, a vastly greater acquisition cost was needed. If he's close to Beaulieu level then jbotts should be gone.

If Guhle doesn't make it or is a 6/7 type then I think whoever the Ducks draft will be hoping in 4 years they will be as impactful and have the upside of Montour. Many things can make this trade go south but we've now added two top 4 dmen in the span of 8 months. On paper, d looks much improved the rest of this year and more importantly puck drop 2019/2020.

Not to mention they don’t even own their first round pick. Crazy.

Who?

Again, being in 'leaf country' aka 'the Great Satan' there was a lot of discussion around the leafs looking to find a way to trade for Montour.

This is also reasonable. From all accounts it does seem Montour took a bit of a step back this year. Maybe this puts doubt in their mind he can turn into the player many think he can be. I remember several Sabres analysts, radio hosts etc. wanting Montour for 2-3 years now. I am forced to listening to leaf media up here and they've been proposing trades for this guy for years. I'm talking some who were serious about wanting to move a guy like Nylander for. These are fans and at best arm chair analysts. It just seems like he's pretty highly regarded around the league. Maybe the Ducks know something most don't? No arguing. I'm just very surprised the Ducks traded a 24 year old Dman if they will be rebuilding. That's all.

For sure. But they know the best case for the 1st is 21st overall. So it's a nice piece but we all know the odds of a 21+ overall pick turning out. As I said, I guess they really value Guhle (which he could turn out but is a question).

So they trade their 24 year old promising Right Hand D? I know some of those old guys are close to untradeable right now but I wouldn't be thrilled as a Ducks fan.

But he's 24. Still young, has term left and RFA thereafter. It's similar to if we traded Risto during one of our tanking season. Still doesn't make a ton of sense for them unless they are worried about how much they will pay Montour after next season or are in love with Guhle.

Yep this. I know we need forwards but we finally have a good looking D on paper. I think this move helps Risto as he was the only legit top 4 Right Hand D on the roster. Now we can play Risto 21 minutes per game vs the 24 he has historically got.

Time will tell. Really like your point about committing to Housley hockey. This seems like the type of d Phil wants.

Oh ya, very much agreed. No idea how it plays out. Just interesting reading other fans reactions around the league. Nice to read many others thinking jbot did well. Time will tell. Yep. Toss Pilut with Bogo on the bottom pair and that might be the best d we’ve had in years (on paper).

Our version of 05-08 Brian Campbell?

It’s HF I know but on the main boards it’s looking like near unanimous win for Buffalo in terms of fan reaction.

Sounds like his zone entries and exits are very good. Like fith in the NHL good for zone entries from d. We have jack who is amazing at entries and Dahlin is decent. Nice to add someone else. Would start him immediately on PP 2.

That’s fair. But this is a guy leaf fans were drooling over so seeing them pissed off is a nice bonus to all of this ?

He’s 24 so the age is perfect for this team. Love that he’s a righty as we are weak on that side. Good, rfa contract is nice too. His numbers at every level below nhl were always terrific. Points haven’t translate to the nhl yet but decent numbers nonetheless.

More or less likely Risto is moved after Montour trade?

Guhle experiment over eh? That’s disappointing.