GASabresIUFAN

but come on, what else would you write for a guy named Bloom? Matured? Hatched? Also you still haven't answered if you have a sister named Stacey.

I've watched Stillman play and he is Fitz. The advanced stats and the eye test match. To me using an asset, any asset, to acquire him is a waste. I don't care about whether or not Bloom makes it, but considering he lost a year of development to COVID, then fought through injuries and has blossomed since being traded, made we want to see him develop further. From a general sense, I don't mind moving on from a few forward prospects to help the defense, but I actually wanted someone to help the defense get better now or in the future. Stillman does neither of those things. If you have never seen him play, you'll understand as soon as you do. @dudacek who has watched him often with the Nucks out in Van feels the same way about Stillman the player. As I've said previously, hopefully, this is a precursor to an actual upgrade. Here is a really nice write-up on Bloom. https://thehockeynews.com/news/the-sabres-have-a-hidden-gem-in-josh-bloom Bloom is an excellent skater, a developing scorer, and the Sabres must have believed in him because they signed him last year even though they didn't need to.

Just wait until you'll see him play.

I'm not advocating for that either. There is an in between wasting assets on a big $ rental and picking up Vancouver's garbage. For example, it's getting Niederreiter for a 2024 2nd. It's getting Jordan Greenway for a medium draft pick because we can take on his cap hit for the next two years. Admittedly, it's entirely possible that KA has other moves up his sleeve that will be better, but this is an awful beginning.

They came from a core clean out trade. I'm talking about all the Comrie, Lyubushkin, Hayden, Pysyk, Butcher, Dell type moves. This is just another one of those, aka roster filler. This is a garbage deal and you know it. Come one KA move the damn needle and help this fargin team.

Nope. I am correct. Capfriendly has the red circle next to Bloom, Nadeau, Savoie and Östlund. None counted toward our 50 contracts. Thanks for playing.

Another great thing about this deal is that he’ll only cost 200k in dead cap when he’s waived next year.

Honestly I’m also sick of KA shopping at bargain mart. Wouldn’t it be nice to acquire someone who is actually good at hockey and we don’t have to speculate that with a little luck he might help us.

As usual 😉

The bottom line is that KA could have acquired a Stillman type player on the waiver wire without wasting an asset. It’s likely neither player moves the needle in the NHL for anyone. However we know Stillman isn’t good, but Bloom might be.

This had the same effect as a waiver claim. Bloom was in the minors. His contract didn’t count against our 50.

So trade Bloom for a D prospect, (I’ve advocated for months to trade prospect forwards to prospect D to fix the pipeline. Getting a 24 year old AAAA Fitz 2.0 is a waste. Do you have a sister named Stacey.

My thoughts exactly. Might as well have made a waiver claim and kept the prospect.

We thought the same thing about Hagel. Until we see them in the AHL, we really don’t know what we have. Most turn out to be JAGs, but some become Hagel and Olofsson.

That’s a great theory, but who is going to move the puck out if Stillman and Bush are paired together. Both are terrible at in zone positioning.

To call our goalies average is just a little bit of a stretch.

It’s the principal of the deal. KA said he wasn’t wasting assets unless it made us better. This move doesn’t accomplish that goal unless Bryson is being moved in another deal and Stillman is here to replace the depth.

Sorry, I wouldn’t have traded Bloom or Nadeau for another Bryson. Getting another Bryson doesn’t really make us better. It just gives us another warm body and we could have acquired that through a waiver claim.

Clague has already pushed Bryson out, thus Stillman has to be better than Clague and I don’t think he is. As I’ve stated, I’m perfectly ok with moving out a forward or 2 for D help, but this doesn’t move the needle at all.

We’ll see won’t we, but I’m not optimistic.

The same things can basically be written about Bryson. He has 157 NHL games under his belt. He’s a 4th rd pick who is 26th in games played from his draft class and 3rd in games played by the 4th rd picks in 2017. Only one 3rd rd pick (Morgan Geekie) has played more games than he has and he has more experience than 25 of the 2nd rd picks. Sadly, Bryson has been demoted to the 7th slot and Stillman is basically more of the same.

The sad part is: 1) I wanted (demanded) D help 2) I was willing to trade some forward depth to get the help 3) I wanted the help here before the tough March schedule. 4) KA said he wanted players who weren’t just rentals In theory this move checks those boxes, except the “help” part. He just isn’t good. He isn’t an upgrade over anyone currently on the roster. I hope DG can work his magic and get something from this guy, but that doesn’t seem likely.

He is basically on the same level as Kozak, Nadeau, and others. I’m perfectly ok with trading a forward or 2, but he promised we’d get value in return.

Based on what? KA said he wasn’t going to make a move unless the price is right. How does this deal make sense under this stated goal? I guess UPL goes down in a paper transaction until Friday to make room for this all-star.

Bear? Bear has clearly outplayed Stillman.