PerreaultForever

I don't disagree but I'd differentiate in one way. It's fair to say Byram is the better player of Byram and Mitts, especially the way Mitts has trailed off over last season. But Byram wasn't the guy we needed and if we now trade Byram I don't see how it matters unless we get some great return. Then I guess it's a "win". The main point for me though is I don't care about winning any of the trades. As long as the roster gets better. As long as he fills the actual holes, then I'm not overly concerned with the price he pays to do that. All that matters to me is the season starting roster and having a roster that could make the playoffs. It's going to take a number of moves to make that a realistic possibility.

JBot don't like him 🙂

Well good for you. Enjoy missing the playoffs forever. 3 years for proper development. But otherwise yes.

This is the crux of it. Big grandiose schemes and plans or just simply trying to win now. As an example the rumor now is Bennett will stay in Florida for an 8x8 deal. You can hear the negative deep analysts already proclaiming "that contract won't age well", "they will regret that at the end" "too much too long term for an aging player" blah blah blah but Florida don't give a F. They will do what they have to do to keep the team cup competitive for the next 3-4 years and if after that they have some trail off and bloated contracts SFW? They'll have cups, and playoff revenue and they can worry about a tear down and rebuild after those 4 years. It's an attitude for competitiveness and you either have it or you don't, and the Sabres don't.

Stop talking about E-Rod. Get over it . 🙂

You know (and don't take this personal, it's just a general feeling I have), the bottom line is I don't really give a flying F if KA won a trade or got more for one guy than another one and we can argue those things but really who cares? He didn't and can't seem to construct a winning roster despite having multiple years on the job, multiple picks and multiple opportunities. Who cares if one guy wins an award or one guy is better than a previous guy, Adams is in year 6 now and the team is still garbage. That's all that matters to me.

No they haven't. He's spent most of it injured. I won't say that until I see what he gets for Byram.

I'm not sure what we are disagreeing on. Since Byram was only here for a year if we do trade him we have to look at what we get there and ultimately that's what we got for Mitts in net terms with Adams in charge. I'm actually kind of interested to see what happens to Mitts in Boston. Nothing to do with liking the Bruins just speaking objectively on this point. Colorado thought he could be a 2C and he just never fit and they bailed on him for the presumably more playoff ready Coyle. Now they hate Coyle though so maybe it's something in Colorado? Mitts did not look good end of the Bruins season but that team was a mess in disarray in full on tank mode. How he functions on what appears will be a highly structured shut down defensive team next season is a mystery. I don't think it will go well for him but you never know. I personally think Byram is overrated and most of all I think Byram is overrated in Byram's head. Maybe he can thrive somewhere as a top offensive D man but I have my doubts about that too. We shall what Adams gets for him. If he's traded.

I agree with you and that's a further point on the problem with not firing Adams and turning it over to a new (experienced) NHL GM. With Adams kept people around the league scratch their heads and think how does he keep his job, and players in free agency aren't going to think Buffalo's got it right now I'm interested. They're going to think same old loser franchise no thank you. A new guy could at least announce "the losing stops now and we will fully commit to winning now" etc. and even if it's bs it at least might set the tone and some people might buy in.

Okay look, the prospect cupboard is full. There's almost too many of them. Trading some of them to start winning now and creating a winning culture where players will want to be here again is NOT going to sacrifice your future. The future never comes if you stay this course. Trust the old fans. We've seen these things before.

Why would you think they could get a top 4 defensive D man AND a first for Byram? Good top 4 defensive D men are highly sought after and not way below Byram's offensive D man value. Not good ones. I'm sticking with it. If you truly want to improve the D your trade chip is Norris.

I think I've read on here that he "won" the Eichel trade, and the Reinhart trade, and the Risto trade (actually he probably did win that one), and the Mitts trade and the Cozens trade and he just wins all the trades doesn't he and yet somehow the team doesn't get any better. I think he lost them all (except maybe Risto) (McLeod if Savoie never makes it)

Stop thinking that way. Sabres have been doing that for 15 years now. That future never gets here because it's always paid for by the present. Yes I agree with that, but I also don't think the current line up is anywhere close to being a playoff team. Without additions it'll be another year of futility and if Tuch leaves or Dahlin wants out it'll go backwards not forwards.

I don't see anybody in Rochester ready to take a spot next season (not counting Kulich who already likely earned one this year). Maybe Kozak if we don't upgrade the bottom at all and they will likely elevate Levi but I don't think he's ready either. Helenius is 3 years away likely. You could argue 2-4 depending. But not soon. 2-3 years from now.

That's not happening. Philly would be interested in moving pick(s) for Byram because they think it's time to start winning (I think they might be premature on this myself and can easily screw it up rushing) but you aren't getting significant roster player(s) for him.

That is true in hindsight, but at the time Mitts was not seen that way.

Why was trading him for Mitts smart? This put everything on Cozens and Cozens didn't deliver. That's a mistake. I'm not a Mitts fan and I was actually laughing today listening to a Marco Sturm interview where he said, about Mitts, "I am going to talk to him and we will see. He has to be better". Byram was not the guy we needed and Mitts removal created a hole. Now it's Norris. It's not improvement, it's just rearranging and staying the same.

Probably but if the rumor of a lower first is a thing Philly has those assets and their D isn't deep. Byram could be their #1 PP guy and take the pressure off Drysdale. I could see the interest from them in any event.

Correct. I suspect Philly has made this offer. Adams is likely just waiting to see who is available in the draft or if someone else will offer more. San Jose likely wants him as well. It would be another example of Adams failure. Mitts out, a one year D man rental in and then ultimately a low first is all we have to show for it. How would you have felt last year if Mitts was traded for a low first? This was all stupid from the start.

Perfect. We just increased his value for a now player.

The favored markets are for their tv revenues and future expansion. This is why they tried to prop up Phoenix so long. They definitely wanted exposure there. They will roll out the red carpet for Atlanta. This is also why they will not address the tax issue. They want more hockey in the south and Florida and Texas etc help feed that. They know hockey will not die in Canada so they don't care about any Canadian franchise. I also think teams like Buffalo are just taken for granted and they aren't really concerned about them. Bettman has been all about expansion and growth since day 1 and the owners love it as all their franchise values have skyrocketed and expansion fees are just gravy for them.

I'm saying I would. I'm not Adams. Adams is an idiot.

Would we be "selling high" though? or does he still have even more upside? I'm not sure, but I think he can still be better. Not sure he can do that in this system as a Sabre but I'm not sure he's peaked yet either. I personally want the make up of this roster altered but I also know I'm unlikely to get that.

Well here's the problem. If you trade away every player who says they aren't happy here you end up with a lot of players saying they aren't happy here so they can be traded. It's a precedent. It's the never ending downward spiral and it has already been said that we have become the league's farm team. I don't know if there's a way out of it with constant half measures. I want to add to this roster not subtract from it. If I can upgrade sure, but trade away to trade away no, that's not progress.

Not everybody is going to believe what I believe. I think Ottawa likely felt that way but Adams didn't. Maybe there's others who feel he's worth the gamble. idk.