PerreaultForever

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.

In the pre cap era there were always a few teams that spent way more than others. Only one team won the cup just like now and it was rarely the biggest spending team. So in many ways it's still the same as it was. You want true equity you 1) base the cap on after tax salary 2) you can allow players to come off LTIR and be on the expanded roster but the on ice team has to remain cap compliant. So if a team like Vegas wanted a Pieterangelo off LTIR they'd have to sit somebody else or dress less players. Their choice. It's a simple fix. league don't care though. They like favored markets and big markets winning.

I really badly want Norris traded because I simply do not believe in his health and his ability to stay healthy. Demko has said he wants to stay in Vancouver. I don't know if that matters or not, but if so I don't imagine he'd want to be in Buffalo long term. His injury status also concerns me. I am not however, trading UPL until after we have established another goalie here. I want Levi to have to force a player out and the goalie issue being too many goalies and not a thin crop reliant on Levi stepping up to succeed. Get a better D and the goalies will look better too.

Once again proving that analytics have less value than many people believe.

Rick Dudley, Senior advisor to the GM. Just saying. The only thing that has kept us from being them is Pegula.

Florida doing what Florida does and they do it best. Edmonton losing their cool. Up to their leadership to get them back on track and to play disciplined next one or it could be over. Florida is such a well coached and disciplined team of rats. I wish we played like them.

Really? It was a hypothetical so, if you do x your D is thin. FFS. Ya sure, I've been pretending to be a Sabres fan since the 1970s. That's the real narrative. You cracked the case Sherlock. F I

Sure, I'm not big on his salary and that's why I said if you could move Samuelsson then sure. With that subtraction the addition has less cap impact and the team is a little better. Problem I see is if they move out Byram then what? You really have no partner for Power or Dahlin. What you gonna do play them together for 40 minutes every night? Your D is very thin and Power isn't even fully cooked yet.

over valuing assets is a thing with fans in general and definitely with Sabres fans. Don't you find it funny that everybody is always throwing him into deals? Did you see anything in his call up time that makes you think he's an NHL player? I did not.

Didn't say Chara was "clean" just that he wasn't a dirty player or rat like Marchand or Bennett. Stevens laid head shots on people that's the thing with him. If you had your head down and went to the middle on him you were dead. Pronger was a cross checker and ankle chopper.

Bennett is a mean sob and dirty but to me Tkachuk is the bigger rat. He's the crosscheck, spear, stick you in the ribs and then play innocent guy. I think currently he is the league's biggest actual rat.

Miller might be a bottom pairing guy on a good team but (assuming Byram is moved) he'd be 3rd best D man on the Sabres. Nobody wants Samuelsson unless we eat contract (which we won't) and Rosen has little to no value. You can make a Jokiharju for Nylander type deal with Rosen but otherwise he's a throw in. KA waited too long on moving him for real value. You want value for prospects they have to more unknown upside like Savoie had. So sure, I'd trade Samuelsson and Rosen for him but that's not going to happen and I'd trade Rosen and Samuelsson for a bag of pucks anyway.

What are you talking about? I have already said McLeod was a good deal but we needed to make more of those. Zucker was fine but didn't really move the needle. He was a mid level aging forward with an injury history that devalued his worth to many teams and so he came here when we overpaid him. Okay, that's fine, but it wasn't anything miraculous. It was a usual underwhelming free agency. You've got used to a very low bar my friend. Adams is in his 6th year and he still hasn't filled the glaring holes on the roster. You know the second he realized he might be drafting Power he should have been searching high and low for a veteran D partner for him. Should have made that happen regardless of cost. But no, we're just going to have "development years" and let these guys flounder and develop bad habits. Sure, why not. Fly little birds fly, be free! Ridiculous franchise. Ridiculous GM.

It's only "sometimes" because mostly we just aren't in any conversation. We are irrelevant to them.