MakeSabresGrr8Again

It certainly is a "crazy concept".....being a winning team.

Sounds like you need a vacation, I hear the Amalfi Coast is wonderful this time of year.

Thanks for the info, was hoping for better. Maybe they played him on PK hoping to improve his D awareness without any real success. Doesn't look good.

I.m not an Advanced Stats guy , so take it easy on me......this is just a serious question, and here goes... When we signed Vesey, I thought I read somewhere that he was spending time last season on the PK. If true, how well did he survive in that role (I.m assuming not well?). Do your stats reflect anything other than even strength? How would PK time effect results(if he actually had PK role). If he did play on PK, could that be the reason for the part I Bolded about "signs of growth"? Just curious.

That can be alleviated....some of our LHD can play the right side, such as McCabe. And wasn't it said at one point that Dahlin might prefer the right side(just asking, not sure)? Of course, this would possibly weaken the left side, but it is an option in any scenario.

<he said in his best Scooby-Doo voice>

I posted the whole thing in case some wanted to read it.....but, thanks.?

This is an article on NHL.com on the "Team Re-set". Scroll to the end and see the terrible line-up they have us putting on the ice. https://www.nhl.com/news/team-reset-buffalo-sabres/c-308201314?tid=281151520

Nobody said this. Aho , I believe, was offered $7.5M/yr and MON offered $8.5M. But, what was Aho really worth? I don't know of anyone that wasn't expecting him to sign closer to $10M/yr.

Lets just hope that it never becomes "Wreck it Ralph"

No 1st rd'ers except a Dman...Justin Barron.

I never said it happens, what i said was "i wouldn't be surprised" if it did. Seems like the agents are working both sides so why shouldn't the GM's work together to keep salaries down. Not any written agreement or anything, but just similar to the "offer sheets are tabu" type thing.

I agree....not a real good argument for 2C.

Just a thought on the bolded..... The reason could be fit for a decent player. Girgensons is a C but has played mostly wing and fit a role and NHL caliber roster spot. NJ has Hischier, Zajak, Zacha. CAPS had Backstrom, Kuzetsnov, Burakovsky. Bruins have Krecji, Bergeron. Playing wing on these teams was more "fit" and talent level while helping the fill out the roster with good players. He may also be looking forward to playing center with us as it might be where he wants to play position wise.

They didn't want Aho at the same exact contract and were known to have offered $7.5M. They may have been standing hard on that line with negotiations at a stand still. They still may have been willing to pay more to not lose a great player(how much more?). It's been said they were surprised how low the offer sheet was and would match it. And here's a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" reason for MON to make the offer low...article from SBNation How is any of this relevant to Sebastian Aho? Well, as it turns out Aho, Lehkonen, and Armia all have the same Finnish player agent: Mika Rautakallio. Aho also has Gerry Johannson as his North American agent, who happens to be the agent for Carey Price, Brendan Gallagher, and Brett Kulak. Although Johannson was the public face of the Aho offer-sheet negotiations, it’s certain that Rautakallio was in the mix as well. We are dealing with some established relationships with very particular dynamics. If we step back in time to look at Aho’s free agency, it’s known that the Carolina Hurricanes were low-balling Aho with their initial contract offers, and negotiations could have proven long and drawn out. What the Canadiens offer sheet managed to do is get Rautakallio’s client paid a good salary, with a big upfront bonus ahead of a potential lockout. But it also wasn’t so absurd as to price out Carolina (though the contract match is not yet official). Bergevin essentially helped close out negotiations quickly. Is this to say there was a clandestine deal between the parties? Probably not, but discussions were had and things moved forward. Now Bergevin can get Rautakallio to focus on Armia and Lehkonen. If they can be signed to reasonable deals, perhaps with a similar approach to signing bonuses, they are very good bottom-six players. Bergevin wants to get a favourable deal for each one, and doing the agent a favour probably helps smooth over negotiations and present an “I scratch your back, you scratch mine” situation where they can avoid the unnecessary unpleasantness of a looming arbitration. We will know in a few days whether this tactic worked when the arbitration filing deadline comes and goes, and whether Armia and Lehkonen are on that list or not.

https://fansided.com/2019/07/01/montreal-canadiens-offer-sheet-sebastian-aho/ This is not the article I was looking for but as far as collusion(?)...read the part where it says.... "general managers have tacitly agreed not to use offer sheets as weapons."

They upped the actual price to CAR for Aho but at a very reasonable rate. If MON wanted Aho bad enough they would have offered much more and some people still would've considered it a steal for the Habs.

The way I read the situation was that agent had players on both teams (which alot do) and he played the two in the offer sheet. I don't know that it was plain black and white, but one could make the assumption. If I get time I'll look for the article I saw that made me assume that. But we all know that there are behind the scene things go on that probably can't be proven as collusion. Just the idea of not pi**ing off another GM with an offer sheet in itself is an example.

Well aren't the agents doing the same in some regards?

I know what happened in that situation.....but let's say CAR GM calls MON GM and says Aho is asking way too much, can you offer sheet him $1.5M less and get him to sign?

I wouldn't be surprised if the GM's used it to keep salaries down a bit. Montreal's offer for Aho is an example .....one GM helps the other out by setting a "low-ball" offer sheet for the other to match. The only problem here is getting the right offer to convince the player/agent to sign the offer. I don't think anyone expected an offer to Aho to be that low.

You left out Jumbo Joe....not saying he would come here, ya' know with the "because it's Buffalo" and all that.

https://nathansfamous.com/the-stand/hdec-fun-facts/ Wonder if he attended...LOL

They could always do like Sharks and trade Hoffman off in another deal the same day.