HumanSlinky39

It would appear nobody wanted Jokiharju. Not surprising. He's a JAG. Must be nice to be fans of a team that are actually competitive and make bold moves during the deadline. Florida, Tampa, Edmonton, Dallas, Colorado all made moves to improve their team.

Yes. Hedman didn't really break out until his fifth season in the NHL, Power is in year three. I'm more inclined than many here to be patient with Power. He's been absolutely brutal at times but his raw attributes are vast and defensemen traditionally take longer to develop. I've never been on the "trade Power" train because despite his frequent struggles, I do think he will be very good in the next couple of seasons. He's a long term chip IMO.

My remedy is simple but not easy. Fire the GM and hockey ops staff, hire an experienced POHO to come in, reshape the front office (including hiring an experienced/competent GM) and let him make a decision on the coaching staff and roster. There's no easy fixes as far as the roster goes. Lot of weaknesses. But we have assets to make the moves to improve those. A new regime would have to make the decisions on who you keep and build around and who you move. I think we have the bare bones of a team that can eventually be quite good (TNT/Dahlin/Tuch/Kulich/Peterka), but they need to find pieces to surround them with.

Pettersson is a JAG being paid like a superstar... It isn't as simple as "if it doesn't work, fine." If it doesn't work, you have an albatross contract with a NTC on the books for another 6 years.

This is a pretty inconsequential trade, but wtf is Yzerman doing? Mrazek stinks.

If that move improved his roster we would.

My point being, serious hockey organizations...that know how to win...identify soft spots and move aggressively to fill them. The Sabres roster is largely one big soft spot because they are not serious about hockey. They implemented a rebuilding strategy centered around adding "skilled" forwards and puck moving defensemen with no consideration given to how the sum of the parts equal a good hockey team.

I think on a team with cup aspirations, Mitts is a 3C who can occasionally move up a line. Krejci might be a reasonable analog. He isn't in Bergeron's league.

And the moment he signed his lucrative extension, his productivity evaporated. *Poof*, gone. We don't need another headcase on this team.

Because they're a serious hockey organization with a competent front office. Unlike the Sabres.

Ugh. Really? I like Mitts...can't like anybody in Boston, though.

So, Carolina ultimately moved Marty Necas for an undersized 3C and what will likely be 2 late firsts? And they're in "win now" mode? Ouch.

It's not translating because he's still somewhat raw offensively, but even what skill he has isn't producing because right now his biggest offensive asset is getting the puck to the front of the net and he's most frequently skating with guys like Krebs, Quinn, and Cozens...none of whom are good finishers right now. Maybe the addition of Norris, a better scorer than any of those guys, will help him?

That's a straw man. There are countless other examples that went the other way. He is NOT the kind of player a franchise trying to claw it's way out of the basement trades for. And none of those players saw their production tank the way Pettersson's has. He's a bad hockey player right now. Do you honestly think he'd perk up after being traded to arguably the worst franchise in the sport?

Correct. And I'm not saying the trade was bad or shouldn't have been made. Just expressing my concern about the return. Could we have done better? I honestly don't know, but I suspect not much better. They're trading Cozens at a pretty low point, so probably not.

I don't hate it. If you remove Norris's injury history, I think it's a very solid trade. But you cannot remove somebody's injury history and his is concerning. If he stays reasonably healthy, it's probably a pretty good trade. If he's hurt a lot, not so much. He's already had 3 surgeries on his left shoulder and he's 25. That's...not good.

Trading for Pettersson...anything for Pettersson...would be a disaster. He's a headcase who got paid superstar money for what amounts to about an 18 month stretch of superstar-level play then saw his productivity completely evaporate after he got paid. He disappeared in the playoffs last season and was a total no-show for the 4 Nations. He openly feuded with JT Miller and has a history of pouting and sulking. How, pray tell, does adding a player with THAT resume help a terrible team?

And he's totally wasting away there. He should have been given time to develop his skills in the AHL, but instead has spent 2 years as an undersized fourth line grinder on a bad team. Brilliant!

We're giving up a 2nd? The ferk?

If Norris can stay healthy, it's a fine trade. The baked in injury history is my concern. He's never played more than 66 games in a season. Missed almost all of 2022/23. Missed 32 games last season. Has missed 8 games this season with "upper body injury." He's had 3 surgeries on his left shoulder (YIKES).

Good move and pretty much a no-brainer.

I doubt it. I honestly don't think Norris moves the needle much either way.

At face value, this is simply a trade of a couple of very similar players that probably needed a change of scenery. I don't think it moves the needle in either direction for either team. My concern is Norris's injury history. And this is the Sabres, so more likely than not Cozens goes to Ottawa and rediscovers his 2022/23 form while Norris appears in about 35% of the Sabres games because of injuries. The defenseman is a JAG. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I don't think so.

Yeah, he's been pretty big about rooting for the Sabres to do well after years and years of wandering in the wilderness. He does a nice job of expressing our frustrations.

Rasmus Ristolainen Alexander Nylander Casey Mittelstadt Dylan Cozens Jack Quinn Matthew Savoie All picked in the 7-9 range. Pretty much all were/have been disappointments. Mitts is clearly the best of the bunch and appeared to be carving out a decent role for himself here as a 2C before being dealt to the Avs where his career has kind of taken a step back...though that might be a function of the depth ahead of him in Colorado. He was of course traded for a completely redundant piece in Bo Byram (a 4th overall pick) who, despite the occasional flash of ability, has been very "meh." Risto is at best a middle-pairing defenseman at his absolute best, bottom pair on a good team. Nylander was an unmitigated NHL flop. Mitts looks like a decent middle-6 forward who netted a defenseman whose style of play we didn't need. Cozens has regressed horribly after a very strong 3rd season and would benefit from a change of scenery. Jury's out on him, but early indications aren't great. Quinn flashed promise early but has been almost entirely invisible this season. Have to wonder if injuries took their toll on him. Jury still kind of out, but doesn't look good. Savoie was traded for McCleod, a serviceable bottom-6 centerman on a good team. Jury is out on Savoie, but Edmonton likes him. What's all of this say? The Sabres need to stay away from drafting in the 7-9 range.