pi2000

Take the nets down above the glass. Remove the instigator penalty. 80s sized goalie equipment.

Is he really a cap expert tho? Next season the Pens have only 13 skaters under contract, with only $12m in cap space to fill 12 spots on the roster. They have $52m, over 70% of their cap, tied up in only 9 players. $38m, 50% of their cap, is going to 5 players.... Crosy, Maklin. Kessel, Letang, Fluery.

Botterill knows he has the job, so he's already started the evaluation process... doesn't need to wait for a formal announcement.

no

I somewhat agree with this... but he didn't have infinite assets to fix the defense the same way he did the forwards. He spent most of those assets on offense and goaltending.. and they were largely successful transactions IMO. The Kulikov injury really set them back... and who knows if Murray would still have a job if Eichel and Kulikov stayed healthy. I think years down the road when we look back at Murray's tenure we'll come to appreciate the aggressive moves he made and realize he was the right GM for that period in Sabre history. ..but if (when) the Pens win, they're still in the playoffs, so nothing really changes anyway. Unless they just don't want it to be a distraction at the tail end of this series... but still, it's an assitant that's getting a new job, not the actual GM.

Like I said before, he's a roll of the dice, we don't really know what we're getting. IMO he has a better chance of being the next Gragnani or Benoit, than the second coming of Brian Campbell.

Murray was never given a chance to fix the blueline. There was such a lack of skill on the forward ranks when he took over that he needed to use all available assets to fix what was one of the historically worst offenses the league has ever seen. He succeeded at fixing the offense IMO (Reinhart, Eichel, Kane, O'Reilly, Okposo, Nylander, Fasching), top PP unit in the league, etc... His goal this offseason was to fix the defense... but he wasn't given that chance. If given the chance I believe he would've succeeded, but for whatever reason Pegula didn't think he was the right guy, so be it. So to opine about how he failed to fix all the team's problems in 3 years is foolish IMO, because he simply wasn't given enough time to do so.

Good, they need a president.

woolley

Trading picks and prospects are moves made by teams on the verge of contending for a Cup. BUF isn't even a playoff contender at this point. They need to continue to build the right way through the draft and developing their prospects. A couple UFA signings would go a long way toward shoring up the D... making it at least a playoff worthy team without mortgaging the future.. Remember, the goal isn't just to sneak into the playoffs... the goal is to contend for years down the road, and you don't do that by trading away promising young prospects and top 10 draft picks to plug holes just so you can sneak into a playoff spot.

clearly, Botterill is visible..

Antipin hasn't even signed yet, and he's an unknown quantity. Kulikov is as good as gone IMO. Gorges probably gets one more year in the bottom pairing. UFA - Risto McCabe - Bogo Guhle - Gorges Antipin With Borgen, Stephens, draft pick, Fitzgerald, Austin all in the pipeline. UFAs... Stone, Del Zotto, Shattenkirk, Alzner, Smith. I'd even consider older vets like Oduya, Daley, Hainsey, Shultz, Quincey, etc... There will be UFA options, no need to panic and start making trades.

Trading Kane or Reinhart or the 8th overall for immediate help on defense would be a panic move and a mistake that would set this franchise back years. This team is not that far off that they need to trade a top forward or top 10 overall pick to make the playoffs next season. I hope Botterill is smart enough to realize that.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N337RE/history/20170504/1813Z/KPIT/KBUF

LOL! That's clearly a fake! Here's the original....

He's had injury issues the past 2 seasons, why give him guaranteed money for 2018 right now when you don't have to? What if he re-injures his foot, or doesn't fully heal? The team knows more about his foot situation than you or I do.

Only 1 point for Eichel and non for O'Reilly?!?!?! I thought Bylsma was holding them back?

What an abosolutey giant load of bullcrap.

that paper clip, haha, what a pain in the ass that thing was

What if Buffalo beat the Coyotes in OT and ended up with Dylan Strome instead of Jack Eichel?

There you go blaming everyone but the player himself. Bogo has been a tire fire in his own end his entire career. Kulikov was injured all season, he played better in the last couple weeks when he was finally getting healthy.

So the Sabres are basically on welfare.

https://bracketchallenge.nhl.com/brackets/354838

You had me at "heathen religious views".... YOUR HIRED, congratulations. Your mission is to build a team entirely of + players... if you have no minus players... you can't lose, flawless strategy. Oh, and you have 30 days to trade Eichel and sign Matt Moulson to an extension. Good Luck!

Agreed. Tanking too often gets confused with rebuilding. To rebuild you first need to tear down the team and start building from scratch. It's a legitimate strategy in pro sports, shed bad contracts, put yourself in position to build around a new core of talent. Tanking is not rebuilding... tanking involves intentionally throwing games... benching your best players on purpose so you lose. Did BUF bench their best players in 14-15? I don't think so. They put out the best roster they could... as did COL this year. Sometimes you just suck, doesn't mean you're intentionally throwing games. Does fielding a team devoid of any real talent increase your chances of losing? Of course. But at no point did BUF (or COL) tell their players to go out there and lose on purpose. Why the NHL feels the need to punish those teams, I don't know.