Darn gun dammit...

[Standing Room Smoking Cigs]

If Adams still has his dangling pair he should woo Ekblad 

[Mr. Allen]

Go back to bed. 

[Demoted]

Are these called hangover thoughts?

[Pimlach]

Yeah.  Bring in Ekblad and McKinnon and Oettinger.  That will help a lot.  

[steveoath]

Ekblad is UFA as is Bennett. We need players like this. 

[bob_sauve28]

17 minutes ago, steveoath said:

Ekblad is UFA as is Bennett. We need players like this. 

I'm sure his agent already has a potential contract written up that specifically states Buffalo is a team he will not be traded to. 

I'd love it, but doubt he comes here. 

[Cityo'Rasmii]

No palm trees

Oopsies

[The Jokeman]

3 hours ago, steveoath said:

Ekblad is UFA as is Bennett. We need players like this. 

We could have drafted Bennett but took Reinhart instead...

[Night Train]

3 hours ago, steveoath said:

Ekblad is UFA as is Bennett. We need players like this. 

I just planted 12 palm trees outside the arena. 

[DarthEbriate]

13 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

We could have drafted Bennett but took Reinhart instead...

A better way to look at it is that Calgary traded Sam Bennett to Florida for a 2022 FLA 2nd and Emil Heineman (2020 FLA 2nd). This was in April of 2021, when Eichel was injured and they needed a center to support TNT/Mitts/Cozens, and Adams was already planning to move on from Reinhart, etc. Bennett was an RFA that summer with no trade protections.

[Mr. Allen]

3 hours ago, The Jokeman said:

We could have drafted Bennett but took Reinhart instead...

And Reino was definitely the better draft pick.  

[Demoted]

On 5/15/2025 at 2:28 PM, The Jokeman said:

We could have drafted Bennett but took Reinhart instead...

Suck for Bennett. He could have won a ring with the Panthers if the Sabres had drafted him.

[Pimlach]

19 minutes ago, Demoted said:

Suck for Bennett. He could have won a ring with the Panthers if the Sabres had drafted him.

Uh, Bennett won a Cup with Florida last season. 

[Mr. Allen]

On 5/15/2025 at 6:03 PM, Mr. Allen said:

And Reino was definitely the better draft pick.  

Not that long ago Bennett was pretty much considered a complete bust. 

[SwampD]

33 minutes ago, Mr. Allen said:

Not that long ago Bennett was pretty much considered a complete bust. 

This is just not true.

[Weave]

1 hour ago, SwampD said:

This is just not true.

I seem to recall that Bennett was being labeled as a 3rd liner/ roll player when he left Calgary.  Bust might be a strong term, but Id say it took Florida for him to really blossom.

[LGR4GM]

On 5/15/2025 at 2:28 PM, The Jokeman said:

We could have drafted Bennett but took Reinhart instead...

The guy who scored a game 7 Stanley Cup winning goal and is a 50g scorer in the NHL? Yea... how dumb we were. 

[Demoted]

3 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Uh, Bennett won a Cup with Florida last season. 

That was the joke, no matter what he would have been in FLorida b.c Sabres get rid of good players and they go onto winning the Cup with a new team.

[Pimlach]

9 hours ago, Mr. Allen said:

Not that long ago Bennett was pretty much considered a complete bust. 

I wouldn’t say bust but he was looking like 3rd line skill level player.  Now he is in his prime years and on a team that can best utilize what he can bring. You can see he brings elements of strength, will,  perseverance, grit, toughness, and skill.  He shows up in big games and he defends his teammates against anyone.  
 

I want him on the Sabres someday.  He is a throwback player IMO.  

Edited May 18 by Pimlach

[Mr. Allen]

10 hours ago, SwampD said:

This is just not true.

When you take a guy 4th overall and he’s barely averaging 10 goals per year…. Yeah, that’s pretty bust-ish.  He wasn’t the rough tough guy he is now either.  
Bennett was pretty much a bust before being traded to Florida. 

[JP51]

On 5/15/2025 at 2:28 PM, The Jokeman said:

We could have drafted Bennett but took Reinhart instead...

Oh wait.... lol 😆 

[Mr. Allen]

On 5/15/2025 at 11:00 AM, steveoath said:

Ekblad is UFA as is Bennett. We need players like this. 

Bennett is going to get PAID after these playoffs.  He’s been incredible. 

[JohnC]

On 5/15/2025 at 11:00 AM, steveoath said:

Ekblad is UFA as is Bennett. We need players like this. 

The problem is that these appealing players don't have a desire to join a Micky Mouse operation after they have been associated with a championship run organization. When you have resided in the premium suite you are not going to choose to live in the ghetto. The Sabres are to the NHL what the Pirates are to MLB. It's a place not to go to and a place to get out of when there. This is what the Pegula ownership has done to this victimized franchise and fanbase: He degraded it to the point of ridicule. There's a business course taught in schools. It's called: What not to do. It's considered an introductory course. 

[DarthEbriate]

You could try to do a Parise-Suter double deal for the both of them, but I think other teams will be more enticing.

4x$10M for Bennett and 4x$9M for Ekblad -- gives them both a "window" to turn the team into winners and another shot at UFA when they're still in their early 30s and the cap is theoretically even higher. Would need to trade Byram and buyout Muel, and have that pipeline provide at least 2 forwards (Helenius/Wahlberg) and a 3rd pair of Novikov-Strbak by year 2.

[Pimlach]

28 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The problem is that these appealing players don't have a desire to join a Micky Mouse operation after they have been associated with a championship run organization. When you have resided in the premium suite you are not going to choose to live in the ghetto. The Sabres are to the NHL what the Pirates are to MLB. It's a place not to go to and a place to get out of when there. This is what the Pegula ownership has done to this victimized franchise and fanbase: He degraded it to the point of ridicule. There's a business course taught in schools. It's called: What not to do. It's considered an introductory course.