Summer 2025: NHL Offseason

[Flashsabre]

It just boggles my mind that Pegula is 0 for 14 at the playoffs and still walks around with pride for owning the team

[Taro T]

10 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

It just boggles my mind that Pegula is 0 for 14 at the playoffs and still walks around with pride for owning the team

There's only 32 NHL owners in the entire world.  He is in a very small club.  That he's had the worst results of anyone in that club over his tenure doesn't change the fact that HE is IN that club and WE ain't.

 

And IF he ever moves on from Adams, he has a chance to do what he did with the Bills and Bandits - luck into a really good GM that'll turn everything around.

[kas23]

58 minutes ago, triumph_communes said:

Reality is we haven’t seen this team with Norris on it. Nor with a defense that can actually hold the fort. The transactions on paper might not be splashy, but we aren’t far from hitting critical mass to overcome those issues 

The question is, is Norris healthy and recovered from his mystery injury of last season? Do we even know what was wrong with him?

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, kas23 said:

The question is, is Norris healthy and recovered from his mystery injury of last season? Do we even know what was wrong with him?

yea, he tore a core muscle like an oblique or something like that

[Taro T]

13 minutes ago, kas23 said:

The question is, is Norris healthy and recovered from his mystery injury of last season? Do we even know what was wrong with him?

 

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

yea, he tore a core muscle like an oblique or something like that

Yep.  And it's why they shut him down immediately.  Gave him an extra 6 weeks or so to heal up and be ready to go when camp opens in September.

[GoPuckYourself]

Carolina signs Ehlers. Must be nice!

[Flashsabre]

3 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

Carolina signs Ehlers. Must be nice!

It won’t move the needle for them. They are like the 80s-90s Blues. Always good enough to get in but not good enough to get to where they want to go ultimately 

[GoPuckYourself]

5 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

It won’t move the needle for them. They are like the 80s-90s Blues. Always good enough to get in but not good enough to get to where they want to go ultimately 

Perhaps but they’re never content. They get knocked out of the playoffs come back and trade for Miller, sign the big fish FA in Ehlers.

The Sabres are going on 15 years no playoffs yet sign a backup to what should be a backup goalie, some players for the AHL and trade away our 3rd leading goal scorer to finally get tougher to play against in Adams 6th year. . 

[Ducky]

39 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

Carolina signs Ehlers. Must be nice!

6 x 8.5m.

Proves he didn't want to stay in Winnipeg.

[PerreaultForever]

25 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

Perhaps but they’re never content. They get knocked out of the playoffs come back and trade for Miller, sign the big fish FA in Ehlers.

The Sabres are going on 15 years no playoffs yet sign a backup to what should be a backup goalie, some players for the AHL and trade away our 3rd leading goal scorer to finally get tougher to play against in Adams 6th year. . 

This "harder to play against" narrative makes me laugh. Sweeney in Boston saying exactly the same thing. "We want to be harder to play against". So Sabres add Kesselring and Doan. Bruins add Jeannot, Eyssimont, Kuraly and already have Zadorov and Kastelic. I do not expect either team to make the playoffs, but who actually became harder to play against?

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

This "harder to play against" narrative makes me laugh. Sweeney in Boston saying exactly the same thing. "We want to be harder to play against". So Sabres add Kesselring and Doan. Bruins add Jeannot, Eyssimont, Kuraly and already have Zadorov and Kastelic. I do not expect either team to make the playoffs, but who actually became harder to play against?

Technically, they both did.  Which one WILL be harder to play against is the Q it seems you were trying to ask.

[LGR4GM]

7 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

This "harder to play against" narrative makes me laugh. Sweeney in Boston saying exactly the same thing. "We want to be harder to play against". So Sabres add Kesselring and Doan. Bruins add Jeannot, Eyssimont, Kuraly and already have Zadorov and Kastelic. I do not expect either team to make the playoffs, but who actually became harder to play against?

What!? But Jeannot got 5 years? 

Unless the Bruins defense drags them to the playoffs I think you're right

 

[Thorny]

12 minutes ago, Ducky said:

6 x 8.5m.

Proves he didn't want to stay in Winnipeg.

What could Chevy have even done?

You know…aside from make the playoffs 8 times

[...]

4 hours ago, Taro T said:

There's only 32 NHL owners in the entire world.  He is in a very small club.  That he's had the worst results of anyone in that club over his tenure doesn't change the fact that HE is IN that club and WE ain't.

And IF he ever moves on from Adams, he has a chance to do what he did with the Bills and Bandits - luck into a really good GM that'll turn everything around.

That's just it - he wants to be able to claim total credit in doing for the Sabres what his employees did for the Bills and Bandits. This is what Sabres fans are stuck with.

[K012010]

21 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

This "harder to play against" narrative makes me laugh. Sweeney in Boston saying exactly the same thing. "We want to be harder to play against". So Sabres add Kesselring and Doan. Bruins add Jeannot, Eyssimont, Kuraly and already have Zadorov and Kastelic. I do not expect either team to make the playoffs, but who actually became harder to play against?

And also, who is out there advocating to be easier to play against. It goes without saying that you’re trying to improve your roster and you want to be more difficult to play against.

Or maybe it’s just so damn hot down here in Florida that I’m getting the palm tree madness and I can’t think clearly.

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, Taro T said:

Technically, they both did.  Which one WILL be harder to play against is the Q it seems you were trying to ask.

Yes but my point is everything is relative. If you get slightly harder to play against and your opposition gets even harder to play against you are no longer hard to play against relatively speaking. 

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

What!? But Jeannot got 5 years? 

Unless the Bruins defense drags them to the playoffs I think you're right

 

Well yes and a lot of Bruins fans are upset with the Jeannot signing and it's splitting the fan base for sure. Much talk about overpays for bottom end players. But this is the thing. What was the discussion of Hagens over the last year? Super talented, great speed and skill, creative, but he's kind of small. Hughes comparisons. He could get crunched in the NHL. That was the talk. So what do they do? Get him a bodyguard plain and simple. That to me seems pretty smart. The future of that team rests on how good (or bad) Hagens is. 

[dudacek]

27 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

. The future of that team rests on how good (or bad) Hagens is. 

The Sabres are on record as thinking he will be worse than Radim Mrtka.

It will be interesting to see how that quote ages.

[LGR4GM]

22 minutes ago, dudacek said:

The Sabres are on record as thinking he will be worse than Radim Mrtka.

It will be interesting to see how that quote ages.

Fortons comments were... dumb. They were dumb. 

And I like mrtka just fine. 

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

The Sabres are on record as thinking he will be worse than Radim Mrtka.

It will be interesting to see how that quote ages.

Did they actually say that? If so that's dumb. 

[Taro T]

Just now, PerreaultForever said:

Did they actually say that? If so that's dumb. 

Forton said he saw 7 players in the top tier.

He also said (and paraphrasing this, did not see the interview with him but several here reported it) that the top 6 fell the way he expected exactly and that they had Mrtka in their top 7.  As Hagens went 7th, he necessarily was rated lower by the Sabres than they'd rated Mrtka.

[PerreaultForever]

35 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Forton said he saw 7 players in the top tier.

He also said (and paraphrasing this, did not see the interview with him but several here reported it) that the top 6 fell the way he expected exactly and that they had Mrtka in their top 7.  As Hagens went 7th, he necessarily was rated lower by the Sabres than they'd rated Mrtka.

Oh wow, one more reason to fire him. I'm fine with Mrtka but I would have put him 10-12. Hagens I figured 5-7 but he fell because of the Brady Martin love affair. Since the draft I have learned more about him and it seems he's not as slight as Hughes was. 190 lbs. at the moment and adding muscle. Maybe more like Benson in  that regard. 

[Ducky]

11 hours ago, Thorny said:

What could Chevy have even done?

You know…aside from make the playoffs 8 times

Traded him mid-season.