Trade Conor Timmins and Isaac Belliveau from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Connor Clifton and the 39th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

[PerreaultForever]

Isn't Timmins the guy the Bruins absolutely destroyed in the playoffs and hence Leafs dumped him? I might be remembering the wrong guy, but if that's him he was BAD. I don't know much else about them. Clifton would have been better to be a deadline dump and I bet you Pittsburgh gets at least a 2nd for him at the deadline but whatever. I liked the D depth with Clifton at the bottom better than now but I guess our quota for guys who hit on D is one max. 

aside - (Only the Sabres however. Only the Sabres could produce a video with Alex Tuch telling a kid he gets to announce the 2nd round pick and then turn around and trade away the 2nd round pick so the kid announces the 3rd rounder. It was a nice moving story and which pick it is probably doesn't matter to the kid who gets the insiders tour and all that but really? Bush league with the video. )

[PotentPowerPlay21]

This trade is a confusing head scratcher for me. I could almost understand trading Clifton for Timmins, but then trading a 2nd round pick for an ECHL defenseman doesn't make sense. I think Pittsburgh got the better side of the trade for sure. Kevyn Adams is dumping salary successfully and Pegula seems fine with that. 

[Night Train]

I'm fine with it. According to my ex-roommate from Pittsburgh I texted, he's very good on D. Solid guy.

I lied to him about Clifton.. 😁

Keep trading. Bet they're not done at all. 

[Turbo44]

8 minutes ago, PotentPowerPlay21 said:

This trade is a confusing head scratcher for me. I could almost understand trading Clifton for Timmins, but then trading a 2nd round pick for an ECHL defenseman doesn't make sense. I think Pittsburgh got the better side of the trade for sure. Kevyn Adams is dumping salary successfully and Pegula seems fine with that. 

Correct - only makes sense if they use the extra cap space and historically they are not a cap team. kA prove me wrong b1tch

[JoeSchmoe]

To anyone upset about this trade... Check all the advanced and not-so advanced stats. Timmins is a good 3rd pair D. Clifton wasn't. 

All the Leafs fans I know liked him. Sounds like Pens fans liked him too. I don't think anyone anywhere has liked Clifton.

Lots of reasons to be upset with the team so I get the frustration, but this is a small win for us.

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:

This thread regarding this trade is not really the place for this tantrum.

Tantrums are ubiquitous. They spill over all the threads. 

With respect to adding Timmins and dispatching Clifton, if this is more of a financial than a personnel transaction, I will be furious. I can't comment on what this trade does for the team because I'm not familiar with this player. What I'm expecting is another deal or two that will upgrade the roster. If there isn't much of a follow up by the GM, then I will place the blame on the owner. 

[shrader]

11 minutes ago, PotentPowerPlay21 said:

This trade is a confusing head scratcher for me. I could almost understand trading Clifton for Timmins, but then trading a 2nd round pick for an ECHL defenseman doesn't make sense. I think Pittsburgh got the better side of the trade for sure. Kevyn Adams is dumping salary successfully and Pegula seems fine with that. 

Clifton for Timmins straight up was never happening. 

[LGR4GM]

4 minutes ago, shrader said:

Clifton for Timmins straight up was never happening. 

Don't inject your logic here, this place is like chippewa Street at 4am... lawless

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

 

Looking at the contract values and market projection this looks like the "efficient" part of EEE.  Now lets see the "effective" part in his game.  

Hope springs eternal.  

[Pimlach]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

Don't inject your logic here, this place is like chippewa Street at 4am... lawless

You should have seen it in the 70's.  It was lawless almost 24-7.   

[Broken Ankles]

1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:

Ok, next to the Sabres I probably follow the Leafs the most of any time.  Listen to a LOT Of 590 out of Toronto (seeing how I can't stand WGR and Mike Schopp and live in Northern Niagara county so I get the Canadian stations in pretty clearly.)  So I'm trying to think of what I remember about Timmins game...

Now the stats might prove my impression totally wrong, but what I THINK I remember about him is he was a decent skater but not fast at all, and he doesn't like to carry the puck.  He would be a guy on a breakout that once he got the puck, he never took more than a stride or two with it, he would almost immediately pass it to someone else.  Was not a 'full motor' guy, but more of a guy that paced himself, conserved energy on the ice and maybe took a slightly longer shift because of it.

Of course, he was not one of the main guys in Toronto, so my memory and attention to him wasn't all that great.

All this talk and effort acquiring a RHD...I personally never thought Jokiharju was all that bad and I'm not sure how much better these guys are than he was.

Agreed.  But injuries forced Joki to play in top 4 more often than not.  And his $4m AAV was a hinderance for a guy playing PK when not suited, and not getting time on PP, bc he was behind Ras, power and Byram.  Kesselring and Docker offer balanced pairings and can play a much better complimentary game up and down the line up. 

[mjd1001]

22 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Tantrums are ubiquitous. They spill over all the threads. 

With respect to adding Timmins and dispatching Clifton, if this is more of a financial than a personnel transaction, I will be furious. I can't comment on what this trade does for the team because I'm not familiar with this player. What I'm expecting is another deal or two that will upgrade the roster. If there isn't much of a follow up by the GM, then I will place the blame on the owner. 

I know, they do.

And I get it, this is a place for fans to vent.  I have in the past defended people saying whatever they want, that is what message boards are for.

Its just, I don't want to block people, I want to be exposed to all conversations, but when I have an hour to spare and read through various recent posts, it gets tiresome seeing the same people posting about how bad Adams is in the thread about Adams. Posting about how bad Adams is in a thread about a trade. Posting about how bad Adams is in a thread about the draft.  Posting about how bad Adams is....you get the point.

I get it, people don't like him, but the complaints about him in threads...especially when the post has nothing to do with the topic....for me at least it gets overbearing.

[...]

41 minutes ago, PotentPowerPlay21 said:

This trade is a confusing head scratcher for me. I could almost understand trading Clifton for Timmins, but then trading a 2nd round pick for an ECHL defenseman doesn't make sense. I think Pittsburgh got the better side of the trade for sure. Kevyn Adams is dumping salary successfully and Pegula seems fine with that. 

Dumping salary could equal being able to spend big money in FA and keeping Tuch.

[JoeSchmoe]

7 minutes ago, ... said:

Dumping salary could equal being able to spend big money in FA and keeping Tuch.

I'm seriously hoping for this! Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I honestly think Tuch is a foregone conclusion. 

[Thorny]

2 hours ago, Trettioåtta said:

If he played with Karlsson, do we see him as our support for Dahlin?

Better than Dahlin, maybe. But I’m only on page 7. I won’t give up hope this place gets to Pronger by the end of the thread 

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

"Kevyn Adams needs to trade picks and get bigger and tougher!" Sabres fans

"What!? He traded a 2nd round pick! Why!?!?" Also Sabres fans

Promo is now a borg mind I see 

[Thorny]

2 hours ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Meh, still not enough for this team to get over the hump. I'll keep waiting patiently and hope to not be disappointed. 

I’d say overall we are still weaker than last year and we were mostly a last place team 

Peterka to Kesselring and Doan is a downgrade and I’m not sure Clifton to Timmons bridges it - i think of we are lucky we may be break even at a lower cost 

Edited 4 hours ago by Thorny

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Better than Dahlin, maybe. But I’m only on page 7. I won’t give up hope this place gets to Pronger by the end of the thread 

Promo is now a borg mind I see 

[Thorny]

2 hours ago, Mango said:

Everything this off-season has been "fine". It's almost always "fine" it's just never enough or good.

That’s the rub. “Fine” doesn’t jive with what you’d expect and want after 14 missed years and the declaration playoffs were mandate this past year 

they are not approaching the roster as if they are desperate to make the playoffs. Does anyone think it looks like they are? Most change on the fridge 

1 hour ago, elijah said:

We’re complaining about this trade too? 

A big RHD that’s strong analytically, a need on the team, for us to dump Clifton’s cap and attach a 2nd? Adams made a solid trade here but I guess there’s just no winning when you’re staring down year 15

It’s a good trade.
 

That doesn’t mean the impact will be significant. It’s a good trade for a low level asset - there’s a difference 

Edited 4 hours ago by Thorny

[Thorny]

1 hour ago, Archie Lee said:

Here is my issue with the 2 trades the Sabres have made:  they are not the trades that are made by a 79 point team that is committed to making the playoffs after 5 straight years of missing under a GM who is in the last year of a contract (never mind Pegula's larger 14-year Reign of Error).

Shayna Goldman said something similar on Sabres Live, when explaining why she graded Utah higher than the Sabres in the Peterka deal. It's not that the trade is entirely bad or that the players coming in aren't good, it's that the Sabres need something bigger, something more substantive, something that puts them on the path to being a playoff team this year.  The two trades they have made so far, do address handedness on D (something Adams previously told us he doesn't worry about), and they do make the Sabres bigger and harder to play against (also things that Adams previously seemed unconcerned by). They don't make the Sabres more experienced (by age, games played, playoff history, etc.). On balance, they probably don't make the Sabres more talented as Peterka would currently be considered the best "talent" in the trades.  They do make the Sabres younger and cheaper, and a reasonable concern is that these are the most important factors. 

Until we see the return on the Byram trade and/or what the Sabres do in free agency or with other trades, these are trades that nibble on the edges of what the Sabres need to do to take a next step. For now, the big picture is that the trades are fine (I guess), but ultimately they are not the big swings that the Sabres need to take.

 

Exactly. Again you said it best I should have kept reading 

[Turbo44]

5 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I’d say overall we are still weaker than last year and we were mostly a last place team 

Peterka to Kesselring and Doan is a downgrade and I’m not sure Clifton to Timmons bridges it - i think of we are lucky we may be break even at a lower cost 

100% correct, team is different as is, not better. One can only hope of significant additions to come. The recent past doesn’t give hope but Adams has to be desperate to field a playoff team this year so maybe things change? Playoffs or he’s fired, his replacement is right next to him….kind of…. In Columbus……remote 

[Thorny]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

I'm not apologizing for him, I just don't care about 2nd round picks after 14yrs of no playoffs. 

Same 

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Archie Lee said:

Here is my issue with the 2 trades the Sabres have made:  they are not the trades that are made by a 79 point team that is committed to making the playoffs after 5 straight years of missing under a GM who is in the last year of a contract (never mind Pegula's larger 14-year Reign of Error).

Shayna Goldman said something similar on Sabres Live, when explaining why she graded Utah higher than the Sabres in the Peterka deal. It's not that the trade is entirely bad or that the players coming in aren't good, it's that the Sabres need something bigger, something more substantive, something that puts them on the path to being a playoff team this year.  The two trades they have made so far, do address handedness on D (something Adams previously told us he doesn't worry about), and they do make the Sabres bigger and harder to play against (also things that Adams previously seemed unconcerned by). They don't make the Sabres more experienced (by age, games played, playoff history, etc.). On balance, they probably don't make the Sabres more talented as Peterka would currently be considered the best "talent" in the trades.  They do make the Sabres younger and cheaper, and a reasonable concern is that these are the most important factors. 

Until we see the return on the Byram trade and/or what the Sabres do in free agency or with other trades, these are trades that nibble on the edges of what the Sabres need to do to take a next step. For now, the big picture is that the trades are fine (I guess), but ultimately they are not the big swings that the Sabres need to take.

 

Yuppers

[Turbo44]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

Yuppers

Praying for something/a thing good this week. Would be hilarious if Adams trades Byram for a 4th LWer and futures, making the team even worse.

other than losing his job if he does nothing, he’ll further lose the locker room (Dahlin/Tuch/tage). Enough of the fkn palm tree excuses, time to get something fkn done. Go big, take risks, what’s to lose that you haven’t fcked up/lost already 

[...]

Does "talent" only equal goals? Seems that's the popular conflation. 

[BullBuchanan]

3 hours ago, Taro T said:

So, after Byram goes, we end up with

Samuelsson Dahlin

Power Kesselring

Timmons Bernard-Docker

Bryson & Johnson(?) as the spares.

IF Samuelsson can keep from dragging down Dahlin, still not thrilled but maybe it can work?

Or rather than going out the door for a F, does Byram go out the door in a package for Dahlin's partner?

Samuelsson should be relegated to 3rd pair with Timmins, and Docker can be our 7th.