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.

[Turbo44]

6 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

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

Yep but whos with Dahlin?

[Mango]

22 minutes ago, Thorny said:

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 

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 

Fair, I guess I'd pair that with my post about local sports coverage being cowards and spineless trolls by not addressing the ramifications of the Peterka trade.

JJP getting traded because he doesn't want to be here, is the encapsulation of total failure by this regime. Both I high level structure and plan as well as failing at nearly every detail along the way.

I cannot believe that Adams was able to make it out of that post draft/trade presser without one reporter framing it as a mascot for the clown car he is captaining.

Pegula has certainly nailed the 'Major League' impersonation. This town has never hated this team more than they do right now. 

I cannot wait until Adams sells his house and has to leave in embarrassment.

[BullBuchanan]

1 minute ago, Turbo44 said:

Yep but whos with Dahlin?

Byram or his replacement. I'm starting to think they keep him.

[thewookie1]

2 hours 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.

 

The Sabres don't swing for the fences; they play small ball. But play a very fine line style of small ball where sac flies are not allowed. Could it work, certainly; but it isn't exactly common.

[Eleven]

15 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

I'm starting to think they keep him.

Me too.  Give him a nice bridge while Scrabble-tiles marinates in juniors and then Rochester.

Edited 6 hours ago by Eleven

[Brawndo]

Minor frustration-Timmins was a cap dump by Toronto shortly before the 2025 TDL along with Connor Dewar for a 2025 5th. 
 

I understand that part of the deal is Clifton’s Cap Dump. Like the player-just wonder about Adams and how he  deals with acquisition costs

[oddoublee]

8 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Me too.  Give him a nice bridge while Scrabble-tiles marinates in juniors and then Rochester.

I'm not so sure. I don't believe they had any intention to trade bryam for picks - this simply solidifies for other GMS to stop wasting time offering them...and offer up a, at minimum, top 9 forward that can slide up and down. I believe he gets traded before FA starts

[Sabres73]

1 hour 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. 

They didn't trade a 2nd round pick for an ECHL defenceman. It's Clifton and a 2nd round pick for Timmons and the ECHL defenceman.

[John Tucker]

Not a terrible deal for a bottom end of the roster.  2nd rounders in the NHL are generally Meh anyways and Clifton was a warm body on a terrible team.  Problem is, this does nothing to help move this team from 79 pts to the playoffs.  Never any apparent urgency to make the top of the roster any better is the annual issue.  And would any of us trust KA to make that happen?

[Dr. Who]

19 minutes ago, oddoublee said:

I'm not so sure. I don't believe they had any intention to trade bryam for picks - this simply solidifies for other GMS to stop wasting time offering them...and offer up a, at minimum, top 9 forward that can slide up and down. I believe he gets traded before FA starts

Maybe. Perhaps the post was performative. You've got to admit "while Scrabble tiles marinates in juniors" is pretty damn good. (And what is it about Byram that his name just begs to be misspelled?)

[oddoublee]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Who said:

Maybe. Perhaps the post was performative. You've got to admit "while Scrabble tiles marinates in juniors" is pretty damn good. (And what is it about Byram that his name just begs to be misspelled?)

That was funny. My response should not take away from that!

For me, 44 years of seeing the first name bryan probably...idk. lol 

 

If promise not to do it again...but that would be disingenuous  

Edited 5 hours ago by oddoublee

[LGR4GM]

Y'all know we were 10th in the entire NHL in goals all while Kulich we a rookie and Cozens only managed 11 cuz he's awful? 

We need to reduce goals against more than anything. 

[JohnC]

I don’t know if the Sabres will trade Byram before camp begins. If he isn’t dealt then the unit is better with the additions of Kesserling and Timmons. Will Samuelson have a bounce back year? I’m more hopeful than most here. 
 

In tabulating the results so far it comes down to what is the impact of the JJP subtraction? And another critical issue is: will the owner allow the salary savings to be utilized on other moves?

As it stands, I’m more troubled than not. I’m still hoping for more moves. There needs to be less plodding along and a greater demonstration of urgency.

[Ross Rhea]

Seems Adams wants a bigger team, he's added size, I guess thats good.

[K-9]

5 minutes ago, Ross Rhea said:

Seems Adams Ruff wants a bigger team, he's added size, I guess thats good.

Fixed that for you.

[Eleven]

Just now, K-9 said:

Fixed that for you.

Yep.  There's a man in charge now. Two, if we count Jarmo.

[K-9]

1 hour ago, Eleven said:

Me too.  Give him a nice bridge while Scrabble-tiles marinates in juniors and then Rochester.

Scrabble tiles. Outstanding!

[inkman]

26 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Y'all know we were 10th in the entire NHL in goals all while Kulich we a rookie and Cozens only managed 11 cuz he's awful? 

We need to reduce goals against more than anything. 

Agreed. Was it defense or goaltending?  Not a loaded question. I know the analytics are out there but I’ve seen numbers indicating a goalie upgrade is necessary. 

[LGR4GM]

5 minutes ago, inkman said:

Agreed. Was it defense or goaltending?  Not a loaded question. I know the analytics are out there but I’ve seen numbers indicating a goalie upgrade is necessary. 

 

But yea... gt was awful. Upl was basically the worst starter in the league. 

[JohnC]

12 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Fixed that for you.

You bring up an interesting question about how much influence does Ruff have in personnel decisions. As you point out with the additions, the Sabres are bigger than they were last year. I’m sure he was a factor on that issue. I also believe that Ruff was instrumental in the trading of Peterka. It appears that the coach/player relationship was fractious. 
 

I’m hoping that Ruff and Jarmo push the GM to make more moves to reshape the roster in order to play a tougher brand of hockey. Some progress has been made in that facet of the game but more needs to be done.

[North Buffalo]

2 hours ago, BullBuchanan said:

Byram or his replacement. I'm starting to think they keep him.

Ive been thinking the same thing... wondering if Byram offers dont move the needle and Sabres may resign.

[Wyldnwoody44]

3 hours 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 

I have fingers (and toes) crossed that Adams and Jarmo are setting up something big. Clearing salary for a Robertson or Petterson or something BIG. All of this salary clearing here HAS to lead to something....sure we got "tougher to play against" but all I heard last off season was our revamped 4th line was going to be tough as nails and that panned out exactly 0%. 

So as of right now, we are a basement team with an older coach (who may or may not be good) and a very poor reputation. 

Still some time..... This is as much optimistic energy as I can muster. 

[klos1963]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

Agreed. Was it defense or goaltending?  Not a loaded question. I know the analytics are out there but I’ve seen numbers indicating a goalie upgrade is necessary. 

When Reimers played well for that stretch,  we won.  So I think goaltending was a significant issue,  but our skaters play very poorly in our zone,  so that's a problem too.

[Thorny]

2 minutes ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

I have fingers (and toes) crossed that Adams and Jarmo are setting up something big. Clearing salary for a Robertson or Petterson or something BIG. All of this salary clearing here HAS to lead to something....sure we got "tougher to play against" but all I heard last off season was our revamped 4th line was going to be tough as nails and that panned out exactly 0%. 

So as of right now, we are a basement team with an older coach (who may or may not be good) and a very poor reputation. 

Still some time..... This is as much optimistic energy as I can muster. 

Definitely time. Dunno about the will but there’s time 

[PromoTheRobot]

4 hours ago, BullBuchanan said:

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

Docker needs to play. He is a solid third pair D.