Peter

I seem to recall that he was in Buffalo to visit around the time of the draft. Maybe I am mistaken.

How do you go about getting film on the guy? As and aside, I have never seen him play but I am a bit pathological about how much I want him to sign with the Sabres. That is the fanatic side of being a fan I suppose.

I just don't see giving up on a guy based on the information thus far. It may turn out that the evidence will show that he did what is alleged. I just don't see it yet. I am not willing to make the same mistake that Bucky G made with Shady. As an aside, I have heard rumblings from a friend of mine who still lives in Buffalo who tells me that people at the bar claim that this whole thing is overblown. I have no idea whether this is true, but it does give me pause before I am ready to trash the guy. Just my two cents.

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After all we traded to get him . . . I hope that this still works out for us. I would hate to trade him for a back of pucks.

That is funny. Well done.

I do not want to go through that again. I would suggest making an offering in person that expires once he and his agent leave (and don't let them take any calls a la the Jim Kelly/Houston Gamblers situation several years ago).

It just goes to show you how much GMTM did not like Pysyk - he even traded him for a Russian?!?! P.S. I wish that Nikita Zadorov had not been included in the ROR deal. P.P.S. I have a feeling that GMTM has a bit of the bias you see in old school Canadians (e.g., Don Cherry).

Alex seems like he has a ton of talent and is good value at 8. I am excited to see how he develops.

I try not to think about what if. I also think that the jury may still be out. In the end, I like both of these guys. They both have outstanding talent. They both seem like good, quality, character buys. They both wanted to play in Buffalo. As someone else posted above, at least McDavid is playing out west and not for one of the teams in the east that I despise.

The guy may end up being great, but I have to believe that we could have obtained him without giving up a first round pick for him. Tim loves to pay retail. I will never be able to prove this, but we presumably could have gotten him for a second (we were actually doing Ottawa a favor by taking his salary off their books) and then would have been able to trade the 21st pick in the ROR deal rather than have to trade Zadorov. Just my two cents.

I believe that this may be the thread that you were thinking of: http://forums.sabrespace.com/topic/21550-auto-recording-the-sabres-on-directv/?hl=cchan

I think that you are correct. Thanks.

Crashing into a Tim Horton's is probably a very serious crime in Canada. If it had been a McDonald's, he probably would have gotten off with a warning not to do it again.

The Sabres: - gave up a ton in the trade (in my view, they overpaid when they had more leverage to get a better deal); - agreed to pay the guy more than any other player in Sabres' history; - structured the deal most favorably to ROR. I just hope that ROR realizes the above, gets his sh*t together, and becomes the player and leader that others see in him.

We traded a kid with huge potential who some thought had character issues because he was 30 minutes late for a meeting and had travel issues . . . .

Which 4k did you get? I have been staring at them in stores for some time yet, but have not bought one yet. I was leaning toward the Sony.

I wonder if this is more Irbe than the Sabres.

I am glad it looks like a deal is going to get done. It will be interesting to see what the terms are.

But would you spend $45,000 on a $40,000 truck?

I really hope you are correct. I would have preferred having NO risk and a deal before making the trade - especially given ROR's contract history with the Avs. Without a prior deal, the Sabres have put themselves at risk. There is nothing to stop ROR or his agent from demanding more at the last minute (just like our recent trade partners appear to have done). Again, I hope you are correct and that ROR plays up to his contract.

I wrote in another thread that I thought that the Sabres had a lot more leverage to get better deals in the ROR and Lehner trades. Now that we have made the ROR trade (and have given up a lot for two guys who have one year left on their deals and one of those guys has serious back issues), we have very little leverage in negotiating the ROR extension. In fact, probably no leverage whatsoever. We essentially paid a premium to the Avs to take on their risk in getting a deal done. I really hope (given the above) that ROR wants to extend and stay in Buffalo, the Sabres and ROR agree to a fair value, and ROR plays up to his contract.

Let me preface my comments by saying that I like TM. I am happy that he is our GM. Nevertheless, I agree with the overall thesis of the OP. Tim has paid (in my opinion) premium pricing in his trades. We certainly accumulated assets to use to improve the team, but I think that we had a lot more leverage in both the Lehner and ROR trades. Lehner may end up being good, but his track record in the NHL does not justify the 21st pick in the draft. The goalie market this year and in recent years does not support the 21st pick in the draft. We also did Uncle Brian a huge favor by taking on salary. ROR is a good two way player, but appears (I hope not) to have a cap on his offensive production. We also are taking on the risk (whatever that percentage may be) of not being able to extend him beyond this year. Also, if we do extend him, it will have a ripple effect on the rest of the roster and cap in a few years. McGinn also has one year left on his deal and a history of back problems. In fact, his back issues limited him to 19 games this past year. I wish we could have used the 21st pick (instead of Zadorov) in the ROR deal. I also do not like having to "throw in" Compher on top of Zadorov. As some have said, if we win the Stanley Cup in the next few years, not many will care what we gave up. Forgetting about what his salary will be and what we gave up for him for the moment, the Sabres are clearly stronger down the middle with ROR than without. Lehner is a question mark. We can hope that he will reach the potential that Tim sees in him by giving him the minutes he needs and providing him the goalie whisperer (Irbe - presuming he continues to be the goalie coach). Mcginn's back and contract also are question marks. Let's hope his back issues are cleared up. We now have fewer assets than before. Tim is going to have to be more circumspect in his trades. At the same time, he probably has a bit of a reputation in the league for willing to pay a premium for players he is fixated on. He is going to have to show that those days are over. Side note: it will be interesting to see if and when Tim acquires any other Russian players. I have a feeling that he falls within that camp of NHL executives who are not fans of Russians. What is that adage that some use - none but certainly not more than one? Another side note: I have this impression (my opinion) that teams negotiate with Tim by insisting on "throw ins" at the last moment (e.g., Compher and Lemieux). That is a negotiating tactic that some attempt to use in the business world to take advantage of the other side's anxiousness to close the deal after thinking the parties already have agreed to terms. I hope that stops. Tim may have to call people's bluffs in future negotiations. Just my two cents.

That article concludes with: "Verdict: The Senators got what they wanted out of the deal - a first-round pick and some financial relief - and that's enough to get the nod over Buffalo. If Lehner turns out to be great, or even good, then the Sabres won't have any regrets, but paying a first-round pick and taking on salary seems like more than it would cost to acquire some of the other goaltenders that are known to be available this summer. Consider this the price of Sabres GM Tim Murray getting his guy."

. . . and yet, we gave up more than three first round picks to acquire those guys.