nfreeman

That seems like a low-rent rumormonger site. I will be shocked if they get 2 firsts for Hall.

I’d guess it will be at least 3 years and at least $4MM per year. I’d rather 3 years x $4.5MM than 4 years x $4MM.

Interesting. Friedman wouldn’t say this without a good reason IMHO.

I think @dudacek upthread stated correctly that Montour will be better on Fla than he was here. He's a nice player that in the right situation could've been a mainstay.

I generally agree, but they didn't get 3 seasons out of him -- he was acquired in Feb 2019 and played 112 games as a Sabre. I was hoping for a 2nd but thought that was the ceiling. A 3rd is OK IMHO. Separately, even if the value received is another example of not-so-clever JB arbitrage, it was either re-sign him for a pretty expensive contract or trade him for whatever they could get. I kinda like his game, and I think his lousy analytics are more a function of general Sabres suckitude over a small sample size than an indictment of his game, so I would've been OK with keeping him. OTOH, I can understand their decision not to do so -- they have young D-men to move in, and they want to change the mix in the locker room, and they need the cap space for goalies/Reino/new blood/other. I hope they make a few more good moves.

Well, they are also drafting at the top of each round every freaking year. They should be well above average.

Well, this is insane.

Here’s an article about Philip that those who watched “The Crown” may find interesting: https://spectator.us/topic/tribute-prince-philip-1921-2021/

From Scott Burnside of the Athletic today: The whole valuation of Taylor Hallis going to be one of the stories of the deadline and the fact he’s been pulled from the Sabres lineup as of Tuesday suggests GM Kevyn Adams is fielding at least a few calls. But your point is a good one. Two goals (and 19 points) in 37 games hardly speaks to good value for a guy making $8 million. The debate is whether this is all due to circumstance, or has there been a dramatic decline in Hall’s ability to drive play? A scout I spoke to has been down on Hall since his arrival in Arizona. So, what’s his value assuming Buffalo eats half of that salary? No way he commands a first-round pick, in my books. If I’m a GM I’m holding out and offering no better than a third-round pick. But what if Toronto, the Islanders, Boston, and just for fun, Carolina are interested? Does that change the dynamic on his value. Sure it does. But the fact still remains he’s a shadow of the player he once was and it will be buyer beware.

Interesting. MJD's points are good, but there has to be some penalty for getting every number wrong in a post. Or maybe a reward!

But those age groups now include everyone age 16 and older.

I didn't think this line was very effective last night in 5-on-5, but Mittlestadt undeniably made 2 very nice NHL skill plays with his pass on the 1st goal and his "posting up" and tip-in on his PPG. Signs of life are better than signs of death.

Well, I don't want to be the downer here, but I feel like I should say that the Devils, a pretty crappy team, had the better of the play for most of the game last night. The Sabres certainly look better than the dead-eyed zombies they were for the last 15 games or so under RK, but they still have many miles to go IMHO.

They also gave up Brayden McNabb, a real top-4 NHL defenseman who has played a lot for good teams in a solid NHL career, in that trade! That deal may have epitomized GMTM's spend-like-a-drunken sailor approach to team-building.

How so?

I think it would be nuts not to trade Hall, Montour or any other FA who won’t be back for whatever they can get. IMHO there is zero benefit in “sending a message” to the NHL about not getting lowballed. The return will be driven by supply and demand, as always.

Regarding Dreger's tweet, if KA views Linus as foundational, he should be working on giving him an extension before the deadline. (But I'm not a fan of Dreger's, so I wouldn't be surprised if he were out to lunch on that.) I also don't see why Montour isn't just as certain to be traded as Hall is. Montour isn't coming back and will get them at least a 3rd-rounder and possibly more.

I'm glad the Patriots didn't get Darnold, and mystified as to why they didn't take a shot on him as opposed to Cam, who looks done like dinner.

1 -- yes -- not sure what your point is here. 2 -- I think if Reino is the C, and therefore frequently carrying the puck up ice from deep in his own zone, his line will play more slowly than if he is the W and if a faster guy is carrying it up ice.

Excellent post, as always. But: Linus has delivered a pretty small body of work to base a 5-year commitment on. In his 2 years as a starter, including one in which he apparently became a stud, he started 34 games and 16 games. The 34-game season was over for the Sabres at around the halfway mark, when they nosedived after a 10-game win streak and Linus didn’t pull them out of it. And the 16-game season was, shockingly, over at the 20% mark. That certainly wasn’t Ullmark’s fault, but the Sabres sure haven’t gotten their opponents’ A games for the bulk of Ullmark’s 50 starts. Making a big commitment to Ullmark now isn’t from outer space. But I’d be fine with any of quite a few combinations of 2 of the guys I listed on short term deals.

Fair question. There is a lot of turnover league-wide at goalie every year, both in trade and via FA. UFAs this summer include Grubauer, Driedger from FLA (who is #2 in the NHL in SV% among goalies with more than 15 starts), Bernier, Raanta, Freddy Andersen, Tuuka Rask and Mike Smith. Linus has a better SV% than many of those, but in a small sample size, and IMHO it's hard to be confident that Linus will be better than any of those guys next year. Looking at current SV% leaders (minimum 15 games), the following goalies have changed teams recently: 2 - Driedger 3 - Grubauer 5 - Talbot 8 - Fleury (didn't change teams but has been available) 13 - Mike Smith 14 - Varlamov 15 - Lankinen There are good goalies to be had every year (which makes the failure to upgrade from Hutton for the past 2 offseasons, when his 1st year made it crystal clear that he wasn't good enough, all the more frustrating). You make a good case for keeping Linus, but if it takes a 5-year deal to do so, I'm out and will hope to be proven wrong.

Reino's results at center, should he stay there for the rest of the season, will be an interesting sub-plot in the drama of what happens with him this summer -- extension, trade, arbitration, etc. I think the Sabres probably want to play faster, and Reino at C is not conducive to increasing team speed, so I think his best use on this team is probably at RW. OTOH, Reino is a good, smart player and it's certainly quite possible that he demonstrates the ability to be a difference-maker at #2C. That would be a pretty sweet development. Among other things, it would keep the pressure off Cozens' development.

Respectfully, it's not the annual salary, it's the term that I and I believe others are concerned about. I have plenty of doubts about Linus, but I'd give him $5MM x 2 years tomorrow if he'd accept it. If it takes a 5-year deal to get him to keep bailing water from the Titanic in hopes that KA and whoever he brings in can fix the gaping holes in the hull -- that's an entirely different story. I don't think I can get there. I don't think anyone will offer him a 4- or 5-year deal. He hasn't done enough in the NHL, and there is plenty of Sabres stink on him. But someone very likely could offer him a 2-year deal, and he might have seen enough of the poopshow here to leave unless the Sabres' offer is much better than his alternatives. Good info. I hope you're right. As I mentioned I have my doubts about him but I'd probably, like others here, be OK with a 3-year deal.

Ugh. That stinks. Very sorry you had to endure all of that crap.

Marvin -- these are trying times, no question about it. We can still have conversations about how ill-advised the tank was that include good-natured gibes from the mods. No one is throwing beer on you, and even those who refuse to admit the tank was idiotic are not beating their chests about how smart they are and how dumb everyone else is like some of the WGR guys were doing at the time.