nfreeman

I think there is close to zero possibility that Simmonds is re-signed. But he is reasonably likely to add more value down the stretch than Sheary or ERod would've. I also think this was a low-cost way for JB to add a bit of leadership and grit and, in combination with keeping Zemgus and Larsson, send a message to the room that he's willing to invest in their playoff chase. So I'm fine with it.

So: VO-Eichel-Reino Skinner-Kahun-Frolik Vesey-MJo-Simmonds KO-Larsson-Zemgus Extra: Lazar Montour-Risto Dahlin-Miller Joker-McCabe I'm interested.

Interesting. So they did take a real swing at a 2C. I agree that old-school Tallon may not have wanted to trade him in the division unless the Sabres' offer was substantially better than Carolina's. Too bad. That would've made for an exciting day. Welcome Marty!

I have been pretty disappointed in the amount of wishing ill on people, in this thread and the Bogo thread, simply because those people didn't play as well as we wanted.

It does seem like the failure to trade Zemgus, Larsson, Vesey or Frolik means that JB is hoping to keep the Sabres pushing hard for the last 25% of the season, innit? I don't think Larsson or Zemgus would've garnered better than a 3rd-rounder, or that Vesey or Frolik would've garnered more than a 5th-rounder, but even lower picks can be useful assets. Moreover, it's likely that all 4 of those guys are going to be elsewhere next season -- so it really presents the question of whether the Sabres were better off getting picks as opposed to keeping those guys for a stretch drive that is pretty unlikely to yield a playoff spot. We'll see.

He's 24 and turns 25 in July. 5'11", 175 lbs. He played 2 years in the OHL (Sudbury, eh?) at ages 17 and 18, then played professionally in Germany for 4 years, then 1 year with the Blackhawks (37 pts in 82 games -- not bad for a rookie) and then 27 pts in 50 games this year with Pittsburgh. He also played for Germany 3 times in the World Juniors and for them in the 2018 Olympics. I wonder if RK knows him? Seems like a nice pickup for 2 UFAs with little value.

C'mon JB light my fire.

I don’t think anyone is going to give Vesey more than a 2-year deal or more than $2MM per year.

That was an excellent performance by the FNG Johansson. The same goalie who just made the AHL all-star team. Hmmm...

Let's go, Buffalo! Come on Hutton. Give the boys a chance.

So Linus got hurt 3.5 weeks ago -- has anyone heard an update?

It would be nice if we all took a step back from the p***ing contest here. Both sides have valid points.

Soooooo... The Sabres came out of the break with a real chance to beat some crappy teams at home and get right into the playoff race. Instead, they crapped the bed, fell out of the race and made quite a few of us come very close to deciding to fire JB. Now, they've won 4 out of 5 and, if they go 13-8 down the stretch, which doesn't seem impossible, they'll finish at DeLuca .500 with 90 pts or more and their best season since 2011-12. If that happens JB ain't goin' nowhere.

Correct. It was Ekblad and then a tossup between the 3 forwards. GMTM didn't pick the absolutely wrong one but he didn't pick the right one either.

First bolded: the #1 goalie issue is far from resolved. Linus hasn't shown more than maybe being a bottom-half starter. In evaluating JB, his failure to bring in a strong #1 goalie -- which is the most important position on the ice, especially for a young team struggling to escape from loserville -- is a huge negative IMHO. 2nd bolded: as I and others have stated previously, it would be nuts to assume that 2 of Mitts, Cozens and TT will be meaningful contributors next season, when none of them has shown the ability to do so to date. 3rd bolded: No. The complaints about JB arise from the fact that we are 3 years into his regime, the team still stinks, there is exactly one forward in the pipeline who can reasonably be expected to be a top-6 guy and JB has made quite a few indisputably terrible moves.

In all seriousness, there is a real chance this or something like it comes to pass.

Interesting.

Cozens centering Skinner and a good RW sounds great down the road, but JB should not be penciling that in for next year. He needs to find a quality experienced #2C this summer.

I think in evaluating the Sabres' drafts in the past decade, we have to remember that because the Sabres have stunk during that period, their picks have been higher in each round than average -- so the right comparable for the Sabres' first-rounders isn't the entire first round -- it's the top 7 or top 10 or so of the first round. Same for each other round.

This is obnoxious.

Mark Messier? Whoa big fella. That’s the kind of talk that makes the hockey gods decide to give us another 5 years in purgatory Eric Staal seems more apt than Jordan (even if also pretty optimistic), no?

Please cease and desist with this gif before others demand equal time and the poopstorm commences.

Yes -- that was one of them. Still quite rare though. Excellent post. Regarding the bolded, though -- the team is 5-5 since Linus got hurt, so it's not like they were headed for the playoffs and then the bottom fell out.

Well, if you're claiming unprovoked personal attacks, here are the gems you've recently graced us with in this thread: You need to knock it off.

I like Montour. He's an outstanding skater, has good hockey IQ, can play in every situation and is on a steady improvement arc IMHO. I think perhaps for some posters he's tainted by association with JB and the over-weighting of defensemen on the roster, but I think he'll prove out to be a very good player.