nfreeman

I think it was the bolded. The Sabres are a terrible team. What playoff team was going to look at their lesser players (which their UFAs undoubtedly were other than Kane) and say "I want that guy"? I posted this elsewhere, but it's relevant here: Travis Yost of TSN was on with Schopp on Friday and said there was no interest around the NHL in Lehner. Lehner stinks, but he is a starting goalie. If no one wanted him, it's pretty GD likely that there was also no demand for Gorges, Pouliot or the rest of the dreck. You have absolutely no way of knowing any of this -- and the available evidence -- i.e. what actually happened -- squarely contradicts your position. Even if JBott's initial asking price was higher -- that is just negotiating tactics. Obviously the price dropped and ended up where it was. No NHL GM is going to say "How dare he ask for that much last month. Just for that, I'm not going to trade for Kane now even though the price is lower."

There is zero evidence in the piece you linked that the Sabres could've gotten more for Kane.

It’s just much easier for a troll to accuse people of racism than it is to put the time into real thought and analysis. “Different outcomes for black person A and white person B? It must be racism!” Weak.

I generally agree with this. However, I don't think we can discount the possibility that Kane has certain qualities that made the Sabres not interested in keeping him under any circumstances. If that was the case, then their only choice was to trade him for the best return they could get. Interesting. I thought it meant that if they finish out of the playoffs next year and are in the lottery then the Sabres don't get it. But your alternative makes more sense (and is better for the Sabres).

1 -- Your response is quite fair, but at the same time there are 6 of these guys, 2 of whom were JBott's pickups (CJ and DOR) and 1 of whom is a former lottery pick. With luck 1 of them could become a good NHL player. 2 -- Guhle was drafted in 2015, so his career seems to be following the normal trajectory -- 2 post-draft years in juniors and 1 in the A. It seems like he's highly thought of in the organization. 3 -- I agree that counting on a rookie to carry the mail throughout a season is unrealistic. This is just one of the irons in the fire though. 4 -- Similarly, I agree that counting on a true rookie in his draft year is unrealistic. Again, this is just one of the irons. 5 -- The law of averages (hopefully!) says Bogo will stay healthy sooner or later. 6 -- It's possible McCabe's shoulder injury held him back this year. We'll see. He's shown plenty of potential but next year is an important one for him. 7 -- There seems to be a good amount of optimism on Reino. 8 -- I understand your skepticism about JBott's endorsement of ROR, but I too expect him to be here. 9 -- I don't think the Sabres will get JT or one of the top 3 or 4 UFAs, but I do expect them to bring in an quality player. Yes indeed -- I should've included him in the "out of the gate, not just garbage time" list. And I think he's more likely than Reino to play well out of the gate.

Why does this bother you? Do you not think more changes are needed?

IMHO, to be competitive and in the playoff bubble neighborhood, they need good goaltending, plus some luck, which could come in the form of any or all of the following turning into impact players: - 1 or more of the Rochester forwards (Bailey, Baptiste, CJ, Nylander, Fasching, O'Regan) - Guhle - Mittlestadt - This year's #1 - Bogo - McCabe - Reino -- out of the gate, not just during garbage time - ROR -- out of the gate, not just during garbage time - FA pickup Obviously not all of those will happen, but a few certainly could. And good goaltending would go a long way. It's possible.

There's been a bit of a wee-wee contest today on Twitter involving Harrington and this guy: https://twitter.com/MikeStrawMedia, and IMHO Harrington comes across like a bozo -- including an outright lie about what Straw reported about Lehner.

I saw this too. I think there's a very good chance that it happens. Then we just need SJ to fall off the table next year.

This is true, but... This is the troof. This too. Racist.

Yes indeed.

As to the first bolded: it is impossible to know this. As to the 2nd bolded: why would any other NHL team give up anything for the bottom of the barrell on the 2nd-worst team in the NHL?

A lot of teams are going to take shots at JT. SJ could certainly have JT at the top of their wish list, but that doesn't mean they have no intention of re-signing Kane, especially if JT goes elsewhere and Kane plays well for them. And why on earth would SJ give up more than they need to for Kane? Clearly what they gave up today was enough to get him.

Why do you think this? Yes indeed. I've wondered this myself.

I think they would've looked much worse -- as in a bunch of bozos -- if they hadn't traded him today and then he sailed off on July 1. This. There's a decent possibility that they'll end up getting around the #18 pick in the 2019 draft for him. That's not nothing. And the prospect they got is the kind of fully-seasoned prospect that JBott likes. There's a solid likelihood that he replaces Larsson or Zemgus or someone like that in the bottom 6 and delivers a significant upgrade. More importantly: since they apparently decided they didn't want him back, the only option they had was to take the best deal they could get for him today. Now, you could argue that they should've kept him -- but they have quite a bit more info than we do in determining the answer to that question. Ooooooooooohhh. You got me there. Kulikov remains one of my biggest "snakebit Sabres" regrets. I liked what I saw out of him before he got hurt, but that injury completely derailed his season. Add his unhappiness with a dysfunctional situation and the result was him being eager to leave and the Sabres getting zero out of that deal instead of a viable partner for Risto.

I will be interested to see how Kane does in FA. If he doesn't get a fat long-term deal, it will support the position that his value today wasn't very high.

This sounds right.

That's not at all what he said. Good to see you sir and good stuff here.

I'd be happy to see this, but I think it's highly unlikely, esp. if it's true that the Sabres never approached him about an extension (as was reported in TBN today). Just saw on twitter that a conditional pick can't be re-traded until the conditions are met -- so the Sabres can't trade it until SJ is eliminated from the lottery next season (if that is indeed the condition).

The 1st-rounder being in 2019 kinda stinks, esp. if it's lottery-protected.

Here's O'Regan's page from eliteprospects: http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=121936 - Irish name but born in Germany - Just turned 24; 5'10", 176 - Played with Eichel at BU - Played 4 seasons at BU, then last 2 mostly in the A - Pretty good stats in the A

Well, at this point, it's kinda hard to see Pouliot, Gorges or anyone other than Kaner getting traded.

Very nice. 90 min to go...

Harrington, who I don't think has ever broken a Sabres story or really done anything other than throw a temper tantrum at a presser and make the same observations about the team that any fan could make, has zero business sneering at non-MSMers for not being "journalists."

Lehner telling reporters "I don't want to be traded" is like me telling TMZ "I don't want Scarlett Johanssen to come to my house in her underwear."