nfreeman

Too rich for my blood then.

Are you giving that up for Hanifin without an extension? He is 1 year from UFA. And how big of a contract are you willing to give him?

As I’ve said, previously, I think it’s 80% likely that there is no team out there that is both willing to give Helle the long-term contract he wants right now and that is a good enough team for him to want to sign there. I agree that for him, going to the Sabres, with either one year left on his contract or with an additional one-year extension is pretty much a no lose situation. Having thought it over, it is somewhat possible that he would agree to a one-year extension. It will depend on his and his agent’s evaluation of how much cap space there will be around the league in summer 2024 with good teams in the market for a goalie. I still think that, as great as it would be for the Sabres, a one year extension is less than 25% likely.

Well, if Helle would agree to a 1-year extension -- which presumably would be in the $9MM+ range to make it worth his while -- my willingness to pay a higher price to Winnipeg increases. I'm still not giving up JJP, Quinn, Levi, Kulich, Savoie or Benson, but I can see something like 2 out of Östlund, Rosen, Joki and their 2024 #1 plus a couple of lesser-but-still-decent assets.

You don't need gimmicks or announcers to keep you going any more. This team will give you what you need. That Rangers-Sabres game I went to in April when they were still alive for the playoffs and tied it in the 3rd and then won in the SO was thrilling.

Do you think there is a single message board for any pro sports team anywhere in which the offseason isn't taken up by armchair GM talk?

Much of this is fair, but I don’t think the plan is to have a few rookies in the lineup next year. It’s still pretty unlikely that Kulich or Savoie makes the team. So it will be last year’s rookies, with more experience than they had last year and another offseason of coaching and physical growth, plus veteran, playoff-tested reinforcements on D, plus hopefully/probably better goaltending provided by the One.

I agree with most of this, but as I've posted elsewhere, Joki is too valuable of an asset to give up for someone like Hanifin with 1 year left to UFA. And I think Comrie/UPL only gets traded in a deal for another goalie. I agree -- Gibson has $6.4MM x 4 years left. Even if Anaheim retains 50%, which they won't, it's too much of a commitment. I wonder whether KA would still be interested in Matt Murray (I doubt it though). He only has 1 year left, and I'm sure the Leafs want to dump his contract. OTOH, this is idiotic and annoying and not even close to what he said. Don't communicate like this here. And this was an intelligent and gentlemanly response. You should post more often. @Buffalonill -- pay attention. Well said. It is undeniably true though that if the goaltending stinks and they miss the playoffs by 2 points again, KA will be 100% at fault for not improving that position yet again. I think right now this is below Chevy's asking price and above KA's bid. I also think Chevy will end up dropping his price quite a bit and trading Helle sometime in the next month. I'm not sure KA will be willing to trade Rosen, who it sounds like had a really good 2nd half last year in Rochester. But I think he'd trade the 2024 #1 and UPL. Well, the PLD trade included an extension as part of the deal. I'm not sure there is a team that is willing and able to both pay a fat price in trade for Helle and to give him a big contract. If that's true, his trade return will be significantly reduced. Also, LA gave up a good young scoring center (who was still their #3C in ice time), a 29-year-old checking forward, their 9th-rated prospect (per the Athletic) and a 2024 2nd-round pick. That's more like Krebs, Jost, Rousek and a 2025 2nd-rounder.

Shake and bake!

From the Athletic's Winnipeg Jets writer (Murat Ates) yesterday: This leads me to a few conclusions: - No one has yet offered Winnipeg something on the level of Kulich or Savoie -- i.e. a crown-jewel-level prospect -- for Helle without an extension as part of the deal. - It's pretty likely that no one is going to offer a crown-jewel-level prospect for Helle without an extension as part of the deal. - It's pretty likely that no one is going to offer Helle a fat extension at this point. - Chevy is doing what he needs to do in order to avoid losing all leverage in trade negotiations -- i.e. claim that he would like to keep Helle for next year -- and Helle is, so far, playing ball by not publicly demanding a trade. - However, it's likely that the underlying facts have not changed -- i.e. the Jets are rebuilding and Helle isn't interested in sticking around for that. - So, what is most likely happening is that Chevy is playing chicken with KA (and any other GM who is interested in trading for Helle) -- but it's pretty likely that Chevy is going to have to reduce his asking price to account for the limited demand for a good player who is only 1 year from UFA. - KA knows this and is happy to wait until the price drops, even though doing so increases the risk of not bringing in a meaningful upgrade in net.

Regarding Hanifan, IMHO it's worth noting that none of him, Pesce and Helle -- all of whom have 1 year left before UFA -- has been traded yet. Cap space is tight around the NHL, and I would guess that is depressing the trade market for good-to-excellent players who are close to UFA and want fat extensions.

I said 1 season of Helle, not 1 season of Hart. OK. I don't agree at all, but I appreciate you staking out a specific position on this.

And are you trading Savoie or Kulich for 1 year of Helle, or is that only with an extension as part of the deal? And if you are giving Helle an extension -- are you giving him $9MM per year x 6 years? And thus writing Levi out of the Sabres' plans? Because that's what it will cost and that's what it will mean.

OK, but IRL, are you trading JJP or Kulich or Savoie or Benson for Gibson, Hart or 1 year of Helle?

Not sure where I saw it -- maybe on Twitter -- but someone posted that before Boston traded for Orlov, CC played something like 18 games with Hamphuis Lindholm, and in those games, CC's offensive fancystats were outstanding.

Like the other goalie thread: yes, yes and a fair amount.

How about a poll you hoser?

Wow. I really enjoyed reading that thread. Recommended to all. Some nuggets (recognizing that these are all message board Avs fan takes):

This is the kind of ill-conceived crap that you just all too frequently belch out onto your keyboard. It annoys everyone and detracts from everyone's experience on this board. It's not about being pessimistic about the team or any individual move. It's the wasting of everyone's time with utterly thoughtless takes. Eliminate these types of posts and everyone will be happier.

I voted yes, yes and a fair amount. I am not giving up a top-3 prospect (which I assume does not include Quinn, JJP or Levi, but does include Benson, Savoie and Kulich) at this point in time for any goalie in the NHL.

I would love it if they signed Tarasenko, but he's not coming here. The Sabres would need more than the 1 Russian they currently have on the roster to keep him out of Florida, California or NYC.

I do not think KA would give up Joki, who just turned 24 and who played 21 min per game last year and will play pretty close to that amount this year, for Helle. I think the absolute highest KA would go for Helle is the 2024 #1 and either VO or UPL -- and I kinda don't think he would do that unless Winnipeg's 2024 #2 were coming back. Well, this was a fair amount of pointless bickering. It's obvious that at the end of this year, one of you thinks KA will have 4 years on the job, and the other thinks the first year shouldn't count. There are valid points on both sides.

I think it's about 70% likely that the Sabres do not bring in a goalie, and they solve their roster issues by sending Bryson and either Stillman or Comrie to Rochester. None of those 3 is likely to be claimed, and if he is, it's not a big loss.

This is probably true — my point was just that 1 year of Helle isn’t the right deal to part with an asset of that caliber IMHO (and I think I KA’s opinion too).

I asked this in the Benson thread and I’ll ask it again: would any of those who were advocating to trade #13 for Helle now trade Benson for Helle? I’m assuming the answer is no, but if not please correct me. At this point, is anyone on board with trading any of the following for Helle (and I think an extension would almost certainly not be part of the deal): Kulich Savoie Rosen Östlund JJP 2024 #1 Of the assets on this list, I would only trade the 2024 #1 for Helle, and I’m not sure KA would trade any of them.