thewookie1

5x4.75 per Sabres

Zegras really doesn't interest me since he strikes me as a "nice to win" versus "hates to lose" kind of guy. However my max offer would akin to Greenway, Krebs, a Top 5 protected 2025 1st and a prospect If they want Benson, Quinn, or Peterka they can kick rocks.

Murray wasn’t a good GM but I think Botts is what effectively killed 2 separate cores. Botts either overtly or inadvertently caused a leadership crisis in his first year as the GM by not, likely promised by Murray, fulfilling ROR’s role as the next captain. Instead he wanted to make Eichel the captain akin to Crosby. Which obviously created some drama, perhaps only subconsciously, between Eichel and ROR. I don’t think Eichel hated ROR and I don’t believe ROR hated Eichel but I have a sneaking suspicion that deep down ROR was subconsciously angry at Eichel. (This coming from the fact ROR was apparently very unhappy when they skipped him for captain for Landeskog) The captaincy seemed to be an important factor to him and had he been given the C here without ordeal; all three of Eichel, ROR and Reinhart are likely still here. Botts gifting Eichel the C based on his talent only made him more of a messianic figure who couldn’t be touched. Eichel has leadership qualities for sure, but he was still too young and headstrong to be a good captain of a team. If ROR becomes captain without fuss, the hypothetical GM would likely move Kane due to his bad influence on the team. We want the players to follow ROR’s example and finding solid vet pieces to fit around the three would have been far more effective in guiding the young ones. Lehner is also a goner due to his drinking problem so the GM would need to redo the defense and goaltending. That would of certainly been a happier timeline

Oh, thought new ones popped up recently. 2 is a major no 3 or 4 would suffice

Where are these rumors?

That would be my guess; not that the monetary benefits aren't helpful too.

Presently the team salary is approximately 84mil with my previous UPL and Krebs contracts added in. Interestingly only Dahlin's salary differs from his Cap Hit 11mil Cap but 13mil Salary Technically Skinner is making 2.444mil instead of what was going to be 10mil salary

I still have a little hope that he hopes something shakes loose as we get close to the season. If we end up with 7mil cap going into the season, I'll be disappointed yet simultaneously curious as what was originally planned. Remember, Skinner's buyout saved us 7.5mil on the cap but his cap hit was 9mil. With UPL at 5mil and Krebs matching Malenstyn we'd have just shy of 7mil cap space. I have Reimer as the back up and Gilbert as the 3 bench man Had we kept Skinner and sent Gilbert down we'd be at about 220k cap space. So based on that, I think its likely that there was or is another intended use for the money. If it truly was merely to save the Pegulas cash; that is greatly concerning

I agree however I worry how Eichel might of responded; its part of why he had so much success in Vegas. Eichel had leadership qualities and seemingly solid work habits but his power in Buffalo likely got to head a bit. In Vegas he got a bit of a wake up call and learned that being a leader was far more than just being the best player. Botts was likely at least part of the origin of this issue since he came from Pittsburgh and seemed hellbent on making Eichel the C whereas I'll always believe Murray intended ROR to be interim captain until Eichel grew up more. Murray may of possibly all but promised the C to ROR when he re-signed with us akin to the rumors of the Captaincy having an impact when he re-signed in St. Louis. It would certainly make sense that having that seeming role yanked out from under him may have attributed to his "loss of love for the game." After all, ROR had played for a borderline bipolar Avalanche team already so a drop in team points shouldn't of shaken him enough.

You kind of need both but in acquiring a leader you need the right type of guys and they would need to wholeheartedly buy-in. Okposo was good until this year when he seemingly just gave up. ROR and Eichel got into a power struggle upon Gionta's departure and grabbing a random vet off the street doesn't do any good as a core team leader

Well he had three paths then 1. Go young and reset the core and try to grow them as a group 2. Try and salvage the previously built core although Risto wasn't good and Eichel wanted out 3. Some type of frankensteining of the two during COVID's offseason Options 2&3 carried heavier risks since 2 required the continued use of the old core as a component in some manner although it may have been toxic at that point. 3 is what one might call trying to thread a needle blindfolded. I'd also add that him wanting players who wanted to be Sabres isn't a negative; you need your core to want to be here and be skilled. Otherwise there is a high likelihood of mercenary behavior which would make defensive play almost impossible to gain buy in for. Effectively, the core needed to be Buffalo lovers because otherwise your foundation won't last long. One other thing, how in the world are you expecting us to pull off hockey trades with an RFA Reinhart, angry injured Eichel and Risto? We outright robbed the Flyers; I highly doubt Florida was interested in swapping a roster player for Reinhart and as for Eichel it was just FUBAR.

Adams was more or less stuck with this model. Murray and Botts had more or less assured that. Balance is ideal but there really isn’t a sure fire way to acquire good to great middle aged talent without either throwing ridiculous money or trading for them. Issue is trading for them, especially at that point would of only exasperated the problems since we didn’t have much of a pool to draw from already. The issue there is where are you planning to put them and how are you getting them with any semblance of relevance? To improve the team and gain vet presence simultaneously isn’t exactly a walk in the park. Jokiharju’s spot could certainly be used but who’s out there where’d we’d at minimum be staying level impact wise while adding experience? All while convincing them that they should devote what little remains of their career to help lead kids to the playoffs. We tried that last year with Erik Johnson. More or less you’d have to find a player with a Cup Ring on the tail end of his career looking to play for fun and enjoys leading while also still being a solid player. Effectively a Brian Gionta but a tad bigger. Honestly could we just go back in time and bring Gionta back with us, or even perhaps Vanek or Pominville. This is the team stage where that sort of relevant vet player would work well for the team. Zucker will certainly help if he still has a bit more gas in the tank. If Pavelski didn’t want to retire I’d say go get him but he started to show his age in the playoffs. If they want to swing Muel and Rosen to CGY for Weegar that might be helpful for this purpose.

Well it also isn't something to lose yourself over. It doesn't exactly make a ton of sense to make roster decisions purely off of age.

Who mind you looked much better this prospects camp and is still very early in his goalie journey. Goalies are literally a shot in the dark; there isn't a surefire method to finding a prospect goalie.

It was cheap but incredible engineering on a budget.

Kassian was rather horrible, 4th line player who besides one good playoff next to McDavid hopped around the league.

I don’t honestly have an issue with Dan. He isn’t good as a radio PbP guy for sure but on TV he’s fine. Ray and Dan get caught up in conversation a bit too often but with how this team has been I’m not exactly all that surprised. Sadly, gone are the days of RJ’s ilk and the old HNIC guys. Most newer school announcers are more akin to Dan because announcers nowadays are trained more to give a dictation on what’s happened whereas old announcers gave a more story telling feel as it happened.

He would with term which would be preferable.

Well we are pretty much screwed if he can't be at least a 2C so I'd much rather just assume otherwise. Muel for Weegar in some manner theoretically makes their team younger and solves our handiness issue

That's a move for sure

Trade a 3rd and 4th to WSH for TVR Trade Jokiharju to Anaheim for a 3rd If you want another random older guy, give JVR a PTO

He probably would but that doesn't fix his on-ice follies.

Pretty much this, his hang up was he’s small. He effectively is Cole Caufield all over again in regards to being a Top 5 player falling due to size. Benson needs to work on his skating speed but brings a full 200ft game which is incredibly rare for an 18 year old to personally value that kind of play like he does.

I just don’t see a spot that makes sense with Trouba since he isn’t exactly a solid defensive stalwart. Dahlin is our Top RD He could play with any of Power, Muel or Byram and have success. Clifton is a solid 3RD, he showed as much once he got to play on the right side at the proper minutes last year. He was a failure as a 2RD but is still a good player as a 3RD abeit slightly overpaid. Trouba at this point of his career is a 3RD much like Clifton only older and making far more money. If his analytics were flipped and he was an offensive black hole but a solid defensive player; he’d be a solid pick up for Byram or Power as 2LD. However his stats would say he’d be arguably better with a Muel type player himself and that doesn’t exactly fix anything. He’s a bulkier Jokiharju with less finesse but more physicality but nothing else.