thewookie1

I'd keep him unless wowed by a western team

Yes, I refuse to trade a former Calder trophy winner in division. Especially to a team known to bring the best out of their players.

That's mainly my fear.

I feel uncomfortable trading Myers in the division, I don't want to be haunted

Aah ok. I actually think Risto is better than Ekblad frankly. Zadorov is more of a toss up. Risto really impressed me after the whole minors stint not to mention the WJC game winner.

So far so good :)

I'd still trade Ekblad in the end, Risto is already a year ahead of Ekblad in development and Zadorov has already shown flashes of being great. Ekblad to me is lesser than either of those two so unless you can get a killing for Ruhwedal, Pysyk, or McCabe I'd just deal Ekblad to the highest bidder.

Hypothetical situation: This just in the Florida Panthers have traded the 1st overall pick to the Vancouver Canucks for blah blah blah. The Vancouver Canucks are happy to take from the Kootenay Ice, Sam Reinhart...... Buffalo is now on the clock and you are Tim Murray.... what do you do? Personally I walk over to Calgary's table and ask what they'd give me with the 4th overall to jump over their bitter rival Edmonton's 3rd pick to get Ekblad. Then sit down back at the Sabres table and wait for Edmonton to throw stuff at us. Like Eberle and the 3rd or Gagner, a 2nd rounder in 2015 and the 3rd overall. If they don't bite, trade the pick to Calgary. I'm unwilling to take Ekblad seeing as we already have a solid base of defensive prospects. But Edm and Cal would be pretty easy to play against one another

Sometimes one has to retreat when a position is untenable. Buffalo was stuck inside a ditch always being good enough to squeak in or just bad enough not too. We had a GM unwilling to see this problem thus a natural rebuild was impossible. We had to gut the team, and finding that many hockey trades would be ridiculous. Elite players never grace the trading market nowadays thus drafting them is the sole way to acquire them aside from Free Agency where Buffalo can't draw them for the life of them. What Murray did was a mercy kill to someone being eaten alive by zombies. The players aren't tanking, and the team is trying to become competitive through radical restructuring. I highly doubt TM goes in everyday telling the team to lose, he's going to help Buffalo hold the Cup rather than merely playing for it again

I thought I had put him down, guess the other M's distract me.

If both were interested we could hold up until the final seconds, take Ekblad and continue the discussion.

If Vancouver moves into 1 and takes Reinhart, I'd offer Ekblad to Calgary and Edmonton and let them get into a bidding war with one another.

I'd love to have Moulson back! Grab Ott too and we'll have gotten all the deadline trades' acquisitions for McCormick, Miller, and 2 2nd rounders + rent a beer/otter

Please name a few, I'm honestly curious who these players are.

Callahan..... :cry: Ott and Bolland could still be very helpful. :worthy:

We need to throw money at people to get to the floor and acquire vet leadership. And 4.5 in 4 years will probably be about right for a 3rd liner based on the cap inflation.

I wouldn't say, they're interchangeable. Quick certainly assisted in boosting the Kings over the Hawks, as did Lunquist over all but LAK. However, I think its a far finer line; as in there are elite goalies, great goalies, and pretty much everyone else. Really only the elite goalies are truly special (the Adrian Petersons of the NHL)but they are still dependent on the rest of their team's skill. An elite goalie and even a great goalie gives a team a safety net of sorts when they have an off night or sustain injuries. So in essence..... Great team, elite goalie = A+ Great team, great goalie = A Great team, average goalie = B Average/Bad team, elite goalie = B- Average/Bad team, great goalie = C Average/Bad team, average goalie = D

I pray it explodes into shiny fragments, I refuse to watch the team with a team purely made of rubbish and 2 or 3 young gems. I want vet leadership with a bit of skill still........ I'd offer Callahan three options, same goes for Ott and Bolland at somewhat lower prices. Callahan: 1x10 Offer to give him a boat load of cash and the ability to go to a contender at the deadline. (We can hold 50% of his contract thus making him only 5mil to another team. 2x9 We'll pay you big money now, and ask you for a hometown discount in 2 years when the team is becoming a contender. 6x5.5-6 You're coming here for the long haul and to mentor Girgensons in captainship Ott: 1x7.8 Give us leadership and grit, and we'll find you a contender again. 2x6.25 We'll pay you big money now, and ask you for a hometown discount afterward 6x4.5-5 Come be our go to grit guy and lead by example Bolland 1x9 Offer to give him a boat load of cash and the ability to go to a contender at the deadline. 6x5.5 Long term, help us get a cup and provide the youngsters with Cup Rings to oooh and aaah at.

Bolland isn't much of a hitter but I'd love him for a solid 2nd or 3rd line center. Interestingly enough, if we were to sign Callahan, Ott, and Bolland we'd have our 3rd line set up for years to come.

I could see Girgs becoming similar to Messier, maybe not quite as high in the points department but a great leader who never stops. If he's on the 2nd line, with solid wingers I could see him putting up Derek Roy levels of production. (While he was with Buffalo)

More like 2023

Not trying the season as a whole must be entertaining, but the games individually need to be entertaining. I'm not willing to watch another game that plays like it was under Rolston's tenure. Nolan helps a ton, but we'd still need an Ott/Callahan to give us more than the youngsters to watch.

Sign Vanek and trade him to NYI for the 5. Hahaha

Actually they have to be entertaining, seeing as this is a sport which you must pay to see. It is the company's responsibility to entertain us. Additionally the team needs vet leaders at very least, whom work their butts off. I will concede with your second point

Regardless, at bare minimum we need Ott or Callahan, even if it means a massive contract for 1 or 2 years. The Sabres are supposed to be entertaining, I'm all for tanking but at very least give me some players to watch aside from Girgs and Risto.