thewookie1

Captain will be either Tuch or Dahlin or even both.

He's 1 of 3 Sabres that have been at both of Ruff's appearances so I'd guess he'll stick around. However I would hope without question they have zero intention of paying him 1.9mil to be a solid #7. Jokiharju is more of casualty of circumstance than a bad player. He doesn't fulfill any physical role and his play with Byram was an affront to the Geneva Convention. I see him dealt to Utah for a 2nd or in some sort of exchange with Seattle potentially.

Technically the 1st HC fired by the Pegula regime to pick up a new HC job not named Ruff

Well, Power would be a non-starter to me I'd offer 11, Kulich and a mid tier prospect; he has character concerns that worry me.

I thought the rest of it was just the trophy presentation lol Wow though, if only the 99 playoffs had something like that happen

Unless the PWHL has a different interpretation of interference; how this goal counted is beyond explanation

Eh Dahlin looked fine in comparison to his countrymen.

We had little choice in regards to Borgen; that was an expansion draft casualty and we could only protect 3 Dmen or we would of likely lost Thompson

Frankly it seems the past 13 years, a number of defensive defenseman haven't quite worked here very well. McNabb never had a shot and McCabe was solid but wanted to go to Chicago for his wife. (Then Chicago traded him) Bush was a good big defenseman but his issue was he was a trainwreck in getting the puck up the ice

But if Pesce doesn't want to come here; it doesn't matter if he's a perfect fit. I fully agree with the take however; even on the HFboards and CapFriendly I shot down Mitts for Byram trades because Byram doesn't fit the defensive style we need; however that doesn't mean I necessarily believe Byram is bad. Sadly, while not all players have trade protections; a large number of players in the specific niche of style we are looking for seem to have them in droves. (Likely due to defensive metrics being harder to gain financial perks from and thus they hand out NMCs and NTCs to give more security to the player) Mitts likely sealed his fate when the "wanting a contract like Thompson and Cozens" rumors floated around. At the present cap; you can't exactly run 7mil per center 1 through 3. Mitts claims Adams never talked to his agent but I would take that in meaning serious negotiations. If he wanted a minimum of 7x7mil and we were unwilling to do long term with 7mil then a contract negotiation would of been a fruitless venture to begin with. On a side note, I do think Dahlin originally was going to sign 8x10mil but the Pesce trade fell through and Dahlin's agent probably played coy for the extra million while Power's agent used similar reasons to force the contract terms we got.

Devon Levi is their Carey Price on the horizon; or at very least what they are banking on more or less

oddest part is how obsessed that guy is in trading Shea Theodore

I would swear Dahlin & Power were solid, the issue was that Byram & Jokiharju were like 25 GF%

Power and Dahlin played well together; it wasn’t ideal but it worked fine. Neither Power nor Dahlin are pure offensive defenseman. Both are skewed towards offense but aren’t exclusively offensive defenseman akin to Karlsson.

Hate the Oilers because they were literally gifted McDavid for being inept and thus causing the lottery system to be implemented and modified by winning it 4 out of 6 years I believe. Meanwhile we have yet to move up once in a draft after 13 years of suffering. Dallas Stars the franchise is not going to get any sympathy or happiness from me. I do have conciliatory feelings though if they win thanks to Pavelski. Florida has multiple former Sabres but also resides in our division so eh. The Rangers, my only strong feelings I have is that it was absurd we lost a home game to “host” them at Citi Field

I don’t expect him to become Keith; but stylistically he is similar in terms of being a skating defenseman who plays dirty at times

https://www.capfriendly.com/forums/thread/837646?post_id=4915126 This would around my guess

Maybe just maybe, the Sabres are finally looking to win as a whole versus concerning about every minor detail. After all we can't see the forest through the trees.....

Would love it to fall this way so we could take Iginla.

Okposo was still under contract 2 years ago and it made zero sense to buy him out when he was the veteran leader. Girgs is fine, a fine 4th liner who made a bit more than he should.

Dahlin got a misconduct

Mitts himself now looks hurt; he looked lame on the last shift he had in OT and looks hobbled.

My guess is that he won’t take a step back but his production may not explode until about 21. What tends to cause a step back with youngsters are their tendencies being found out and exploited or a return to Earth after a lofty rookie year like Power did. As for Ruff’s structure slowing him down; it could but his style isn’t the same as the threat it would have on a Peterka or Skinner. Benson could just as easily struggle as thrive under Ruff since he already thinks the game in a Ruff-esque way. After all, Benson may not be big but he plays far larger than his size through an active stick, good positioning and having a definite pest-streak in his blood. He even throws hits time to time when he feels he can actually make a difference

Thorny has proven Eichel was better defensively here than the general perception but I’d certainly say he wasn’t anywhere near as consistent and focused on his two way game until Cassidy took over the Knights. It’s always fascinating how there is little in way to predict which players will be “playoff players” and which won’t. Size and skill seem almost meaningless in the odds. A larger player can be a great regular season player but fold in the playoffs like a paper airplane while a small speedster could suddenly elevate himself to a playoff star.

The 1st one is really bad; Bennett is no where near worth that much both in assets and cap. 2nd trade would certainly sting but at very least and potential assets, 3rd trade I'd use a 3rd not a 2nd.