dudacek

Is it possible the Timmins trade was half a deal? As in Pit wanted the pick, but couldn't move Rust until tomorrow? So there's a Rust for ??? coming soon that would make that deal make a little more sense?

Perbix, Ryan Lindgren and Nate Schmidt are veteran LHDs that I could see the Sabres kicking tires on if they move Byram. Brandan Tanev in the hard-to-play-against forward category? Edit: correction, Perbix is a righty.

None of them seem like reach for the stars players, but they are literally #4, 7 and 9on the Athletic's big board. Slim pickings out there. By the way, qualifying offers are due sometime today I think? Any word on the Sabres?

I'm seeing 8 years, $6.1M?

Every year since Taylor Hall, the Sabres have made some signings. Every year since Taylor Hall, they have been of largely of the Ilya Lybushkin variety. What are your hopes and expectations?

Lebrun apparently reporting that Andersson will only extend with Vegas. *****, it's so easy to hate Vegas. Sabres not among the teams listed. Ottawa, Columbus and the Kings were, but Andersson said no to an extension.

He's so opposite of what this team needs.

Don't get me wrong; he will fill a hole in the top 6 better than the current candidates will; I'm not against adding him. I perceive his point totals to be inflated by opportunities he wouldn't be getting on better teams and he's softer than I would like for the current state of the Sabres. But mostly he's 33 and coming off a good season in a limited UFA market. I think he's going to both regress and command more than I want to pay.

I think Marner's desire to be on pedestal without the pressures that come with it precludes him going a) to a small stage b) a place where he will have to be the guy who turns things around Dude seems to be a frontrunner and will go to the place that fits his personality. Vegas is perfect. *** On a different note, have we seen anything that indicates the bold was the reason for JJ's heel turn, or is this just an assumption based on the Eichel/Reinhart experience? I've not seen any statements from Peterka or his camp. Remember Eichel's first three years the Sabres finished 81, 78 and 62 points. Neither he, nor Sam asked out, both re-signed, Jack for term and Sam wanted term. Peterka's teams went 91, 84 and 79. His "suffering" has been nowhere near ours.

More evidence of what I was talking about in the other thread. Also evidence that Adams wasn't necessarily wrong with the concept of the Samuelsson contract, he was wrong about the player. Not a huge fan myself of the player, but as I mentioned in the wrong thread somewhere, he's strong in the playmaking aspect the Sabres lack up front.

Looks like if you're playing pro, you can stay home. Leinonen and Ratzlaff the only players there under contract. And the goalie group is the most interesting, when you throw in the two new kids and Leenders. Helenius, Östlund, Wahlberg, Neuchev, Kulich and Benson are all guys who might have been there under other circumstances, but there's no need. Still, it's not going to take long to fire up the worry machine over the fact the Sbres have only picked 2 forwards of note (Helenius Zeimer) in the past two drafts. Most interesting absence: Maxim Strbak

As the roster currently stands, the biggest crying need is a playmaking top-six forward. On the free agent front, i was thinking Patty Kane might be a good one, but he had just 17 primary assists. Best bets are Mikael Granlund with 31 (17th in the league) while Ehlers had 27 Other guys potentially available: Necas: 32 Zibenajad 31 Danault 28 Rust 23 Rossi 22 If Byram's gotta go and the Kings are interested, Danault is somebody I'd be looking at. Only 21 NHL forwards had 30 primary assists Jason Zucker(!) led the Sbres with 24. Never would have guessed that. Not sure it's a stat I'd want to invest in heavily looking at the league leaders, but interesting and relevant.

The other thing to consider in the way the Sabres are built at the moment is that they have 3 elite passers on the blueline that other teams don’t have. They’re kinda built like a basketball team where the centre’s role is to defend and finish and the guys at the back are in charge of distributing.

Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson aren’t playmakers in the Dale Hawerchuk/Tim Connolly sense that they look to pass, but they are in the sense that they get the puck up ice and to the net and they create space and opportunity others can exploit. Peterka was the same way Zach Benson and Jack Quinn aren’t there yet, but they have that skillset. Norris and Kulich need those types of wingers to be successful, but the flip side is that they do complement those types of wingers.

I think of this when people float the idea of Brock Boeser. He’s a finisher who requires a playmaker. I can’t think of a worse fit for the rest of our top six 6 at the price he’s going to demand.