dudacek

I think this is apt in the sense that it’s what happened last year. I’ll let you know if I agree it’s a fatal flaw in a week or so.

Is there an argument that a sacrifice needed to be made to show the room that all the talk about accountability isn’t just hollow, and Jeff was the logical sacrifice on many levels?

The "must trade #11 at all costs" movement is over-the-top. The correct button is "trade assets that can help down the road for assets that can help now"

Agreed. Adams list of top picks is overflowing with those types: Benson, Savoie, Power, Quinn... And his trades, Tuch, Greenway, Byram... Wait, what are we talking about...?

Talking the Skinner buyout on Vancouver radio right now and comparing it to the Ekman-Larson buyout the Canucks did last year: costly, and for a useful player, but it opened up needed flexibility for them to make needed moves. Thought it was interesting, especially given the other similarities in our path compared to our expansion cousins Lengthy stretch of disappointing seasons A 92 point upswing followed by a drop to 83 and fan base ready to burn it down Core players having down years at the same time Firing nice guy coach for veteran old school guy Adding a mobile top 4 defenceman Serious upgrades to the bottom 6 (still just talk at this point for Buffalo) The Ekman-Larsson buyout is very similar to Skinner's ($18M over 3 years, bought out over 6 under a similar schedule) and the criticisms of his game/fit were similar as well. Of course OEL then went on to win the cup 😁

Not looking at him as the next Jarome, just as a rising prospect who fits nicely into our team DNA (plays fast, rush skills), yet also adds needed elements (o-zone tenacity, willingness to go to the hard areas) — in short, great fit and value at #11.

Terrible contract ends predictably. This better mean more than simply cost-cutting or some kind of malformed “addition by subtraction” scheme.

Iginla would be the home run pick for me but I struggle to see him slipping out of the top 10. 13, 12, 12, 3 and 10 gives me hope. But I’m betting at least one of the teams ahead of us loves the kid like Button does and pounces early.

Your attempts to try to characterize Byram as some kind of Marc-Andre Gragnani are getting tedious. He played nearly 22 minutes a night in the same lineup as Dahlin and Power and averaged 20 as a baby on a Stanley Cup contender featuring Cale Makar and Sam Girard. He led all Avalanche defencemen in even-strength ice time in the Stanley Cup finals. How, in any way shape or form, is a player capable of that redundant? The implication he’s a one trick PP specialist is ridiculous. He’s never got significant PP time in his career. What he’s been used for is significant ES time. He was 34th in the entire NHL last year in ES points by a defenceman, and 8th in ES goals. He was also 81st in hits and 111 in blocked shots - solid second-pair numbers in each category. The implication he’s a train wreck defensively is a function of a 15-game run at the end of this season as he adjusted to a different system, city and teammates while going through some form of family issue. For his career, his 5-on-5 Corsi is 51.1%. Maybe the trade works out, maybe it doesn’t. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that Byram was the 1st defenceman taken in his draft class and excelled in the Stanley Cup finals. One-way players don’t do either. Or that he’s proven to be a good all-around NHL defenceman since then, despite injury setbacks. He’s an elite skater, with great hands and he competes. He is more talented than Mittelstadt and has accomplished more than Casey did at age 22. Time will tell if that translates as a Sabre, or if it was worth the price paid, but let’s not diminish who he is already, never mind what he may become, or pretend there’s no possible way a player like him could help this team.

What gets me is not that Yzerman is clearing space or that Walman was the guy he moved. What I can't grasp is that they had to give up a 2nd to move him. He's an NHL player who can play on any team, and he's on contract that is hardly onerous. There's a piece missing in this puzzle.

Don’t know the prospects or situations enough to have informed opinion there, but that’s the type of trade you don’t see often. The value seems reasonably aligned with where Gibson was picked, so the why is hard to grasp. I can’t imagine the Sabres flipping Wahlberg or Strbak in that kind of deal just because. Got to be something more to the story.

Our GM thinks he’s worth a little less than Bowen Byram.

Our first look at what reliable 2nd-pair stay-at-home guys will get after the flat cap lifts. This is why the Samuelsson contract made sense if he can stay healthy.

Good deal for the Avs. Kept the term down in order to keep the AAV down, which makes sense in the Makar/MacKinnon window. Casey probably could have got $7Mish with term, but he'll be unrestricted at 28 and can probably cash in then if he continues his good play. And yes, I think he would have taken something similar in Buffalo. He's an easygoing dude who just wants to play hockey.

Lindy was fired because his best defenceman was injured most of the year, 2 more from his his top five left in free agency and got replaced with rookies, and he had some of the worst goaltending in the NHL. But you're right, Lindy is no Mike Keenan and he's a different coach from the guy who coached Jay McKee

He’s definitely got a presence very few other Sabres have had. Im also probably projecting how that presence overshadowed Darcy’s but never seemed to affect the boundaries of their roles, or their relationship.

Not saying this is you precisely, but I’ve seen a few posts that intimate Lindy’s goals and principles are different than those of the organization, coupled with a hope he will force the organization on to the right track. I haven’t seen any signs that Lindy and Kevyn aren’t on the same page, that Lindy got the job in spite of their differences, or that Lindy has usurped the power structure in the front office. I know people are going to read into things like a Skinner buyout as Lindy’s doing, but I’ve never seen Lindy as a Ted Nolan. He’s always been a coach who works well with his bosses and understands the coach’s role in the hierarchy. From what I’ve seen so far, he and Kevyn appear to be aligned.

Lehner ended up a mistake because of his personal issues. Based strictly on talent, he was worth the pick we gave up. People remember hating the trade when it happened and how bad he was at shootouts. They forget he went .924, .920 and .908 in 3 Buffalo seasons playing behind the likes of Risto, Bogosian, Gorges and Franson and a team that couldn’t score if their lives depended on it. He’s got a career save percentage of .918. The guy Ottawa took with that pick, Colin White, is a spare part with 44 career NHL goals and has topped 23 points once in his career. The guy the Sabres were going to take, Samsonov, has played roughly half the NHL games Lehner has since the trade and has a career save percentage of .903. The trade was nowhere near as bad as people made it out to be.

Bruins should get slapped by Gary. But maybe they were hoping to get the trade overshadowed? I think it’s a questionable return because they had to take Korpisalo and his contract back. The drop off from Ullmark to him is considerable IMO and that’s not a huge cap saving in return. But I guess that’s only way they were going to get a 1st? I’ll say pick 25 is about as much as legit starter ever seems to get these days though, so I guess the Bruins did alright on that level? Ive been saying for a while those who think goalies are going to get top 10 picks just don’t pay attention to the market.

A longtime Boston reporter just tweeted Ullmark to Ottawa is about to go down. Nothing on the return. Two teams we will have to be better than this year. Washington and New Jersey have also made significant moves.

I have absolutely no idea what kind of big picture the Sabres data crunchers have painted of Cole Eiserman. But I find him the most fascinating player likely to be available when they pick. I don’t think casual draftniks understand how prolific this kid is. And I very much want Sam Ventura to supply the proper context. Eiserman is the all-time leading goal scorer for the USNTDP. He scored 127 goals in two years in the same circumstances that saw Auston Matthews score 79 and Patrick Kane 84. I’ve seen people dismiss him as Oliver Wahlstrom. Wahlstrom had 72 goals - that’s not even 2/3rds Eiserman’s totals. It’s a different sort of ‘yeah, but’ but I see some Zach Benson parallels here despite the fact they are completely different players. With Benson, 12 teams saw the kid’s terrific all-around game and said “yeah, but” he’s small and not fast. With Eiserman, teams see his unprecedented gift for scoring goals and also say “yeah but” that’s all he cares about. Could this be another case of scouts missing the forest for the trees? I don’t have an informed opinion on how good Eiserman will be. But I remember when the Sabres made “a complete game” their priority and picked Ric Seiling right before the Islanders took Mike Bossy. I don’t want that to happen again.

He’s a bit of a risk and not the best fit, but agreed. This draft is packed with guys who might drop that could be top 5 some years and he’s one of them.

In a trade? Not a ton of comparables and the goalie market is generally soft, but: Husso went for a 3rd Georgiev for 2 3rds Vanecek for a 3rd and moving up 7 slots in the 2nd. Husso would probably be the best UPL comparable at the time of the trade and signed for 3x$4.75 as soon as he got to Detroit.

Ullmark was an unrestricted free agent and signed that contract after a bidding war. UPL is restricted.