Trettioåtta

I see your points. However, firstly I think there is a bit of love for these deals "because Darcy wouldn't do them" - just because something is different doesn't make it better. DR's issue was that he was good at acquiring decent assets but could never work out how to put the jigsaw puzzle together. He kept getting edge pieces (joke about lack of centres :P). This team has nothing at the moment, so we can kind of build from anywhere so I do like acquiring assets. Moreover, people on this board were so paranoid about our historic lack of centres that few seemed to realise we literally had no wingers that could possibly make the NHL outside Armia. So again, I like the filling in the holes. The Sabres D is a bit unusual last 2 years as we have, probably because of 06, had an obscene log-jam of defenceman. McNabb couldn't make the team because we had 8 veterans above him, all of whom were harder to send down than he (who is on a 2-way contract). He was a victim of circumstance as much as anything. Listening to Murray's press conferences has given me a bit of confidence, however, I think he is also trying to pick players who have dropped in their drafts, so in theory should have been higher picks, and thus we can potentially get a great player for an average price. But at the same time this means rather than trade for a Rattie or a Toffolli and forgoing some extra picks he is playing a riskier game. It could work out, which is great. But if it doesn't, the rebuild is getting extended by another year. I also want veterans on this team. By that I mean guys like Ott or Ehrhoff, not D'Agostini. Guys who can be trusted to carry the wright a little, even if ineffectual, so that the young guys are not smothered. I think trying to make a team of 60% under 25 is not a good method. As I said, it isn't like Murray was atrocious today, but he got seemingly average prospects/players/cast offs at average prices(at best). If I am going to pay the asking price I think I would rather have one or two grade A NHL ready players, than 4 C grade, but with potential of A grade 3 years off the NHL-players

Dangerous with the few days of chatting before FA. Or is that courtship period also after the draft? Also, would Miller agree to do that? Would he dick-over a franchise that loved him for 12 years, which is already bottom in the NHL?

The pick situation of Miller: Miller does not make the WCF and does not resign and is not traded nothing for 3rd (STL- 2016) Miller does make the WCF and/or does resign and/or is traded 2nd (MIN - 2014), 3rd (BUF - 2016) for their 1st (STL - 2014) Miller does not make the WCF, is not traded but resigns after the draft nothing for 2nd (STL - 2016)

Correct. Otherwise we use a third to move up one spot :P

I like his press conferences

You're also missing the 2nd/3rd conditional picks we send the blues if they give us a first

FTFY

A ton of dough to spend on who? The stars won't come here for 2 reasons, failure and Buffalo, which means we are left fighting for the middle of the pack guys. However, we need to get to the cap floor, so we end up over-paying for those guys. And guess where that leaves us? (slightly hyperbolic, but you get my point) I am not calling it a failure, I am saying on the presence of today it lacks direction, feels more like we were shuffling pieces around (trading prospects, UFAs goalies and picks for prospects, UFAs, goalies and picks), and is slightly disappointing. For this day to be a true success we need those prospects to work out and for one of them to become a first line player. I'm also not keen on tanking next year. Everyone seems to think tank means McDavid. To me it means finish with the 3rd overall pick and get Grigorenko-style player

So Murray did as well as Garth frickin Snow today :P I hope there was champagne handed round. Quite the achievement

I don't necessarily blame him, but it is on him. Wringing the best from the market is what good GMs do. Did Murray start with too high a negotiation price that a lot of teams didn't even bother to counter etc. I'm not saying he did, but I think from the results, he could have done better. I think McNabb is better than Weber. Especially the way Weber is playing this year. McNabb is a 5th guy who can give you a booming shot and some nastiness on the back end. Great for the playoffs. Overall the day looks like this: Moulson, Rights to resign Moulson, Halak, McNabb, McCormick, 2nd 2014 (LA), 2nd 2015 (LA), 3rd 2015 (BUF) for Fasching, Deslauriers, Nuevirth, Mitchell, Klesla, 2nd 2014 (WPG), 2nd 2016 (MIN) At best this looks like an 'meh' trade. But honestly, I think our giving side has the better players. This is in no way a defining move. We got no upper echelon prospect, and the ones we did get a years from the NHL. I guess I just don't see a real design here. This just looks a bit random. I wanted to see direction.

Is Pysyk NHL ready? Because Scott is getting ice time over him in the NHL. Disagree about Mitchell, but not mcuh else to say on the matter. Mccormick is a really good 4th liner and Mitchell is just meh (IMO)

I don't quite get the blind faith in GMTM. The guy has no track record as GM and his Sens team are not the healthiest

Today Murray has made three trades. In the first one we gave away a young lower-pairing NHL ready defenceman, two seconds for a promising but very very risky prospect and a guy who appears to be unlikely to leave the AHL. McNabb was better than the AHLer, so we traded from a B-grade prospect to a C/D prospect, gave up two second round picks for a guy who 10 months ago was seen as a very mediocre player. Admittedly he is having a good season, but Chechoo also had one of those. The Sabres have the best scouting department in the league, and Murray is meant to be a good talent evaluator; neither of these units decided that 4th rounder was worth an upper fourth or even a low third. We traded Moulson, and the ability to resign a guy who expressed interest in resigning (Hello Danius), Mccormick for Mitchell and something. In doing so we took on $2.5 million in salary from Mitchell next season. Mccormick is also better than Mitchell. So we gave them cap space, a 30-goal scorer and a better 4th liner for something. Realistically, even if that is a 1st rounder, that is a low return. Moulson should have gotten at least a first for himself, if not more. We traded Halak and a third for UFA Klesla and Neuvirth. In other words, we traded a better goalie, a third round and over $3 million in cash for one year of a career backup goalie. Add in that Neuvirth had demanded a trade from the Caps multiple times. They were desperate to get rid of him. We gave up a lot of picks and money for very little in return, in my mind

WTF??? We got another defenceman, who is a UFA and gave up a third for him?? Murray has had a shocker of a day

There must be lots of conditions on this picks(s). That is what slowed the Blues trade down was the conditional 3rd or 1st for nothing or 2nd/3rd

Yeah but we got players. That's all that matters

We took on $2.5 million salary for a worse player. This must be for more than a 2nd

Good trade. Nuevirth has another year on his deal and him and Enroth can split duties for next year. Big fan of this

Yes, trading early was a good call by DR/TM

Buyers market for the trade deadline Weakest draft in over a decade Great year to tank...

Good thing we got a player back in this deal...

Mccormick > Mitchell Moulson is worth more than 1st I wonder what this is

We came so close to getting Ovi for Miller :(

That was 4 days ago!! :P

If He also got Halak and Stewart to flip them. I was hoping for more of a statement move. Let's hope he had all the trades lined up :/