DarthEbriate

If we can get Ullmark 3x$3.5... Do what must be done, GM Sheevyn. Do not hesitate! Show no mercy him the money. Ullmark will go higher. Driedger is coming off a sub-$1M deal and had the benefit of a solid defensive roster in front of him. He's good, and I like him, but unless he'd stolen a series against Tampa, he was going to get stymied by his previous deal and get a 1B deal. On the other hand, Ullmark made Buffalo look respectable. He'll be like the most recent wave of starting goalies: Demko, Holtby, Kuemper, Markstrom. $4.5M minimum is my guess. And it only takes one GM to not be scared by the injuries and give him $6M like Markstrom got (it's unlikely, but... so was Skinner's contract).

It's a terrible cap hit. We all laughed at Montreal when Price signed the deal because it was too high for a goalie (we'd been seeing MAF, Crawford, and Matt Murray play well... but really just be passengers on their team's prowess. Some great saves, but not stealing series because they didn't have to.) That's where... MTL really has to entice me to make the move. And I don't think the Habs are willing to do it. Bergevin knows they're pretenders. I think Weber plays again and sooner than expected. Both he and Price were suddenly getting offseason surgery as they got exposed. MTL might be happier for neither of them to play again to free up the cap space. But I'm guessing they are on the ice in the season after this one (22-23). I like Tarasenko a lot. But not enough to pass on Dunn. Soooo many good young defenders to build around. Bean, Dunn... and they won't break the bank. Get a couple really solid veterans (Giordano, maybe a Shattenkirk/De Haan) to keep them company on expiring deals, and stockpile the younger guys.

I'm out of it for a little while and everyone gets delusions of grandeur (for Luke Adam). Looking forward to it. If it's too cold for speeders you take tauntauns. If your tauntaun dies... you're in trouble. Gotta be able to skate well enough to make an impact.

This is a good move for Seattle. Guy coming into his own, like an Ullmark. Not an overpay. From Florida's list, he's the best player with upside and production. I like Acciari's game, but there are other 3rd liners available who bring more. I could see a one-year on Stralman as a cagey vet who could be moved at the deadline, but there are so many other defensemen available (see other threads re: Borgen/Miller). If I'm Seattle I look at Montreal returning to the Atlantic next season and smile. This Habs team has pieces... but remove Weber or Price and rely on Allen? In Tampa/Boston/Toronto's division. That's not a playoff team. So I squares up to the Habs... casual-like. What's it worth the Habs to get Price's contract off their books? 2022 MTL 1st and 2023 MTL 1st? Picks must be lottery unprotected. When Bergevin balks I ask the same question for Shea Weber. Have a friendly discussion. I don't think Montreal does it, but I inquire. Maybe I can get a MTL 2022 1st and 2023 1st/2nd to take a Weber/Price. If I do, that's where I seriously consider spending the cash on them. Because the Habs are a 5th-place in their division even with both guys healthy in the lineup. So is MTL rebuilding (in which case they don't trade the picks) or are they deluding into thinking they've got a playoff-caliber roster? What does Bergevin think of his team's future? I bank on Seattle spending near to the cap on opening day this season (maybe less next season after some bad contracts come off the books), LTIR being available, and... by the time 2024-25 rolls around, the cap beginning its resurgence. The last two years of Price's deal won't be bad cap hits.

He is a UFA. But if Seattle negotiate with and sign him during their exclusive UFA window the next few days -- then he's the pick. All unprotected UFAs are in that boat.

Skinner, Okposo, Eakin, Girgensons, Oglevie, Dea, Fogarty, Sheahen, Caggiula, Smith CJ, Rieder Miller, McCabe, Borgen, Davidson, Irwin Hutton, Tokarski, Houser (and we hold Pilut's rights for trade)

If Seattle takes Borgen, I hope he does well out here in Seattle in the mold of Weber, but we Sabres folks have a top-flight d-corp anyway. If we keep him, the I hope he's a McKee complete with timely playoff goals in a Sabres uni. (Still hoping it's Miller and a 6th so the Kraken can fill out their prospects list with some JBot-special puck-moving d-man from Sweden.)

I look at Borgen as anywhere from McCabe to McKee/Warrener (all 2nd-rounders). He can skate well enough, he was starting to get more involved offensively in Rochester two seasons ago. He projects out to 3-6D, and can be the stabilizing force for a young puck-moving partner. The thing is... he's cheap now. And if we were to keep him and sign him, he'd be a) still cheap, b) getting better each season, and c) because of how he plays -- becoming a fan favorite. He'll give us 6 solid seasons, ala McCabe, before he becomes the really cagey veteran who gets $4M (like McKee or Gorges or Rivet) and then we have to let him go or trade him for a 2nd if we're missing the playoffs that season. If we lose The Concept of Borgen, we either get another Matt Irwin on the cheap, or we have to pay $4M for that grizzled vet that Borgen should become -- and still likely is on the 3rd pairing. At least, that's all my Concept of Borgen. We drafted and developed him... let's reap some of the benefits. Let he and Samuelsson become the next McKee/Warrener or McCabe/Risto (except better, because the team is hopefully better). All this novelization... and I'm still thinking we sweeten Seattle with a 5th-6th pick to take Miller who can be a PP2nd. JBot liked Miller a lot at one point and likely still does; Borgen was a GMTMer.

That's the key. Then Seattle needs to figure out what the Habs will give up to a) waive his NMC and b) keep Allen. Sure, he's not been great in the regular season recently, but neither had MA Fleury been before Pittsburgh let Vegas have him. Seattle needs to be on the pillaging path.

Re: Price. That's a gigantic cap it. 10M+ for years... but within 3 seasons the cap should start going up again. If I'm Seattle, I give MTL a call and ask for a 2022 or 2023 1st to relieve them of the burden of Price's cap hit. Or alternately, what kind of pick I can get for them to not lose the face of their franchise. See if I can make them sweat a little bit. If Seattle took Price and Driegder/Vanecek, their goaltending at the NHL level is set. And likely at $12M to bridge the backup... while super-high, isn't completely unreasonable. Montreal just did it.

Ah, yes. I'll edit to add. I like Ullmark a bunch, but this non-contact knee injuries scare the stuffing circuits out of me. In this day and age, unless the goalie is a Price, Roy, Brodeur, Hasek -- someone who has dragged and carried a team to a conference Final or further... no need to go to 7 or 8 years. Markstrom only got 6 last season, and it's unlikely any of the good-but-not-great goalies this 2021 UFA season get full-term contracts, either.

Absolutely, it did. We finished last in back-to-back seasons. Which netted us two 2nd overalls that we converted into the top-ranked centers (by general scout and TV talking head consensus) available at the time of our selection. And now... 4 times out of 7? seasons. We tanked and tanked and tanked most beautifully. We are a tank. A big, tall, walking tank. It's the next step after we've become the tank that looks like this:

Asleep... or just restin' his eyes. We could still protect Ullmark to prevent Seattle signing him during their exclusive FA window, then we can continue negotiating with him once the freeze lifts. Of course, there could be a handshake/knowledge between Seattle and Buffalo that they're signing Ullmark. In which case, protect Toker, who cares? But if I'm Seattle, I take Borgen, then sign Ullmark in regular UFA (despite possible competing bids) so I double-dip. Only being able to offer 7 years vs. Buffalo's 8 years is negligible. If I'm a GM, I'm not signing Ullmark to anything longer than 5 years anyway, given his [injury] history.

Red 10: We should be able to see it a trade by now. Red Leader: Keep your eyes open for those transactions. Red 10: There's too much interference!

Beyond the missed games, Eichel also has a notable number of games where he's played with noticeable injuries that impacted his game. All games this season (where he was essentially a shot decoy on the PP and had only the one EV goal all season, which was the beautiful drive to the net to redirect a perfect Reino pass and we thought "Jack is finally looking healthy again". He was also injured at the end of the 2019-20 season, with just 1 goal in the final 7 games of which we lost 6 in a row. Get a few more points in those 6 games and we'd have been in the bubble (with Ullmark back) vs. Pittsburgh instead of Montreal.

The danger is how much cap space will be available on playoff contender at that point. We'll only be able to retain half the salary. (And will we be out of it and selling, as we've been conditioned to be for the last decade, or on the cusp and buyers?)

Agreed, but I must also point out that when we were down 4 goalies to injury, late in the season and needing a 2nd intermission shakeup to earn a victory over the Islanders: the line shakeup moved Skinner away from #1 Reino, down past AMT, down past Sheahen-R2-Cozens... to the 4th line. Needing goals, Skinner was skating with Eakin-Caggiula. Reinhart collected an assist on the game-tying goal by Asplund, the GWG, and the insurance goal.

G Rasmus Korhonen. Definitely should be available later in the draft. Everything is proceeding as you have foreseen!

It was McKee, wasn't it? Just hated the way he played the game. 😇🍺

Matt Ellis wins the Jack Adams award within the next 5 years... as coach of the Sabres. He's the Matt Ellis of Jack Adams winners, as it were.

The villains are too numerous to count. Somehow.... _____ returned!

Ha! It appears Pronman forgot that JBot is now in Seattle and we can draft from the CHL again.

Precisely. Either move him now (maybe too close to the freeze for max value), move him on entry draft day, or move him at the trade deadline. The only other future is we make the playoffs and skate him into the ground as he becomes a UFA. And then watch somebody madly throw $7M x 7 years at him. Right now the buyouts, the trades... I don't want us to be the only team left standing when the music stops and we still have no goalie of value to protect and lose Borgen for nothing.

64 gazillion. Is that still played on a pyramid? Or are we up to hexagons? And now I'm going to listen to the $25,000 pyramid theme song in my head all day to drown out the desire to check Sabres news. For sanity's sake.

This will be a couple days long remembered. It has seen the end of Ullmark, and it will see the end of the Eichwalker (as Sabres). Potentially.