mjd1001

Ok, you lost Borgen. He might have been a very good 3rd pair guy, or a decent 2nd pair guy. Now go out and get someone as good as or better to replace him. If you are going to trade Jack, Sam, and Risto, you should get a lot back. A young D-man who is just as good as Borgen as part of that package shouldn't be too tall of an ask.

Might be a good idea to find a former player or coach who lives in the area (even if from Vancouver) and offer a position on the radio station. We know in Buffalo that many retired players love to get into broadcasting with their free time, it might be a good investment for one of their sports talk stations.

I agree. Maybe some of those picks weren't about making their team good today...but rather they have already had discussions with other teams about trading some of these picks for players that WILL help them. You know, get the draft done tonight...let everyone look at their roster across the league...and then start dealing, especially with the teams that might be willing to trade you quality players for cap room/lower priced players.

Either that or the other teams just don't care as much as the Sabres (and fans) do about keeping quiet about losing the 10th-20th best player on their roster.

I have this hope/feeling that if they take Borgen, a lot of people will be upset...but that won't last long because within a short period of time the Sabres will trade for or sign a D-man that fans can justify as being just as good as (or better) than Borgen.

I would have thought a lot of people in Seattle would be a lot more knowledgeable by now. They are SO close to Vancouver. Just as we can get games out of Canada here (hockey night in canada) I would think they can also. I mean, Seattle and Vancouver aren't that much farther apart than Buffalo and Rochester are (a little, but the northern suburbs of Seattle are just over an hour away from the suburbs of Vancouver.)

While this is interesting, I hope we don't have to wait long for any Sabres trades. Trades are what will REALLY get some good discussion going on this board....especially if they get another first round pick before the draft. That would add so much to Friday nights draft.

Actually, I kinda prefer this process of 'leaks' to the ESPN show tonight. I think i'm having more fun following the leaks and seeing the reaction and discussion now than I would be tonight. I'm pretty sure ESPN will drag out the broadcast and turn a lot of it into something most of us would roll our eyes at.

I posted earlier that I hope not. He certainly won't make-or-break the Sabres and his contract is a tad high...but if they are going with a super-young roster this year, I think he can be an important piece. Not to mention, he is like 4th or 5th on the team in even strength goals when he plays, and does it with less minutes than most other players.

I'm not sure that is his real account...might be a fake account?

with all the angst about losing Borgen, I want to say I actually hope Seattle doesn't take Girgensons. Is he paid too much? Sure, but he is the type of player I want on this coming 'younger' sabres team, and his contract won't be a major issue.

Looks like this has at the very least been put on hold... https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2021/07/21/ellicottville-brewing-labatt-brew-house-buffalo.html For those who aren't subscribers or can't read any free articles there.....Plans to take over the 716 restaurant have been put 'on hold'. I haven't seen anyone else reporting the story yet, but i'm sure that we'll get more information on this once other sites/news picks up on it.

I'll admit nobody here knows for sure, but I think there is a good chance that Eichel 'asked' for a trade, if not last year than this year? Is that a trade 'demand'? Maybe, maybe not. Do I know it happened? Of course not, but it just seems like there are conditions and chatter (media, canadian media, etc) that points in that direction.

I know the last time I tried out the NHL streaming package, you could watch in-market games, just not like (like a day or two after). Anyone know if that will still be an option on the ESPN version of the NHL package?

We really need to get to the point where actual player moves are happening. These boards had some members going at each other pretty hard in conversations that started with who they would protect and got way off topic. We just need some actual player moves so we can discuss lineups, analytics of the players involved....etc. Right now so little has gone on that we are just grasping at anything that is simply a topic to discuss, no matter how crazy it is.

For the time being, I'll trust Adams to make correct decisions as GM, over what myself and other fans want. He has more experience in the league and around front offices, and of course has access to tons and tons more information than any of us have.

I hope they protected Risto because they have a pretty good trade for him lined up.

Personally I think that IS significant. It is different in Hockey. 12 games are worth 24 points. 24 points is the difference between finishing first overall in the league and finishing 8th to 10th. 24 points is the difference between what is usually the last playoff team and the worst team in the league. In the NFL, 2 games means MUCH less (on average) in the standings than 12 games does in the NHL.

To me it means nothing at all if you trade someone and he wins a cup in the first year there. If the Sabres don't win it, someone else will and I don't care too much who that is. Its like people that say you can't trade him in the division or you want to trade him out west. If you could trade him to the Bruins and get an extra 7th round pick than you could by trading him to Vancouver (if the other parts of that trade were equal), then I would trade him to the team that gives the Sabres even the slightest bit more. If the ultimate goal is to win the cup, you are going to have to be better than everyone else, whether it is Boston, the Rangers, Vancouver, or L.A. The reputation of the Sabres is one thing and one thing only. How good are they? If the Sabres get better and who they trade Jack to wins a cup....great. All I care about is the first part of that equation.

I kind of agree with you. There are many people posting here who way overvalue what his return would be. On the other hand when you read stories from out of town those people are undervaluing him, many media members and fan boards wanting to throw a couple second or third line players at the sabres and a late first round draft pick. The real value is someplace in the middle. Many people overvalue something that is on their team but the truth is the very best year Eichel had he still was barely in the top 10 in scoring..... he has had numerous injuries....and his current injury is a major concern. Now might something really strange happen like the Sabres get what a lot of fans on this forum asking for? Unlikely, but it could happen. However, people on this board may have to come to grips with the fact that he's not the mega superstar many think he is and the return in his trade will be good but not off the charts great. The... "If you don't get the huge offer in return just keep him" crowd likes to say that, but the direction of team, what the GM wants and what Jack wants himself... That might not be the reality.

I've been struggling to put into words the reason why I'm okay with him being traded and why I actually want it. The first part is what you said, trying to read between the lines it doesn't appear as if he kind of wants out, the feeling I'm getting is that he really wants out, in a bad way. He probably kind of wanted out last year but it is accelerated well beyond that. The other thing is, for me to enjoy this team I at least need the illusion of players wanting to be here and playing for each other. Is that realistic? Not all the time. I'm sure a lot of sabers teams in the past had players that we all loved and we thought liked being on the team in Buffalo and it may not have been true.... But at least if that is hidden behind the curtain so to speak... I can still enjoy the team. Once it's out in the open and I know players aren't happy here I just as soon rather move on and bring in some that still give me the illusion that they want to be here. Does that make for a better team? Not really, but for me it makes a more enjoyable team.

This is re-visiting a topic that has been discussed many times, but it hasn't been brought up for a while. The 'tank' in itself wasn't the issue. The DEGREE of it, and how it was executed was. -The Sabres should have had a better/more robust scouting department all along. Mistakes were made at the 'beginning' of the tank, and the scouting staff was gutted recently. -Murray made some decent movies, but 'accelerating' the rebuild probably was a mistake. -It is a topic on these forums, but it 'appears' that when the owners 'meddle' in the hockey dept. bad decisions are made. No hardcore proof on this, and most owners will want to be involved in decisions....but many feel Terry make some bad decisions that he didn't have to be directly involved in. Any one of those would be bad. However, each one amplified the others and made them worse. You don't need a veteran coach. You just need a better one. You don't need the highest paid scouting staff in the league, you just have to make sure you don't have the lowest. You don't need an owner who is 100% hands off, but you do need one that has a little better 'luck' when he does step in and make decisions. All this will pass, this franchise will get better on the ice.....the only question is how long will that take and just how much better will they get.

I don't see a huge urge to move him. As other have said, he only has 2 years left. He SEEMS to be a good teammate. When he does play, he is actually pretty productive. You don't give assets to anyone to take him. If someone WANTS him then you can move him, but nothing beyond that.

3 way deal. Still hard with Boston, but something like Boston gives up some more 'veteran' pieces that the Sabres don't want (but still in their prime now).....to another team, then THAT team sends even younger pieces to Buffalo. I can't think of exactly how that happens, but it is more likely than a one-to-one deal.

I have had discussions on Twitter where I have actually agreed with what someone is saying. However, I still get attacked by them. Why? Apparently if you don't agree with someone word for word, there are too many people just itching for a fight. Either that, or they are just so eager to make their point that if anyone replies to them they barely read the reply they're just going to attack everyone and restate what they want to say. Besides a rolling news feed, it has the potential for great discussions, however there are too many people that just want to pound their chest and say look at me... Or I'm right and you're all idiots.