Rasmus_

7.5 on Carlson, then what 4-5 on Reinhart, that takes up a bit of the 18M you're talking about. Now there could be more cap if / when Moulson, Bogosian, Pominville are looked at possibly as collateral buyout candidates. I still cannot see justifying paying all of that on a roster that wasn't even a sniff at the wild card round past November 15th. This team isn't ready to jump that far, that fast. There are fundamental flaws involved in the forward group, goalie play, defensive scheme and multiple other fronts. The coach may not even be the right fit. I would say if we were closer to 8 than we were 14 in the Eastern conference that Carlson makes a lot of sense.

We get our top end player, and that's no slight on Eichel. It's our turn to get the number 1 pick in a draft class that we so needed it. This franchise has been showing up for underwhelming hockey for 6 years. It is a market starving for progress. Look at when Eichel sold out the Harbor Center in minutes.

I'm pretty sure he won't be a Sabre come preseason camp. He's not a great fit long term in the direction the team wants to go. He'll easily be replaced if / when Asplund or Davidsson comes over IMO. As well as the fact that there are likely to be options in UFA that we can go after. I still think you look at anything and everything, the malcontents in the room need to go. This b/s about giving up on the season, is not acceptable. I get that it's difficult for a pro to go through 2-3 seasons of this, but it is unacceptable. In no means am I say take O'Reilly's first offer, but if you get something that sheds cap and you cannot refuse it, you have to listen to the possibility. The same goes for Risotalainen.

Neither, draft and develop. If you really want to go all in on defense, trade back up into the first round to procure someone like McIsaac, Wilde, Woo, or someone in the middle to tail end of the first round that you feel is a good fit. Develop them properly. The only way you're signing Karlsson or Carlson is if you've traded O'Reilly and possibly Okposo, or you've bought out Bogosian.

And for a late round pick I will take a 3 - 4 year peak of Ales Kotalik. That man was quite good for a short bit of time in Blue and Gold.

The structure of the team runs through Eichel, O'Reilly, Mittelstadt, Rodrigues / Asplund etc right now. Also, Reinhart is not going elsewhere. The defense does need to be stripped. Starting with Nelson, Antipin, Guhle, and if we ultimately choose to ship or keep Ristolainen. The rest of the team needs to be stripped IMO.

Awesome to see Vegas doing what I had questioned and that was succeed in playoff season. Well, they're about to knock out one of the teams I thought could handle them in the playoffs. GO KNIGHTS!

1: This depends on the market to me. Not trading half of my team for Karlsson, and Carlson is re-signing in Washington or going out west. 2: 1: Dahlin, 2: Zadina, 3: Dobson, 4: Svechnikov, 5: Boqvist, 6: Tkachuk, 7: Bouchard, 8: Wahlstrom, 9: Hughes 3: Daniel Sprong from Pittsburgh 4: Calvin de Haan, LD 5: Riley Nash 6: Cale Morris

Holy sweet jesus.

The only way I'm trading him in division is if it's detrimental to the core of Montreal. It is going to take Poehling, 1st in 2018, 2nd in 2018 or 2019 and another piece. It's going to hurt them to make this deal. If we're going to purge, then purge all the way. Burn it out and make it a clean break. For all those that are sitting here talking about Ryan O'Reilly, I understand how important to the team. That he is the best two way player. However, in order to tear down the roster, you have to include pieces other teams want. Okposo, Bogosian, Moulson, Pominville, Beaulieu have zero value. Eichel, Reinhart, Mittelstadt, Scandella you aren't trading. That leaves, O'Reilly, Ristolainen, Rodrigues, Bailey, Baptiste, Nylander, and other secondary pieces.

He's a great fit in SJS. I say there is a good amount of likelihood that he signs there. I doubt Joe is going to come back and insist on 8M per season again. I would think they re-sign him for sure.

Botterill has already stated that he's looking to add speed. Yes, Vanek would be a benefit on the PP for either Jack or ROR, however at the same time this team needs to add youth and speed to the line up. If Vanek comes in on a one year deal, great. If he's looking for more than that, pass.

If it's one of our goalies with Ullmark, may it be Johnson. If it's not Johnson, then Hutton, Lehtonen (on right cap term), Khudobin, in that order. There will ultimately be other options via trade. I do not want to trade for a young goalie or a mid range stop gap. Sign a reasonable back up, or sign someone in UFA. Whether it's in the NHL or outside of the NHL. Bye Lehner, it's been nice. We should have had Konecny.

Also, this entire thread is cynicism correct. Harrington is a blundering maroon who is right twice a day because he's a broken clock.

The Sabres opened, and closed like a bad hand of poker. 7-2 off suit. Crushed by the inside straight of the TBL. This just in: Zach Bogosian named captain of the ECHL franchise where he will stay for eternity! Jordan Nolan, retires to go play pro with Daddy in Poland. Lastly, the Sabres walk up to the podium tripping up their speech selecting Raymond Bourque with the first selection in the draft. Another year another sound bite. Bring it on! Go Sabres!

Daniel Sedin with 2 goals, including an overtime winner to call it a career in his last home game. Wow, that was such a good ending. Small things at this point of the pointless calendar. Now it's time to wait the 22 days until the Sabres are "All in for Dahlin".

How about the rest of the awards? Team MVP: Jack Eichel Unsung Hero: Marco Scandella Rookie of the Year?: Viktor Antipin Play of the year?: Honestly, the Nashville game - Five assists for Eichel, Hat trick for Sam and 2 goals from Okposo Performance of the year? the Ullmark Shut out against Columbus Goal of the Year? Every goal against Toronto and Ottawa ( both of them) Best Acquisition? Marco Scandella Worst Acquisition? Jordan Nolan for forwards and Nathan Beaulieu on D.

I agree with you on all of this except Rodrigues, he showed better than the rest of these listed players when given proper line mates and ice time. Josefson, Pouliot and Nolan are gone. Girgensons and Larsson on the block. With Wilson being a complimentary bench / 4th line player. I do believe Baptiste showed enough with his skating and hustle to warrant starting the season on the third or fourth line.

We'll see. Could this finally be the draft that we reverse the curse. As in, be screwed out of the top spot ;) Honestly, as long as it's defense, I'm good. I like Zadina and Svechnikov. But, for the love of christ we need to start drafting and developing serious top end talent on the back end. Please stop shooting this teams future / near present in the foot.

I definitely noted that he's valuable and while I don't want him to necessarily go, it seems that there might be a slight shift in the room. Not saying which side he's on in the room. However, they need to look at everything short of trading Eichel / Mittelstadt / Ristolainen. IMO. For the moment, sure. However, once he's back on the books, what's the point. He's been riddled with injuries and the negatives outweigh the positives.

First thing's first: Cut bait Buy-out Bogosian: This needs to be the first act of contrition. Getting him off the roster. Not that I dislike him as a player, but when you cannot stay on the ice for more than a 10 game stretch and you've had multiple differing injuries it hurts the teams ability to go out and find suitable options with that kind of cap hit. Move on. Trade or Buy out Pominville: This is a contingency, based on the ability to find a spot for him. I'm "okay" with holding onto his cap for the season as it's in the last year. However, his skating continues to drop steadily. It's time to go younger, and even if that means a learning curve and a slower ability to product points in Baptiste, it's time. Let Nolan, Gorges, Josefson, Pouliot all walk into free agency. Do not tender Lehner a contract. Move on while it's available with no sentiment or attachment. Lehner showed that he had next to no value at the deadline. So there's not much sense in keeping him around another season. Move one of Larsson or Girgensons: It's time to move on from one. Pick your preference. Neither is a bad secondary player. However, at this point we know what you are. Make a hard decision on the leadership group: Ryan O'Reilly, Kyle Okposo. While we're likely stuck with Okposo, O'Reilly will have a ton of value. You cannot really replace his minutes, forward draws and steady consistent two way play. However, at this point there just needs to be a sharp swift decision if he's here long term. Re-sign: Casey Nelson, RD: This was proof that some players move at a slower pace, and when given opportunity that they can thrive. There still are some things to clear up (more so on the defensive side). However, you saw some glimpses of a top six defensemen in Casey this year. He shouldn't be hard to retain, however retaining him is a key. Don't let a positive go.

I just keep seeing Derrick Pouliot. Yes, I know he's more dynamic, but he's a tease play. He's got a questionable shot and his defensive game is a major liability.

There couldn't be two classier quiet players in the league. Such a pleasure to watch as a pure hockey fan!

Ugh. Great, well that's one more turd on our roster for tonight.

As long as I see Rasmus bury Kadri in the boards, I'm good with any outcome.