jad1

So when Adams said that they would match ANY offer, that really meant any number less than 6 or 7 or 8M? The unconditional statement has conditions? The problem is that Adams doesn't know what Byram is. He wants to play Bryam as a top pair D, or he wants him valued as a top pair D in a trade. But he doesn't want to pay him as one. He wants to pay him like a 4 D, less than 7M, but the trade value for a 7M player is what Adams got back for Peterka. A 5/4 defenseman and a 4/3 forward. And he wants more. Dahlin is the 1D. He makes 11M. Power is the 3D. He makes 8M. If Byram is the 2D, he should slot between those guys. So the question to Adams is, is Bryam a 2D? I don't think he can answer that.

The reasons I'm using 5 years is because you made the point that Bryam is willing to sign a long term deal with the Sabres (my point is that he's not willing). Adams said that he's willing to match any offer sheet in term in length or AAV, so I took that they are willing to match the deal even if it comes in at 5 years. So if Byram is willing to sign a long term deal, and Adams is willing to match an offer that COULD be 5 years, that indicates that both sided should be willing to discuss a LT deal starting at 5 years. Since there is no deal yet, my read is that one of the sides is balking, and I think that's Byram's side. He doesn't want to be here long term. I could be wrong, but I don't think Byram is signing anything, offer sheet or long term offer, more than 2 years.

Yeah, I just think that's the wrong reading on the situation. $10m isn't moving a needle for Pegula's lifestyle or portfolio. Pegula's net worth is $7B. $10M is .001% of his net worth. To add perspective, for a guy making 35,000 a year, .001% of his income is $35. It's pocket change. It would take a malicious idiot to deny success for his business, customers, and employees based on the perceived benefits of saving so little money when compared to the overall value of his business and portfolio. For all Terry's faults, I don't believe he's a malicious idiot. So why aren't the Sabres spending to the cap if they aren't pinching pennies? It's because they are run by a guy who doesn't believe he has to spend to the cap to win. Adams had made the case several times that he doesn't believe that success comes from spending to the cap. He's stated several times that there are NO constraints from Terry on spending. He's also claimed he knows how to win the Stanley Cup. Terry's problem isn't he's cash poor, his problem is his indefensible loyalty to Kevyn Adams and his incompetence in hiring a legitimate GM for the Sabres.

So Adams said that the Sabres would match any offer for Byram, which could easily be $8 or 9M, and had the cap space to back up that claim, but now is trying lowball Byram in negotiations? Big time offer sheets are usually capped at 5 years because the offering team, by rule can only spread the AAV over a max of five years. So if a team offers Byram a 7 year deal at $7m, the cap number is close to 10M instead of 7, because they can only spread the total over 5 years. So any long term offer to Byram would probably be a max of 5 years.

Sure it would be good business if you never plan to win again. Outside the Sabres, Terry is a decent businessman who believes that investment drives revenue, so it's hard to believe that he thinks cost cutting will bring him playoff profits. And I find the argument that Terry believes the NHL is a losing proposition in general to be unbelievable, as league revenues continue to increase, as evidenced by the rising salary cap, and the fact that his $189M investment in the Sabres is now valued at $1.15B. And non-controlling doesn't mean percentage. Even minority owners or shareholders have voting rights in a company. These "owners" have no voting or decision making rights for the franchise. That's what makes them "non-controlling." One more point to degrading and liquidating a product. Pegula doesn't have to do that with the Sabres, since they are worth almost 10x more than what he paid for them, especially since the team can be bought and moved.

He "sold" 20% of non-controlling interest of the team because the NFL changed its ownership rules to allow it, and it was a smart business decision. It's was a 'money-for-nothing' deal. It creates instant capital in exchange for bringing in new "owners" who have absolutely no say in the running of the team. The new "owners" are basically buying a vanity stock. I can't believe more owners aren't doing this. I fully expect the NFL to increase the percentage of ownership that can be "sold" so that more owners can easily and cheaply create capital from their investment in their team. And I wouldn't be surprised to see other leagues like the NHL introduce similar "ownership" opportunities. The coincidence of the rule change and the new stadium funding makes it look like Pegula needs the ownership sale to fund the stadium, but that assumption is wrong. Any owner would be foolishness not to take advantage of the rule change. Beyond that, there is no report or rumor that Pegula is struggling with the cost overruns at the stadium. The Bills, under competent front office leadership have not suffered in the least from Terry's commitment to the stadium. And the Pegulas, themselves, have not mentioned the burden of the cost at all. Pegula's net worth has almost tripled since 2020. They are not having difficulty funding their lifestyle, despite using that utterly stupid excuse to cold-heartedly lay off workers during covid. Don't confuse a PR f##k up for their actual financial status.

So why isn't the deal done? Adams has stated that the Sabres are reserving cap space to protect against an offer sheet. The amount they have open could easily cover $8 or 9M. And the cap is increasing the next few years. If Bryam wants to be here, he should be open to signing 5-8 years. 5 years is most likely the length of an offer sheet and gives the Sabres 3 UFA years. 8 years is the max. Both options give Byram protection against concussion risk. And a trade, at this time, is difficult. You point out the task of finding a partner with the need for a 1D and a PP1D, who has the right assets coming back. So the Sabres seem to be committed to a AAV and Bryam wants to be here long term, and a trade isn't possible at this time. A deal of 5-8 years with a $8/9 AAV seems like a no-brainer. So why hasn't a deal been struck yet? Maybe Byram isn't like Peterka, who was unwilling to give the Sabres any more RFA years. Maybe he's more like Reinhart, who was happy to give the Sabres his RFA years, but unwilling to give the them his UFA years.

I don't get this theory that Terry is cash poor. The Sabres are a small part of his portfolio, and they are worth $1.15B. So, IF he is experiencing liquidity issues that are crippling the Sabres, he could easily get a loan with extremely favorable terms (years and interest rates) for, say, $50M against the Sabres valuation to cover any shortfalls in cap, scouting, or fired-coach spending. I'm not saying that Pegula has loans like this, but rather that the immense worth of his portfolio gives him plenty of opportunities to avoid being cash poor. The Sabres aren't spending to the cap because they have a GM who has no idea how to spend to the cap, not because they are cash poor.

I don't think that Byram wants to sign a long term deal with the Sabres because A. It's the Sabres (he's played in the Finals and probably wants to get back there) and B. He sees himself as a 1D and doesn't want to spend his career losing power play minutes to Dahlin and Power. The best thing for Byram's career is to be traded to a (good) team that sees him as a 1D. Adams is having a difficult time doing that. (Not a huge slam on Adams for that; there are legit reasons that is not happening). The second best thing for Byram is to get to UFA as soon as possible, which rules out a longer deal with the Sabres.

I think it's clear that Byram will not sign a long term deal with the Sabres. He'll happily play out his RFA years, but at this time, he will not give any UFA years to the Sabres. And since Adams stated that he will match any offer sheet, it's doubtful that Byram would have signed one, because it could commit him to the Sabres for five more years. So instead of offering Byram $8M for the next two seasons, Adams is going to try to argue down the cost in arbitration. He has nothing to lose, beside p#ssing off Byram, who appears to be just fine driving up his UFA value playing with Dahlin the next couple of seasons. And if you're fed up with the Byram trade talk, you get a break from it until the trading deadline.

Cool, can't wait to see him fight on skates.

So what. He kept Armstrong, right? Armstong's record of failure for making the playoffs is second only to Adams. If Pegula sold the Sabres and the new owner kept Kevyn Adams as GM, would you think the new owner is good?

I'm going to choose neither.

Utah has made the playoffs once over the last 10 years (2020). Compared to the Sabres though, I guess that is an improvement.

Hopefully someone photographs Mrtka standing next to the shortest guy at camp. Those are always fun...