Thorner

We aren’t going to “feel” anything we give up in that Helle deal. We probably will feel a lot of joy in our bones though, as we enjoy the fun season the fans have so thoroughly earned through this long journey through the desert. I’d imagine the vibes and aid to culture that season provides, both in terms of camaraderie in the room and perception league wide outside of it likely pays dividends in KA’s dealings throughout the league, afterwords, too. Jack had the success this year where the league took notice and said, “ok, that’s why you fought for what you fought for.” When the GM literally states that guys who “want to be here” is such a key focus of his plan, creating a situation that actively aids that goal is being undersold imo

What did Chad deal Peterka for?

He’s definitely not a yes man. He got fired from Buffalo because he wouldn’t fire the guys KA would

Good hire for Pittsburgh I think

I don’t think a trade is necessitated this offseason, but my point is that imo one is necessitated at some point because not all of these prospects in our loaded system are going to make it. I didn’t make that point in isolation: my main point was timeline. 13 if selected isn’t going to make an impact for years. In that entire timeframe, from now until then, we are going to be dealing out a prospect or two. This pick is just one guy who will arrive one year sooner than the guy we pick the following year. That one year sooner arrival isn’t important to me when the the system isn’t waiting on anything

Man PLEASE Skinner - Thompson - Tuch Peterka - Cozens - Quinn Mittelstadt - Krebs - Okposo Girgensons - Kulich - Greenway Samuelsson - Dahlin Power - Acquisition Guy Stillman - Jokiharju Hellebuyck (45 gp) Levi (35 gp) ...this team would SLAP. My offseason plan would look like this cause we’d win a lot of games next year. Winning fun. YMMV.

Love it.

We don’t have the prospect depth to merely “survive” a trade, we have the prospect depth that necessitates a trade. Hellebuyck is way better than you think he is. I can tell from your usage of things like “above average” goaltending. And “fickle”. Hellebuyck is one of the best players in the league, watch a lot of him first hand. I suppose I just don’t see a one year term as a “rental” at all. The league is measured in seasons. It’s a full season. I agree with dudacek that I’m slightly surprised at the lack of desire to put, really, any value on what next season could be. It’s a very justifiable price to pay when we don’t have to sacrifice really much of anything long term and actively put ourselves in a position where we very likely could have a special season. Isn’t that what it’s all about? Make the memory!

Go Merks

well hey now I may be impatient, and I’m certainly a fool. But I’m absolutely not a..wait, what was the 3rd thing you said originally?

Smythe odds heading into final https://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/amp/nhl_stanley_cup_final_bets_a_look_at_conn_smythe_odds/s1_13132_38869862 1: Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida (+210 DK) 2: Matthew Tkachuk, Florida (+360 FD) 3: Jack Eichel, Vegas (+425 DK) 4: Jonathan Marchessault, Vegas (+700 DK) 5: William Karlsson, Vegas (+700 DK) 6: Adin Hill, Vegas (+1200 DK)

Let me break it down a little further: we’d be trading a *draft pick*. You get a new one of those......every year! For free! The league just.. gives it to you. Our system is *loaded*. Already to the extent that it’s a *guarantee* that not all of the players in it are going to be able to play for the Buffalo Sabres. What we are doing, when trading a draft pick, is merely, essentially, trading back one year in terms of talent arrival. Adams will make another great selection next year that will merely enter our already overloaded prospect talent pool one year later than the pick THIS year, would have. Which is YEARS away. We’d be swapping getting a much less important talent influx at F, a few years down the line, a year sooner, for a MUCH LARGER, defined talent increase, for right now. It’s a no brainer. It’s 2023. The valuation of assets has changed. It’s time now. It used to be important to never miss an opportunity to add to the system because you *needed the system to reach critical mass*. Adding another pick adds much less value, now than it did when we had a barren system that NEEDED through law of averages to reconstruct the NHL roster. It’s a hack: we can totally fortify our roster for next season, that’s ready to win, by dealing that pick. That’s the opportunity granted to us because of the great situation KA has put us in.

Let’s just offer them VO and be done with it We have to be sure to both get one of the best goalies in the league for next year, but pay so little so as to feel like we aren’t giving up ANYTHING we care about. This is how trades work

It’s such an easy “yes” it’s not even funny *the only reason you can get one of the best players in the world for the pittance that is a draft pick is *because* there’s no locked in extension.*

Honestly, I don’t see it as all that contentious of a process. More so a standard business procedure/disagreement. Par for the course in this league. I’m not sure it would be as big of an obstacle/fraught with as much ill will as people think. Admittedly, I don’t take KA’s “dying to be Sabres” comments as Bible-literal as some take them

Ullmark negotiated with the team for a long time before Boston ever entered the fray. I don’t really buy the idea he wasn’t, at any point, open to staying. As you mentioned, KA wasn’t willing to match Boston’s offer

Already there was talk of an 85% league or whatever

Vegas potential disadvantage mitigated. Florida potential disadvantage intensified. VERY interesting.

Could be. Or, whichever G turns back into a pumpkin at the wrong time. That could also do it

Golden Knights is golden. Should be a good final

You guys all hate Eichel way, way more than I like him lol

Don’t look out of gas to me...

How much of that is actually a hard line philosophy of KA’s and how much of that was a more general comment notably borne out of the time period where KA was going out of his way to detail the disconnect w/Jack Eichel? To me it was more of a stance against guys who absolutely had/have no interest in being here. Cutting yourself off from all but the absolutely thrilled would severely cut down the trade/draft/FA pool: id guess it’s a bit of a sliding scale. Greenway, for example, didn’t seem thrilled, but open to it. He did say he was excited for a change of scenery, in general. We want high character guys so anyone needs to have that mindset coming in, but personally I don’t think it’s strictly true when KA says things like “we only want guys who are *DYING* to be here.” you could absolutely be correct on Ullmark as there’s that baggage. Just speaking more generally

He was going to speak for himself I think until he remembered he hasn’t actually won a cup, me thinks I am the very model of the modern Major general “in a way...you are both winners. In a more accurate way, Barney is the winner.”

Go on..