deluca67

It makes absolutely zero sense for the Buffalo Sabres not to buy out Ville Leino. Stafford I can almost understand. Keeping Leino and his $18 mil on the books is inexcusable and a bad sign Darcy Regier is still not willing to part with his mistakes to the point of being a detriment to the franchise.

I don't know if the Sabres have anyone the Leafs would be interested in, maybe Ehrhoff or Sekera. I would gladly give up either in a deal that brought Reimer to the Sabres. A Reimer & Enroth tandem would be interesting to watch.

The raging jealousy of the Bruins in this thread is very entertaining. :lol:

Thomas Vanek is the most talented prospect the Sabres had since Mogilny. During the early years a lot of credit was given to Mike Grier for being a steadying influence on Thomas Vanek, it wan''t Danny Briere who you would think would connect with an offensively talented player like Vanek. I always found that interesting. Briere has over the years come up big in big moments. I'll give Briere that. Problem is that the Sabres are unlikely to have any significant moments over the next 3-5 years. I also, don't buy into the idea automatically becomes a positive influence in the locker room. It just seems as soon as a player hits 30+ years old it's assumed he becomes a "veteran leader." I do agree with the Sabres current position being the least desirable for a player in Briere's position, unless of course he has given up on the dream of a Stanley Cup in which I would hate to have a player that has given up in the locker room.

I don't know who Horcroft's agent is, to get that contract with his numbers, that agent should be the "Agent of the Decade." A fifth of the Oilers payroll goes to Horcroft and Hemsky, no wonder they can't make the playoffs. Hiller is a pending UFA next season, I wonder if his name should be included when talking about a potential goaltending market especially with Fasth coming at a cheaper price for another two seasons?

The punch line is the idea a team in the early stages of a rebuild need a 35 year old with skills in a deep decline. looking at Briere's career numbers, that 2006-07 season is a more blatant example of a player turning it up in a contract year than Stafford's 2020-11 season.

I rarely think of Gerbe.

For one the entire 'leadership" idea is a dream. Second, Briere is far from being the offensive force he was. If you want 20 goals than names like Dupris, Horton and Clarkson are the ones to be looking at. Briere is nothing more than a grasp at the past. He has nothing to offer the Sabres.

I'm not seeing many posts about bringing in 35 year old non-ex-Sabres. The only reason Briere is getting any play is because he is an ex-Sabre.

Briere is 35 and only has a couple of years left on career at most. His signing with the Sabres would be a clear indication that any desire to win a Stanley Cup is gone. Do you really want a player like that in the locker room? I understand that the idea of "hockey heaven" was nothing more than a pipe dream. That doesn't mean the Sabres need to become an elephant grave yard where old players come to die.

These certainly are some scary times for this franchise.

I thought Mark Messier coaching the Rangers was the worst idea I have heard in a long time, I now have a new worst idea. :doh:

For shits and giggles lets pretend that a deal is possible for Patrick Kane. With Kane the direction of the franchise changes. You don't bring in Kane then trade Vanek and Miller. You bring in Kane to play with Vanek and you burn some of these 1st and 2nd round picks to lure a #1 center away from somebody. It is am extremely aggressive path that will also include overspending to bring in quality free-agents. It's not a path the current regime can be successful with, IMO.

Kane and Toews are Chicago's version of Crosby and Malkin, neither are going anywhere. IMO, Kane to the Sabres would be the worst thing that could ever happen to Kane. The kid has had some maturity issues in the past and the pressure and distractions of playing in WNY could really hurt the kid.

I was all over this idea three years ago. Horton has had some serious injury issues that make it too risky for a team like the Sabres. The Sabres just can't afford the risk considering where they are as a franchise. Then there is the "why would Horton come to Buffalo" reasoning. If Horton hits the UFA market there will be teams at the top of the standings looking for his services. Don't forget, the playoffs are no longer the goal of this franchise. They're skipping over the playoffs right to the Stanley Cup.

The Habs went from dead last in the Conference to 2nd in the Conference. Subban was a big part of the reason why, not the only reason, still a big part. That's Impact. Subban is only 24 and still in the process of maturing. Talent wise? He's at the top of the league when it comes to defensmen. When it comes to the solid you d-men in the league Subban is up there with the likes of Karlsson, Pietrangelo, and Letang. Subban is going to be in the Norris conversation for years to come. Seriously, it might be time to put the bottle down for good.

He had an outstanding year, what is there not to understand. Subban is an impact player. He is yet another young defenseman to surpass Myers. I hope you were drunk when you posted this. :doh:

Jet's Kane sidelined for 4-6 weeks? http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=673876&navid=nhl:topheads How can you be "sidelined" if your team isn't playing any games?

What does Kim Kardashian have to do with all this? Does she have a Sabres prospects website?

Why? It's only a $800,000 more of a cap hit then he was this season and it doesn't go into effect until after next season.

The concern for the Blackhawks going in was can they handle Boston' s physical play. Chicago did a good job matching the Bruins in that department. It may have been the best thing to happen to Chicago to play the Kings the round before.

14? It seems like that number should be much higher.

The Bills have produced a crap product going well into a second decade and still sell out a 75,000 seat stadium. It's a testament to the WNY sports fan who is willing to buy tickets for a crap product, which is the only thing the Sabres have going for them.

It helps the league that three of those cities are among the biggest markets in the country and Pittsburgh may have the biggest star power of the four. A finals of Boston and Chicago which are considered among the premier sports cities in the world won't hurt business either.

The Sabres can't compete with the top contenders in the league. The Sabres are as irrelevant in the league as they have been at any point of this franchises history. A lot of that falls on retaining Regier as GM. The Sabres are a franchise which is earning the dishonor of being thought of as a perennial playoff outsider. 4 playoff appearance in 11 seasons with do that to a franchise.