Curt

I think a lot of this has to do with the scope through which you view the trade. If someone is looking at this mainly as a deadline acquisition for a playoff push, I can see how they might be skeptical. If someone is thinking mainly about what Greenway can bring over the next 2+ year, I think there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic.

Not really, my theory is that when Adams got his tear down rebuild plan approved by Pegula, he also agreed to keep costs low for a couple seasons. Pegula was maybe sick of spending to the cap for non competitive teams. Just my personal theory.

Wow, very interesting. This will definitely be something to watch. I honestly don’t expect that much from Greenway. A big, physical, 3rd line checking winger with some, but limited, offense is what I have in my mind. But, with the other things he brings, if he can tick up offensively and be a 15+ goal, 40+ point winger, it really could be something of a game changer. Not that I’m expecting it.

I don’t agree with you that Greenway is a negative value player. This season is his worst so far. Hopefully he can get back on track after a change of scenery. Very big players often take several years to come into their own. He is a good defensive forward. He forchecks. He is physical. He will stand up for his teammates. It’s not as if he hasn’t produced offense in his career. He has. Over the 3 seasons prior to this year, he produced at a rate of 11 goals and 38 pts per 82 games in his age 22-24 seasons. Obviously that’s nothing that’s going to blow anyone away, but it is respectable for a 3rd liner, especially considering the other attributes he brings. This isn’t a move that’s going to be a game changer, but he fills a role. They didn’t give up that much for him. A late 2nd has some value, sure, but a player taken there has only like a 20% chance of becoming as good as Greenway.

I don’t think your evaluation of Greenway is very accurate. This is definitely his worst season. He looks more like a player in need of a change of scenery than a guy who is just a scrub.

Agree. At least start there, maybe coming up as an injury fill in. Let the kids get to the point where they are excelling at the lower level before bringing them up. Kulich is getting close and I fully expect him to get some NHL games next season, but no need to depend on him to be one of your top-12 next season.

Didn’t even know that. I was just going off the fact that Brisson is basically the most powerful, well connected agent out there. With this addition info, I think it’s pretty clear that Portillo was personally shepherded to LA by Brisson.

His agent is Pat Brisson, so I think the safer assumption is that his camp DID have some influence on this deal.

With SUNY Canton, St. Lawrence, SUNY Potsdam, and Clarkson all within 15 miles of eachother, that area was kind of wild at times.

2004-08

I spent mine at SUNY Canton. We called you guys the rich kids. 😂

Maybe Okposo won’t be back, maybe he will. Those lines were not meant to be a careful construction of the Sabres 2023-24 opening night lineup. It’s just a tool for illustrating the players who are likely to be returning.

Skinner-Thompson-Tuch Quinn-Cozens-Peterka Mittelstadt-Krebs-Greenway Girgensons-Jost-Oloffson Even without Okposo or Hinestroza coming back, no free agent additions, and no prospects coming up, that’s still a full 4 lines. Id be a little surprised if one of Olofsson/Mittelstadt isn’t moved this offseason.

Just curious, why are you expecting that of Miller?

I’ll go with a B. I like everything that they did just fine. They didn’t fix major roster holes, but I’m not sure that I wanted them to based on the deadline prices I saw. This team still needs a starting goalie and a 2nd pair RD. I feel confident that they are trying to find the right fit.

Greenway BIG man! Greenway HIT things! But seriously, yeah, he is just ok. He could add a bit of a different dynamic to the lineup. The accusations of the Sabres forward group being 4 lines filled with tiny euro cream puffs were always overstated, but I think a guy like this does balance out the lineup nicely. Additionally, the connection to Granato and tendency for big guys to take longer gives me some hope that he can be more of a middle-6 ~15 goal, 30-40 point (per 82) guy than a strictly bottom 6 5-10 goal, 20-30 point (per 82) guy.

Yeah, Bogo is from Massena, about 30 miles from Canton.

This is a good evidence that Adams/Granato do understand that the team needs a certain level of diversity of skill sets.

I hope he doesn’t stink, because it kinda looks like he has stunk this season.

He is from Canton NY. Played in the USDP, anyone know if he was there the same time as Granato?

This is a good point and I agree. I think we are seeing that Adams is very stubborn to not pay prices above what he believes is acceptable. At least in situations where he doesn’t see the team as an actual cup contender. I see that as a bit of a double edged sword. Seems he will rarely get the raw end of a trade, but also frustrate the fans at times.

Did you guys take today off from work or something? Is it a national holiday in Canada?

Some of this is my own personal head narrative, but I feel like when Adams sold Pegula on a full rebuild plan that included a couple non competitive years, he also committed to not spending near the cap for that period of time. My hope is that he can use the teams obvious growth to convince Pegula of a plan to weaponize cap space this offseason and use it to make a couple nice additions to the team for minimal assets. I much prefer cap crunch trade prices or the free acquisition of a key UFA to the high costs at the trade deadline.

What does hell breaking loose entail? A few dozen cleverly worded mean tweets?

He didn’t just tweet that. Not that I can see.