Pimlach

Krebs does not definitively need to be removed. Teams carry 13 or 14 forwards. Now if he is package in trade fine, but it’s not a must to remove him. Having some depth is ok too, injuries happen a lot. He doesn’t cost anything and he is developing. The competition might make him better. Why move Greenway? He is an excellent defensive forward, is big and strong, good on the PK.

Seeing this is a pleasant surprise. It pays to step away for awhile. First, best of luck to Savoie. He may be a good NHL player someday. The situation is that we are loaded with young forwards and in need of NHL players. So be it, I assume Edmonton wanted him so good for him McLeod is a low risk acquisition from a contract point of view. He is big and fast, a two way player that can take faceoffs (hoping). Lindy stated he wants to win key faceoffs. Not sure McLeod can provide more points, but he scored 3 goals in the SCF. Now Krebs has to battle two centers for 3C and 4C. Ruff will of course play with line combos for a while, and we will have a good player as a 13th forward now. Not a big trade but we added another piece that improved the roster. Lots of little pieces are hopefully adding up. Pondering will there be another move?

The good news is I am less of a drinker compared to some of these guys, so fly on the wall is the best approach.

I have been critical of Adams at times as well but please spare us your woke training rhetoric.

He looked very tentative in his very limited NHL minutes. Hopefully he just needs to calm down and let it flow.

I like one year of Zucker over 5 years of Monahan. I still want a 3C though but I think Zucker is a guy that can do a lot of things across our top 9 as needed.

Listening to Paul Hamilton this morning and I am more “good “ with the signing of Zucker. Zucker knows what’s going on. He likes Lindy and several other players that we just signed. He likes the talent on this team. He thinks he can help on any of the top 3 lines and he is saying the right things. His $5M for one season is not a problem. This could turn out to be a good veteran to bring in. I know this team has had problems finding the right vets, maybe the Lindy factor will help. Im feeling more positive today. Tomorrow I’ll be at a party and will see some old friends with strong Sabres connections that will no doubt have a lot to say about the coming season.

He played hurt most of the season as hockey players do. The wrist and thumb were hurt. The thumb injury while blocking a shot on a PK. It was right there on TV and he missed some games. With the additions that Adams just made, and Lindy at the helm, it’s unlikely Tage is on the PK this coming season.

Uh, no. Talented how? Why is Byram even on here, and ahead of Thompson. A healthy and more mature Tage is a beast.

You will love retirement then. I quite often ask my wife “what day is it?”

Erod type players come along almost every year for the playoffs. Quite often they are the ones we trade at the deadline. When you set your roster so far under the cap that you are paying players who are not on the roster just to reach the cap floor then sure, Cozens contract was probably needed. Looking down the road, which is what we do in Sabreland, Cozens contract should be fine if he can get his game back.

Prospect pools. Florida won by making trades. They have maybe 3 players on their roster that they drafted (Barkov, Ekblad, Lundell).

I passed on going this year. Im losing my love …

Like what? What are they looking for? Right now we have less goals, less assists, less two way play, less power play ability, and less versatility to play on any line, …. Yup. That’s different. By default Payton Krebs is the 3C right now. I didn’t see him earn it last season. I sure hope they find a better “something different”. I will agree that he would want more money in Buffalo due to the dumb contract they gave Cozens and the team operating under the cap (once again).

So where is the trade addressing the top 6 need?

Under their control yes, but they have to sign him, and how much will that be?

That was another lifetime ago and a much better world to live in. Amazing how few Canadians fans were there. The Sabres had fans, the games were on TV for free, and home games in The Aud were fun.

Yes, but this example gets into a specific case of a potentially costly acquisition of players with one year left, and who will not renegotiate because they are facing UFA status and want to hit their payday. What are Buffalo’s chances ? So my solution would be to approach other GMs about players with term and if you overpay a bit to compete in the now then you must do it.

Why? So he pays Mitts more than his current 3.5M that the Avs are giving. He had the cap room, especially with Skinner bought out.

This is fair. He could do worse damage by giving up too much for one year of a good player. Like he already did in the Mitts deal, Byram has one year, then what? So, target players with more term.

True. The only things missing are replacing Mitts (they had the resources to improve upon him) and backfilling Skinner (they cleared money for this). Do these things and they start looking like a team that is trying.

Absolutely, as good as he played in those first 9 games, I think most teams would have sent him back to juniors. Not being AHL eligible made is risky to keep him. As it turns out the kid held his own. Now they have to help him and keep the goons away.

If they do nothing else major they might be better than last year and make the playoffs if: Tage, Dahlin, Tuch, Cozens, and Quinn all return to form in production. That is critical for picking up goals from Mitts and Skinner. In addition Byram adds something significant And they get steady contributions by Benson, JJP, Greenway, Clifton, Zucker And improvement by Power is required And they get solid and steady goaltending of course And the updated bottom 6 makes a real difference - this will actually be fun to follow. All or most of this happening, plus Lindy, and we should be better. How much the play of the bottom 6 changes things will be interesting for me to see. Lindy talked about face offs, and shut down lines, and better special teams. He knows if they can get a lead and learn to hold it they will improve. It’s possible they are better.

I am not going to review every UFA transaction but I would have loved Guentzel. Wouldn’t you? Tampa moved on from Stamkos and signed him. Real team do these things. Ok, so next you will say he won’t go to Buffalo , which is fair only because Buffalo did this to themselves. On the way lesser end of the spectrum I would be ok with Henrique for a short term at 3C to buy time for our prospects to mature. Isn’t that reasonable? But even that didn’t happen. The Preds signed both Stamkos and Marchessault !!! They are re-tooling, not rebuilding. And yes, there were other centers in between these extremes, plus potential trades that the GM should be dreaming up, not me. I will not buy into the “it’s too hard and nobody else did this or that” Adams narrative. I want a guy that sets the tone and the market, not excuses like Adams gave on draft day. Pathetic lame excuses.