Archie Lee

It was a year ago, so I understand the memory-fog on this. But, Pronman didn't grade Colorado an A+ on that deal. The Athletic typically has two writers grade a trade. The writer who gave Colorado an A+ on the Byram/Mittelstadt trade was Duhatschek; he gave Buffalo a B. Pronman gave Colorado a B-, and the Sabres a B+. He correctly identified, I think, that Byram is the better player. His trade grade was close, on my read, because he thought Colorado was getting what they needed in the moment and because Byram's injury history made him a riskier acquisition (than Mittelstadt).

Then why not just say that?

They certainly have flexibility, if that is what you mean. This is because they have several pending RFA's, and none of the players they have under contract have meaningful trade protection (Dahlin's NMC kicks in July 1, I think). But then, I didn't say or imply that they have no flexibility. I said they have no room to make a meaningful addition without moving out a larger contract. A few additional things in response: - With Greenway and Zucker extended, the Sabres have no prominent UFAs. Their only current NHL players who are UFAs are Reimer and Bryson. - Aside from Byram's $3.8 million expiring deal, the Sabres have no bigger contracts coming off the books; and I assume for now that the intent is to extend Byram. - The cap-hit on the Skinner buyout increases from $1.44 million to $4.44 million this coming year - Per PuckPedia, the Sabres have 15 NHL players under contract for next season with a projected cap hit of $71.39 million; that includes Skinner's cap hit - That leaves the Sabres with 8 roster spots to fill with 24.11 million in cap space - RFA's are Peterka, McLeod, Quinn, Byram, and Bernard-Docker. - AFP Analytics 25-26 contract projections puts the range for the extensions of these players, between $17.6 million and $22.4 million. My opinion is that they are low on their projections for McLeod and Peterka, and high on their projection for Quinn - If you extend our RFA's with conservative projections, splitting the difference at $20 million, it leaves the Sabres with 20 roster spots filled and a cap hit of $91.39 million. Add a goalie (Levi?) and a couple of 4th pairing D-men (Johnson and Bryson?) on low-level contracts and the Sabres are at $94 million As I stated, there is no room to add a meaningful player this off-season without moving out a prominent player or significant contract. The most certainly do not have "plenty of room to add to the roster", without moving existing players.

I agree. There are lots of coaches with new teams this year, who got their systems in place pretty early. I reject that our players are incapable.

The part that briefly had me burying my head in my hands, was when he was talking about roster construction and wondered aloud if he might get Power a better partner.

And that’s without really breaking the bank on Peterka, McLeod, or Byram (no overpays).

Also, he sees us as a cap team, or “right there”, next year. As I mentioned in the Zucker thread, just modest extensions for our RFAs takes us to the cap. There is no room to add a meaningful player this off-season without moving out a significant contract. And, as Adams has let us know many times, making a trade and negotiating a contract “is hard”.

I thought it was a bit tone deaf. He spoke well. The media certainly did not hold his feet to the fire. He acknowledged he has to do better, and that was what he presented as the solution: he needs to do better. He spoke about the team needing to be harder to play against, but nobody followed up with “how did today’s moves help with that?”. He said Ruff is still trying to teach them to play the right way (I’m paraphrasing). All in all, he came across (to me) like a GM who is not at all worried about his job, whose team just fell a bit short, and who thinks he and the rest of the team just need to get a bit better. I foresee yet more pain.

I don’t have any real issue with these trades. In the end they mostly amount to change of scenery deals and we will see how they turnout. I wasn’t expecting anything. Still, it’s a bit disappointing when a window closes and we have again not made a move that obviously upgrades the NHL roster. I don’t think we did anything today that gets us more than a slight increment closer, if that, to being a playoff team.

I’m fine with this return. The Jokiharju situation is an example of how bad Adams is though. He could have walked away from Jokiharju last spring and utilized the $3 million to bring in someone better suited for what Ruff wanted to do. Then again, he wasted a combined $3.5 million in Lafferty and Aubé-Kubel, so he may well have just misspent any Jokiharju savings as well.

I don't understand why they didn't just keep him, try and win a cup, try and sign him before July 1, and take advantage of the cap space if he leaves.

Not in my view. But never making the playoffs and getting further from the goal in year 5, will have a negative impact on how people view a GM and his moves. But then, that's pretty obvious, isn't it?

I think that making the playoffs and icing a contending team, does give a GM some leeway on the competence meter.

Isn't he a winger?

With Greenway and Zucker signed, if we just give conservative extensions to our RFA's (Peterka, McLeod, Quinn, Byram, Bernard-Docker, Levi), we will be right up against the cap. Are we going to be a cap team next year? Or is someone getting moved?

It wasn't really "TSN", it was one guy on the panel. Nobody really corrected him though. That said, I would bet we see Cozens drop the gloves early in Ottawa.

Maybe the big benefit of this is that Norris is an actual centre.

Jamie McLellan throwing shade on Ruff. Saying he thinks Cozens will be programmable and be able to play better in a good system.

I agree. There are lots of pieces here that would make it an attractive opportunity. The reputation of the franchise and Pegula, might be a drag on interest, but the people who take these kinds of jobs, generally, are not lacking in self-confidence. There would be talented and qualified people, who would believe they can overcome the barriers.

I agree. It's why I don't think Adams will be fired. But, and I realize I'm just repeating myself at this point, you can't overstate how bad this season has been. You can't do a worse job as a GM than Adams has done over the past 22 months. Maybe Pegula is not at all concerned about his credibility and the viability of the franchise; I just think it is possible that there is someone who he trusts as much as Adams (one of his kids, Guelli, another owner who he has a friendship with, Bettman) who will say something that convinces him that a change is vital.

I don't think Adams will be fired. But, the Murray and Botterill firings came out of nowhere. I suspect there are people in the Pegula orbit who have some influence on him who might candidly tell him that a change is needed. I'm not holding out hope, but I think that things can change between now and the end of the season.

I don't know what you mean with this sentence?

I agree with this. I'm starting to see the argument for Adams and Ruff forming: UPL is bad and if we just had better goaltending we would have been in it. It is basically the excuse that has been used for Ruff's failures since he left Buffalo the first time.

I've been posting on this in a different thread. It is probably more suited for here. Lindy Ruff is objectively awful for goalies. Lehtonen, Niemi, Blackwood, Vanecek, and now UPL, all saw their save %'s implode under Ruff. The idea of Lindy Ruff bringing a sound defensive structure to an NHL team, was and is an absolute sham. We will not become a good defensive hockey club with Ruff as our head coach.

Fair enough, maybe UPL is just awful. I would like to see him play for a good coach, in a good structure, with veteran support through the line-up. That won't happen here anytime soon. Ruff is objectively awful for goalies. Lehtonen, Niemi, Blackwood, Vanecek, and now UPL, all saw their save %'s implode under Ruff. The idea of Lindy Ruff bringing a sound defensive structure to an NHL team, was and is an absolute sham.