Porous Five Hole

In free agency? Perhaps we are getting lost in the weeds. My central thesis was that Pegula doesn’t have a self-imposed salary cap and KA cannot give the cap money away. It is easy to point to EEE, but is that the right thing do in 2025 given the other talking points I mentioned? I could just be playing devil’s advocate here. I don’t have any sources other than KA saying he doesn’t have any spending limitations in press conferences.

GMKA said it. You’re assuming he’s lying and I am not. We agree the state of the team is atrocious. Why is it so hard to believe no one wants Sabres money? Genuinely asking.

I was more speaking about free agency and why the Sabres are no where near the cap. But I’ll follow your rabbit hole. You cannot assume the Sabres are afraid to trade an asset for fear of losing a deal. They’ve made plenty of trades for guys (Greenway, McLeod, Byram, etc). We have it on good insiders authority that Necas and Ehlers declined extension talks if traded to Buffalo. I’m saying the Sabres money “is no good here.” I’m saying there are no self-imposed limitations and they still can’t hand it out.

I think I’m going to step into some dog poop here with a lot of posters, but I’m starting to think the Sabres literally cannot give the cap money away. When Covid hit and EEE came about, Pegula was worth about five billion dollars. Today, he’s worth $7.6 billion dollars. I know the Sabres lose money, but like who cares when you make a couple billion in net worth every five years? He’s 74 years old in March and after Kim’s thing, he’s got to be thinking of his own mortality. If you’re him, why have any limitations right now? Kevyn has indicated that he isn’t operating under any financial restrictions. What if he’s telling the truth? No one wants to come here even if the Sabres are willing to overpay? And at some point the player evaluation for the Sabres-suck-tax they have to pay just makes it a bad idea. I dunno, this Pegula nightmare has so many layers and most of them are not good.

He had 103 points last year lol We got a lot of those guys? 😀 You and I see the player differently and that’s ok. He’s got a full no-move clause, so it’s probably useless even talking about him.

You’re probably right, but they just might need a loud alpha like JT. This is slightly off-topic, but I’m a Red Sox fan. When they reversed the curse, one of the cogs was Kevin Millar. He could hit a little, but he wasn’t a star whose production they relied upon. But he was constantly keeping things light and positive. The whole Cowboy Up, “don’t let us win one” against the Yankees, whiskey shots before the WS games, organizing team dinners on the road where everyone came, and having the time of his life. And this is in the face of an 86 year drought and a ruthless & frustrated media and fanbase. The Sox don’t do what they did without him. Give me Mr. Accountability in JT and find me a Kevin Millar (Zucker returning might fit the bill—he’s fun), and that’s a good start. There is more to do (including finding someone to parter with Power), but I think JT helps the room. We have no one like him around here.

Happy birthday!

That may be because of how he felt about the franchise when they moved him out the last time he was there. Obviously the same ownership group. I don’t know anything about JT Miller’s personal life except that he’s from Ohio and used to call PA home. Maybe WNY id a better fit that NYC?

I don’t know whether to laugh at this or cry at this.

Ever think about how your tastes change from childhood to adulthood and all the stops along the way? Want to know one thing that’s constant? I fist pump every time the Sabres score. I did when I was 15 and I do it now when I’m 45. Don’t you dare make it OK to have that taken away from me. Go Sabres ⚔️

It was bad bad. The Sabres had more than eight minutes of power play time and were in the offensive zone for less than two and a half minutes. It’s bonkers. PP zone entries are coaching details and our coaches don’t have the chops for the job. It was the Sabres third game in four nights while the Flames didn’t play for the same four nights. The schedule didn’t do the Sabres any favors and that third period was predictable more than it was a meltdown. And this is why it’s frustrating to hear so many on this board wanting to trade out Byram, Power, or Cozens (ducks) like we didn’t learn our lesson with these previous trades. I’m fine if they move on from Dylan, but I’m not pushing my 22 and 23 year old guys out the door. Some have even turned on Tage in the GDTs. Granted he has trouble staying healthy, but he’s pacing for about 40 goals and he’s 27 and signed on a reasonable long term deal. Trading any of the above are hard trades to win/get better. Launching everything into the sun because we are frustrated is not the correct approach.

What a weird and fun thing. Thank you for pointing it out!

No way the Aves were going to pay Rantanen more than MacKinnon, which he's demanding, so they get something back instead of losing him to free agency. But it would be hard to argue they’re better now than they were yesterday.

Gonna be a tough third period. This is Buff’s third game in four nights while Calgary hasn’t played in four days. Need some puck luck and a big period from UPL.

I’m a little rusty with waiver rules today, but I think this correct: Devon signed his ELC as a 20 year old. For goalies, they need four years or 80 NHL goalie starts to not be waiver exempt. This is currently year three and he has 39 starts. So it is possible he could end up in Rochester next year. I personally think it’s most likely he’s an NHL backup next year because he will need NHL competition to continue to develop. Just one man’s opinion. He’s already an AHL all-star. And the eye test matches the great AHL numbers. I get wanting him to play everyday so ROC is the best place for him for now. But it is inevitable he will outgrow AHL competition. His AHL career save percentage is above .920.

Boom!

I’ve been loving this Rye from New Riff. It is light and silky and ends with a nice amount of spice and heat.

It’s a little early to be calling him maxed out at the AHL level when he’s 23 and has had 80 pro starts. He also doesn’t smoke darts in the locker room lol

Honestly your attempt wasn’t funny 🤷‍♂️

#me Oops!

I hope no one views this thread as a defense of GMKA. My takeaway from last offseason was that he didn’t do nearly enough and it’s time to move on from him. Once you pile on, ‘GMing is hard/it’s hard to make a trade,” plus taxes and palm trees, he should have been let go already. For me, starting the thread was because I’m interesting in armchair GMing and I wanted to see how players have faired away from Buffalo.

This made me laugh harder than it should have

In the spirit of GA’s thread, I thought we would check in on old friends to see if there was any remorse to be had. Zemgus Girgs- 43GP, 0G, 2A, -5. He signed a three year deal for essentially the league minimum and I bet TB already has regrets. Eric Comrie- 3-6-1, 2.94, .904% for the best team in the western conference. The drop off between Helle and Comrie is huge, but Eric has been good enough to stay their backup. The Jets have scored 3 goals or less his last 7 starts, including only 1 goal in 4 of those 7 games. Victor Oloffson- 23GP, 9G, 7A, PLUS 9! Not bad for a guy who was a career -63 in Buffalo. 6 of his 16 pts have come on PP2. Did miss some time with an injury. Fans are pleased with his play. His time was up here and a fresh start seems to be what the doctor ordered. Eric Robinson- 45GP, 10G, 11A, +8. He’s having his best year as a pro. It would have cost us nothing to bring him back. While he didn’t hit a ton of guys, I think the Sabres miss his size and compete. His skating was more than fine. You know who else has ten goals so far this year? Peterka & Cozens. Jeff Skinner- Yikes. Pretty well documented. Has been a healthy scratch for the last three games. AHLers who suited up last year: Brandon Biro- AHL Coachella. Production in line with his Amerks career. He’s unlikely to get an NHL look from here, but he lived the dream of scoring two goals in the NHL last year for Buffalo. Tyson Jost- earned a call up to the Canes after starting the year in the AHL. 16GP, 2G, and has been out of the lineup due to injury. Same guy we knew… Guys we traded away: Mitts- It has been documented on the board that he’s been bad and he was recently demoted to 3C. Rumors just today circulating that the Aves could be selling him at the deadline. 46GP, 8G, 18A, team worst -16 while the rest of the top six is +10 or more. That’s astonishing. Locked in for two years after this season at 5.75MM. Oof. The Sabres took the Aves to the cleaners with this trade. Erik Johnson- Remains the seventh (eighth?) defenseman for the Flyers. 15GP, 1G, 1A, -2, 13 minutes a night when he plays. Remember when he was signed to help Owen Power? 🤣 Okposo- Champion and still retired. I’m not going to assign grades, but in summary: Correctly moved on from Skinner, Girgs, and Comrie. VO’s fresh start has gone well for him. Whiffed on Robinson, but whatever. Byram trade aging well and something for nothing with Okie & EJ.