Doohickie

If Cuzzy and Bo ride a tandem to KBC I'm done with this team.

It's an investment. If he nails down a top pairing spot he'll be better off. And Sabres something something prospect pool. Yeah, it's been covered. Krebs too.

Recency bias 😉

We have a plethora of top six forwards in waiting.

Because they had just paid Tommer and Cuzzy. Fresh out of contracts.

Looks like he made it to Nashville.

He was good at juggling lines to freshen up the roster and keep players motivated. He also had a fiery personality behind the bench, at times literally challenging other coaches to fights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACK_fFVfbfk

On the other hand, Kevyn has been conserving salary cap space in order to have the resources to sign the young talent coming up. (I will admit that he still had holes and could have better filled them with high-end, but short term deals.)

@inkman's narrative is two years old. Why updated it?

I don't know. Is he under an owner imposed salary cap?

Too early to say that. Likely, but too early. I think if they package Okie, Girgs and EJ in one deal, they may get back three kids in a trench coat. We've likely already seen the biggest deadline deal we're gonna see from Kevyn.

*Inky twists up his own narrative, then says not to get it twisted*

He was wearing the fishbowl after missing time following the fight earlier in the season... not sure if there's anything else. To me it seems like Dylan's problem this year is chemistry. Everything was natural and easy centering JJP and Quinn last season. He hasn't had that same luxury for most of this season. That said, he needs to be able to play with a variety of wingers, not just the ones he likes best.

I don't know about "most fans" but Kevyn seems to be thinking that way.

I bopped over to HFBoards to see what the Avs fans were saying. They're pretty happy to get Mitts. Some, not all, were pissed that Byram was traded. But the perspective I've developed overnight is this: Casey is a good center capable of playing 2C on a good team. The Sabres had anointed their 1C and 2C as Tage and Cozens, with Mitts being the odd man out. Trading him to Colorado will give him that 2C opportunity. Byram is a solid, high-end Dman capable of top pairing duty. The Avs have Makar and Toews so that's never gonna happen there, so Bo is the odd man out. Trading him to Buffalo will give him that top pair opportunity. They were both pretty prominent on their former teams, but in spots where the team had other resources and they just weren't in that very top tier. The trade gives both of them an opportunity to maximize their ceilings. I'm gonna miss Casey; he's a helluva player, but I'm hoping Byram makes me look back a year from now and acknowledge it was a good trade that improved both teams.

You don't understand anything about human resource management, do you? You never say you're moving a player until the deal is done.

Yeah, I'm sure she just brought some soft drinks out for the guys, eh? 😉

I doubt it.

That's Bryson on the end.

Because they feel they have adequate defensive depth but needed help at center. The Sabres have adequate forward depth and needed help at D. In Cozzy's postgame he said they talked during the All-Star break and Byram said he wanted to come to Buffalo. For him it's a great opportunity: He's never going to break into the top pair in CO unless Makar or Toews gets injured, but here he has an opportunity to earn a first pair billet with Dahlin. Byram has 3rd highest TOI/Game among CO Dmen, behind Makar & Toews. He's a career + in +/-, although only a +1 this year. I don't think they were giving up on him, they just wanted a middle six center and were willing to pay the price.

Neither did Kevyn. The last thing I saw from Mitts about contract stuff is that the Sabres never contacted his agent about an extension.

Until the deal is done, you never announce you're trying to trade a player (unless they've asked for a trade). If Kevyn had announced he was trying to trade Mitts and then no deal worked out, now you have a player on your team that knows you were trying to move him- very demotivating.

Pretty strong storm blowing through, lots of lightning.