Robviously

I think I like Kalinin more than Kotalik as a player, even if Kotalik was the better value when we got him. RIchards was drafted in the third round meaning every team passed on him at least once. It goes to show how unpredictable the draft is once you're past the first few players.

Logan Nelson (our 5th round pick) was up there as well (though he was a year older than most of the draft class, as the yellow highlight points out). I don't expect much from him but you never know. It was his first year in the WHL after not getting drafted out of the USHL.

Which sounds about right to me assuming his "personal issues" from last year are resolved. And I do take those personal issues seriously based on how Paul Hamilton described them. (My best guess is that he had a sick family member and was stuck far from home for his job. I can relate.)

You mean not making ridiculous trades because we fall in love with other teams' players? I guess that's one way to look at it.

And if I'm the Sabres, I say "fine by me." We keep Stafford (at worst, a perennial 20 goal scorer with size), Ennis (a 22 year old with top 2 center potential), McNabb (our best prospect on defense with plenty of size), and our first round pick. I wouldn't go near Bobby Ryan for that price.

"Dump" him for: Stafford - who scored 30 goals in 62 games a year ago. Sekera - our best defenseman last year. Adam - our no.2 prospect last year. and a 1st round pick Stafford had 50 points last year on a down year. Bobby Ryan had 57 points last year. If you put Stafford with Perry and Getzlaf, I think he makes it to 57 points pretty easily. The Ducks were also 23rd in the NHL in Goals last year so a defenseman with Sekera's skill set would be pretty helpful to them as well. Adam and a 1st round pick are good assets for the future and the Ducks could trade one or both of them for help now (if that's what they want). All that aside, if you were the Ducks GM, what would you be asking from the Sabres for Bobby Ryan? Be specific.

If we're doing a Sabres movie, the only man qualified to play Lindy Ruff is Ted Levine (from Monk): Note: Casting a Sabres movie could be its own thread if everyone else is bored enough to play along.

Emerson Etem! And hilarity ensues.... http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/12/27/emerson-etem-bad-mouths-buffalo-calling-it-a-ghost-town/

That's a pretty good offer, and I almost wonder if we're overpaying. How much better does Ryan make us than Sekera and Stafford? Not to mention Adam and whatever that 1st round pick turns into. Still, it'd be exciting as hell if we actually got this done. Also, I wonder if we could get Berglund for about half of what this rumor says we're offering for Ryan. (This is part of my new mission to mention Patrik Berglund at once least a day around here.)

If Buffalo ever wants to have a really great waterfront, the Skyway is going to have to come down. Both concepts look great. I like the Sabres' better because it's a little more distinct and because I have more faith in Pegula than I do in Carl Paladino. Hopefully we get this done quickly; it'll be great for Buffalo and even better when we're hosting March Madness or (hopefully) another World Juniors. Side note: This was also going to be the location of the doomed Adelphia Tower, right?

Why should anyone ever expect a major trade with the Sabres? We're not a team that makes major trades. I know there's been a bunch of talk about big things being in the works since Pegula took over, but I'll believe it when I see it.

:unsure: Eh. It'd be nice if Darcy put on his big boy pants and finally completed one of these "big" trades we've been hearing about for years now. It doesn't have to be Ryan (I'd rather have Berglund), but something that actually shakes things up. Other teams tend to get things done when they're trying to get something done.

Hopefully none of us. Ennis is the better asset and I don't think it's really close.

Read is 26 years old. 47 points is normally pretty good for a rookie but I take it with a grain of salt when your rookie year happens to be when you're in the prime of your career. And I wouldn't think of him as a prospect either.

It really depends on how many million dollars they already have. If you're already worth $30M, you'd probably want the Cup more than a slightly bigger new contract. I figure players (in any sport) who retire without winning a championship would probably trade some of their wealth for a championship.

Wasn't Japan's win a huge upset though? I don't think they're the team to beat this time just because they won the last tournament. Also, and sorry if this sounds snarky, but how many countries actually care about women's soccer? Brazil and Japan were named above. But the fact that the US men have never really managed to contend while the US women are consistently the best in the world makes me think we just care about the women's side of the sport WAY more than other countries (who love soccer way more than we do). Yeah, there are at least 10 or 12 countries in the world.

You sank my battleship. Wait, what are we doing in this thread again?

I agree with you that the Sabres aren't an especially well-constructed team right now, but how much did their talent drop off? We've added Ott and (probably) Grigorenko and lost Roy and (probably) someone like Gerbe, Kaleta, or Tropp. Could be a wash (or even a gain) depending on how ready Grigorenko is.

Four minute trailer for Season 3 from Comic-Con: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShQz68Zkb3Y

Outstanding. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Since they were each drafted in the first round to be no.1 line players. The key word is "talent." It's pretty evident they both have it; it's only unclear what they'll do with it and by when. I'd rather put my chips on the young guns because I don't think there's any way we can make trades and suddenly be a contender this season. Your logic is as sound as ever. Most people wouldn't judge a 19 year old Finnish player who has never played in North America by his nonexistent NHL stats, but I see you're doing things differently. Yep, except we'd be giving up several "somethings" to get one "something" to fix our team. And we'd be right back to Darcy's trademark inability to decide between building for the future and trying to win immediately. Oh boy.

That's the other problem. Realistically, there's no player we can trade prospects for who's going to completely change our team and fix all of our problems. Our team has been fundamentally flawed the past few years and I don't think building around the veterans we have left is going to make us a contender. I'd rather build around all the young talent we have and see if they can make us legit again. Once we're actually good again, then I'll be open to emptying the farm to get a star to put us over the top. I don't think now is the right time to do that.

So you want to acquire top 6 talent and toughness by trading top 6 talent (Ennis, Armia) and toughness (McNabb)?

I'm really not excited at the thought of trading prospects for a 33 year old with neck problems. (Seriously, Armia? He's one of our highest ceiling prospects of the past 15 years. And should a team with toughness issues really be shopping McNabb??)

:lol: