Robviously

Not necessarily? Yes, objectively Kane is a good player but he's been part of the team for three seasons now and we haven't won with him. We're literally 1 point out of dead last again. I think it's OK to try to something else. And who else might we trade? Poulliot - fine. Gorges - fine. Antipin - fine. Lehner - fine. Girgensons and Larsson - definitely fine. We'll be adding Ullmark, Guhle, and Smith next year from Rochester. Maybe Mittelstadt, maybe our 1st round pick from this year. Plus whoever we get in trades. Or free agency. The team could (and should) look a lot different and hopefully find some chemistry by next season. We're clearing out some guys that have been here a while and have a few young, exciting players on the way. The playoffs are definitely a stretch but the team could at least be fun next season. And teams do turn around quickly these days.

Wow, that's a lot. Hopefully this bodes well for our return on Kane.

Welp. That went the way it went.

It's just what you do. Teams do it in every sport and this is the excitement that fans have to look forward to in seasons where the team isn't going to be in the playoffs. It's the same reason Bills fans think about the draft all year too.

Really stupid to play Kane tonight.

Supposedly the NHLPA fought hard to keep the rules the way they are. I think a reasonable change that they might accept is letting the team with the player's rights offer a better contract than what they'd get as a UFA (similar to NHL UFAs now). So either a longer term or more money. That way there's extra incentive for the player to sign with the team that drafted them (or traded for their rights) but the team would have to lean in too, and players could still opt to go their own way.

This.

I was wondering if it was the same leg. Happy that it's not a recurring injury on the same leg.

He's 25, which isn't an age where it's crazy to finally break into the NHL. I'd also like the message that would send. I'm definitely rooting for him.

As long as he doesn't end up a listless old hermit in a movie that's 80% filler.

Is Collinsworth still talking about the Ertz TD?

Not sure if Swedish surnames count as the English language. Probably fighting autocorrect on my phone though.

Would still trade Larson for hot dogs.

29 more games. :(

Hope the Islanders are scouting Lehner tonight.

GDT not even to page 3 in the third period. :(

You know the season isn't going well when this is what we're squabbling about in February. :(

I think they're probably just speedy 4th liners for us if anything.

We traded two nothings for a something (Scandella) and a nothing (Poms). I'll take it.

Lehner to the Islanders makes a lot of sense. If I'm the Sabres, I'm asking about Bellows. If I'm the Islanders, I'm offering a 2nd round pick.

Welp. We're the Sabres again.

No, it really wasn't. We pulled his stats in the thread right when that trade happened and nothing pointed to him being an above-average no.1 goalie. His save % the year before was 0.905, and before that .913 (basically what our nobody goalies had just done on the Tank team). He had a great 17 games spread out over the 2 years before that but the league figured him out after. The Tank team was the least talented team in Sabres history. Just get the best talent to put around Jack Eichel. Why trade for a mediocre goalie that a team in your division doesn't mind giving you?

Bills are playing with house money right now. Even if they trade 21 and 22 to move up, that still means they had a 1st round pick last year and another 1 this year (i.e. same number of firsts as if no trades were made). We haven't had a franchise QB in over 20 years so I'm definitely not against them doing whatever it takes to land one. I also hope they at least consider trading 21 or 22 if it means another 1st next year too. If this is really the year where moving up can't happen, get creative.

Honestly just another example of how useless Murray was. The fact that this board (i.e. a bunch of fans screwing around in their spare time) had better ideas for rebuilding the team isn't comforting.

I'm definitely worried he goes UFA. But if their season ends in time, we can offer to sign him and get him in the NHL this year (and burn the first year of his contract). That's a good offer. If we can't/don't do that, no real reason for him not to test the market.