Trades and Potential Trades

Murray's jubilant response is very disturbing to me.

uhhh, Tim Kane is damaged goods you're counting on to rebound, Lehner wasn't supposed to be competing for minutes last year, and Eichel meant you excelled at sucking. Calm yourself Timmy. No mushrooms needed for all of this.

 

I agree Dan, this could be a defining move. He just committed to two long term players that are just as uncertain and mid first round picks.

 

at many times the cost against the cap I might add.

 

In silly-fun Buffalo news, Tim Murray is making more funnies.

Somebody is really giddy today.

Good for him, it was a long year.

 

Dan you'll be happy to know that Robin Lehner plays lights out against the Bruins. No exaggeration but I'll bet that 3 out of his 4 best games played in the NHL are against Boston. His play against everyone else though?
so is it now definitely Lehner and Johnson in Buffalo?

 

Lennie is really firing away with Hamilton trade rumors the last few days.
Good stuff.

Lucic and Burrows together? I hope it happens and I hope they find time on the same line together. If only they could get Kesler back to center them.

 

Uh, no! Actually very little is defined about the 2015-16 Sabres. There are a few things starting to come into focus:
- Eichel is really, really good. I just hope he's not forced into 1C duty. That now appears to be unlikely.
- Samson Reinhart is probably only one year away from being very very good.
- E. Kane is ahead of schedule, and it bears repeating that they could never have traded for him if it weren't for his injury in WPG. He is one of the more undeservedly maligned characters in sports; he's never done one thing that isn't much less egregious than most youth. I think TM has a right to be giddy about this trade.
- The team has a veteran C to help with the cap and to show the prospects the way.
- The Sabres have one of the best young D's in the league.

Right now the team has $3.525MM committed to the G position. That's much less than one good starter, and it goes down to $2.225MM once/if Chad is dropped, (could be traded). There is a ton of space for the team to add a G, and I expect that's TM's plan. Someone like Niemi coming off a $4MM contract. Buffalo could lavish a short term contract on him, but he's only 31 so I expect he wants longer security. I said it somewhere earlier this week; signing Niemi, IMO, comes down to what kind of term he wants.

Otherwise, BUF will be adding another G to the mix. It may involve bring back someone like Neuvirth or Enroth.

 

2 things alarm me about Kane.
Health
Whatever the hell he did in the weeks before the trade.

I'm not worried about all the other bs, I'm with you attributing that to youth. Even the last incident may be explainable, but that was quite the dumpster fire.

 

I've stated this before on sheer speculation, but I could now see this actually happening. BOS moves pieces and then packages the returns together with #14 to move up to #3. With the third pick in the draft the hockey team from Boston selects Noah Hanifin, D, BC.

Hanifin & Hamilton together for the next umpteen years? That's a D!, and a foundation to build on.

Mitch Marner is a great player that BUF now has zero chance of moving up for, but he is not worth the price of moving up to #3. Mitch will produce more this season than Hanifin, but it would be worth it IMO for BOS to be patient. I think he's the best D prospect to come into the league over the past decade.

 

respectfully i disagree. i'm not sold that there's a top pair in that huge bunch. many ponies doesn't equate to a couple of thoroughbreds.
maybe Ristolainen as a top 2, maybe not. going -32 isn't good for any kid's development. I think Atlanta did permanent damage to Bogosian. I share similar thoughts on Russians as Don Cherry and Zadorov has done nothing to dissuade me.

 

Well, you are always respectful, so I'll let this slide. I do not state too much as an affirmative when it comes to young players, but I do with our young D. Needless to say, it will take time before we'll know which of us is correct for sure. I am much more confident about what I've seen from Zadorov, Pysyk, and even McCabe. Bogosian is just now at the age that most blueliners establish themselves; he played for a lousy organization but that does not ruin a really good player; it can only set him back a bit. He is a better fit for BUF than was Myers. We will see. (Literally, we will see on 1/15/16.)

 

mike reilly picks the wild, no surprise as his dad is a minority owner of the wild.

 

sorry bob, but not really. Reilly going to the Hawks would be like a billionaire finding a million dollars on the side of the road.

 

i dont agree w/ this either. there are numerous players that have had their progression ruined. had Atlanta handled Bogosian the way St. Louis handled Pietrangelo I think Bogosian would be in a much better spot and possibly have been elite. i think that ship has sailed.
in terms of Bogosian and age for D prospects to hit their stride, he's a unique example. yes he'll only be 25 this season but he's already over 400 NHL games, I don't think there's much more improvement in store. I would also be very wary of his injury problems.

i try not to deal in absolutes w/ hockey Dan, I've been proven wrong way too many times. I'm only giving you my honest opinion.

 

I don't like Matty today but I share his opinion on Bogosian. Atlanta did some bad damage, and WPG didn't help when they moved. The franchise only got their feet on a steady surface last year.

I'm very high on Ristolainen.
I'm not sure if they'll have a 1 and 2, but with that mix of talent, I think it's easy to see a legitimate top pair. Not sure if that makes sense or not.
For example, I don't think Seabrook or Hjalmarsson are top 2 dmen, but they are legitimate top pair with a true number 1 or even somebody as questionable as a Phaneuf.

I'm not ready to pee on Dan's rainbow...unlike the Boston guy over here.

 

its draft day, my inner Sully is showing.
there's too much up in the air.

Bigfat to LA? Hamilton and Savard for #3?

 

I miss Kenny.

 

yes, I can't stop looking at Eastbound and Down gifs. hilarious.