BillsFan4

Jason Botterill is going to be on WGR550 at 3:50pm. They said it sounds like there might be some type of news.

Cliff Pu was just traded to Florida for future considerations (so, basically for nothing). Damn. That Skinner trade looks amazing if we re-sign him.

i don’t see them signing a top FA either. The only one I could potentially see is Duchene, since there was some rumors of buffalo being interested in him. But he will likely cost too much and/or go to a winning team like Nashville. I was talking more more about some of the lesser free agents that could plug holes for Buffalo. Like Brassard or Staal or Hayes as a temporary 2C, or one of the wingers (not named Panarin) to help fill out the top 6. This is almost a historically deep free agent class. I’m not saying to go out and overpay, but there’s too much depth in this free agent class, and Buffalo has too many holes to fill, not to take advantage of it at all. As far as Panarin, I’ve heard it’s either LA, NYC (Rangers, isles) or Florida. That he either wants to be in a big market (for his girlfriend’s modeling career iirc) or in Florida for the weather.

I was assuming he was already signed... ? lol For real though, I am pretty confident a deal gets done. Every indication we have points to it getting done. The latest I saw was from John Vogl on the Athletic the other day. He said in his mailbag “a deal will get done, and possibly soon”.

The free agent market this summer looks like it could be insane too. Off the top of my head : Stone Duchene Dzingel Stralman Panarin Pavelski Staal Simmonds Lee Eberle Brassard Brock Nelson Karlsson Gardiner Edler Zuccarello Theres tons of potential help there, though not all will make it to UFA. Still... Lots of top 6 forwards and a few top 4 defenseman.

I like the conditions put on this pick. It looks like Anaheim wins because if both the Sam and STL pick fall in the 20’s they can pick the higher one. But its it’s a fair trade off because if the Blues finish lower than SJ (most likely) and get bounced from the playoffs in the 1st or 2nd, their pick could still fall in the 16-19 range, in which case Buffalo keeps it and gives Anaheim the SJ pick. As of now, STL sits in 14th overall and 16 teams make the playoffs. So their pick could easily still be in that 16-19 range I believe. Oh man that’s brutal for Zuccarello and Dallas. Obviously for Zucc being in a contract year at age 30/31. And Dallas just traded for him yesterday. Gave up a 2nd +3rd that can still turn into a 1st + 2nd even if Zuccarello doesn’t play another minute for Dallas before leaving as a free agent.

Oh man! That would have been amazing. Hall is one of my favorite wingers. I followed him pretty closely leading up to his draft year and always dreamed of buffalo drafting a player of his caliber (that was before the tank, when buffalo has never really drafted top 3 (in decades anyway)). But yeah, I’m nervous at the thought of Risto being traded for sure. It has to be the right return. And I don’t fully know what to make of Botts trades yet. He’s definitely earning my trust but I’m not 100% there yet. Really, I like every one but the ROR trade, so I’m hoping that was just due more to circumstance as John mentioned (massive bonus due, year end comments and all that stuff... who knows, maybe there was even pressure form ownership to move him before the bonus was due?). In his tenure so far, Botts seems to get pretty great value when trading FOR someone. He’s definitely earning my trust in that regard. It’s nice to get some good players for a fair price (or a steal in the case of Skinner). What a change from Tim Murray! lol But a potential Risto trade makes me a bit nervous because he’d be trading away someone. I don’t think there’s a pressure to trade him like there was with ROR though. And no “big bonus” deadline. I see no reason to force a trade by 3pm tomorrow if the right trade isn’t there. Risto is a young, offensively gifted RH D with term. Seems like there should be a demand there. I’d probably wait until the offseason when more teams will be interested and willing to include roster players, unless someone knocks Botterill’s socks off or something.

It could still happen this season.... (hope not, unless it’s too good to refuse) Id still want a defenseman coming back in any Risto trade. Our blue line would going right back to being a weakness if we traded Risto for a forward only. But this does open the door to the possibility of moving Risto. It has to be the right deal though. ZERO interest in another ROR type futures trade. Give me a good young F and a good D prospect and we can talk! lol Man, too bad Edmonton wasn’t offering Hall for Risto this offseason (it was reported they offered him to Tim Murray before he was traded to NJ).

Hopefully us! lol. But in reality those 2 picks probably won’t be that far apart. I don’t see either team making it past Calgary and/or Winnipeg, and iirc the 1st round pick doesn’t drastically change positions until you reach the conference finals. Im good with either pick, really. I would have been very nervous if it were Buffalo’s own 1st but that isn’t the case. Edit - here @YoloinOhio

Whoa! I love it! Montour is a heck of a defenseman. He’s a right shot, which was a huge hole, he’s only 24 and is still an RFA when his deal ends. and Guhle was really struggling in Rochester. hoping its our highest first (as in latest in the round).

I am starting to think there might be something to all these Risto trade rumors. I’ve heard a few credible people say it now (going back months). I get it, sort of. He’s been here through all the losing and there have been numerous reports over the years of him (supposedly) being one of the most uncoachable Sabres. Plus, he makes a lot,of dumb mistakes (over and over again). But man, they better get a return they can’t rurn down. No interest in another all futures based ROR type trade. They need a sure thing. And if they’re sending him to division rival Tampa... they better get something they just can’t refuse. My ideal risto trade would be to Winnipeg for Trouba (since he reportedly doesn’t want to sign long term with a canadien team). Edit -heard Dreger shot down the rumors. hope he’s right. Tampa is making a cup run. They aren’t going to give any big pieces off their roster and I have zero interest in trading Risto for a futures package.

The problem with Jesse Puljujarvi is that he will lose his waiver exempt status by the end of this season. He is nearing the 160 NHL games played threshold where you lose waiver exempt status. So, unless he’s sent to the AHL soon you will have no choice but to devote an NHL roster spot to him. His entry level contract is also up at the end of this year, but that isn’t as big of a deal.

I respect Jarmo going all in (if that’s what he does, which looks somewhat likely). As you mentioned, they’ve never won a single playoff series in their (almost) 20 year existence. And after many years of rebuilding and finally climbing out of it to respectability, they are about to lose 2 of their best players (Panarin being their best player). So I get the “now or never” aspect of it. But yeah, it could get real ugly. As you mentioned Bob tends to save his crappiest play for the playoffs. Plus the East is ridiculous this year. Hoping for for the best for them. I can identify with their fan base/city/team. They’ve gone through lots of suffering too, and deal with some of the same issues we do in buffalo re:player recruitment (etc). Plus I always like rooting for the small market underdogs. But I just don’t see it. Not this year anyway.

Another trade. Deadline day is going to be boring at this rate... lol.

Wow! It looks like Columbus is really going for it! This is will be pending unrestricted free agent #4 for Columbus. And 3 of them are big time, top dog type free agents.

Great game by buffalo today. They pretty much dominated the play most game. They weren’t going to be denied. Even the analytic numbers looked good today - http://naturalstattrick.com/ 2 good games in a row. Hopefully that Tampa game gave them their confidence back like Dahlin said it did and they can go on a nice run to finish the season (draft position be damned...). I’m not holding my breath, but hey I can hope right? lol No matter what happens down the stretch here, I just want to see them keep playing the way they did the past 2 games. If they keep playing like that, they will eventually started winning more than they lose. This team needs to learn consistency.

Yeah I was wondering the same thing. It’ll definitely be interesting to see what happens. As of now, My guess is that they keeping both now and are all in on trying to make a deep playoff run. It makes sense. Jarmo has been slowly building thay team for a long time now and It’s likely their best shot at a deep playoff run for a while (if panarin and Bob are both gone). But man, if so they could be setting themselves up for a brutal offseason. If Panarin, Bob and now Duchene all walk for nothing in return, on top of giving up 2 pretty good prospects + not having a 1st in the draft this year... ouch. And imagine if they are eliminated in round 1, too. Edit - looks like they may be trying to load up, according to Dreger:

Disappointing that they didn’t get 2pts but I can’t really be mad they lost to Tampa in a shootout. They played a good game tonight against far and away the best team in the NHL. Definitely got pretty chippy. Emotions were running high. It honestly felt a bit like a playoff game in that regard. If you didn’t enjoy watching that game, it’s probably time to take a break from Sabres hockey.

Why was that a penalty on Risto? Loked like a perfectly clean hit to me. Edit - tripping?!! Get ****** refs.

Damn, that’s brutal. All 3 scratched for precautionary reasons (the trade deadline is Monday). Probably means all 3 are gone. We know Duchene is for sure (and they still owe the Avs their 1st this year, which could be #1 oa), and now it seems likely Stone and Dzingel are gone too (and both supposedly wanted to stay). Poor Ottawa fans. (and they are down 4-0 to NJ)

Hope Hutton is up for the task!

I agree on Gase. I keep forgetting they hired him...lol. But still, with Maccagnan retaining control of the 53 man roster and supposedly wanting Bell pretty badly (there’s been lots of rumors about it), I still think they could make him an offer. Maccagnan likes those big name stars, and with how things ended for Gase in Miami, I don’t know if he will be pounding the table that hard against a player of Bell’s caliber immediately after being hired. I know he will have input but He may not be quite comfortable enough to make a strong stand against signing a proven star player like Bell yet. He made sure to be clear after he was hired that he didn’t want control of the 53 man roster this time and that he just wanted to be the coach. Plus, more than anything Gase needs to win games to repair his rep as a head coach, and the Jets need all the talent they can get. You very well may be right though. Gase is about those high character team guys, and I believe Chris Johnson (currently running the jets for Woody) is the same way. I know that he stepped in and vetoed the Su signing when Maccagnan offered him a deal (after Miami cut him).

It’s a depth signing. A 1 year low money deal, with no guarantee that he even makes the roster. Definitely not worth getting worked up over in any way...

Yeah me too. I would be surprised if the Jets did Not go after him. I think they will make him a big offer.