BillsFan4

https://apnews.com/f4b8d724ec614d8fa2c61bc0daeaf785 This article leaves little doubt in my mind that he wanted/needed a trade. I take that as he doesn't regret saying what he did even though it led to a trade, which makes me think maybe that was part of his end goal? I take that as him Saying he basically wasn't equipped to handle the situation in Buffalo, and will be a much better fit on a veteran team, where he doesn't have the burden of being looked at as a leader. Sounds like he may have possibly mentioned something to Doug Armstrong about feeling that he needed a change of scenery to get that "boost" or passion back in his game. I don't know, maybe it's just me looking for reasons he had to be traded, but I am becoming more and more convinced that it had to happen.

That's what a lot of people don't seem to take into account. How TF do you bring him back after those comments? -He infers that he became ok with losing. -He says he is not mentally tough as a player - he talks about how on a lot of nights he was ok with just not making a mistake - he says he lost himself many times during the season - says he was "lost right from the get go" this year - he says he lost his love for the game many times during the season - says he used to hate losing. It used to drive him and now he has kind of become ok with it (at times) to cope with all the losing. - he talks about playing in the worlds and how he's excited, and how it's been a long time since he's felt that excitement to play hockey (and try to win something). He says howmitll be nice to get that excitement to play hockey back, and hopefully he can carry that into next year - after hearing his comments, a stunned reporter asked him if he needs to be moved and he says - "do I need to be moved? (pause) Umm... (pause) no." Mind you, he had days to think about these answers. It wasn't a heat of the moment thing. They seem like calculated answers to me. That is a whole whole lot of bomb shells to be dropping on a GM you know damn well is looking to change out some of the core. I feel like ROR knew what he was doing. Knowing the GMwas looking to make changes, ROR admits to the press that he basically embodies just about every problem that plagued the Sabres last year. It was almost like he was raising raising his hand and yelling "hey, pick me, pick me! I volunteer (to move on)"

https://mobile.twitter.com/Dan_Dunleavy/status/1012763290559107072 Dan Dunleavy @Dan_Dunleavy Can't be understated the attitude of the prospects at @BuffaloSabres development camp this year. Every player I ask telling me the coaches had a lot to do with that. This culture change is officially for real in Buffalo. I cant wait to watch this thing turn around. Edit - can someone help me. I cant embed tweets anymore. I used to just click on that arrow arrow at the top right of the tweet and select "copy link to tweet". But that option no longer longer pops up when I click on that little black arrow at the top of tweets. It only gives me the option to "embed tweet" or "cancel".

Sweet! This could turn out to be a really nice signing in the coming years. Definitely have no issue giving up Fasching for Hickey. I honestly didn't know what our chances were of signing him. Buffalo has such an over-abundance of LH defenseman right now. I thought maybe he would question his opportunity here. Although many of those LH D are scrubs, so if Hickey would have seen them as reason not to sign, I'd have really questioned his confidence in himself.

I am hoping a couple of the teams reeling from missing out on JT are panicked enough to start a bidding war for ROR... lol. Like, maybe the Isles feels desperate to land a good center to help shelter Barzal instead of forcing him into the #1C role after only 1 season. Or the Sharks feel the pressure to go for it with their aging core. I can hope, right? I am am perfectly happy keeping ROR though, if the offers aren't right.

Yuck, a leaf. Puke. and for only $11M per year? Damn. JT left at least $11M on the table (if the Isles were offering $88M over 8yrs like the rumors state). Eichel has a damn long way to go to live up to his $10M... on a positive note - it may be tougher to keep Matthews + Nylander + Marner now too. Both Marner and Matthews said they want to wait to sign until next year. Marner was rumored to be asking for Eichel money. I'd guess Matthews wants even more. Can't pay everyone... Plus, there is already a supposed rift between Matthews and Babcock. Rumor is it's over Matthews usage. He wants to be used as a #1C, and get the PP time and even strength mins to go with that. With KT there now, I can't imagine Matthews icetime will go up... if Baba was giving Matthews icetime to Bozak, imagine what it'll be like with JT. I have to believe JT will be their #1C for the foreseeable future. Babcock loves his vets and has a long history with JT. Everything will probably work out fine and Toronto will be a juggernaut. But it'll be an interesting story to follow, at least.

You can really see why everyone says Hutton is such a great guy for the locker room. Like night and day different personality from Lehner...

Link to 3v3 prospect tournament live stream - https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/2018-french-connection-tournament/t-277437090/c-40474303 Should be starting in about 10mins.

I read (can't remember who said it, but I know it was a pretty credible media source) that if he leaves the Isles, it's Sharks #1 and Toronto #2. Ive always read/heard that JT isn't a guy who likes tons of attention or spotlight. That he's more of a private guy. That's one of the reasons why I mentioned San Jose as a team I could see him going to long before any of this started. They just made tons of sense for Tavares. I wasn't at all surprised to see their name on his short list of teams to get mettings. I still think they make the most sense if he leaves The NYI.

That was a good read. Wish Kane all the best in San Jose. They em could be a scary good team if they get Tavares (figures, since we have their 1st next year... lol. Better than JT in Toronto, though!)

I mean, you can never have enough centers... and it's much easier to move a C to the wing than vise versa. Plus, Thomas is a top 10 prospect in all of hockey. So I wouldn't turn him down. But it I was just going off all the rumors. I agree, Thomas wouldn't be my #1 target from St. Louis. Parayko would be, for sure. He fills a real need - top 4 right hand D. Heck, he'd most likely be our #1 RD. Id try to expand the deal and include something else from Buffalo to get either Kyrou or Kostin (Kostin is more likely, as he's a notch lower than Kyrou IMO. I can't see St. Louis including both Parayko and Kyrou. Plus Kostin is a left wing, a much bigger need than RW (Kyrou)). I cant really see St. Louis including Parayko either, though. And it doesn't really match the "picks and a top prospect" ask we keep hearing from everyone (LeBrun, McKenzie, Dreger). If it's not Parayko or Thomas, It had damn well better be at least Kyrou + + if we trade ROR to the Blues. Kostin or Thompson aren't enough as a centerpiece to a ROR deal IMO. And I'm not sure Dunn makes a lot of sense, since we are loaded with Left handed defenseman right now (Dahlin, Scandella, Guhle, Pilut, McCabe, Beaulieu, Hunwick, and Hickey if he signs). Not sure Kyrou makes a ton of sense as the centerpiece either. We have quite a few right wing prospects, some of which are no longer eligible for waiver exemption (Baptiste, Bailey). But I don't know what else there is from St. Louis if it's not Thomas, Parayko or Dunn. I am starting to feel like I am most likely going to be disappointed in what ROR returns (assuming he's traded, which feels very likely right now (IMO anyway)).

Yeah, I trust Jeremy Rutherford a whole lot more than Dan Buffa. According to St. Louis fans, I guess that Dan Buffa isn't even a radio show host. He contributes once in a while to the radio show. They said he's a film critic, unpaid blogger and Uber driver. Basically just a knowledgeable fan with no snide sources according to them.

I have no idea what to even make of this. Came across it randomly browsing YouTube. This guy's got some wild commercials. Here's the link to all of them - https://m.youtube.com/results?search_query=all+holes+filled+landscaping This one just seems a bit dirty for a Christmas commercial -

He didn't participate yesterday either. He is still at development camp (sabres even had him live on Facebook for a Q&A yesterday), but he just has a minor injury. After what happened with his injury last season (aggravating it and making it worse, which caused him to miss months instead of weeks) I think Buffalo is just being cautious. We don't know when the injury happened either. It could have just happened in the last couple/few days for all we know. Plus, He's not the only prospect being held off the ice with a minor injury.

He is their #1 center prospect, and one of the top 2 prospects in their system (I'd say #1). I wuld say hes roughly around a Casey Mittelstadt level prospect, give or take, so it would be a good get. I would be surprised if they parted with him. Where did you hear these rumors? Is it a reliable source? Man, I would love that Parayko trade. He is exactly who I've been hoping for in a trade with St. Louis, and that's exactly the type of return I'd be looking for in a ROR deal. I would be pretty surprised if they also sent a 1st back with Parayko though. I'd be perfectly happy with Parayko for ROR 1for1... Sobotka wuld be a nice add to help fill ROR's spot this season. I'd d Parayko and Sobotka for ROR and McCabe and d be happy about it. Now that Robert Thomas trade...that needs another piece from the Blues (in my opinion). That trade I would want their 1st, and maybe even another +. Jake Allen isn't much better than a cap dump at this point. He sucks and is signed for 3 more years. If we are taking on Allen and paying ROR his $7.5M lump sum bonus check on top of that... yeah, St. Louis should definitely be adding something else. A trade with St. Louis wouldn't happen until after July 1st IMO. I can't see the Blues owner paying that bonus money a couple days after getting ROR. He's not exactly known as a big spender and has a pretty strict internal cap (from what I've read). With Buffalo paying the bonus money, I think that Parayko deal (even without the 1st) would be a fair trade in my book. After July 1st, ROR is only owed $25M in real dollars over the last 5yrs of his deal. That is dirt cheap for a guy who would pretty much be their #1C (allowing Brayden Schenn to get more favorable o zone starts etc). I know his cap hit is $7.5M, but the Blues are never a Cap ceiling team anyway (iirc). I think/hope the real dollars paid may be more important to their owner (and GM). I just hope Botterill gets a good return on ROR if/when he is traded. That stuff about a 1st and a couple 2nds (or a 1st, 2nd and prospect) scares me. I have no interest in trading ROR for a few draft picks that will likely be in the 20's or later. Those picks have a pretty low percentage of ever turning into as good a player as ROR is. Plus, we don't exactly have a tried and tested scouting dept right now. This was their 1st draft and #1 was a no brained... I haven't seen enough of them yet to know whether or not to have confidence in their ability to turn up a good player in the later 1st and 2nd rounds. And what would a return of all futures like that say to the fans? A ROR trade will tell us a lot about Jason Botterill as a GM. It's not like the Kane deadline deal, where he didn't have any real leverage and only had 1 legit offer from the sound of it. Botterill holds the cards in a ROR trade. There are 5yrs left on his deal, and Buffalo doesn't have anyone to fill his role. They don't Have To trade him this season, or even next. ROR also has a very good reputation around the league. It's not a Kane situation. He has to get a good return for ROR. The Sabres can't afford to absorb any more bad trades.

I do think it's a foregone conclusion that ROR is gone at this point. I am pretty nervous about what the return is going to be though with some of these recent reports. Especially if he's moved before that July 1 bonus. I am trying to prepare myself for an underwhelming return. Hopefully I am pleasantly surprised.

Love seeing such a warm welcome for him everywhere he went. Buffalo making a good 1st impression... (as usual)

Kind of hard to take the list serious when they have a guy like Mike Vrabel ranked at #17, when he's never coached a single NFL game, and was only a coordinator for a single year before getting the head coaching job. That year happened to be 2017, as the Houston Texans defensive coordinator. Not exactly their best year (I know, injuries...). I mean, he's only been coaching since 2011 as a LB and d line coach. They have 4 more rookie head coaches ranked from 24-21 too. How do you possibly even rank a head coach before his first game anyway?

https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/dahlin-behind-the-scenes/t-277437090/c-60661703

Lol. Yeah I knew damn well it was Dahlin but I still got nervous for a split second. Oh, and then just as the bottom of the screen says "pick is in", that "trade alert" graphic pops up right next to it. I knew it couldn't be a trade for the #1 pick since it was in already, but it still caught me off guard for a brief second. lol. Buffalo fandom....

It's finally official!! Rasmus Dahlin is a Buffalo Sabre. Feels great to type that.

Sadly, neither am I. What a waste of a 1st round pick in an amazingly deep draft. It still pisses me off to think we could have possibly had one of the many very good players still available at that pick... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_NHL_Entry_Draft That 2015 draft alone could have set Buffalo up for a decade or more. Its its amazing how terrible Tim Murray was looking back in hindsight. He had a blank slate and a giant pile of assets, and Buffalo is not really left with much to show for it. Ok, done venting. Sorry. It's 1 day to Dahlin! Not is not a time to be all mopey about Murray... lol

Good for him. Wish him all the best.

Dahlin started playing defense full time at age 13. He just turned 18 in April... so 5yrs as a full time defenseman. And he's this good already. Amazing. If he's this great after only 5yrs, can you imagine where he will be in another 5? Or 10? It would be quite the understatement to say that I am excited to see this kid develop.

I grabbed a 1 year PS+ subscription on Amazon earlier this year on sale for $39. I don't know if that a regular thing they do or what. May be worth keeping an eye out for if/when your renewal is coming up.