Buffalo Sabres and the NHL: 2025 - 2026

[Draconator]

Draft starts in 2 days this Friday. Time to extend the Sabres not-in-playoffs streak, and see what young talent traded from the Sabres wins the Stanley Cup next year.

[Mike in Horseheads]

And off to a big start...  

Rachel Lenzi

 

Reports have #Sabres forward JJ Peterka heading to Utah as part of a three-player trade -- more details on the impending/pending transaction. This story will be updated.

 

The Buffalo Sabres forward was reportedly traded to the Utah Mammoth late Wednesday night in a deal for defenseman Michael Kesselring and forward Josh Doan. DailyFaceoff.com's Frank Seravalli first reported the deal and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman indicated the return. Neither team has confirmed the transaction.

Edited Thursday at 03:53 AM by Mike in Horseheads

[Draconator]

29 minutes ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

And off to a big start...  

Rachel Lenzi

 

Reports have #Sabres forward JJ Peterka heading to Utah as part of a three-player trade -- more details on the impending/pending transaction. This story will be updated.

 

The Buffalo Sabres forward was reportedly traded to the Utah Mammoth late Wednesday night in a deal for defenseman Michael Kesselring and forward Josh Doan. DailyFaceoff.com's Frank Seravalli first reported the deal and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman indicated the return. Neither team has confirmed the transaction.

The Sabres are such a joke. 

[Mike in Horseheads]

2 minutes ago, Draconator said:

The Sabres are such a joke. 

I saw that and just laughed and SMH, so predictable

[QCity]

I like Kesselring but that is a very light return for JJ.  Hit a homerun with a 2nd round pick, develop him properly, watch him begin to thrive in the NHL, and then just before he's about to enter his prime - trade him. The Sabres truly are a farm team for the rest of the league. 

[UConn James]

Does Terry not see just how badly run this franchise is? He needs to sell or bring in someone experienced who gets total control.

 

Terrible. Terrible.

[May Day 10]

One of kevyn adams' few "wins" traded out of here for pennies on the dollar

[BillsPride12]

Not off to a good start 

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

WGRZ led off with “Sabres make a MAMMOTH trade”, which escaped me upon hearing it, and I immediately thought they moved JJP to Edmonton for McDavid 😂

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

22 minutes ago, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

WGRZ led off with “Sabres make a MAMMOTH trade”, which escaped me upon hearing it, and I immediately thought they moved JJP to Edmonton for McDavid 😂

By February 2026, McDavid gives an interview to the Amherst Bee, speaking in a barely audible whisper about his desire to be traded.

🤔

 Ushers at KeyBank Center no longer ask for inflatable palm trees to be removed - armed security guards confiscate them. (The palm trees...not the ushers.)

Edited Thursday at 11:51 AM by Ridgewaycynic2013

[Rockpile233]

Hard to see this team becoming a competitive franchise again with the clowns they have in charge. Hard to understand how a guy crying tears of joy when he bought the team is ok with his budget staff tanking the franchise over Microsoft Teams.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

11 minutes ago, Rockpile233 said:

Hard to see this team becoming a competitive franchise again with the clowns they have in charge. Hard to understand how a guy crying tears of joy when he bought the team is ok with his budget staff tanking the franchise over Microsoft Teams.

Yeah, well Tammy Faye Bakker cried a lot, too. 🤔😁

[Gregg]

24 minutes ago, Rockpile233 said:

Hard to see this team becoming a competitive franchise again with the clowns they have in charge. Hard to understand how a guy crying tears of joy when he bought the team is ok with his budget staff tanking the franchise over Microsoft Teams.

 

My advice to Terry is go get Lamoriello. Besides winning Stanley Cups with Devils, he also brought the Isles back to respectability from the clown show of Charles Wang and Garth Snow. They went to back-to-back ECF's a few years ago. If not for the Lightning, they might have won the Cup. Lou isn't perfect but he will get the Sabres to the point where they will be competitive. At this point Sabres fans would be thrilled with that.

[BillsFan4]

Peterka immediately signs an extension in Utah -  $7.7M x 5.

 

Doan makes $925k

Kesselring makes $1.4m

 

Sure looks like this was yet another money saving move to me.

 

I also wonder if they were worried about a potential offer sheet with lots of up front bonus money that Pegula probably wouldn’t be willing to match.

 

Remember Kevyn Adams telling us for years how he couldn’t spend to the cap because he needed money to pay his upcoming RFA’s starting this season? LMAO

 

The only RFA due for a real pay day was just traded away.

 

Who else?

Quinn?(lol)

Mittelstadt was traded instead of being payed, and the guy he was traded for (Byram) is also about to be traded away now they he is due to be paid.

Levi will just get a qualifying offer

McLeod has earned a pay day but it won’t be $7+ M top 6 forward money like JJP. More of a “good 3rd liner” type money.

 

anyway… 

 

Doan looks to be a bottom 6 type forward prospect with some snarl to his game. The Sabres can definitely use him.

 

And Kesselring was #6 in ice time among Utah defenseman.

He does have very good analytics and will hopefully be a good partner for Power. I do really like kesselring, just not at this price.

[Gregg]

As if hockey season isn't long enough. The league is now looking at an 84-game regular season.

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/nhl-considering-84-game-season-in-cba-negotiations-per-report/ar-AA1HqOWE

[May Day 10]

7 minutes ago, Gregg said:

As if hockey season isn't long enough. The league is now looking at an 84-game regular season.

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/nhl-considering-84-game-season-in-cba-negotiations-per-report/ar-AA1HqOWE

 

It is already too long and meaningless.  Add in the silly international stuff and it is endless.

 

Im not sure what the right answer is.  I think they should start in mid-late September, season should finish in March, and Cup awarded by Memorial Day.  

 

I would also like to see the scheduling change.  Would almost rather see an old AL/NL thing where the Conferences are divided.  It is a silly imbalance that you compete with Divisional rivals for playoff spots but only play them 3 times, while you have to play the Anaheim Ducks 2 times.

 

Also, 3 points for a regulation win

Edited Thursday at 01:26 PM by May Day 10

[Jauronimo]

2 hours ago, May Day 10 said:

One of kevyn adams' few "wins" traded out of here for pennies on the dollar

Would you have paid JJP $7.7M per year?

 

 

On the other hand.....the last time we gave a long term contract to a guy who just had a never to be sniffed again shooting % we wound up regretting that hard.  

[May Day 10]

1 minute ago, Jauronimo said:

Would you have paid JJP $7.7M per year?

 

I dont have that kind of money, but yes.  He is worth that much and there was apparently a marketplace of teams willing to pay him.  23 Year old who scores goals and about to enter his prime.  They are paying Josh Norris more than that annually.

 

The problem is, the silly past decisions.  Owen Power contract, buying out Skinner last year (and not using the cap savings) which was stupid, Samuelsson, and UPL.  Also, the Norris thing

[Jauronimo]

1 minute ago, May Day 10 said:

 

I dont have that kind of money, but yes.  He is worth that much and there was apparently a marketplace of teams willing to pay him.  23 Year old who scores goals and about to enter his prime.  They are paying Josh Norris more than that annually.

 

The problem is, the silly past decisions.  Owen Power contract, buying out Skinner last year (and not using the cap savings) which was stupid, Samuelsson, and UPL.  Also, the Norris thing

Fair enough.  I like JJ but his contract was one that I was scared of.  I love his speed, he has a nice shot, but I don't think his game is well rounded enough to commit to him long term for that kind of money.  Norris was a trade.  We are paying Norris "too much" because we gave a bad contract to Cozens.

[ChevyVanMiller]

Sabres use #9 pick to draft defenseman Radim Mrtka. He looked thrilled to join a team that hasn’t made the playoffs for 4/5ths of his life.