Moving Kane and ROR?

That was more of an ownership call was it not?
- Stripes77

Sure, maybe. The point is he was given those things, traded them away and has failed to replace one of them. He was not handed nothing. He was handed some very important things. And in 3 years has done... this.

The two best lines from this year - incredibly- were given to him by a GM who was fired 3 years ago.

The middle pair and goalie were handed to him by the GM who was fired 5 years ago

I give Okposo a lot of credit

He knows he is over payed (can't blame him)

He knows he couldn't keep up on the top line

Instead of sulking he found a way to be a good team guy and play the role he is being asked to play and playing it well
- Stripes77

All of this. Now if only Mojo could learn this

Status quo, Botts continuing to go after cheap deals and crummy forwards, this team is going to continue to look like it has the past two years, because he doesn't have the sack and/or the assets and/or the cap to make the right moves.
- TheSabresTaco

I don't necessarily want Botts to be Steinbrenner, but I don't want to play money ball either.

It's a tough predicament.

He needs to hit on some value players, like Jokiharju.

Status quo, Botts continuing to go after cheap deals and crummy forwards, this team is going to continue to look like it has the past two years, because he doesn't have the sack and/or the assets and/or the cap to make the right moves.
- TheSabresTaco

Assets and cap are one issue

The sack is the one that bothers me

Bogo coming off is big but lets not act like they have a ton of cap space this off season either

Botts is going to have to sack up and make a real hockey trade

Sure, maybe. The point is he was given those things, traded them away and has failed to replace one of them. He was not handed nothing. He was handed some very important things. And in 3 years has done... this.

The two best lines from this year - incredibly- were given to him by a GM who was fired 3 years ago.

The middle pair and goalie were handed to him by the GM who was fired 5 years ago
- jcragcrumple

if you really think about it, even at its best this team has more Darcy in it than Botts.

The defacto top pair, Johan getting the defensive matchups, Ullmark as their #1. Yikes

All of this. Now if only Mojo could learn this
- Sabresfan-365

He was so good at the start of the year

Him and Skinner really clicked

Injuries and stick changes screwed it up

I give Okposo a lot of credit

He knows he is over payed (can't blame him)

He knows he couldn't keep up on the top line

Instead of sulking he found a way to be a good team guy and play the role he is being asked to play and playing it well
- Stripes77

Agreed. Another point I touched on, the guy's a great team guy and that's not lost on the organization. No one's getting out of this contract, so you might as well do your best to make it work, any way you can.

This team is a 2C a top line RWer (so Reinhart can play with that 2 C and Skinner)

an above average goaltender away

Olo Eichel Hoffman??
Skinner ???? Reinhart
??? Asplund Mojo
LOG line

They need to figure out D pairings but that is difficult with 12 guys rotating

and get a stop gap starter (still not sold on Ullmark)
- Stripes77

Interesting take
Add Galchenyuk for pretty much nothing,
see if him or Sam can work at 2C
Then we could be in pretty good shape

As far as goalie...
Crawford is an upcoming UFA
Chicago probably couldn’t want too much for him
He should at least be an upgrade over Hutton,
even if he isn’t great

Assets and cap are one issue

The sack is the one that bothers me

Bogo coming off is big but lets not act like they have a ton of cap space this off season either

Botts is going to have to sack up and make a real hockey trade
- Stripes77

He may need to move Sam to get the piece he needs. I don't think he has the stones to do it. Sam is likely going to look for a decent increase, which he deserves if he has his traditional second half surge. What does that do for the rest of the team moving forward.

The value deals haven't hit yet.

None of those teams won making those transactions in season and 6/8 names are now on new teams then the ones that traded for them.

The Sabres are not in a position to trade rentals.

Our best hope is that we finish bottom 10 at this point and swing for the fences in the offseason.
- Pegullaville

Your argument wasn't whether the trades helped or not, it was that big names didn't get traded.
Your second point is unclear. I agree we are not in position to trade for rentals, however the discussion started with trading away rentals (Skinner last year), which we are in position to do again this year.
Sheary's won 2 Cups, Frolik won a Cup, Johansson played in the finals last year and has played in the playoffs 8 out of 9 seasons in the league. All could have interest at the deadline, not to mention that teams are always looking for defensive depth heading into the playoffs.

Agreed. Another point I touched on, the guy's a great team guy and that's not lost on the organization. No one's getting out of this contract, so you might as well do your best to make it work, any way you can.
- TheSabresTaco

As much as I wanted him to retire after his last concussion I understand the importance of him in the locker room

He is the anti-Bogo

The tear down job that Murray did was good, it's what he did with those picks which killed us.

He sold Pegula (or maybe Pegula wanted it) that they could do a quick rebuild.

Obviously you can't

Why have Botts make the same mistake?
- Stripes77

Super reasonable level headed post 👏

Playoffs is fine

But don't we want to win in the playoffs?

The 2C is more important long term

The right goalie gets us in the conversation for playoffs
- Stripes77

That’s gonna be Mitts or Cozens long term

He was so good at the start of the year

Him and Skinner really clicked

Injuries and stick changes screwed it up
- Stripes77

I toyed around with armchair gm, didn't sign any FA's, just re-signed our own RFAs.

My guess is we have 10-12M with 0 trades or FA signings.

I signed Larry for 1.7

if you really think about it, even at its best this team has more Darcy in it than Botts.

The defacto top pair, Johan getting the defensive matchups, Ullmark as their #1. Yikes
- Sabresfan-365

It's crazy. 80% of the parts that function are the parts that arent his.

Interesting take
Add Galchenyuk for pretty much nothing,
see if him or Sam can work at 2C
Then we could be in pretty good shape

As far as goalie...
Crawford is an upcoming UFA
Chicago probably couldn’t want too much for him
He should at least be an upgrade over Hutton,
even if he isn’t great
- jdfitz77

I think Botts tried to get a few of these pieces this offseason with Mojo and Vesey

he bought cheap and none of which have big cap hits and contracts that last more than one more season

I think he knew he couldn't make it all happen and even now trying to get all those pieces is NOT going to be easy and most likely won't happen

Nah, that one was his choice.
- TheSabresTaco

No it wasn’t
He was 100% forced to trade Kane according to both Homie and 89

Makes sense with the off ice issues Kane had

Also, it was at least commonly thought that Kane didn’t wanna re-sign here anyways

That’s gonna be Mitts or Cozens long term
- jdfitz77

Hopefully this is true

More like that HAS to be Mitts or Cozens long term

It's crazy. 80% of the parts that function are the parts that arent his.
- jcragcrumple

His entire tenure as GM appears to be a willingness to make moves only if they carry little to no risk to the NHL team.

The obvious problems are:

a) the team isn't good, what exactly are you afraid of losing, 14th pick?
b) All the moves with any sort of medium to high reward carry some risk so avoiding them is not unlike the coach who plays to lose 2-1 rather than try to win

He may need to move Sam to get the piece he needs. I don't think he has the stones to do it. Sam is likely going to look for a decent increase, which he deserves if he has his traditional second half surge. What does that do for the rest of the team moving forward.

The value deals haven't hit yet.
- thatsapickle

Unless the team is doing a Jones for Johanson type of swap, where it's two high level guys moving, same age and impact, I don't see the reason to move Reinhart. This team lacks the wing strength to pull that off. I just don't see the logic.

Can't hate it.

I tried making a point this summer about using Okposo correctly and he can succeed, as long as people can separate his cap hit from his on ice play. He's been good in his role, and it's a shame he's one of the most expensive 4th liners in the league, but at least he's good at it.
- TheSabresTaco

I said the same thing about Okposo
He was a decent bottom6 player last year
His contract just sucks

No it wasn’t
He was 100% forced to trade Kane according to both Homie and 89

Makes sense with the off ice issues Kane had

Also, it was at least commonly thought that Kane didn’t wanna re-sign here anyways
- jdfitz77

He turned Kane into Montour

a 2nd line winger for a 2nd pairing D

good hockey trade

As much as I wanted him to retire after his last concussion I understand the importance of him in the locker room

He is the anti-Bogo
- Stripes77

I got irrationally irritated watching Bogo board that kid last night.

I got irrationally irritated watching Bogo board that kid last night.
- TheSabresTaco

I didn't watch one second of the game last night which is something I don't usually do

It was refreshing

I checked the score and was like eh

I give Okposo a lot of credit

He knows he is over payed (can't blame him)

He knows he couldn't keep up on the top line

Instead of sulking he found a way to be a good team guy and play the role he is being asked to play and playing it well
- Stripes77

Veteran leadership. Not measured on the score sheet.

Expensive veteran leadership