I know Nylander is still young and has a lot of time to develop....I'd do that trade today

Five stars for trading O'Reilly.
I like your signings they all make sense and make the team better.
IMO you could trade Beaulieu for a pick, he is only a year removed from 28 pts and this year playing on a team that none of the defensemen scored a goal until when?
You may want to compare Pominville's stats against other NHL RW, you may be surprised how well he did.
Bogosian has been hurt and maybe you are correct to buy him out, but when he was with the Jets, only Buff had more ice time than he had his last 2 years.
IMO, that is not enough for either of those trades.
Domi has 52, 38 and 45 pts in 3 years in the NHL, Nylander has 28 & 27 pts in 2 years in the AHL.
Hanifin is really young (21 yo and will only get better), only 22 NHL defensemen have score more goals than he last year and only 42 had more pts. That clearly makes him a top pairing defenseman, O'Reilly is clearly 1b/2a center because he is 34th and 31st among all NHL centers in goals and assists. I think Buffalo would need to add a good (Nylander, or Nelson/Guhle for example) prospect at least to get Hanifin.

I have no love for pominville. Just dont think buying him out makes much sense. As far as hanifin, yep, im in, but im not sure if id call him a 1 yet. As i understand, he had sheltered minutes, assisted by lots of o zone starts. A first pair d doesnt just get the benefit of play like this. Hes a d that is capable of putting up points, and can skate, the rest is less certain. And carolina still might not move him.

I would not trade Nylander for Domi. Nylander is under team control for longer and at this point I think he has more room to develop.

Thank you for your comments and I completely agree. Pominville makes no sense as a Sabre but he has only one year remaining on his contract, retain $1,666,667 trade him for a pick (he could return a 3rd or a "B" prospect) makes a lot more sense than buying him out. I guess I misrepresented myself. I did not mean to call Hanifin a #1 Defenseman just a top pairing defenseman (there are 62 top pairing NHL defensemen and his stats are top 40). He is not nearly a #1. IMO O'Reilly, McCabe and 2019 1st (I would prefer to send Nylander) would pry him out of Carolina.

Hanafin isn't a top line defenseman right now. He's Carolina's #4, each of Slavin, Pesce, and Faulk play more than him. He also gets gifted with a 63.1% offensive zone start rate, which will inflate the possession metrics and point totals you're looking at while hiding some defensive blemishes. Now that doesn't mean he won't develop into one, he's still young with room to grow, but you can't say we'd be trading for a bonafide top pairing defenseman. I think ROR straight up would be close to fair value given his upside, but I'd think twice on even making that trade.

Domi for Nylander is interesting to me. It's important to remember that Nylander is only 19 years old and has plenty of developmental time left, but I haven't been a fan of his in Rochester. He's been a bystander in just about every game I've seen from him, and tends to float around the perimeter rather than fight for positioning or the puck. Granted, he's a 19 year old kid playing in a men's league which could be making him timid, but it's still not what I want out of a wing prospect. Domi comes with his own warts, but he brings a drive and aggression that I don't see in Nylander. I still think Nylander is worth more simply because when his game clicks, his upside is elite. I wonder if Hjalmarsson could be added to this, maybe with a small plus from our side. He's not the greatest skater ever and he probably wouldn't be a piece of our future, but he's be a solid presence on our back end and in the locker room.

Thank you for your comments, it is educational to enter into an exchange of ideas and I love it when statistics are used to make a point. We nearly completely agree on Hanfin, I guess somehow that is not clear. Exactly when did I say Hanifin was a top line defenseman, I said his stats put him among all NHL top pairing defensemen. you are even quoting my post that I said I may have misrepresented myself, I even said he is not nearly #1. While it is true and you are correct that his ice time was 4th among Carolina defensemen, he was their top scorer, so he made very good use of his offensive zone starts. I cannot agree that O'Reilly for Hanifin would ever be accepted by Carolina.

I have watched Nylander struggle in the NHL and you in the AHL (I presume you live in Rochester). My point was yes, as a Sabres' fan I would love to get Domi for Nylander (IMO it would have to be a big add on), but would Arizona be happy to get Nylander + 2020 2nd for Domi + Hjalmarsson , I think not.

You called Hanifin a top pairing defenseman in the comment I quoted earlier. I see "top pairing" and "top line" as interchangeable terms, do you see them differently?

Either way, I think Hanifin has a decent chance at becoming that guy. But I am a bit worried that he looks better than he is right now because Slavin and Peace serve as a shutdown pairing in Carolina and take the tough matchups. We don't really have anyone that compares to those two in Buffalo, and I fear that Hanifin may struggle with the increased defensive responsibilities.

I dont like Pominville but I think he is a great leader and your team is very young and you do have the cap, and Beaulieu could be traded for a pick, bogosian you could trade him for a pick and retain salary, I feel like green isnt a good defenseman for your team, he is a liability on defense, he is great offensively but your team needs more of a two way guy. and I am such a huge fan of the goaltending changes.

Seriously? With a name like "Shootica" you think he lives in Rochester? I would guess he lives, oh, say, 135 miles due east of Rochester.

Where is this leadership that pominville brings? Im confused, i hear things like he was picked to be a captain by ruff because hes a guy that will never question the coach- which is terrible. And he was present in this years lord of the flies locker room that has a bunch of kids and some vets not doing what the coach tells them. Ill listen to "hes a quiet veteran presence that plays a 2 way game as well as he can for what he has left", but im done listening to people talk about his leadership.

Than you very much for your comment, Very informative, objective and accurate. I cannot say that about too many other comments.

It seems we are debating nuances. Regardless, I think we agree more than disagree and we should focus on our agreements and not the small variances. Any way maybe carolina is giving him easy assignments until he learns how to play NHL defense.