That's a hard no from me

Tampa gets fleeced in this deal.

What a stupid trade

this ain't it chief

Betterall would try to keep a straight face as his innards are jumping for joy. What a steal. Sergachev is a young Ristolainen at a bargain price, Miller fills in the #2 center spot, Callahan may be just what the Sabres need to settle the team down after tough losses. Let's make a deal!

and brisebois would be fired instantly

people clearly don't see ristolainen's value, and the fact callahan's contract will kill this team

I agree Ristolainen is underrated but adding Sergachev is a little excessive. Same with Nylander. Miller and Callahan obviously isn't enough for Ristolainen but I think Sergachev is bridging the gap too much

I think Sergachev and Callahan straight up for Ristolainen would be fair. Buffalo may need to add in a piece like Sheary as well if Sergachev and Risatolainen aren't equal or very close in value. Callahan probably has zero value, as he provides so little on-ice value (though I've heard he's a great veteran presence/leader).

he's a good leader and physical. also great guy off the ice (google the Ryan Callahan Foundation). just not worth that contract.

Yeah, id pass too. Its still a cap league.

Nah, its not a killer, its one year at 5.8. But you dont take it for free, if he is having trouble producing on a stacked tampa team, hes gonna look like leino or rob niedermeyer here. I dont like taking a left handed d back, we have lhd that should be ready. And for some reason we are retaining on ristolainen. Take the retention away and im still looking for a better deal. Retaining to help the best team in the league, that happens to be in our division, sign their players, thats just terrible.

First of all, I said Mittelstadt (who I'd prefer) or Nylander ... And I'd rather send a 1st or a top fwd prospect over Sergy or Foote. But Risto (w/ 2m retained) & Mittlestadt for Cally, 1st/Katchouk, Miller? Send it.

Has anyone on here even attempted to make the cap work for Tampa next season?? Here are some scenario examples to understand the logic of the trade...

Scenario 1: Callahan doesn't get traded or bought out. Let's assume we don't resign anyone besides Coburn @ 1m cap hit. Aside from keeping Cally, this would clear the most cap without making a trade.
Result: Assuming the cap ceiling is 83m next year, that'd leave us with 6.36m cap space to resign Pointer (which most believe is too low), and that's just accounting for 12 fwds, 6 dmen, 2 goalies...

Scenario 2: Callahan gets bought out. Like scenario 1, Coburn resigns @ 1m cap hit. This would leave us with 9.5m cap space (which most believe is enough, but not enough for other RFAs).
Result: 18 skater & 2 goalies get locked up under the cap ceiling, and Cally's buyout carries a 1.56m cap hit for 2020-21, then the buy out penalties are over (Good deal if you ask me).

Scenario 3: Callahan gets traded (TB doesn't retain any of his cap hit), no other contracts come back to TB, and we'd have 12.16m in cap space (enough to re-sign Paquette and/or Erne, along with Pointer ofc), which is the big objective. Re-signing Point isn't the challenge, as I showed in the first 2 scenarios... Resigning the other expiring RFAs, on top of Point, is the challenge.
Result: Tampa trades an asset (value unknown, I'd predict 4th rd pick - 1st rd pick), but clears up even more space for our RFA's.

Scenario 4: Callahan gets traded (TB doesn't retain any of his cap hit) along with a 1st rd pick.... BUF sends back Ristolainen (w/ 2m retained).
Result: Leaves us with 9.76m in cap space (likely only be enough to re-sign Point), which would be 12 fwds, 6 dmen, 2 goalies.

Scenario 5: Callahan gets traded (TB doesn't retain any of his cap hit) along with a 1st rd pick & J.T. Miller.... BUF sends back Ristolainen (w/ 2m retained) and Mittlestadt.
Result: Leaves us with 14.1m in cap space... Plenty for Pointer, Erne, Paquette, which would put us at 14 fwds under the ceiling (assuming 2 crunch players come up)... Also puts us in better cap situation coming into 2020-21...

Ristolainen @ 3.4m for the next 3 years is the highlight of the trade. With the NTC stockpile in Tampa, Miller is the unfortunate odd man out. If you think the asking price for Cally should be high, just check the buyout penalty and ask yourself again. 1st round pick tops.

Breaking the trade down: Personally I think Mittlestadt is pretty close, if not higher than Miller regarding trade value (Mittlestadt could break out any year now). I think Cally & a 1st for Risto @ 3.4m is a no brainer. What's the problem?

Another well thought out replay. Yes you did say Mittelstadt and Ristolainen. IMO BriseBois would do better if he tried to move Callahan and Gourde or Miller in separate deals. It is too complicated to do this in deal. One year of Callahan's cap to team with cap space could be had for minimal assets, certainly not much more than a Tampa 2nd. Then BriseBois could negotiate a fair trade for Miller or Gourde. Trying to mix the two will most like over value the impact of taking on Callahan's salary and therefore diminish other assets involved in the deal.
I would like to add, IMO Betterall will not be very active trying to sign UFA's this summer. He does not have a lot of cap space and if he signed one he may need to expose a valuable player to Seattle in the draft. Therefore, there may be interest for the Sabres to take on Callahan for a very modest addition. Maybe Callahan and 2019 2nd for O'Regan or another prospect.

Yea I agree, def would be simpler if Callahan gets dumped with an asset before miller gets traded. I do think Tampa tries to move miller this off season (or another fwd if someone moves their NTC), so they can make sure erne & paquette re-sign.

Callahan & 3rd rd pick for William Worge Kreü and you got a deal.