Sabres accept and even retain 50% on Risto in that deal to get it done if needed (so you can give Makar more).

5 years for Makar only buys 1 year UFA. If you bridge him, it's probably 3 years. Long is 8 for whatever it costs.

If Danault walks as a UFA, I'd consider it.

If Danault walks, we should go with Evans or Poehling IMO
Next year, we need a top10 pick

You don't want Ristolainen. Doesn't Colorado have Coner Timmins? He is better than Rist for 1/5 the cost, maybe 2/5 depending on what he signs for.

THIS! I know winning is great and Im love watching this playoff run but this would likely be two years in a row they were supposed to be picking in the top 10 that they're not. Habs have good youth but needed a couple more elite pieces that they could have gotten with those higher picks. I would let Danault and Tatar walk, struggle next year then start making a push in 2023

Giving significant C minutes to Poehling might do it!

Buffalo declines

5x$6.5M is awfully low for Makar. His fair market value on a long-term contract is probably in the $10M-$11M range. If Colorado wanted to save some money against the cap in the short-term, a bridge deal would make a lot of sense for both sides. Probably something in the $7M-$8M range for 2 years, maybe 3 years if Colorado is lucky. If Makar continues on his current trajectory, he will benefit and the Avs will pay for it on the back end, when Makar could easily ask for $12M+ per season.
Landeskog has a lot of comparables to point to in the 7x$7M range (Anders Lee, Chris Kreider, James van Reimsdyk). In my opinion, he’s worth every bit of $7M. At age 27, he could give Colorado a break by taking a little less term, maybe 5-6 years instead of 7-8.
I understand the concept of “everyone takes less to help the whole team”, but these guys deserve to earn at least something close to what they are worth.

Please explain why

Kaut is young, seems to have some scoring touch, might need a half to a full season in Roch which is perfect for the Sabres timeline. Two firsts, granted they will be low but can be used to stock the system or as currency to bring in some needed talent to fill in some holes.

Kaut is injured more than he's healthy, lacks physical play, is a meh skater and I don't think his offense translates to the NHL - I don't think his offense puts him on 1st or 2nd line and his lack of physically and defense makes him a no go for 3rd and 4th line - the picks each have about a 20% chance of playing at any level in the NHL, basically you are going to wait 3-4 years to see if you can develop a guy that can come in and not get you killed. Remember we are talking about Buffalo scouting and player development not Tampa.

Risto is an automatic no go. You could maybe combine me Makar would take a 3x6.5 no way in hell he does a 5. If the Avs brought back Dubnyk I might have to quit watching hockey he is done, no lateral movement and had a serious problem tracking the puck both death sentences for goalies.

This is inaccurate about Kaut. He was hurt this year but to say he is hurt more than healthy isn’t true. He is plenty physical, he’s growing into his body, and he is a good solid skater not spectacular. Where you are completely wrong is his offense. His offense translates 100% because he scores from dirty areas, supports the puck, and he has a knack for playing up to higher level talent guys. He was locked into the 4th line playing great last year right before the playoffs and shutdown and the Avs made the decision to sit him to slide his elc. This year literally gets into one game has a bad shift and Bednar does Bednar with young forwards and sits him. He gets sent down and hurt in game 1 but still plays 20 games and is almost a ppg player in the AHL. He is definitely a 3rd line kind of guy, I also don’t think the Avs have done him any justice, or really any young forward the last 3 years, by giving them a shot then playing them 6 minutes. Personally I really like his game and he does have a bit of nastiness. But everybody is entitled to their opinion.

OK maybe it's an over exaggeration to say he's been injured more than healthy but he had heart issues in 2018 and needed surgery, he had injury issues in the 2019-2020 season and now an upper body injury in 2021 - I just don't see him as anything that helps the Sabres - Everybody here seems to be in love with prospects who have no NHL productivity I'd rather have young players who has actual NHL production .

His heart issue was overblown he had a simple noninvasive procedure to fix it that league doctors called out at the combine not team doctors and missed zero games because of it. In 19-20 he missed like 9 games. And this year he missed some games but still played 33 games in Covid year and averaged .8ppg in the AHL. I respect your position and can fully acknowledge that he might be a polarizing prospect to some.