That's a fair Gibson trade imo but you just guaranteed that Levi will not sign with us by acquiring a starting goalie with term.

Why would you dump Mittelstadt for a 2024 2nd and Maroon, who absolutely will not waive to leave Tampa under any circumstance?

Not even Levi thinks he's immediately stepping into the starting role in the NHL, which is why hes staying at college to work under his goaltending coach there for another year. Levi is maybe 3 years away from an NHL debut let alone starting gig, this ensures he has a mentor there for him when he does get there. Or Levi blows everyone away and the Sabres end up like Florida, or just dump Gibson. I highly doubt Gibson would have any effect on Levi's decision to sign. Maroon has 150 playoff games, 97 in the last 4 years, the Sabres really can benefit from a guy like that. Drury was that when he first stepped in the locker room in '03

i was thinking pretty much the same thing. Maroon loves playing for Cooper, loves the area,

No but Gibson is under contract for 5 more seasons. College players tend not to sign with their NHL team due to reasons like a jammed pipeline. They want to make sure there will be a spot for them on the team when they are ready, and I think Levi will play 1 more college season and 1 year in Rochester before he gets a good opportunity in the NHL. Not saying that's the right play, as I always think more development time for a goalie is best, but I do think that could happen with Levi. That said, if Levi is debating about signing in Buffalo or not, his decision will be practically made for him if Gibson is on our team and a guy like UPL or Portillo stick around too. You can only have 2 goalies in the NHL, and a guy like Levi projects to be a starter (which is what Gibson is). I guess I'm just saying it may not be wise to acquire a starting goalie with term for the future well-being of our team. Levi and Portillo are both guys I really want to sign with Buffalo so we can at least see what they can become. One or both of those guys will get traded or walk to FA if we go out and get a undisputed starting goaltender with more than 2 years of term imo.