I am a Leafs fan and I hate that deal for the Sabres!

Samuelsson is one nasty buggar to play against. And he is what 22? Imagine what he looks like in 3-4 years. Durzi is a puck moving D, and at last look, Buffalo has two of those in Dahlin amd Power.

Iafallo for Asplund is an improvement granted, but the Kings have little reason to do it.

But, if you are hell bent on moving Samuelsson, Leafs will happily make an offer.

The Sabres aren't selling Samuelsson. It's an interesting idea to try to get these 2 players from LA, and I understand you've gotta give to get, but Samuelsson isn't for sale for anything reasonable, and this trade is reasonable. I see that part of the motivation is to even up the defense, with 3left and 3right shot d. The problem is- dahlins game seemed to really take off when paired with the large, physical, defensive minded Samuelsson. I don't know if durzi would necessarily be an upgrade over jokiharju, but durzi would likely be a better complement to bryson/pilut on the third pair. Probably worth kicking the tires on durzi for something else. I would take iafallo for asplund, but the add would likely be significant. As of right now, we have plenty of wingers, we will likely play the season out and evaluate what needs to be swapped out. Again, swapping Samuelsson for durzi- makes us smaller and less physical, potentially derails the progress of a recent first overall pick, and does absolutely nothing to improve our third pair- bryson/pilut and jokiharju, a pair that could be our Achilles heel.

Isn't that what I kind of said?

Wouldn't trade Samuelsson in any scenario. Durzi could be available but LA has a logjam, we could probably acquire him for a LHD like Johnson and maybe a pick.

Makes no sense for Buffalo they give up the better players get significantly older

You are right. I hate it

Only an unreconstructed Sabre homer would think that Iafallo isn't the best player in this exchange. The fact that he's significantly older than the other three players in this deal is offset by the fact that age is the only way you get experience and Iafallo's defensive prowess would cancel out Olofsson's noted defensive deficiencies. (I'd play them on the same line.)

Durzi is 10+ months younger than Asplund and less than 18 months older than Samuelsson, who has less experience (albeit both are small samples) and a far lower offensive upside than Durzi. Nevertheless, I would probably exchange the two if a one-for-one offer was made and Sean Walker wasn't going to be ready for the start of the season. The other half of this exchange is a no-go for Los Angeles.

While many ACGM's think the Leafs over value their players, it is obvious all of the Sabre comments feel the Sabre's are over paying.
I completely agree with your assessment, the Kings lose this trade by a wide margin.
Durzi or Samuelsson, one offers strong offense, the other physical defense.
Iafallo or Asplund, it is a joke to compare the two. Both offer strong defense, but only Iafallo has provided offense.
I knew this trade greatly favored the Sabres, and strongly believe Iafallo would be a great addition as he was raised 20 minutes from Key Bank Center.
As you can see by the title, I expected those comments from Sabre fans but I also expected more from King fans similar to yours.
It is interesting that Johnson while unsigned is considered by several sights a better LHD than Samuelsson, but the Sabre fans are willing to trade him and not Mattias.
Buffalo has ample depth at LHD bit needs RHD, from your comment it appears the Kings have the reverse situation.
While you would hate this trade, I would pine for it as it helps Buffalo balance RHD with LHD and gives the Sabres veteran LW leadership.
Thank you for your comment.

It's more than nice, it's wonderful to have an intelligent, respectful discussion between fans of the game foremost and only of teams secondarily.

As hockey fans we need to set our emotions aside when evaluating a trade.
As a season ticket holder, I appreciate how well Asplund and Samuelsson play.
Unfortunately they are one dimensional, they both play defense really well.
Durzi and Iafallo on the other hand, are not only defensive players but can provide offensive production as well.
Considering that Iafallo grew up 20 minutes from Key Bank Center, he could provide the same spark that Tuch did when he joined the Sabres.
Buffalo has depth at LHD with Bryson and Pilut signed and Johnson is touted as having a higher ceiling than Samuelsson.
This trade is so heavily tilted to the Sabres, it would be insanity to say no, as it balances RHD with LHD and add more offense to the forwards.
Rob Blake on the other hand would never accept this offer unless significant assets were added from the Sabres.

If Johnson is better, offer johnson. They'd be fools to turn that down. Lemme know how it goes.

It will take more than replacing Samuelsson with Johnson to consummate the above trade.
Getting Iafallo would be icing on the cake, RHD was my primary goal.
While I totally understand why we all love Samuelsson, Durzi may not be as physical but his defensive capabilities are above average.
By trading Samuelsson, I was hoping to remove an impediment that was keeping Johnson from signing with the Sabres.
Also by trading Samuelsson it would give Bryson and Pilut more playing time.
If the pundit reports are accurate, getting a LHD better than Samuelsson would be a huge upgrade.
Since the Sabres finished the season 16-9-3, adding two more upgrades along with Comrie, Lyubushkin, and Power (for a full season) I thought it may be enough to push the team into the playoffs.
While I knew the trade would be trashed by King fans, that defense set has an offensive threat among every pairing.
Finally, I was looking not only to this season but into the future with Johnson as a LHD.

Strongly disagree about the one-dimensionality of Asplund and Samuelsson. Asplund showed off his offensive ability during the WC. It's clear to me he can score goals, he just needs more ice-time or perhaps some more offensive minded linemates. Samuelsson has impressed everyone with his ability at breaking up offensive rushes and moving the puck up the ice well. Yes he is absolutely a defensive-defenseman, but on a team with two hopefully offensive stalwarts in Dahlin and Power, we need a shutdown guy to compliment the D-core. Sabres have also been atrocious on the PK for many years and honestly that has been the biggest reason we allow so many goes against. Both Asplund and Sam have proven to be great PK guys. In short, we need those two players. We could certainly use Iafallo and Durzi but I wouldn't want to trade Sam or Asplund away. Johnson + pick for Durzi is more than fair. If Iafallo had to be acquired then I'd say something like Portillo + forward prospect + pick (assuming LA wants to shed cap).

Nice to have a pleasant conversation.
Thank you for your thoughts.
As a season ticket holder, I appreciate how well Asplund and Samuelsson play.
But Buffalo has LHD depth and RHD talent is shallow.
Iafallo may provide the same spark to a line that Tuch did making him much more valuable to the Sabres than to the Kings.

https://theathletic.com/3101386/2022/02/09/wheelers-2022-nhl-prospect-pool-rankings-no-1-buffalo-sabres/ and https://dobberprospects.com/team/buffalo-sabres/ both rank Johnson with a higher ceiling than Samuelson.

Your trade proposal Portillo + Johnson + forward prospect + pick + pick for Durzi and Iafallo would probably have a higher chance of being accepted by Rob Blake than the one prosed here, because it is MUCH MORE VALUABLE.

Let's agree to disagree, as the title of post predicted "Sabre and King fans will hate this trade."

Iafallo, while certainly a better player than Asplund is now, I don't think he will be in 3 years when BUF is expecting to be a contender. Plus, he only has 4 years remaining on his contract. Asplund may be the next player to sign for 7 years. BUF needs another Asplund, they don't need to get rid of one. And this isn't even mentioning ALL of the forwards we have coming up the ranks. We've got veteran wingers.

By trading Samulesson, you have effectively gone from Dahlin as #1RD, to.....Boosh?!!!! That is a major, major, major downgrade. For what? A 3rd pairing D-man. No thanks. Power and Dahlin will each be on the ice for 25 minutes a night. The 3rd pairing guy just needs to be out there for 10 minutes. Someone who can handle PK would be preferable.

Also, why is Hino on the 2nd line. He's in the press box if Quinn and/or Peterka are up.

And, I don't get the Pilut talk. Unless he has drastically improved (all signs point to him not improving), he is an AHL'er. Bryson is way better.

Great observations.
First, when the team was healthy, the Sabres finished the 2021-'22 season 16-9-3 for 35 pts in 28 games, or 103 pts over an 82 game season.
Adding Lyubushkin, Comrie and Power while upgrading the RHD and LW, I do not think the Sabres will need to wait 3 years to compete.
GF may increase by 30 - 40 and the GA fall by even more if Comrie/Anderson/Luukkonen can stay healthy.
Second, I agree Asplund has demonstrated a scoring touch in the past, but he over his NHL career he has 16 goals in 136 games, Iafallo has 71 goals over 361 games.
I know Rasmus has been a strong defender, but so is Alex.
Alex was raised just 20 minutes from Key Bank Center, I would hope he could provide a similar bump that Tuch did.
Third, Johnson is rated to have a higher upside than Samuelsson, if this is the case, trading Samuelsson may improve the chances of signing Ryan.
Fourth, Durzi is also a strong defender, just not as physical as Mattias, but his 27 points would have ranked second to only Dahlin among the Sabres D-men.
Finally, Quinn is on the third line to take the pressure off of him to produce and over his last 79 games Hinostroza has 17 goals.

Perhaps I am a bit optimistic and you are correct.
You do not need to worry, Blake would never accept this trade as it is heavily tilted in favor of the Sabres.
Let's agree to disagree and hope Asplund can find his goal scoring touch.

EDIT in 3 years, Asplund will have to work really hard to find a spot in the line up with Kisakov, Rosen, Paltapov, Savoie, Kulich, Ostlund, Rousek and Nadeau in the pipeline

lafallo had 22G after his 1st 136GP at age 25. Asplund has 16G at age 24.

Asplund is on the same trajectory. I really, really don't understand the line of thinking that trading guys that are just hitting their prime for either prospects or players who are fading.

Kisakov, Rosen, Paltapov, Savoie, Kulich, Ostlund, Rousek and Nadeau....are all super young. It takes time to develop players. It's not just you, so please don't take it personal. But, I really don't get the high hopes for 18-19yo players and then when they reach 23-24 we get down on players because they haven't developed yet.

Patience. Keep Asplund. He's in line for a break-out campaign. Those other guys have a long road ahead of them.

Adding lafallo isn't taking us to the Cup. I'd prefer Asplund over laffalo...we can agree to disagree though

" I do not think the Sabres will need to wait 3 years to compete."

I didn't say compete. I said "contend", as in for the SC.