Sabres aren't going to give up that much for a 1 year rental

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Naturally you'd sign him to an extension, should be around 12M x 8yrs.

That's a pretty big burden

We aren't doing that

Kovalenko is gonna be a top six F IMO, so wouldn't need Zucker. Behrens can start instead of Kulikov.

Good balance on this roster, especially at C.

Don't like deals like this. You pay a premium to acquire, but you have to sign them to what's basically a ufa contract to keep them. It's like you get hit twice. Also fwiw, I'd like to stay away from crazy contracts for wingers, and we have tons of offensively talented forwards, even if none ever become rantanen, the juice is absolutely not worth the squeeze.

While I get what you're saying, my personal opinion is that Buffalo needs something to get them going. A Rantanen caliber scorer would do so much for you guys. Defense and center depth aren't the problem even after losing Cozens, that's for sure.

If you're interested in top players in the game you have to pay premium and then some. But this is proposed by me, not you and I understand your POV also.

I'd rather see Kovalenko become one than pencil him as one. If he becomes second line winger having a guy like Zucker in the 3rd line is an awesome thing to have as long as the cap space allows it.

Totally agree!

BUF is not a team that is going out and spending like this. As BUF's GM, I would surmise that COL would like to get something for Rantanen before they lose him to free agency, which seems inevitable. And then I would use that to leverage any negotiations surrounding him. But again, BUF just doesn't work like this. They might re-stock on assets and make space for younger players to come into the NHL ranks, but they are unlikely to be buyers unless it is defense.

Which brings me to my next point. You say "Defense (and center depth) isn't a problem", when defense definitely is one of their problems. They do have some high end defensemen but no real shutdown defensive minded dmen or forwards. What they do have is a ton of point producers and young players with a ton of offensive potential. Two things that BUF needs are, one, for their younger forwards to start taking steps offensively, and two, some legitimate puck moving shutdown dmen, which will only help create more possession and increase their offensive output. And maybe one or two of their younger players to emerge as bonafide replacements for Okposo in the leadership department. The scoring potential is already there, though.

As for the CHI trade, CHI accepts.

Hawks probably accept

I personally believe that defense won't be an issue in a year or two for Buffalo as the young guys will get more experience. A mid pairing defensive minded addition might be wise when you truly believe in your playoff chances though. But you must know more about Buffalo than I do.

OR…. we just keep Cozens at $7mil per
Seems like an easy choice to me

No chance the Sabres do your proposed deal

Sure, you can do that. It might be the best option.

My proposal allows the Sabres to have one of the best wingers in his prime playing next to Tage or Mittelstadt. So you get a clear upgrade but it's naturally going to cost a lot.

Yeah Florida hated doing that with Tkachuk, and Rantanen is a top 15 player in the league who is still only 27. While I agree with you generally about big contracts for wingers some wingers don’t apply to that rule and Rantanen is one of those.

I mean... Yeah. They could continue to build from within and be fine defensively, when their young guys have some more experience. I just mean relatively, defense is a bigger need than scoring. Both of which will get better in time. Which is why I suggested that they are more likely to move players only to restock the cupboard, rather than buying other teams huge talents. They have way more scoring potential in their top 9 and top for defense than they need. They need guys who can blow up plays quickly and transition the puck back to offense. If they can figure that out, they have all the scoring potential a young team could ever possibly want.

I'm no expert on BUF, per say. They are probably my second favorite team, but by a long shot. I am probably 60% a CHI fan, 35% a hockey fan, and 5% interested in the success of a very specific handful of other teams. I just like to consider other arguments, exploit the holes in those arguments, and play a little devils advocate sometimes, too. haha.

There's questions about the defense- exactly how much should handedness play into a build, can you win with so many puck movers and so little grit (I mean, anything is possible I suppose), and what exactly is power's ceiling? One interesting development is that the Sabres are now putting together sound defensive games, it's coming at the expense of the offense that thrived on transition, but I'm at least curious to watch the rest of the season, even when the Sabres miss the playoffs again, it doesn't feel like quite so much of a lost season as it did a few weeks ago.

I like the center depth, but ain't no way we're trading Mikko

Yeah. And that seems to align with the narrative that they are still developing and just need to stick to their guns and give it time. Which, sure, it sucks in the meantime, but in the end will probably be much more satisfying than going out and buying guys and getting the team into financial troubles.

If you like my taek, you're going to love my next roster...

Hard pass
Cozens future here is certain
We don’t know if Rantanen will even sign with us
And if he does, it’ll be for almost twice Cozens
It’s just didn’t work for our Cap at all