But still pretty bad, montour deserves nothing more than his QO

I like how your new standard for relative success is sneaking into the 24-round playoff lol

Unfortunately this is Buffalo so they are bound to make another horrific trade or sign another Skinner contract before being back in contention for anything.

I can't imagine the sharks want to drop another 5.5 million into their money pit of a defense

Two @ 5.5 mil Markstrom never leaves Van.

Defense, especially one that..., isn't SJ biggest need. A 2nd line C for a 3rd pair RHD, Karlsson and Burns, the 1st - 10th OA pick is an incentive...

No you're not close to making the playoffs. Between the juggernaut that is TOR/TB/BOS in the Atlantic, a young Habs team, a ready-to-compete Rangers team, a still good Columbus team, and the Pens there is no way in hell you make the playoffs.

I knew you would get nearly all negative comments.
Hutton, Rodrigues, Skinner and Vesey all had career worse years.
Only 8 NHL teams gave up fewer 5 on 5 goals than Buffalo.
Other than a couple of teams nearly all would trade their entire defense core for Buffalo's. Not many teams are 7 deep with NHL caliper defensemen. Oh BTW Miller at 27 is the oldest!
A six game losing streak after the TDL sank the team. Win 4 of the 6, and they finish the season with 78 pts and everyone is cheering.
Most likely at least 2 of Mittelstadt, Kahun, Thompson or Cozens will have a big impact on the Sabres.
With 39 pts in 114 games at age 21, Mittelstadt is hardly a bust. 21 yo have not reached their physical much less emotional maturity.
At 225 lb on a 6'6" frame Thompson is one of the largest NHL players. Remember big players take longer to develop.
I am worried that Kahun played for 3 teams in 2 years, but during that time he averaged about 0.5 pts/gm.
The team has plenty of cap space to go after a top winger. How much would Dadonov cost.

I know I am an eternal optimist but life is looking up.
BTW compare the defense Botterill inherited to this teams. You can even take out Dahlin and the difference is remarkable:
34 Casey Nelson D 11 Rochester Americans
67 Brady Austin D 5 Kladno
45 Brendan Guhle D 3 San Diego Gulls
46 Erik BurgdoerferD 2 Hershey Bears
77 Dmitri Kulikov D 47 Winnipeg Jets
4 Josh Gorges D 66 Out of hockey
38 Taylor Fedun D 27 Texas Stars
41 Justin Falk D 52 Belleville Senators
47 Zach Bogosian D 56 Tampa Bay Lightning
6 Cody Franson D 68 Omsk Avangard
29 Jake McCabe D 76 Buffalo Sabres
55 Rasmus RistolainenD 79 Buffalo Sabres

24 Lawrence Pilut D 13 Buffalo Sabres
58 John Gilmour D 4 Buffalo Sabres
4 Zach Bogosian D 19 Tampa Bay Lightning
6 Marco Scandella D 31 Dallas Stars
33 Colin Miller D 51 Buffalo Sabres
19 Jake McCabe D 66 Buffalo Sabres
10 Henri Jokiharju D 69 Buffalo Sabres
62 Brandon MontourD 54 Buffalo Sabres
55 Rasmus RistolainenD 69 Buffalo Sabres
26 Rasmus Dahlin D 59 Buffalo Sabres

While O'Reilly quit on the team, Rasmus and Jack said they want to start winning.

no need for Ristolainen, give us a forward prospect instead

I can't see SanJ trading their best F for now...
Before cleaning Hertl... they have 3 big name/salary @ D to get rid-off before
They are on a retool not sell-off... they would need a Young NHL ready F to accept any offers including Hertl like: Olofsson + Johannson type of deal

Buffalo stalwart @Shibbal18 has converted me on this subject: Hertl alone for the 7th overall, with or without Buffalo adding anything, is a foolish move for the Sabres.

Tomas Hertl is not only one of San Jose's best forwards but also one of their most popular. An authoritative SJ fan has called him "the face of the franchise." As a result, the Sharks should have no trouble re-signing him in two years when his contract is up. In contrast, there is a real risk that two years after this trade, Buffalo will have nothing and San Jose will have Marco Rossi just starting his career plus Rasmus Ristolainen. Which would YOU rather have: two years of Tomas Hertl or 8 years of Marco Rossi?

IF the Buffalo GM were to consider this exchange, and I hope for Sabres fans it's a big IF, I hope he's thinking more along the lines of Hertl plus the Tampa Bay first-rounder for the 7th overall.

Also I wonder how the NTC is going to work if they dont trade him till after July 1, when that technically, contractually starts.

This team is better than rangers and blue jackets and canadians.
And will be right there with the top 3

As much as I like the Sabres they aren't close to TB/TOR/BOS. Two of those teams are presidents trophy winners recently and most of Toronto's core are under 25, and they were ravaged by injuries last year + the defense is only going to get better with age.

Jackets and Canadiens? I'd say there in the same boat as Buffalo. But even if you beat out those 2 that still leaves the Rangers and the Pens.