well i certainly hate the flames trade.

Cozens is the new Mittelstadt, Mittelstadt was the new Nylander, Nylander was the new .... it goes on and on. This gives us two legit lines, and upgrades our D with Hanifin. This team makes the playoffs. Its been 9 years.

cozens was ranked the number 1 drafted prospect in the world by the athletic today. no thank you, especially with the 8th overall pick.

not interested in spending more high assets at LHD. not interested in trading huge assets for a winger with 2 years left.

just my opinion.

This (Flames Trade) is just as bad as it was last night. Take the Sabres 2 biggest assets and turn it into a luxury item we dont need and are only renting for 2 years

You realize both Nylander and Mittelstadt where top 6 ranked the year after their draft too, right? Cozens is 6th in USA today.

Also the athletic article points out Cozens has the lowest ceiling out of all the top ranked prospects.

I get wanting to use the assets to upgrade C instead of wing if at all possible. I also get the apprehension towards Gaudreau only having two years left, Flames fans have the same issues.

Nice proposal value wise though. You're getting one of the top offensive producing players in the league and a very good young Dman with room still to grow. You have to give to get and you did that here.

The ranking service must have been out to lunch on Nylander he had a brutal 1st year in Roch. I get how Mitts was ranked that high
He had a very good freshman year at Minnesota and was MVP of world juniors. The difference between Mitts and Cozens is that Cozens already has Nhl size and skating. Mitts needs to develop that. If he puts the work in will still likely be a quality top 6 forward, but he offers no value in a bottom 6 role. Cozens can be effective in a bottom 6 role right now and if continues on his development track will be a very good 1B center.

The point is, we, along with every other team become inflated with our prospects. Odds are Cozens is another Girgensons rather than a top 6 forward. This makes our team a playoff team. Not to mention we bring in two players who compete, and are friends with Eichel.

You have traded our 2 best assets in these deals. A bottom six center playing 2C and then a winger playing 3C. In this build if Mitts doesn't work out as 2C we have only one top 3 center in the organization in 2 years.

This is maybe a playoff team. Hanafin is a nice player but not a first pairing guy. He is a slightly better left shot version of Montour. This roster has a 3C playing 2C and a winger playing 3C. Backup goalie is still an issue. 4th line definitely is a step back. I am thinking that somehow this team may also be worse on the PK then they were this year. We have tried bringing in friends of Eichel already in Vesey and Rodriguez and that did not work out. I will grant you that Hanafin and Gaudreu are much better but if this team struggles again Jack is no more likely to want to stay.

Kahun is a nature center, has only played wing since coming to the states. Haula is a decent option as stop gap until we acquire a better center. Gaudrau can carry the line, and drive the play, something most wingers cannot do. Having a elite winger makes up for having a top 9 center on line 2.

Hanifin is far and away a much better all around defensemen than Montour.

@littlejerryseinfeld
@Shibbal18
@BurnEmUp
@dzmets

Your title says it best "Hate Away v 2"
Let me remind everyone, including @OrganizedConfusion55 The Sabres finished dead last and won Dahlin two years ago.
How did we do that, we traded away picks & prospects for a short term solution.
Since we finished last just 2 years ago, can we agree that the first 5 years of this tanking resulting in no progress, last in 2014 and last in 2018 does not appear to be progress.
We are a:
good GK = Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
good #2 C = Dylan Cozens
good #2 RW = Casey Mittelstadt or Tage Thompson or Dominik Kahun
Gaudreau is a LW so we give up on Olofsson who will not get 10 goals away from Jack.
Hanifin is a better LHD than McCabe but we give up Montour who is about the same but Right handed and could play left side.
These trades are for a team that is inches away from a final 4, not a team that missed out on the 24 team preliminaries.
I have not watched Cozens only what I read and see his stats, he looks like a good #2 center
Thompson looks really good to me and while I have repeated big men take longer to develop, he was ready last year then got hurt.
Mittelstadt only impressed me in his first years call up and when I suggested he go to Rochester, well I got more Hate Away than you.
Take out the 52 pt season from Tuch and I think you have a slightly better Casey Mittelstadt. IMO too much to give up for him.
While that is the right price for Haula who among us thinks any UFA will sign in Buffalo next year?

So go ahead and rush the rebuild, but in 2018 with O'Reilly, Kane, Okposo and Lehner the team got a total of 62 pts and did not have any prospects.
So we make these moves and improve by 20 pts (to reach 89 does that get us to the playoffs), get knocked out in the first round as we do not have a top GK, get terrible picks for the next 4 years and do not have any players in the prospect pool.
You are correct @OrganizedConfusion55 "Hate Away v 2"!
Now everyone can hate on my comments as well.

I like a hybrid approach. I am ok to give up a good asset here or there. I just don't want to move our top 2 assets. I am ok with moving 8 o/a for a proven #2 center Monahan, Cirelli, Hertl, maybe RNH with something added by the Oilers, Horvat, Domi with something added by MTL, Dylan Strome, Henrique with something added. While 8th o/a may end up being better than all of these players I think we walk away satisfied if 8 o/a ends up being the same as one of these players. But I think we need to keep Cozens for the chance that he hits it big or at least becomes a solid nhler on a cost controlled team controlled contract for several years.

I agree.
Only 8 teams gave up fewer 5 on 5 goals than the Sabres.
We had the worse PK and lost many games because of it.
The PP started out great, then every one started watching Jack skate with the puck.
Hutton went blind and was 0-8-4 over 12 games, make that 4-4-4 and we are easily in the preliminaries and close to a playoff team.
IMO two of or even three of Thompson, Mittelstadt, Kahun or Cozens (maybe our 8th over all) will be on the team next year.
We have two fringe NHL LHD playing in Rochester, Gilmour and Redmond. A team can have one fringe NHL defenseman playing less then 10 minutes a night. I would prefer better but it is not a horrible option.
UPL is a year or two away.
The team is closer than Botterill haters think, but with Kim Pegula running the show and a sycophant as the GM willing to have his strings pulled, I do not know where we will go next year.
I pray that he does not Tim Murray this and pick up other teams cast offs.
One trade and three UFA's (this is my test team) https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/1750467 and IMO they would be in the hunt until April.
EDIT
Schenn and Maroon are added for grit.

What a terrible deal with Calgary