Buf declines

Toronto declines with Dallas. Where are Lehtonen and Barabanov?

Buffalo isn't trading Jokiharju unless you are giving us Marner. So please stop thinking 3rd liners will get him.

Buffalo does not want Marner or his insane contract. But Toronto fans need to stop thinking Jokiharju would be available to them.

To say Buffalo would not gladly have Marner on their team is really an insane thought. There's no way Buffalo wouldn't be thrilled to have Marner on their team. Skinner/Eichel/Marner would be utterly ridiculous.

You traded Alex Nylander to get him and somehow think it would take Mitch Marner going back to trade him? Sure he's talented but he scored 15 points last season, he's by no means a stud defender, most certainly not the same caliber of a player as Marner. Come on now people, let's put the Leaf hatred aside and be sensible here.

There is probably something in the middle, but a couple replacement level players and a not-first pick doesnt do it. I dont think jokiharju is as awesome as a lot of sabre fans, but hes pretty good, hes gonna be on a bridge, and theres 3 other rhd on our roster that would be moved before him. And the fact that we traded nylander for him means nothing now. We traded ror for a stick of chewed gum and a kleenex that doug armstrong found in a hospital waiting room- and nobody in their right mind would suggest that you could offer the same package to st louis and acquire him with it today.

Fair point about the ROR trade but Jokiharu hasn't had even remotely the same impact ROR has had since his trade. But I certainly understand your point.

I do like Jokiharu, absolutely, but you're right he's not the player some fans think he is. Now, I say this as a Leaf fan who, much like yourself, sees other Leaf fans talk about players on our team like they are Jesus Christ on skates. So I'm no stranger to fans overvaluing their players.

I appreciate your logical and reasonable response lol.

Buffalo isn’t trading Jokiharju for that

dallas say no

@whatsmyageagain281
@sabres89
@Brian1590

We all tend to be very possessive of the players on the team for which we root.
I love Jokiharju. He is young and makes plays that are well beyond his experience level.
But to say I would hold onto him instead of Marner, well sure, that is just a little too much home cooking.

As to this trade:
Neither could score much this year on a team that scored 268 times only seven fewer than the Bolts.
That to me, pardon the pun, is a red light.
If Johnsson, and Kerfoot were right handed shots the talent exchange would be considered (yes Buffalo fans Jokiharju is not Dahlin).
On the other hand, they each nearly matched Alex Nylander's scoring from last year.
Nylander 65 10 16 26, Kerfoot 65 9 19 28, and Johnsson 43 8 13 21 Games, goals, assists, pts respectively.
As it is Buffalo has 3 LW who each had more goals than either Alex or Andy.
I would say no, not because the talent exchange is out of line, but rather it is the wrong talent and does not help Buffalo at all.

Now for controversy.
Did you ever listen to O'Reilly's entire interview?
https://thehockeywriters.com/sabres-oreilly-deserves-respect-not-accusations/
listen at 1:54, 3:00, 4:58 and 5:08 lost his love of the game. We were lucky to get a bucket of pucks after this interview.
Did you remember that STL was in last place until Binnington joined the Blues?
Did you ever read an analysis of the trade directly after the trade: https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2018/07/01/trade-blues-spend-big-to-get-ryan-oreilly-from-sabres/
Only after the trade he had a "spark" https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/ryan-oreilly-trade-blues-spark-now/
I watched the Blues in the playoffs , if O'Reilly played with that high of intensity the Sabres would never have traded him and the team would have made the play offs at least one of the years he was here.
He led us to last place in the Atlantic, then the last place in the league.
After that season and interview, I was happy he was traded.

Now you can all put on your hate for me.

I agree with everything you said, except the bag of pucks. He should have returned more- a better prospect, cap dumps that actually could contribute on the ice. Botterill was absolutely awful as a gm, but im pretty sure the pegulas are getting off easy here. That awful package got green lit because of the 7 million dollar bonus they didnt wanna pay. They were forced to take whatever just so they didnt pay the bonus.

OK great we can agree to disagree.
You are correct "A bucket of pucks:" is a more than a little hyperbolic.
I know I am supporting an unpopular position about Botterill.
Did you read the evaluation of the trade after it was made, I left a URL for you to read.
Most sport pundits thought it was a fair exchange.
Two things to remember, O'Reilly never won anything in Buffalo, and his interview definitely reduced his value.

As to Botterill over all performance.
Other than the Scandella fiasco and hiring Krueger, all of his move were above above average.
Let's start with the obvious, defense. Other than Ristolainen and McCabe Botterill inherited an AHL defense:
2016-17 Buffalo Sabres:
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
Last year only 8 NHL teams gave up fewer 5 on 5 goals than the Sabres, so remove prejudice it is significantly better than what he inherited

Trades other than O'Reilly (listen to the interview, he essentially begged to be traded, I am sure other GM's heard this as well) and Scandella:
Jokiharju for Nylander.
Miller for a 2nd
Montour for a late 1st.
Kahun for Rodrigues and Sheary (who was acquired with Hunwick for a fourth)
Skinner for a 2nd, 3rd, 6th and Pu
IMO those were all good trades and he got the better end of the talent.
Somehow Krueger's "system" just makes players perform poorly.
Miller, Montour, Vesey, Rodrigues, Okposo, Sheary, Hutton and Okposo all had career worse season, over 1/3 of the team.
Let me add this before you respond, Miller and Montour on another team would have had at least 30 pts each.

Free 2019 agents;
At the end of the season when I heard he signed:
Lazar, Hammond, Dea and Gilmour, I could see he was planning ahead.
Lazar, a former 1st round pick, obviously filled in on the fourth line and won key face offs.
Hammond while he did not play in the NHL he was an NHL GK that Murray had to nab for a fifth when Lehner got hurt.
Gilmour, while he only played a few games, he was the Sabres 7 defenseman at the beginning of the season.
Dea, the Amerks leading scorer.

Rochester:
To build a winner one needs to put the prospects into a winning atmosphere.
Every year Murray was GM the Amerks were at the bottom of the AHL 3rd, 7th and 6th from the bottom.
Botterill's success in Rochester was an indication that he knew how to build a winner.

Let me close, while O'Reilly was here, and when Murray was GM, did at any point in the season did you think the team would be successful?
The last two season under Botterill there was that feeling following 10 game streaks. 2018-'19 obviously getting only 26 pts in the last 41 games certainly killed that excitement.
When Botterill took over, we had 4 top six forwards and 2 NHL defensemen.
While the search for a #2 center was never achieved the over all team was better.
Adams has Olofsson, Skinner, Reinhart, Eichel, Kahun and as I said a much improved defense.

Adams made a huge positive splash getting Staal. Let's remember Botterill signed Johansson to make that possible.
Murray made a great move trading Miller and Ott for good pieces, then Murray went down hill from there.
I hope Adams does not do the same.

Well that is my rant.
I doubt I will convince you or any one.
I think it is necessary to reflect on the positives.
The Sabres finished last in the Atlantic in 2016-'17, last in the NHL in 2017-'18.
What do GM's do when the team is going backwards? Rebuild