Why? You could justifiably run Hanifin - Vali - Gio down your left side

absolutely could. i dont love the move but he makes a ton of d zone errors and gets crushed under sutter because of it. could also argue that finding a left d in free agency is much easier than the right side.

Why would Buffalo even consider that

Is Valimaki exempt in the expansion draft? That’s the only way I see this move making sense for Buffalo. Jokiharju is pretty valuable to them, he’s pegged to be Dahlin‘s long-term partner. Freeing up a protection slot for another young defenseman and getting one who can play right now in return is why this deal might make any sense.

Yea. But we won't be able to protect Jokiharju

he is exempt which i figured would be important in buffalo on the back end, i think valimaki would be a perfect piece in buffalo to slot in behind dhalin and grow on that back end. jokiharju to calgary makes sense for them immediately as the market for a left shot ufa is good this year and it really solidifies the right side.

calgary would likely have to pay a price to keep tanev in calgary through the expansion draft though.

If Jokiharju is available in the expansion draft then he is 100% the player Seattle is taking, from just about any team.

jokiharju is protected over tanev for sure. as great as tanev was this year hes 30+, injury prone and not cheap in his declining years.

expansion draft exempt top four d in buffalo, monahan plays c if they move on from eichel or a perfect 2 c behind eichel. plenty of reasons.

I didn’t realize Valimaki is another left-handed defender. Buffalo actually has a bunch of those already, and what they could use is more right handed ones. The expectation is the Collin Miller will be the player Seattle takes from Buffalo. I’m not sure buffalo can afford to lose Jokiharju unless they can find more right handed defensemen to fill in.

The talk is that Ristolainen would be open to being moved. He is the only veteran right side defenseman the Sabres have if Miller does get taken by Seattle and Jokiharju gets traded too. Other than them the Sabres have Will Borgen, Who is ready to take on top six minutes, but not anything close to top pairing. Most of Buffalo’s young defensemen are left-handed: Dahlin, Bryson, Samuelsson

fair enough man, i know the left side in buffalo is pretty deep but valimaki would fit nicely there, he just doesnt fit what sutter seems to want in calgary. you are probably right that it would be a mistake to clog up the left side if those are the kind of pieces coming down the pipeline there.

I would be. The only way he gets moved is MAYBE for Eichel. His vision is stellar and he will be a top pair defenseman within two years. If he spends next season as Tanev’s full time partner (assuming Hanifin moves to the top pair with Andersson and Gio either gets reduced minutes or selected by Seattle) I would expect that to help round out his full game (he’s not the only rookie to have defensive zone lapses at times, but he’s shown the potential to be able to develop into a top tier 2-way guy and his puck moving ability is already elite). Treliving wouldn’t trade him for Mark Stone for a reason, there’s no way he moves him for Reinhart, especially with Monahan also included, who is more valuable than Reinhart on his own. This whole trade is just rotten for Calgary.

treliving not trading him for mark stone could be the worst decision treliving has made in his tenure and im a huge tre fan.
i agree that his vision is next to none on the back end and i think that he should be running a powerplay next season, if he is in town next year he should play with tanev and it would be a big step for him, i do think filling holes that are much more pressing is important though.

reinhart is better than monahan, thats not close. monahan could walk in two years or get overpaid to continue to ride gaudreau or reinhart could come in and sign a long term rfa deal. every part of moving reinhart for monahan favours calgary.

Reinhart is better than Monahan and Jokiharju is better than Välimäki though.

valimaki will be better than jokiharju, calgary wants to compete now jokiharju is a better option, this as a future deal for buffalo is better and compete now better for calgary. bump up the pick a touch if you need.

Yeah he wont be moved, this trade is a wash at best for both teams and doesnt help either make the playoffs

Reinhart is better than an injured Monahan

Joker is not better than Valimaki. They are similar caliber players

Yes Reinhart is better. Monahan hasn’t been good since 2018-2019. Reinhart has been a good 2 way forward throughout his Career.

Monahan has been injured the entire season (hence why he's on LTIR for surgery) and was just as good as Reinhart last year

Jokiharju is better than Valimaki and Reinhart is better than Monahan. Jokiharju is already going to be protected and Reinhart is RFA, this trade makes 0 sense

based on what

no from BUF

try keep your thoughts together. monahan is having hip surgery, totals over that last three years monahan has been better. reinhart is a better two way guy.

based on stats. go take a look, valimaki also played with jokes of partners all year.

Monahan has consistently and significantly outproduced Reinhart for their entire careers until last season, when they were virtually identical, and this season, where Monahan has been playing through an injury. Plus he’s a top 6 centre who can handle top line minutes if necessary which is a lot more valuable than a 60pt winger. Joker is also not better than Valimaki lol, Jokiharju’s been around for 3 years now and got swept across the board by Valimaki as a rookie this season (CF%, xGF%, pts/60, etc.). Valimaki has also long been touted as a top pair guy, and nothing about that potential has changed, he’s on track to be a top pair 2-way guy within 2 years (would likely already be that if not for his injuries). Joker’s a fine 2nd pair guy but his upside is not close to Valimaki’s, and he’s not even better right now, he just plays more because he’s on a worse team (he’d be Calgary’s 3RD for the next 2 years if we did acquire him most likely).

The fact that anyone thinks this is close is remarkable, just because Reinhart is Buffalo’s 2nd best forward means literally nothing in terms of his value as a player and thus his trade value, all it means is the Sabres have nobody else good. Stop overvaluing him. He’s a 25g 60pt winger. That’s it.

Jokiharju was on one of the worst possession teams in the league, in overwhelmingly defensive starts, youre surprised he had bad offensive advanced stats? VS a guy you admitted played sheltered minutes?? Reinhart was playing center so hes not even a winger. Monahan has play 150 more games than Reinhart