pens would accept but we dont have the cap space

Instead of committing a bunch of money to Trocheck as a "stopgap" solution who is playing in your bottom six, why don't you target some centers that teams don't want on their books anymore and may even pay you to get rid of? Adam Henrique was on waivers this year and is signed for less money with only a few years left, yet is still a 30-40 point center like Trocheck is. Colin White isn't particularly great but he can eat minutes in your middle six for a rebuilding team. Ditto for Scott Laughton if/when Philly gets pressed against the cap next season. And then you're not stuck with these guys in their late thirties when you need the cap space to sign the top prospects you've assembled.


You could extend the logic to a middle six winger someone doesn't want anymore instead of Frank Vatrano (Paul Byron, Carl Hagelin) or an overpaid defenseman someone needs to clear cap on instead of Josh Manson ( Jake Gardiner)

I am assuming this is going to be a horrific season, and no hot goalie or strong pp is going to heroically carry us to 27th place, we are finishing 31 or 32 and should have a good look at a franchise player in the draft. I like olofsson better than most, im not moving him for less than a first. I am hoping dahlin gets some time on the right side this season, if he can play 28 competent minutes a game there, this looks a whole lot better. Goalie could be a trouble spot, we have 3 or 4 pieces to throw at the wall and hopefully something sticks, otherwise we have to go get one and not overpay (in capital or salary) doing it. That second line could be pretty nice, but that first line gives me shivers. I try to watch the games when i can, but if our first line looks like that this year, im gonna need some good ideas for shows to stream.

I don't get everyone's recent obsession with trading away olofsson for basically nothing. he's a solid player whos still young, that 2nd (and likely late 2nd) doesn't really do anything for us

He is 26 and due a new contract at the end of the year. Tough to project the contract that is bolstered by power play points. He will likely be out of his prime when this team is a contender.

Still, if he were to be traded, I would like to see something different than a 2nd round pick.

I was just providing the rationale for moving him. It will be interesting to see his production this year without an elite center

"The Wheel of Time" is coming out on amazon as something new. If you haven't watched all of "Archer" twice its definitely worth the rewatch. Possibly "the expanse" for Sci-fi thriller, everyone tells me it great hut i couldn't finish the first season.

26...young eh lets say in his prime, ufa definately. How much do we have to pay olofsson? Starts at 4mil for a qualifier and probably more to get him to not "test the market". I think he's worth more now then he'll ever be in a trade. So i'd like to trade high than pay him high.

I think Trocheck is easily better than both of those players over the next 3 years and maybe beyond. He can play 3rd line center or 2nd line right wing at a more than acceptable level. I think his compete level and character could help in the leadership group and that he'll be interested in the opportunity. I don't think i get anywhere near that value from white or henrique. Henrique 3 years ago, definately. We should have picked him up to our 2nd line center then, now not worth it.
I think vatrano is an upgrade from hinistroza. he is just a fill in. He's way better than paul byron and hagelin and the contract will be up when he reaches thier age. Unlike them Vatrano may still have something to offer if he adds a solid role to his game.
If he doesn't its 3.5 mil for 3, very easy to deal with and i think we have it extra for next 3 years anyway.
I think mason is better than gardiener. I want a stable defense first veteran guy that hold down my right sude for dahlin for a few years. I'm overpaying by 1.5 mil maybe. I'd love to have some one better. Im not getting them without commiting more cap or trading assets and this team needs every asset to focus on rebuilds. If mason making 5.5 4 years from now is this teams biggest problem i'll be super satisfied.

Just watched the archer- swiss miss a couple days ago. Fantastic show.

Trocheck is better than Henrique, Vatrano than Byron and Manson than Gardiner, that's all very true. But you don't NEED good players to fill those roles next year. In fact, it's probably preferable that you don't. You need the team to be bad so that you have the best chance of picking high. If that's the goal, then Henrique etc. are better kinds of players to fill that role now, and then his contract falls off in a couple years when you are ready to take the next step, unlike Trocheck who will be close to Henrique's age now when you're actually competitive and on the decline like Henrique is now. You don't want that. Just because overpaying Manson or Trocheck or whoever is a smaller problem than what Buffalo is dealing with right now, that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to avoid those problems through the rebuild.

Look at Arizona. They're rebuilding, just like Buffalo. They're not going out and spending a bunch in free agency, because that's an inefficient way to get good players who probably aren't even going to be good by the time the rest of the team is good, given the way most of the free agent contracts go (most of them are bad!). They didn't sign Jamie Oleksiak, or Brandon Saad or whoever, because those guys are going to be non factors in a few years. They went to Philly and got Shane Ghostisbehere+ a 2nd round pick for their trouble, and they can probably get another asset in a few years for him again. They took on Anton Stralman, the type of steady RHD that you're talking about for Dahlin. And when they are ready to contend, they can go out and target better, younger guys to fill those roles, because they won't have committed to players long term during the rebuild- Ghost and Stralman are gone in two years, max.

Now contrast that with Vancouver, who keeps handing out these huge contracts in free agency for guys who are going to "guide them through the rebuild" or whatever, and all it does is hurt them when they're trying to be competitive. They're paying six million to Louie Eriksson? Bummer, now they don't have enough to pay Tyler Toffoli, a guy who was great for them and could have continued to be a good piece coming out of the rebuild. They're paying six million to Tyler Myers? Well bummer, now they can't sign Chris Tanev, who had an elite defensive season for Calgary last year.

My point being: handing out long term contracts is always a dangerous games, because you're almost certainly tying yourself into some bad years at the end there. You're getting good years now, which is why you see contending teams tying themselves to guys like Brayden Schenn, Gabriel Landeskog, RNH, etc. But if Buffalo isn't going to be good, why spend the money to waste Trocheck's good years on a team that isn't going anywhere, especially if you might be saddled with aging ineffective vets when you're trying to extend Power or whoever you draft in the future? Why not wait and get a guy who is 50-70% of Trocheck now and then in a few years when you're ready to contend go get the Trocheck equivalent in that free agency class? You may not even have to overpay if players see a roster that is ready to take the next step.

Build your team however you want, but the situation you're describing as being super satisfied with is a similar one to Vancouver and they're maybe only a few notches above Buffalo in the list of how ready NHL teams are to contend.

Eh i don't know about similar to Vancouver. I get your point but im not paying "stars". Mason is probably my worst contract and im not sure its that bad he'll be 36 when its over, i can structure it so it can be reasonably bought out too.
I disagree with being bad for picks that hasn't goteen us anywhere in 5 years. There are plenty of examples of teams who have succeeded by being bad and by being good. The rangers could be a good example of a quick turn around, tampa and boston are examples of doing it with a good core. St. Louis completely rebuilt and won a cup. Without making a single top 10 draft pick. There's a lot of ways to do this and i would prefer over paying a couple of guys to help us along than than hoping i get a natural leader that can pull a bunch of loser together.
As to taking on bad deals i don't know why the sabres aren't taking bad contracts. I'd love to get get picks to take a guy off someones books for a few years but we're not for some ridiculous reason. Apparently detroit and arizona are the only teams aloud to profit from cap space, so i look forward to trading my vets to them when im done with my rebuild in year 3 offseason.