Sabres weren't targeting Laughton, they wanted Cates

I liked Clifton as a 3RD in Boston, but the Bruins already traded for a bloated 3RD contract with term at the TDL this year. They won't be trading for another one. I'd honestly be surprised if you can get any picks back on that contract without retaining half. If you don't want to retain while he still has term, you probably even need to attach picks to send it out.

Well this obviously wasn’t done by a Sabres fan
No to pretty much all of this
Don’t see any of it happening really

Cates is probably a bit more than that. PHI lacks centers, so I doubt they move one without a SLIGHT overpayment.

Jokiharju and a 2nd? Krebs and a 3rd, Ostlund and a 3rd, kind of thing....

At some point BUF has to find a spot for Savoie, Ostlund, Kulich at center though

Eff pat kane

But why when we can sign 37 year old pat kane and 35 year old Adam henrique?

Kulich will play 5 ahl seasons apparently

I watch BUF, always have (from Roch, NY), and I'm a bit clueless about their approach to actually making the playoffs and becoming a contender. And with the youth on the team, a perenial contender.

They have a ton of young guys who excel offensively, but they lack two way guys and strong defense first defensemen. Just counting on the guys here now to continue developing or get better isn;t working, and having guys like Rosen, Ostlund, Kulich, Savoie buried in minors (and having a full compliment of picks), shouldn;t be the answer either. There has to be some kind of effort/desperation/strive to actually compete, not just end of season spoilers to finish out of the bottom 10.

I'm not talking overhaul, and certainly dont get it, but Greenway, Johnson, and a ton of 4th liners surely wasn;t the answer in 23-24.

A guy like Laughton or Cates would be an improvement in the two way area, and Cates being young (and Laughton isn;t old either) means he can hang around longer than Kane/Henrique. I dont think with Skinner, Tuch, Thompson, Quinn, Cozens, Benson, JJP, and then breaking in 2 of 4 top forward prospects that you need offensive old guys like those 2.

A guy like Cates or Laughton AND a good stay at home/physical RD is needed (not Tyler Myers). I like Clifton but hes a nice physical 3rd pairing guy.

Clifton and Ryan Johnson might make a nice 3rd pair, but Samuelsson-Clifton probably doesn;t add enough punch/speed/offense as a 3rd pair and I just dont buy Byram-Samuelsson working. Maybe Dahlin-Power will work if they can play better defense, but Byram with a solid stay at home RD seems to be more of a need then Samuelsson, who is probably the odd man out.

Would PHI take Samuelsson and a pick for Cates (and maybe a rough physical guy like Hathaway)? Maybe Samuelsson and Ostlund for Cates and Hathaway? Keep the top 6 as is above, and a bottom 6 of Cates/Krebs/Rosen/Benson/Kulich/Hathaway/Greenway?

They are teaching their young players to become strong defensive players, and they have, but for half the season at the cost of their offense.

They are rolling now and it appears that Tage, tuch and Skinner have gotten healthier

Hawks decline. They aren't paying a 2nd for a 3rd pair RD. They probably wouldn't take Joki back period.

still mad about the cabbie?

love clifton. do not love clifton at $3M.

Yes, that was the only bad thing he's ever done.

the other thing was pretty debunked. generally speaking when someones lawyer drops them because they lied about everything, they lose some credibility.

There are legions of stories out of buffalo about him (where I live) that make me dislike him personally.

Bad people can have bad things happen to them. Doesn't mean it didn't happen

He also is old and has had a serious surgery.