I don't see the Sabres retaining Tallinder and Lydman this offseason, but I have the feeling they'll keep one. I also have the feeling it'll be Tallinder because of the fantastic job he's done turning his career around and the mentoring he's done with Tyler Myers. So, here's to another year of Henrik Tallinder being awesome in the blue and gold again!

(And, damn, I need to get that Lydman autograph quick!)

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mechaphil

If I had to guess, the players who won't be back next year on this roster will be:

Paetsch- Mike Weber is ready
Lydman- Grags or TJ Bennen are close
Ellis- Replaced by Gogulla
Mair- Replaced by Ennis or Gerbe
Stafford- Moved at the deadline probably
and
Lalime- Replaced by Biron or Enroth

although I could be totally wrong, thats just kind of what I see happening.

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

I'd agree with all of those, though obviously Stafford could stay.

Who do you see us getting for Stafford?
My Kovy posts aside (sorry ) I would love to see a Stafford / MacAthur / Sekera package for Frolov and Brown from LA.

Hey, dreams are always good.

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Lord Stanley's Cup is what its all about.
Mr. Pegula, your destiny awaits you sir.

For Stafford?

Good question actually,

with him traded, our cap space is 3.4M (1.3M in cap now and his 1.9M cap hit)

guys I could see getting traded at the deadline would be;

Steve Sullivan from Nashville (UFA 34 RW, about .8 points per game over his career)
Steve Ott from Dallas (UFA 26 LW/RW, tough grinder type player, great in the playoffs)
Ray Whitney from CAR (37 RW, another solid all around player, UFA)
Scotty Walker from CAR (35, veteran grit player, good playoff stats)
Owen Nolan (I'd piss myself) from MIN (37 UFA, Scoring RW thats pretty solid defensively)
Colby Armstrong from ATL (26 UFA, going to command big money on open market possibly, good player)

some possibly names to mull over, honestly I don't know what we'd get in return for just Stafford, but Stafford and a 2nd may bring in a good player with a good contract

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

I like Ott and Armstrong, mainly because of the upside with their ages. Good list jvaccaro6.

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Lord Stanley's Cup is what its all about.
Mr. Pegula, your destiny awaits you sir.

Thanks, Steve Ott is one of my favorite NHL players, I watch a ton of the Stars games on my center ice package, they seem to start right after the Sabres games more often than not, I'd love to see him on Buffalo. Plus he's got ties with Weber, so that'd make for a nice incentive for him to come here.

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

I've seen snippets of him, what is he, a Power Forward? If so, please god, call Darcy now.

_________________
Lord Stanley's Cup is what its all about.
Mr. Pegula, your destiny awaits you sir.

Think Brad May in his prime, about what you get from Ott. Big strong guy, works hard, always has his feet moving, Would go great on a line with Goose and Grier, or Hecht and Grier. He's a definite 3rd line guy; but a high intensity forward. He'd be a superhero to Buffalo Fans

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

Between Stafford and MacArthur, Mac is the odd man out. They will both still be RFAs after their contracts, but Mac's is up next summer while Stafford is a year younger and under contract for an extra season. Mac's +/- is a whopping -10. Butler is also -10 but the only other forward with a minus rating is Mair at -2, and he's gone for sure next summer. Mac also has 23 more PIM (37-14) than Stafford, and they're NOT the good kind of penalty minutes.

If Ennis and/or Gerbe make the team (I expect at least one of them will), they will play at C or LW, not RW. That makes Mair and maybe Mac expendable. Ellis will probably stay again, because he should be a 4th line C/LW and they'll need the depth anyway. With Lydman, Tallinder, and Paetsch all leaving Ruff will probably have to go back to 14 forwards and 7 d-men, making Mac and Ellis almost a necessity.

On defense, Weber will replace Lydman as far as style (good news - Weber is on the AHL all-star team). The other spot will be harder to fill. Gragnani or Brennan probably can't fill it, and re-signing Tallinder would not save any cap space or address the need for a PP point man. Seidenberg or Leopold from Florida will be UFAs that can fill that role for well under 3 mil.

Grier will probably be re-signed, and Kennedy and Kaleta will obviously be extended. Mac could even be trade bait at the deadline if the team determines his (non) value by then, but I expect him to stay. Next season I expect something like...

MacArthur - Connolly - Stafford
Vanek - Kennedy - Grier
Hecht - Roy - Pominville
Ellis - Gaustad - Kaleta
Ennis - Gerbe

(FA) - Rivet
Weber - Myers
Sekera - Montador
Butler

Leopold and Seidenberg are both lefties, which would match up well with Rivet or any of the three righties still under contract. The roster will remain much the same, and I wouldn't even mind Lalime staying put. Enroth is/will be slated as a starter, if not for Buffalo than by many other teams. If it were possible to package him with a pick and/or Stafford/Mac/Gerbe/Ennis in order to pick up Dustin Brown or a simliar power forward, it would be well worth it. Considering Miller is THE MAN for the next five seasons, Enroth or any young promising goalie has much more value to Buffalo as trade bait than as a back-up/potential starter in five years.

Problem with this is that if this all happens, anything that we accomplish good this year with this team will be mainly lost and we will be starting with all Rookies.. do we honestly wanna wait another 2-4 Years for these guys to reach some good potential and have us be good again? No I really dont wanna wait... these past 3 years have been shit, I dont wanna see that again.

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LETS GO BUFFALO!

Aside from maybe Lydman, what do we really lose by letting Mair, Ellis, Stafford and Paetsch go? Mair is a 15-20 point per year guy, Ellis is a 10-15 point per year guy, Stafford is a 40 point per year guy, and Paetsch sits in the press box

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010