Can't wait 'till the NHL announces league expansion and the Sabres draft 3rd and lose out on both McDavid and Eichel
- Danformo

League hasn't given expansion teams the top pick in the draft since Florida came into the league in 1994.


Atlanta traded for the top pick in 1999.

Just to clarify... Buffalo is NOT "Northern NY"... it is proudly referred to as "Western New York"... I'm not a douche, just clarifying. The area never gets any respect and it is home to a true blue-collar community and some of the most dedicated sports fans in the country. That being said... after the Sabres use an amnesty buyout on Ville Leino (removing $4.5 million from their payroll), the option to sign Callahan is an absolute no-brainer! If he wants $6.5-7 million, the difference between the two players in terms of salary is only $2-2.5 million per season... very much worth it when you actually compare (if you can even call it that) the two players in terms of leadership and value to an organization.

The fact that Callahan gets to return home and lead his childhood favorite team back to respectability... I can only hope Tim Murray makes it happen.

League hasn't given expansion teams the top pick in the draft since Florida came into the league in 1994.


Atlanta traded for the top pick in 1999.
- dadeadhead

This, and at this point it seems highly unlikely that the nhl would be ready for expansion by the 2015/2016 season.

But have the Sabres or Bills ever won anything???

Ever???


- jimmc7722

Hey thanks for that first round pick

what has a greater chance of happening- Vanek to Minn or Cally to Buff???
- battelmt

Cap purposes Cally to Buffalo. How else will Buffalo hit the cap floor. Give the guy 6.5 will help because who else can we get (larger type contract ) to get to "the floor" when we are keeping a lot of our young guys up! Can only fit a few players on this roster atleast the 6.5 buys you a clear cut captain!

Cap purposes Cally to Buffalo. How else will Buffalo hit the cap floor. Give the guy 6.5 will help because who else can we get (larger type contract ) to get to "the floor" when we are keeping a lot of our young guys up! Can only fit a few players on this roster atleast the 6.5 buys you a clear cut captain!
- firelarry

The only issue with this is convincing him to retire without another shot at a cup. He won't be getting one in Buffalo and I'm not confident he'd get one with the Isles either. I think he ends up somewhere else entirely. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Flyers dump salary to take a run at him.

If the scorer we sign to help our team is Callahan, Lou will have failed. Cally is a good compliment to a star, but not one himself. I wouldn't sign him for more than 5.5 and even then, I would pursue other scorers more closely.

With this said, Lou'll probably give him 6.25 and put him on the top line.

The only issue with this is convincing him to retire without another shot at a cup. He won't be getting one in Buffalo and I'm not confident he'd get one with the Isles either. I think he ends up somewhere else entirely. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Flyers dump salary to take a run at him.
- Isles_since_6

True on the aspect of maybe not competing for the cup when he retires but you really never know. San Jose is supposed to compete the last few years and they can't get out of the first round every year. The Kings sneak in the playoffs and runoff with the Cup. The key is getting the right captain in for this young nucleus and build with good vets to compliment and you have a shot. Yes we will have to pay up to get this done but at least we have the room to do this right now.

Just to clarify... Buffalo is NOT "Northern NY"... it is proudly referred to as "Western New York"... I'm not a douche, just clarifying.

That being said... after the Sabres use an amnesty buyout on Ville Leino (removing $4.5 million from their payroll), the option to sign Callahan is an absolute no-brainer!
- djc1877

Just to clarify.....it is NOT an "amnesty buyout"....it is proudly referred to as a "compliance buyout".

Hey thanks for that first round pick
- jaumiller

as someone who repeatedly keeps saying I don't want to rip on the sabres because we were in an even worse situation starting our rebuild, you guys need to give this a rest.

Seriously, at this point your team is bottom of the league, is now going to be missing Vanek/Moulson, Ott, Miller and possibly Ehrhoff going into the next season if they move him as has been rumoured.

Crowing on about draft picks is a losers effort in trolling. You still need to make the pick, you still need to develop the player and then you need to wait for them to be ready to contribute. Players get hurt (dehaan's development was slowed with the shoulder injuries) and occasionally you get a complete tool who thinks he's entitled to a spot before he's ready (neiderreiter, nilsson)

I haven't ripped on the sabres because I know how painful it's been going through a rebuild, how you get your hopes up and then the team flops, or a player doesn't turn out, or a draft sucks and you look back and see what could have been.

Until you win something, prove something, you need to zip it. You're only embarrassing yourselves. Suppose the Isles do something similar to what the Avs did this year and finish much higher than expected. Now you're looking at a late first rounder and all your talk of McDavid with the Isles pick is no longer remotely possible. This sh!t happens. Things don't always work out like you hope they will, unless you're Pittsburgh and about to fold.

If the Isles are sold to an owner that suddenly wants to spend, it could change things even more drastically.

When you are at the bottom of the pile you don't start acting like you're a year or two away from the cup. It's not happening. Suck it up buttercup. No one wants to rip on a last place team, but when the fans of that last place team continually jump into your team's blogs and start acting like they've won something, the urge to stomp them in the throat takes over and it doesn't end well for the guys on the bottom.

as someone who repeatedly keeps saying I don't want to rip on the sabres because we were in an even worse situation starting our rebuild, you guys need to give this a rest.

Seriously, at this point your team is bottom of the league, is now going to be missing Vanek/Moulson, Ott, Miller and possibly Ehrhoff going into the next season if they move him as has been rumoured.

Crowing on about draft picks is a losers effort in trolling. You still need to make the pick, you still need to develop the player and then you need to wait for them to be ready to contribute. Players get hurt (dehaan's development was slowed with the shoulder injuries) and occasionally you get a complete tool who thinks he's entitled to a spot before he's ready (neiderreiter, nilsson)

I haven't ripped on the sabres because I know how painful it's been going through a rebuild, how you get your hopes up and then the team flops, or a player doesn't turn out, or a draft sucks and you look back and see what could have been.

Until you win something, prove something, you need to zip it. You're only embarrassing yourselves. Suppose the Isles do something similar to what the Avs did this year and finish much higher than expected. Now you're looking at a late first rounder and all your talk of McDavid with the Isles pick is no longer remotely possible. This sh!t happens. Things don't always work out like you hope they will, unless you're Pittsburgh and about to fold.

If the Isles are sold to an owner that suddenly wants to spend, it could change things even more drastically.

When you are at the bottom of the pile you don't start acting like you're a year or two away from the cup. It's not happening. Suck it up buttercup. No one wants to rip on a last place team, but when the fans of that last place team continually jump into your team's blogs and start acting like they've won something, the urge to stomp them in the throat takes over and it doesn't end well for the guys on the bottom.
- Isles_since_6

That's awfully big for you to say coming from a team who finished 5th last, hasn't won a playoff series since 1993 and has who is generally regarded as the worst GM in the league.

You aren't a Mackinnon away from doing what Colorado did and even of you were there isn't a Mackinnon in this draft.

That's awfully big for you to say coming from a team who finished 5th last, hasn't won a playoff series since 1993 and has who is generally regarded as the worst GM in the league.
- Stripes77

what's big about it? Where in there have I said the Isles are way better than the sabres? in this thread, and just about every one of dan's threads some of you sabres fans have been trolling, you will have seen Isles fans ripping Charles Wang, Garth Snow and Jack Capuano for multiple years now. We aren't the ones going into the Sabres blog and starting this crap. We've ripped Snow for the Vanek to Montreal deal more than anyone else.

Again, I am not trolling you out of respect for how crappy last overall and a beginning rebuild is. You all need to understand you have not won anything yet, have very little prospect of being better next season as it stands right now and likely are looking at a 4-5 year rebuild at best, and that's if you're as successful building a team as Chicago and Pittsburgh were - and those teams got some very good players in the draft.

Acting like you've won something with your team where it is just makes you look pitiful and foolish.

That's awfully big for you to say coming from a team who finished 5th last, hasn't won a playoff series since 1993 and has who is generally regarded as the worst GM in the league.

You aren't a Mackinnon away from doing what Colorado did and even of you were there isn't a Mackinnon in this draft.
- Stripes77

I didn't say we were - I pointed out to you what could happen. Plenty of teams have improved in the standings a lot more than expected. My point is that you haven't won a goddamn thing and don't even know where that pick will be.

Plenty of things can influence that in one year, especially with the Isles up for sale.

what's big about it? Where in there have I said the Isles are way better than the sabres? in this thread, and just about every one of dan's threads some of you sabres fans have been trolling, you will have seen Isles fans ripping Charles Wang, Garth Snow and Jack Capuano for multiple years now. We aren't the ones going into the Sabres blog and starting this crap. We've ripped Snow for the Vanek to Montreal deal more than anyone else.

Again, I am not trolling you out of respect for how crappy last overall and a beginning rebuild is. You all need to understand you have not won anything yet, have very little prospect of being better next season as it stands right now and likely are looking at a 4-5 year rebuild at best, and that's if you're as successful building a team as Chicago and Pittsburgh were - and those teams got some very good players in the draft.

Acting like you've won something with your team where it is just makes you look pitiful and foolish.
- Isles_since_6

What exactly have I said that acts like we've won anything? You also are failing to recognize that 4 to 5 year rebuild started 2 years ago. Most Sabres fans don't expect the Islanders to be a bottom team next year, but since you brought up the opposite what happens if the Islanders are that bad? What happens when your draft pick turns out to be a pick that landed McDavid or Eichel?

The fact that you used Colorado as an example of something the Islanders could do is pretty comical since other than Tavares and one season of Okposo playing like a true first line player you don't have the depth Colorado has and your D and goalie situation is worse off.

You telling Sabres fans to stop acting like they've won something when the Islanders haven't been relevant since the 80's is in itself a laughing matter

Be a champ Lav and tell Preds to trade Weber to Us Flyers!

What exactly have I said that acts like we've won anything? You also are failing to recognize that 4 to 5 year rebuild started 2 years ago. Most Sabres fans don't expect the Islanders to be a bottom team next year, but since you brought up the opposite what happens if the Islanders are that bad? What happens when your draft pick turns out to be a pick that landed McDavid or Eichel?

The fact that you used Colorado as an example of something the Islanders could do is pretty comical since other than Tavares and one season of Okposo playing like a true first line player you don't have the depth Colorado has and your D and goalie situation is worse off.

You telling Sabres fans to stop acting like they've won something when the Islanders haven't been relevant since the 80's is in itself a laughing matter
- Stripes77

if the Isles suck so badly you end up with a lottery pick next year then we roast snow and wang as we've been doing all along. Again - I did NOT say the Isles would be able to do what the Avs did, I said WHAT IF? to show you that if the pick turned out higher, then you wouldn't get a lottery pick.

Again, I did not come into a Sabres blog ripping the team and I'm not ripping the sabres now, we've had plenty of appearances by josh and other sabres fans show up in Dan's blog acting like they've won the cup or we've drafted mcdavid and handed him to you.

Go reread what I wrote because you have not understood it.

ps, in that original post you took so much offense to I didn't quote you. I quoted one of your other buddies.

Just call it Nashville

Northern NY? Try Western NY. Lake Placid is Northern NY. Simple geography
- Tom_B

This

We will be better by 2015-2016 but not sure if we'll be a great team after just one more year. They might make the playoffs but won't make a real run for the cup until at least 3 years
- depezpoosie

more like 6 years dude 3 for playoffs

as someone who repeatedly keeps saying I don't want to rip on the sabres because we were in an even worse situation starting our rebuild, you guys need to give this a rest.

Seriously, at this point your team is bottom of the league, is now going to be missing Vanek/Moulson, Ott, Miller and possibly Ehrhoff going into the next season if they move him as has been rumoured.

Crowing on about draft picks is a losers effort in trolling. You still need to make the pick, you still need to develop the player and then you need to wait for them to be ready to contribute. Players get hurt (dehaan's development was slowed with the shoulder injuries) and occasionally you get a complete tool who thinks he's entitled to a spot before he's ready (neiderreiter, nilsson)

I haven't ripped on the sabres because I know how painful it's been going through a rebuild, how you get your hopes up and then the team flops, or a player doesn't turn out, or a draft sucks and you look back and see what could have been.

Until you win something, prove something, you need to zip it. You're only embarrassing yourselves. Suppose the Isles do something similar to what the Avs did this year and finish much higher than expected. Now you're looking at a late first rounder and all your talk of McDavid with the Isles pick is no longer remotely possible. This sh!t happens. Things don't always work out like you hope they will, unless you're Pittsburgh and about to fold.

If the Isles are sold to an owner that suddenly wants to spend, it could change things even more drastically.

When you are at the bottom of the pile you don't start acting like you're a year or two away from the cup. It's not happening. Suck it up buttercup. No one wants to rip on a last place team, but when the fans of that last place team continually jump into your team's blogs and start acting like they've won something, the urge to stomp them in the throat takes over and it doesn't end well for the guys on the bottom.
- Isles_since_6

I agree with most of this. As you said, you obviously empathize with our situation right now since the Isles have had their share of tough times.

I don't understand most fans' obsession with not being able to accept a critical comment about their favorite team simply because it comes from a fan of another team.

For example, say I post a comment about the Oilers being crap. It's almost guaranteed that several Oilers fans will retort with something along the lines of "Well, what have the Sabres ever won?"

It's such a dumb response. Most hockey fans know the Sabres have never won a Cup, but the original comment had nothing to do with the Sabres. It was a simple observation that the Oilers are not very good. Now, perhaps my original comment is stale and doesn't add anything new to discuss, but why it has to end up with several fans on each side going back and forth at each other is beyond me.

There are some good Sabres' posters out there. And, overall, we are excited about the future. The player we get with the 2nd overall pick in June should, I repeat should, help. And there is a general consensus that Murray is going to be a good GM. Of course, we won't know this for at least a couple of years. Most of us are also excited about our prospects on the blue line. But, you're right. For all we know, they may never reach their potential. So what we have is hope. Something I'm sure you understand.

I agree with most of this. As you said, you obviously empathize with our situation right now since the Isles have had their share of tough times.

I don't understand most fans' obsession with not being able to accept a critical comment about their favorite team simply because it comes from a fan of another team.

For example, say I post a comment about the Oilers being crap. It's almost guaranteed that several Oilers fans will retort with something along the lines of "Well, what have the Sabres ever won?"

It's such a dumb response. Most hockey fans know the Sabres have never won a Cup, but the original comment had nothing to do with the Sabres. It was a simple observation that the Oilers are not very good. Now, perhaps my original comment is stale and doesn't add anything new to discuss, but why it has to end up with several fans on each side going back and forth at each other is beyond me.

There are some good Sabres' posters out there. And, overall, we are excited about the future. The player we get with the 2nd overall pick in June should, I repeat should, help. And there is a general consensus that Murray is going to be a good GM. Of course, we won't know this for at least a couple of years. Most of us are also excited about our prospects on the blue line. But, you're right. For all we know, they may never reach their potential. So what we have is hope. Something I'm sure you understand.
- 100goalseason

this is it. Despite the repeated trolls visiting dan's blog, I don't wish the sabres any bad luck. Rebuilds suck, and that's if everything goes well. Ours certainly hasn't but is getting closer to being finished. I look back and I initially felt the same way these trolls did, the team was going to be strong, never take a step back, all the prospects will work out, etc. It's a rude awakening when it does not, and it takes a lot longer than expected.

Sabres fans overjoyed with having our pick next year should be happy about it, but temper that enthusiasm a little. Rave on about Murray if you want to, but posting repeatedly in another team's blog when you're the worst team in the league is a bit too special for the regular bus.

this is it. Despite the repeated trolls visiting dan's blog, I don't wish the sabres any bad luck. Rebuilds suck, and that's if everything goes well. Ours certainly hasn't but is getting closer to being finished. I look back and I initially felt the same way these trolls did, the team was going to be strong, never take a step back, all the prospects will work out, etc. It's a rude awakening when it does not, and it takes a lot longer than expected.

Sabres fans overjoyed with having our pick next year should be happy about it, but temper that enthusiasm a little. Rave on about Murray if you want to, but posting repeatedly in another team's blog when you're the worst team in the league is a bit too special for the regular bus.
- Isles_since_6

There are trolls from every fan base that goes into other teams forums all the time.

Its the internet, its going to happen until the end of time

What he gets depends on where he goes. He could take 5.5 or 6 in Tampa because of no taxes compared to 6.5 or 7 somewhere with higher taxes. I would like him to resign in Tampa amd solidify their top 6 but I see him going home to buffalo if they pay him.
- jbs32

The highest state income taxes are 9 % ish... so if you are talking 5 or 6 mill contract the difference would be around 500k.. not 1.5 mill.

I think callahan is what everyone believed clarkson was last season.....a 20-25 goal guy, with grit, character, and a physical edge to his game. so it stands to reason that he should get a similar deal......7 years at 5.25.

that being said, i'm not naive enough to think he'll get under six, someone will pay him.
- sensarmy_11

Calahan plays all situations including PK and PP. Clarkson (to the best of my knowledge) was a PP guy in Jersey but not a PK guy

There are trolls from every fan base that goes into other teams forums all the time.

Its the internet, its going to happen until the end of time
- Stripes77

This is true, which is why my original post did not quote you.