You're delusional after giving up a 3rd round pick for nothing. Sure he felt comfortable and is pals with Eichel but that doesn't mean jack. He's not going to Buffalo. Ottawa has everything you mentioned minus a spend easy owner. I'm not saying they're a front runner but I wouldn't rule it out
- toult

So you're calling me delusional that he would sign in Buffalo but you really think Ottawa has everything I mentioned besides an owner with deep pockets? Now who is the delusional one?

Who is Ottawa's franchise center that he would ride shotgun with? How about the other top 6 center?

Buffalo didn't waste a 3rd round pick. They had 4, they also don't have enough space to sign all of those prospects to contract anyway so they sent a 3rd to have that extra month to talk to Vesey. They knew most likely that Vesey is going to wait to sign with any team until after August 15th.

They just have the ability to talk to him longer.

I doubt he signs in Buffalo before that. But Buffalo is clearly higher on Vesey's list than Ottawa.

This^ buffalo has been trash the last two years and while there is improvement. There won't be much improvement, even over the next two seasons. While there are improvements, their roster has massive gaping holes compared to the Ottawa roster. He's going to get a top 6 role anywhere he goes. Wants a playoff contender and close to home.
- toult

Hahaha!!!

Have you looked at their roster?

They have do have a big hole in their top 2 on the blue line I will give you that. There also is a question mark in goal if Lehner can stay healthy so that's a wildcard.

But what other holes?

2 top line centers...check
two top 6 RWers...check
one top 6 LWer, Vesey would be the 2nd
A solid 3rd Foligno-Girgensons and Ennis
An okay 4th line

There wouldn't be much improvement? They added a top 6 RWer in Free Agency, they made a trade to improve their top 4 on the blue line, and both Eichel and Reinhart will continue to develop. Even if Reinhart doesn't take a huge step, Eichel was a ppg player after Christmas so I wouldn't expect a sophomore slump.

Hahaha!!!

Have you looked at their roster?

...stuff...

- Stripes77

So other than a hole in your top 6, a whole in your top 4 and a question mark in goal...the Sabres have a solid roster?
jk...Sens are are from complete as well.

We have little resources in the prospect pool for decent left wingers.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

I don't think it is that bad, but it certainly seems that a lot is riding on Perron to be a top 6 guy in the NHL. I don't see a lot of star left shots coming up. There are a few guys who could be impact players, but Perron seems like the only left shot guy coming up with the skills to be a true top 6 guy. Last player to do what he did in the Q what Drouin, and he seems like he's coming into his own. Not saying Perron is Drouin, but he is the closest thing coming up through the system who could really be a top 6 guy on the left wing.

So other than a hole in your top 6, a whole in your top 4 and a question mark in goal...the Sabres have a solid roster?
jk...Sens are are from complete as well.


I don't think it is that bad, but it certainly seems that a lot is riding on Perron to be a top 6 guy in the NHL. I don't see a lot of star left shots coming up. There are a few guys who could be impact players, but Perron seems like the only left shot guy coming up with the skills to be a true top 6 guy. Last guy to do what he did in the Q what Drouin, and he seems like he's coming into his own. Not saying Perron is Drouin, but he is the closest thing coming up through the system who could really be a top 6 guy on the left wing.
- MaxTLimit

Vesey would fill that hole in the top 6

The top 4 in Buffalo is okay, if they could add a top 2 it would be pretty solid. What team wouldn't want to add a top 2 though?

Goalie is a huge question mark though.

But I would take the Sabres roster over the Sen's roster all day. Maybe that's the homer in me but Eichel and ROR as your top 2 centers is something teams are going to hate seeing next season.

Besides Karlsson the only player I would love to have on the Sabres is Hoffman.

Besides Karlsson the only player I would love to have on the Sabres is Hoffman.
- Stripes77

Really? No Mark Stone? More points per game than Okposo last year.

Really? No Mark Stone? More points per game than Okposo last year.
- MaxTLimit

there is no doubt that buffalo is much better at center.....i take ottawa's roster in every other area. ottawa has better D, wings, and is stronger in goal

Really? No Mark Stone? More points per game than Okposo last year.
- MaxTLimit

I'd say Stone and Okposo is a wash and I wouldn't bump Reinhart anywhere.

Stone is younger and cheaper at the moment though so sure Stone over Okposo

Reinhart over Ryan younger cheaper and is going to keep developing

I would like Hoffman that's for sure

Down the middle I would take the Sabres top 2 centers over Ottawa's

Obviously Karlsson

The rest of the blue line I really like Buffalo's top 4 Risto is going to be a stud, McCabe is very solid, Bogosian drives me crazy but played really good hockey the last 3rd of the year.

Goaltending while Ottawa's is much more experienced and you def have a better back up but Anderson isn't getting younger and he didn't have the best of years last year. In fact Buffalo's goalies last year as a unit put up better stats than the Sens goalies.

I'd say Stone and Okposo is a wash and I wouldn't bump Reinhart anywhere.

Stone is younger and cheaper at the moment though so sure Stone over Okposo

Reinhart over Ryan younger cheaper and is going to keep developing

I would like Hoffman that's for sure

Down the middle I would take the Sabres top 2 centers over Ottawa's

Obviously Karlsson

The rest of the blue line I really like Buffalo's top 4 Risto is going to be a stud, McCabe is very solid, Bogosian drives me crazy but played really good hockey the last 3rd of the year.

Goaltending while Ottawa's is much more experienced and you def have a better back up but Anderson isn't getting younger and he didn't have the best of years last year. In fact Buffalo's goalies last year as a unit put up better stats than the Sens goalies.
- Stripes77

Stone over okposo. While they put up similar #s, Stone is a much better 2 way player. Better possession player and if I'm not mistaken led the league in takeaways.

Okpos however is more physical.

If we're comparing Reinhart to Bobby Ryan, Id agree with you. However Reinhart played up the middle a bit more then on the wings...little tough to compare

Your top 2c over ours. Agree as well.

D wise, I think the Sabres might need a bit of work. Risto looks promising.

Goaltending is blah for both sides: our goaltending was ok, inconsistent this year.

Lehner was hurt, so kinda hard to say..he hasn't really lived up to the hype yet but he's still young..with a healthy season, he could be a beast

Stone over okposo. While they put up similar #s, Stone is a much better 2 way player. Better possession player and if I'm not mistaken led the league in takeaways.

Okpos however is more physical.

If we're comparing Reinhart to Bobby Ryan, Id agree with you. However Reinhart played up the middle a bit more then on the wings...little tough to compare

Your top 2c over ours. Agree as well.

D wise, I think the Sabres might need a bit of work. Risto looks promising.

Goaltending is blah for both sides: our goaltending was ok, inconsistent this year.

Lehner was hurt, so kinda hard to say..he hasn't really lived up to the hype yet but he's still young..with a healthy season, he could be a beast
- Trilla

Reinhart played RW all last year. He was drafted as a center but started on the wing with the O'Reilly trade. It looks like he will be Jacks RWer for a long time.

So other than a hole in your top 6, a whole in your top 4 and a question mark in goal...the Sabres have a solid roster?
jk...Sens are are from complete as well.


I don't think it is that bad, but it certainly seems that a lot is riding on Perron to be a top 6 guy in the NHL. I don't see a lot of star left shots coming up. There are a few guys who could be impact players, but Perron seems like the only left shot guy coming up with the skills to be a true top 6 guy. Last player to do what he did in the Q what Drouin, and he seems like he's coming into his own. Not saying Perron is Drouin, but he is the closest thing coming up through the system who could really be a top 6 guy on the left wing.
- MaxTLimit

He's a nice prospect, but I kind of put him where Puemple was about a year after he was drafted. A promising prospect, has tools to succeed, but not a sure thing. That is saying something though. A year ago, I don't think anyone had Perron as a decent prospect for the Sens. If he can maintain that upward trend, then maybe we have another weapon drafted late.

Maybe I'm a bit dim, but I'm not sure where the 'gaping hole' is on the LW. Hoffman's production is already in the top-10 among LW, MacArthur is a capable 2nd line winger when healthy, Smith's coming off of a career year playing with Pageau, and they have multiple decent young 4th line options including Paul, Dzingel, and Puempel. To be realistically talking about Vesey means that you've either decided Hoffman is leaving, or that MacArthur isn't healthy - both of which are highly speculative. You also have to be realistically talking about paying $6.5M for MacArthur and Smith to play LW on checking lines right out of training camp, which to me doesn't seem likely.

I'm surprised at how quickly some people have given up on MacArthur. Personally, I'll take the chance on him recovering from injury and being a steady 2nd line winger ahead of taking a random chance on handing a top-6 forward spot to a college player who's never played a single NHL game. Seriously, in the 10 years before Johnny Gaudreau and Jack Eichel won the Hobey Baker award (neither of which happened in their senior year), it produced a series of almost conspicuous flops with the mild exception of Matt Carle (Junior Lessard, Marty Sertich, Ryan Duncan, Kevin Porter, Matt Gilroy, Blake Geoffrion, Andy Miele, Jack Connolly, and Drew LeBlanc). Put another way, Jimmy Vesey had the exact same number of points last year that Ryan Dzingel had in the year he was nominated for the Hobey Baker.

Obviously I could be wrong, but I'm just not sold on the hype. And I think if Vesey's looking for any kind of a big-money contract it won't be a team like Ottawa taking that chance.
- khawk

^^^THIS^^^ ..........Drops mic

He's a nice prospect, but I kind of put him where Puemple was about a year after he was drafted. A promising prospect, has tools to succeed, but not a sure thing. That is saying something though. A year ago, I don't think anyone had Perron as a decent prospect for the Sens. If he can maintain that upward trend, then maybe we have another weapon drafted late.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

True enough. He's hoping to GET to 170+lbs by the time training camp comes around. The guy is over 6 feet tall and is having trouble keeping his weight over 160lbs. He has so much talent and drive, but that is not the build of a man. If he is going to play in the NHL this year...or even next year, he needs to come in with the body of a man. It will take a lot of dedication to build that kind of body on such a ... diminutive frame. It may come. His production is impressive. You can't teach offense like he seems to have. However, if he can just be shoved out of the way in the D zone, it won't matter. Going from 76 points in 64 games one year with a -1 to a 108 point total in 62 games with a + 41 shows his dedication, I think. We will see. The Q isn't the NHL. It isn't even the AHL for how it punishes players.

I would love to give him a shot as our #2LW behind Hoffman. I love Mac but lets be honest, he isn't getting any younger and injuries are not helping.

But a Hoffman Vessey combo on the LW wouldn't be a bad thing. But he's going to either Buffalo or Toronto.... my guess is Buffalo

I would love to give him a shot as our #2LW behind Hoffman. I love Mac but lets be honest, he isn't getting any younger and injuries are not helping.

But a Hoffman Vessey combo on the LW wouldn't be a bad thing. But he's going to either Buffalo or Toronto.... my guess is Buffalo
- Maverick1818

Not going to help Buffalo. They have massive goaltending problem with Lehner. He does not cover his angles. He is a very good athlete, but he is not an NHL goalie.

Two Thoughts: they say the past is the past but it's a good thing to learn from the past. Sometimes this franchise just stick with the familiar faces.

1) Imagine if Sens kept Chara over Redden (Redden signed 2 years @6.5m - a year before the Sens made the finals and could of had Chara there - but

2) What the Sens COULD have looked like going into this season (Had Murray stepped aside half way into 2014-2015; where Shero could come in. Then keeping Cameron until now where the best coach was available.

Ray Shero - GM
Bruce Boudreau - Head Coach
Brian Murray - Senior Advisory
Pierre Dorion - Head of Scouting & Hockey Ops at pro level
Randy Lee - A. GM (Bingo)
Daniel Alfredsson -

Shero, the guy that turned a potential bust 2 years ago, into a superstar young winger at a cap friendly 6m. Not saying Larsson is worthless, it's just not equal value right now - not even in the same universe. Also Zacha + Blackwood last year, this year gets McLeod (probably who Devils were going for). We'll see what Dorion will do, but seems to me another puppet of Eugene.

If Anyone doubts owners telling GMs what to do more so than they claim, just listen to TGOR hour 1 and listen to Simmer's comments on the team with respect to McPhee in Las Vegas.

Two Thoughts: they say the past is the past but it's a good thing to learn from the past. Sometimes this franchise just stick with the familiar faces.

1) Imagine if Sens kept Chara over Redden (Redden signed 2 years @6.5m - a year before the Sens made the finals and could of had Chara there - but

2) What the Sens COULD have looked like going into this season (Had Murray stepped aside half way into 2014-2015; where Shero could come in. Then keeping Cameron until now where the best coach was available.

Ray Shero - GM
Bruce Boudreau - Head Coach
Brian Murray - Senior Advisory
Pierre Dorion - Head of Scouting & Hockey Ops at pro level
Randy Lee - A. GM (Bingo)
Daniel Alfredsson -

Shero, the guy that turned a potential bust 2 years ago, into a superstar young winger at a cap friendly 6m. Not saying Larsson is worthless, it's just not equal value right now - not even in the same universe. Also Zacha + Blackwood last year, this year gets McLeod (probably who Devils were going for). We'll see what Dorion will do, but seems to me another puppet of Eugene.

If Anyone doubts owners telling GMs what to do more so than they claim, just listen to TGOR hour 1 and listen to Simmer's comments on the team with respect to McPhee in Las Vegas.
- AlfieisKing

this post seems a little ridiculous..........that's like saying imagine we had drafted pronger instead of daigle.....who cares, it's over, move on.

the one thing I have an issue with is you somehow thinking that shero getting hall was brilliant "GMing" on his part. that was 100% desperation and stupidity by chiarelli and had nothing to do with shero being "brilliant".

the most alluring thing about Vesey is that he's a freeasset, but he will unlikely be an impact NHL player........he might, but it's unlikely.
- sensarmy_11

Free..........

^^^THIS^^^ ..........Drops mic
- Erik6Karlsson5

I don't think anyone has "given up" on Mac but lets be honest here. If he gets one more concussion his career is over. The last one he got was from awkwardly falling to the ice. Doesn't exactly give me full confidence that he will be able to play through an 82 game season.

As long as Ceci and Hoffman are brought back and they don't get hit too hard with the injury bug I think the Sens will surprise some people this season.

Sign Kris Russel 4 years @3.5m
Trade Zibanejad, Ceci , Smith for RNH, Yakupov

Hoffman - RNH - Ryan
Mac - Turris - Stone
Lazar - Pageau - Yakupov
Paul - Kelly - Neil

Methot - Karlsson
Russell - Phanuef
Borowieci -Chabot

*you could do this up front:

Ryan - Turris - Stone
Hoffman - NugentHopkins - Yakupov
MacArthur - Pageau - Lazar

All trade and fantasy talk aside..... Mac and Zibanejad are both big X factors in team success and credibility of top 6

Sign Kris Russel 4 years @3.5m
Trade Zibanejad, Ceci , Smith for RNH, Yakupov

Hoffman - RNH - Ryan
Mac - Turris - Stone
Lazar - Pageau - Yakupov
Paul - Kelly - Neil

Methot - Karlsson
Russell - Phanuef
Borowieci -Chabot

*you could do this up front:

Ryan - Turris - Stone
Hoffman - NugentHopkins - Yakupov
MacArthur - Pageau - Lazar
- AlfieisKing

You are overvaluing Yakupov...by a lot, in my opinion.
I'd love RNH, but I don't think Yakupov even touches top 6 these days.

Not going to help Buffalo. They have massive goaltending problem with Lehner. He does not cover his angles. He is a very good athlete, but he is not an NHL goalie.
- spatso

Lol really? Guy had a .924% save percentage when he played. Health was the problem, not his goaltending.

Hoffman, Ceci, and a 1st, White, Chabot, or Brown (Colorado's choosing) for Duchene and Barrie?

Since our RFAs aren't signing and Colorado hasn't signed Barrie, maybe a deal can be made. Adding a legitimate pick or prospect would add more meat for Duchene since Hoffman won't get you him alone.

Hoffman, Ceci, and a 1st, White, Chabot, or Brown (Colorado's choosing) for Duchene and Barrie?

Since our RFAs aren't signing and Colorado hasn't signed Barrie, maybe a deal can be made. Adding a legitimate pick or prospect would add more meat for Duchene since Hoffman won't get you him alone.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

that's a pretty steep price. it's not a huge upgrade on D, and leaves us with a MASSIVE hole on the wing.

I feel like adding a 1st AND a top prospect tilts that deal too far in Col's favour.

that's a pretty steep price. it's not a huge upgrade on D, and leaves us with a MASSIVE hole on the wing.

I feel like adding a 1st AND a top prospect tilts that deal too far in Col's favour.
- sensarmy_11

It was meant to read a 1st or one of those prospects.