Proposal: 3-way trade: Sabres-Habs-Islanders

[TageGod]

Just...no way in hell...that's before you deal with the cap.

Not concerned about the cap lol. The thought is what is your core doing for you if you go full rebuild. It's gonna be a futures package.

 

[Whalers Fan]

I mean i don't disagree, but at the same time if i'm in their shoes Buffalo is probably one of the teams i wouldn't mind waiving for. Close proximity and (maybe) a future without rebuilding.

Buffalo is not that close to Long Island (428 miles). Philadelphia (166 miles), Boston (240 miles), and Washington, D.C. (281 miles) by contrast, are all a lot closer. Heck, even Montreal (413 miles) is closer.

 

[Chainshot]

Buffalo is not that close to Long Island (428 miles). Philadelphia (166 miles), Boston (240 miles), and Washington, D.C. (281 miles) by contrast, are all a lot closer. Heck, Montreal (413 miles) is even closer.

People don't seem to understand that.

 

[ToDavid]

Tage Thompson is the best player in this deal by far and Buffalo is getting back $12m in cap dumps plus an $8m goalie who's been good, but not great, for the past two seasons.

 

[Zman5778]

Not commenting on the trade itself. But what does Buffalo do?

What major deficiencies do their fans see as their roster on paper doesn't look this bad.

The most glaring deficiency that our roster has is a lack of defensemen who are actually good in the defensive zone. We've got Dahlin and..........I mean, Clifton isn't awful if he's getting 3rd pairing minutes....... But otherwise, our defense can't actually defend.

A magic wand to keep Norris healthy would go a long way toward fixing a top 6 legit two-way center that we also need.

Also.....we need someone to drill into Tage's and Peterka's heads that the defensive zone does in fact exist and they actually do in fact need to play hard in that zone.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Thompson to Montréal, I'm down for that

 

[Beerz]

Rumors? Its pure stats. Dude put up 44 goals....but 28 assists. His FO% is 42.8%. Im just going off "centers" on NHL.com who played 50+ games, which we know many arent real centers, but here are his rankings:

Goals: 2nd - 44
Assists: 67th - 28
Points: 19th - 72
Shots: 6th - 242
FO%: 156th - 42.8%

Dude is an elite elite goal scorer, but not a two way guy at all and faceoffs alone are a reason to move him to the wing. Hes like Leon where they are best sitting in their office ripping onsies and shots. He needs a real center feeding him though vs pretending he is the center who will also do a centers defensive duties. There is a reason most real centers have so many more assists that goals.

Mac - 32-84-116
McD - 26-74-100
Eichel - 28-66-94
Sid - 33-58-91

You're showing stats where he mostly did not play Center.

But overall I agree. He isn't a Center.

 

[Panthaz89]

Rumors? Its pure stats. Dude put up 44 goals....but 28 assists. His FO% is 42.8%. Im just going off "centers" on NHL.com who played 50+ games, which we know many arent real centers, but here are his rankings:

Goals: 2nd - 44
Assists: 67th - 28
Points: 19th - 72
Shots: 6th - 242
FO%: 156th - 42.8%

Dude is an elite elite goal scorer, but not a two way guy at all and faceoffs alone are a reason to move him to the wing. Hes like Leon where they are best sitting in their office ripping onsies and shots. He needs a real center feeding him though vs pretending he is the center who will also do a centers defensive duties. There is a reason most real centers have so many more assists that goals.

Mac - 32-84-116
McD - 26-74-100
Eichel - 28-66-94
Sid - 33-58-91

Putting up more goals that assists had basically nothing to do with being a center...like what some forwards in general score more than they setup you can literally go to the center page and see plenty of centers that scored more goals than assists. Literally 2 years ago he had 47 goals with Tuch and Skinner with him most of the season you have no idea what you are talking about. A decent amount of top centers aren't even good at faceoffs too.

 

[landy]

You're showing stats where he mostly did not play Center.

But overall I agree. He isn't a Center.

These were his 82 game stats. Did he not play center all year? 704 faceoff attempts.

Im kindof confused on all of Buffalo's deployment then. Looks like Tage/Kulich likey split faceoffs depending on who was on their backhand, but then who played center from a defensive positioning POV?

 

[Beerz]

These were his 82 game stats. Did he not play center all year? 704 faceoff attempts.

Im kindof confused on all of Buffalo's deployment then. Looks like Tage/Kulich like split faceoffs depending on who was on their backhand, but then who played center froma defensive positioning POV?

View attachment 1030032
View attachment 1030030

No he was on wing for better part of the year.

Well..now that I think about it maybe it wasn't as long as I thought.

Once Kulich started getting top 6 Center duties he was exclusively on wing.

 

[MoneyManny]

Buffalo is not that close to Long Island (428 miles). Philadelphia (166 miles), Boston (240 miles), and Washington, D.C. (281 miles) by contrast, are all a lot closer. Heck, even Montreal (413 miles) is closer.

Apologies i'm only a dumb Canadian

 

[landy]

No he was on wing for better part of the year.

Well..now that I think about it maybe it wasn't as long as I thought.

Once Kulich started getting top 6 Center duties he was exclusively on wing.

Of 76 ES goals for where he was on the ice, 39 had Kulich, Cozens, or Norris. Not enough to go off to say hes more productive assuming they had the center defensive assignments. 74 goals against also so a big nothing burger ES wise for him even though people want to go off about his ES goals.

Putting up more goals that assists had basically nothing to do with being a center...like what some forwards in general score more than they setup you can literally go to the center page and see plenty of centers that scored more goals than assists. Literally 2 years ago he had 47 goals with Tuch and Skinner with him most of the season you have no idea what you are talking about. A decent amount of top centers aren't even good at faceoffs too.

Every elite center who actually plays the position has way more assists than goals. If youre a true center, youre more than likely down around the goal defensively and one of the first to help start the breakout with the wingers jetting out of the zone first usually resulting in more assists for the D or C assumnig a goal off the rush. Same with faceoff wins and goals coming soon after. Center may get an assist.

 

[ole ole]

I doubt Sabres move Thompson but that package should get Habs Horvat and Mayfield.

I also doubt the Sabres move Thompson. As a Hab fan he would fit right in.
Not interested in giving up that package for Horvat and Mayfield. Actually i have no interest in Horvat or Mayfield. That package could fetch us a younger player.

 

[ole ole]

Mailloux off ice past, he’s probably not going anywhere, especially to US team,
unless Habs offer significant incentives

yes he has talent and seems to have had a decent AHL season
but his cruel stupid actions will follow him everywhere

I would say It's already forgotten by most so it won't affect his trade value what so ever.

 

[Satanphonehome]

The Sabres remind me of that men’s league team you and your buddies put together with everyone who played competitively growing up but no one’s skated together in YEARS. It looks good but when you get there every other team in the league just knows eachother and picks you guys apart. The chemistry there is just rotten.

This is a good take. I'll leave it up to others to decide on whether to blame the coaches, but the Sabres look like a talented, but poorly coached team that wasn't always willing to stick with the plan, or to pay the price.

In terms of what worked and what didn't, the numbers don't really lie: they were a good-scoring, decent 5-on-5 hockey team with bad special teams and shakey goaltending.

Individually (meaning ice time, not lines), Tuch, Thompson and Peterka were effective 1st-liners and Zucker, McLeod and Greenway (when healthy) were effective 3rd liners. Dahlin and Byram (mostly Dahlin) were a terrific 1st pairing together. These guys usually held their own or won their matchups.

Where things typically broke down was in the 2nd wave. Cozens and Quinn were disasters anchoring what was supposed be a 2nd line, and Power and Samuelsson struggled with 2nd-pair minutes (though they were rarely together)

 

[Zman5778]

These were his 82 game stats. Did he not play center all year? 704 faceoff attempts.

Im kindof confused on all of Buffalo's deployment then. Looks like Tage/Kulich likey split faceoffs depending on who was on their backhand, but then who played center from a defensive positioning POV?

When Tage and Kulich were paired -- you're right about the FO deployment. Whoever was on their backhand was the guy taking the FO. From a defensive positioning POV.....Kulich ALWAYS played lower in the defensive zone than Tage did. So Kulich played center on that line (with Tage and Benny) even if he didn't take the FO.

 

[Bouboumaster]

To Montréal:
Thompson

To NYI:
Calgary 2025 1st (From Montréal)
Montréal 2026 1st Unrestricted
Montréal 2025 3rd
Owen Beck
Buffalo 2025 2nd
Buffalo 2027 1st


To Buffalo:
Sorokin
Horvat
Barzal


I'm not sure what to add from Buffalo to NYI



Montréal do it because:
We don't need the picks anymore, we're past that. Tage Thompson would be a solid 1A/1B with Suzuki.

NYI do it because:
They need the picks more than ever, and there's a bunch of assets right there to kick start their rebuild. They're going to suck real bad, but they'll have a shot at the next generational player next year.

Buffalo do it because: while loosing the better player, they acquire solid depth in front, and an upgrade between the pipes

 

[DJN21]

To Montréal:
Thompson

To NYI:
Calgary 2025 1st (From Montréal)
Montréal 2026 1st Unrestricted
Montréal 2025 3rd
Owen Beck
Buffalo 2025 2nd
Buffalo 2027 1st


To Buffalo:
Sorokin
Horvat
Barzal


I'm not sure what to add from Buffalo to NYI



Montréal do it because:
We don't need the picks anymore, we're past that. Tage Thompson would be a solid 1A/1B with Suzuki.

NYI do it because:
They need the picks more than ever, and there's a bunch of assets right there to kick start their rebuild. They're going to suck real bad, but they'll have a shot at the next generational player next year.

Buffalo do it because: while loosing the better player, they acquire solid depth in front, and an upgrade between the pipes

Dude the fax machine cant handle anymore adds in your scenario lol

 

[miscs75]

To Montréal:
Thompson

To NYI:
Calgary 2025 1st (From Montréal)
Montréal 2026 1st Unrestricted
Montréal 2025 3rd
Owen Beck
Buffalo 2025 2nd
Buffalo 2027 1st


To Buffalo:
Sorokin
Horvat
Barzal


I'm not sure what to add from Buffalo to NYI



Montréal do it because:
We don't need the picks anymore, we're past that. Tage Thompson would be a solid 1A/1B with Suzuki.

NYI do it because:
They need the picks more than ever, and there's a bunch of assets right there to kick start their rebuild. They're going to suck real bad, but they'll have a shot at the next generational player next year.

Buffalo do it because: while loosing the better player, they acquire solid depth in front, and an upgrade between the pipes

Isles wouldn’t touch this with a 10 foot pole. Mid-late 1sts (essentially no real additional shot at either of the prized prospects in rhe 2026/2027 draft), a 2nd and a 3rd plus your 8th best prospect really aren’t it.

 

[BLNY]

The Sabres remind me of that men’s league team you and your buddies put together with everyone who played competitively growing up but no one’s skated together in YEARS. It looks good but when you get there every other team in the league just knows eachother and picks you guys apart. The chemistry there is just rotten.

The Pylons!!

 

[tsujimoto74]

Of 76 ES goals for where he was on the ice, 39 had Kulich, Cozens, or Norris. Not enough to go off to say hes more productive assuming they had the center defensive assignments. 74 goals against also so a big nothing burger ES wise for him even though people want to go off about his ES goals.


Every elite center who actually plays the position has way more assists than goals. If youre a true center, youre more than likely down around the goal defensively and one of the first to help start the breakout with the wingers jetting out of the zone first usually resulting in more assists for the D or C assumnig a goal off the rush. Same with faceoff wins and goals coming soon after. Center may get an assist.

 

[landy]

He is elite defensively and also has Marner who puts up your more standard center numbers on his line, but yes an exception to it.

 

[cwede]

I would say It's already forgotten by most, so it won't affect his trade value what so ever.

you may be right, but that also may just be wishful thinking

the victim certainly hasn't forgotten it,
and US markets' media, and social media, can go manic in a heartbeat

my hunch is that any 'hockey trade' Mailloux offer is gonna be pretty easy to decline,
other comparable upside targets dont carry that baggage, drama, distraction

but maybe i'm wrong and shorter memories carry the day

 

[n8]

Hi,

I’m ready for everyone to hate it (including my team fanbase)—> Crazy 3-way trade on the premise that:

Islanders goes into a full rebuild
Habs want an impactful C + RD
Sabres wants to compete and change the culture for good


Tage Thompson
Mattias Samuelsson



16th ovr (Habs)
17th ovr (Habs)
Michael Hage/Owen Beck (to step in now if preferred)
Logan Mailloux
UPL


Ilya Sorokin
Bo Horvat
Scott Mayfield

Awful for Buffalo

Thompson >>>>> Horvat
Samuelsson >>> Mayfield
UPL << Sorokin

Two severe downgrades for a moderate improvement in goaltending.

 

[Ford Prefect]

To Montréal:
Thompson

To NYI:
Calgary 2025 1st (From Montréal)
Montréal 2026 1st Unrestricted
Montréal 2025 3rd
Owen Beck
Buffalo 2025 2nd
Buffalo 2027 1st


To Buffalo:
Sorokin
Horvat
Barzal


I'm not sure what to add from Buffalo to NYI



Montréal do it because:
We don't need the picks anymore, we're past that. Tage Thompson would be a solid 1A/1B with Suzuki.

NYI do it because:
They need the picks more than ever, and there's a bunch of assets right there to kick start their rebuild. They're going to suck real bad, but they'll have a shot at the next generational player next year.

Buffalo do it because: while loosing the better player, they acquire solid depth in front, and an upgrade between the pipes

If Barzal is in the mix, I'd cut out Buffalo and deal with NYI directly for him. The draft lottery has provided the NYI an unique opportunity to go scorched earth for a speedier rebuild. They have desirable assets, they just don't seem to work well in unision.

Just curious, what would it take to get Romanov back? Dare I ask package Romanov and Barzal together?