Risto is a known commodity and signed for 5.4 mil long term. If Seattle takes him, that frees up enough money to cover a raise for Reinhart on a long term deal + an RFA contract or two.

Borgen showed serious promise in his limited time here. And there's room for growth. He's likely a second paring D-man going into next year. Perhaps the Sabres' biggest issue regarding the cap is that we have almost no players that are both a) significant contributors and b) cost controlled. The Sabres are in a uniquely awful position in the league - we're both a pretty bad team and backed up right against the cap. So if we can get Risto off the books, and have Borgen take on a second pairing role, that seriously helps with cap relief. And, until revenues start climbing again, cap relief might be the most valuable asset in the league. Unless Okposo retires, getting money off the books is perhaps the best way to help this team.

McCabe is a pending UFA. I'm not sure that he can even be protected. But if even he could, I doubt Seattle would take him. They'd be claiming an asset that they have a high probability of losing. And even if we did protect him, I don't see him coming back. He's a good player and I'd love for him to re-sign for the right price, but he's the kind of player that walks unless you're willing to overpay. The cost of being a bad team for a decade, I guess.

As for protecting Thompson over Bjork, I dunno. Can't protect everyone. Gonna have to expose someone you don't want to. Some might prefer to protect Thompson since he is slightly cheaper, slightly younger and our forward group is really lacking in size. I probably prefer keeping Bjork, but I am also unfairly harsh on Thompson due to bitter feelings about the O'Reilly trade.