Feels like I have to start off this mailbag by thanking the Buffalo Sabres for signing and announcing that Tage Thompson contract a year earlier than they had to (and, indeed, should have).

We're two weeks or so out from the start of training camp and one expects by that point there will be a host of contract extensions signed, and maybe even some trades made if we're really well-behaved between now and then. Until that point, though, we're gonna have to settle for the scraps.

Let’s get to it: