I don't personally believe this is a realistic point of view, but thank you for contributing to the conversation.
I do find it funny McCabe is only turning 26 but Barrie who just turned 27 is closing in on 30. Not that I don't expect fans to have rose colored glasses but it'll be tough coming to a reasonable discussion with that warped of a perspective on things. If you can get past that though I do think you bring up some reasonable and valid points once they aren't exaggerated.
Barrie didnt "just" turn 27. He is closer to 28 then 27 already. McCabe turns 26 in October. He is closer to 25 then 26. He also will make far less. So what I said is true, Barrie is closer to 30 then 25 now and McCabe is 25 until the start of next season.
Barrie will be 29 when his new deal kicks in. Again, zero interest in paying him 7+ mil as a 30+ dman for 6 of the 7 years on his deal. McCabe will cost less then half of Barrie. And the only reason McCabe is mentioned is because he is still relatively young and will be cheap.
Sabres will be paying Dahlin 12+ a year after Barrie signs his new deal. We cannot afford paying Rasmus x 2 and Barrie 25+ mil. We do not need an offensive dman. We currently have 2 top tier ones. Risto has been a premier offensive dman and is on pace for a 50+ point season. Dahlin is on pace for 44 as an 18 year old and will be a 60-70+ point dman before his ELC is up. Barrie would not put up the same production here. Barrie also gets nearly 2/3rds of his deployment in the OZ the last 2 seasons. We do not need a one dimensional dman for 7-8 mil. Dahlin and Risto have our offense covered. After years of having putrid offense from the blueline we now have 2 top offensive dmen.
If we are turning one of our extra 1sts into a dman give me a good skating RH bruiser in the draft on an ELC, not someone we would have to pay top $$ for in their 30s. Because wasting a 1st for 1.25 years and not extending him is horrible asset management.