Today, I play "Let's be the GM of the Buffalo Sabres".
The trade deadline is on April 3rd, which is less than 2 weeks, and only a few
games away. Let's take a brief look at where we are now.
Since March 1st, the Sabres have been able to secure points in 8
out of 11 games. This has moved them up from 14th in the Eastern Conference.
Before we get too excited, we need to realize that the Sabres
are farther away than they appear to be. With the most important tie breaker being
regulation and overtime wins, Buffalo is near the bottom of the league for the
fewest of those types of victories. With all games played in conference in this
shortened season, winning games in regulation becomes all that important. The
Sabres have been unable to close out games this year. This combined with their
slow start, is going to make this last month of games all that more important.
As the Sabres GM, you need to look at three different options:
1.
Fire Sale: Spread the word, sell everything you can. Veterans,
stars, whatever. Sell and build for the future.
2.
Make a play to push for 8th: Trade the veterans with the
expiring contracts, pick up youth, and hope for a playoff berth.
3.
Play for the win: Package your veterans, a star or two, get back
some star power and load for a run.
Circling back around to an earlier point that all games played
in conference this season, I would keep away from the Eastern divisions all
together if possible as well as Detroit coming into the division starting next
year.
·
Vancouver Canucks: With the recent injury news on Kessler and
Booth being done for a while, Booth for the season, the Canucks could be
looking to acquire a Veteran forward/center to solidify their forward corps. I
see Vancouver looking for a savvy veteran presence, or an expiring contract.
Players like Jochen Hecht or Drew Stafford may intrigue the Canucks, however I
do not see them giving up much for these players due to the lack or production.
Stafford has played better of late, and may bring more in return. I really like
the Mason Raymond, a left wing who descent 2 way player, and gets some time on
the power play. I do not see the Sabres making a play for Schneider or Luongo
unless they unload Ryan Miller, which could happen. Looking at the Canucks
system, they have a couple prospects in Darren Archibald and Alexandre Grenier.
Both are right wings, with size. Archibald at 6'3 and Grenier at 6'5 would
provide Sabres some much needed size and offense on the wings.
·
San Jose Sharks: The Sharks run is coming to an end. Thier
roster has been intact for a few years now with the current players failing to
take them to the final destination of the Stanley Cup. It has been widely
talked about by NHL media on TV, internet and print, which the Sharks may be
ready to tear down the walls and start anew. I would make the pitch to GM Doug
Wilson for a big trade, to shake up both teams. Joe Thornton needs a new home.
He has been in San Jose long enough, and could use a move to another team as a
center piece in this deal. Martin Havlat plays the wing, and adds speed and
offense that the Sabres desperately need. Ryan Clowe is having a tough go this
season, having yet scored a goal, and Brett Burns is a high priced defenseman
who was injured for a good portion of this season, would be a great addition to
slip into the blue line here in Buffalo. Being a west coast team, I think it
would be a great landing spot for Ryan Miller. The following trade would
provide new starts for players who appear to need it, with some talent going
back and forth as well. These are all contingent on players waiving no trades.
The trade would have the Sabres taking on an additional $3,572,500 in
additional cap space. This will easily be afforded with players such as Jochen
Hecht, Robyn Regehr, Alex Sulzer, Jordan Leopold, and John Scott likely not to
be resigned in the offseason and possible dealt at the deadline in some cases.
These contracts alone present a cap savings of $9,595,000.
From San Jose: Joe Thornton 7.0m 1 year remain, Ryan Clowe
3.625m UFA, Martin Havlat 5.0m 2 years remain, Anti Niemi 3.8m 2 years remain,
and Brett Burns 5.76m 4 years remain. ($25,185,000 cap hits)
From Buffalo: Tyler Ennis 2.8125m 2 years remain, Jason
Pominville 5.3m 1 year remains, Ville Leino 4.5m 4 years remain, Ryan Miller
6.25 1 year remains, Andrej Sekera 2.75 3 years remain, and Jerome
Gauthier-Leduc 870k 3 years remain. ($21,612,500 Cap hits)
·
Columbus Blue Jackets: The time to strike on the Blue Jackets in
now. They are hot, and may be looking for that piece to get them into the top
half of the Western Conference in order to get home ice in the first round.
Columbus has 2 things I want: Nick Foligno and a first round pick (They have
three in the 2013 draft). Their roster is young, with only three players over
the age of 30. I would offer players in Jason Pomminville and Robyn Regehr and
a 2nd/3rd round pick (Contingent on how far they go in the playoffs) in this
year’s draft for Nick Foligno and one of the three first round picks.
Pomminville is easily worth a first round pick, considering what was given up
for Paul Gaustad in last year’s deadline deal with Nashville. Regehr would need
to waive his no trade, of course. I would approach Regher and advise him that I
had interest in resigning him this offseason, and explain to him I was trying
to acquire something to make us better in the future.
These are the three teams I see the Sabres being a potential
match with. There are other teams that could be looking for additions for
playoff pushes, including Minnesota, Detroit and St. Louis. You could also see
the Sabres try to swap with another team that needs a rebuild, like a Florida
or Edmonton.
All in all, I think that Sabres need to make changes. Even if a
playoff berth becomes a reality this season, I do not think that they can hang
with the top teams in either conference for a 7 game series. That's why it is
time to make the changes that will make this team competitive soon, not in five
years.
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