Chuzwazza
Registered User
In a draft that was quieter than normal on the trade front, the Buffalo Sabres were a part of the biggest deal of the day, by dealing #1 Pivot Daniel Briere to the defending HFNHL champion Ottawa Senators.
After seeing GM Joshua Pitt deal D-man Willie Mitchell and a 5th to San Jose for Viktor Kozlov, Kevin klein and a 3rd, Sabres fans were stunned as they watched the team deal Briere to Ottawa, along with Kozlov, a 2nd, 3rd and 6th round pick and $1million in cash. Coming back to the team was Calder candidate Anze Kopitar and prospects Dennis Grebeshkov and Ryan Bayda.
The general consensus was not a positive one from Buffalo fans, who had to watch previously #1 pivot Olli Jokinen leave under the pretense of Buffalo not being able to keep them both and stay under the cap. Now watching Briere leave was too much for some.
That said, those in the know expect Kopitar to rival Stastny, Staal and Malkin for next years calder, and with countryman Alexander Frolov, and Captain Scott Hartnell likely linemates, he should post some impressive numbers.
Once again, the reasoning from Pitt was the same. "We're trying to stay on top of our finances while remaining in contention. would we be a better team this year with Olli and Daniel? Of course we would...but then we lose one or both in free agency and we're struggling to make it work 3-4 years from now. With Travis Zajac and Anze coming in to join Patrick Marleau, our spine is set for a long time.
In the draft, not seeing anyone they wanted with the 27th pick, Buffalo had a deal fall right into their lap, and gladly accepted a mid and a late 2nd rounder for their 1st. Those picks turned out to be Colby Cohen (who the Sanre would have taken at 27 anyway) and Jeremy Smith. in addition, the team also added an intangibles guy in Ted Ruth, and a high risk/return sleeper in Will Weber who instantly drew attention from a number of teams.
After graduating Suter and Hainsey, and trading away Staal and Whitney in the last 12 months, the Sabres have rebuilt their blueline nicely with the additions made today, throwing Grebeshkov, Klein, Cohen, Ruth and Weber into a group that included Kirill Koltsov, Shawn Belle and Andy Rogers.
Aside from the loss of firepower in moving Briere, all in all it was a solid youth building day for the Sabres...whether that brings them more cups or not is yet to be seen.
Thats all...for now
Buffalo Bill
Hockey Editor for The Buffalo News
After seeing GM Joshua Pitt deal D-man Willie Mitchell and a 5th to San Jose for Viktor Kozlov, Kevin klein and a 3rd, Sabres fans were stunned as they watched the team deal Briere to Ottawa, along with Kozlov, a 2nd, 3rd and 6th round pick and $1million in cash. Coming back to the team was Calder candidate Anze Kopitar and prospects Dennis Grebeshkov and Ryan Bayda.
The general consensus was not a positive one from Buffalo fans, who had to watch previously #1 pivot Olli Jokinen leave under the pretense of Buffalo not being able to keep them both and stay under the cap. Now watching Briere leave was too much for some.
That said, those in the know expect Kopitar to rival Stastny, Staal and Malkin for next years calder, and with countryman Alexander Frolov, and Captain Scott Hartnell likely linemates, he should post some impressive numbers.
Once again, the reasoning from Pitt was the same. "We're trying to stay on top of our finances while remaining in contention. would we be a better team this year with Olli and Daniel? Of course we would...but then we lose one or both in free agency and we're struggling to make it work 3-4 years from now. With Travis Zajac and Anze coming in to join Patrick Marleau, our spine is set for a long time.
In the draft, not seeing anyone they wanted with the 27th pick, Buffalo had a deal fall right into their lap, and gladly accepted a mid and a late 2nd rounder for their 1st. Those picks turned out to be Colby Cohen (who the Sanre would have taken at 27 anyway) and Jeremy Smith. in addition, the team also added an intangibles guy in Ted Ruth, and a high risk/return sleeper in Will Weber who instantly drew attention from a number of teams.
After graduating Suter and Hainsey, and trading away Staal and Whitney in the last 12 months, the Sabres have rebuilt their blueline nicely with the additions made today, throwing Grebeshkov, Klein, Cohen, Ruth and Weber into a group that included Kirill Koltsov, Shawn Belle and Andy Rogers.
Aside from the loss of firepower in moving Briere, all in all it was a solid youth building day for the Sabres...whether that brings them more cups or not is yet to be seen.
Thats all...for now
Buffalo Bill
Hockey Editor for The Buffalo News
