Speculation: Vanek on the way out?

[TehDoak]

I was putting together a 2013-2014 Roster...I realized:

Vanek-Hodgson-Armia
Foligno-Ennis-Stafford
Grigersons-Grigerenko-Pomniville
McCormick-Ott-Kaleta
Porter

But the D:

Myers-Sekera
Ehrhoff-???
????-?????

Combine that with the boon of good forward free agents:

Iginla, Semin, Getzlaf, Perry, Morrow, Horton, Clowe, Zajac

And quite the lack of D free agents....

Perhaps this offseason (or even as soon as the trade deadline) is the time to strongly consider moving Vanek. He's had a good run with the Sabres, however, a seeming strong youth movement of forwards combined with strong need on D next year, perhaps the time is now?

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[HockeyH3aven]

The Sabres are absolutely loaded with D prospects, not sure why you don't think any of them (Brennan, Pysyk, McNabb, Gauthier-Leduc, Weber) will be capable of playing next season.

Isn't Sulzer on a multi-year deal?

 

[Zip15]

Nobody should be off the table. That said, I don't think the door is closed on Vanek.

 

[Jame]

Vanek only becomes tradeable after the 2013 offseason when all the good free agents are signed up, and some GM missed out, AND has cap space to burn.

 

[TehDoak]

Vanek only becomes tradeable after the 2013 offseason when all the good free agents are signed up, and some GM missed out, AND has cap space to burn.

I think there are several teams who would pony up if Vanek were to become available. He's a natural goal scorer that has been chained up by Ruff for quite a bit. Maybe something like Vanek for Vlasic+?

 

[TehDoak]

The Sabres are absolutely loaded with D prospects, not sure why you don't think any of them (Brennan, Pysyk, McNabb, Gauthier-Leduc, Weber) will be capable of playing next season.

Isn't Sulzer on a multi-year deal?

Of that Group, I'd say Pysyk is the only real top 4 d-man in our prospect pool, maybe McNabb if he can straighten out. We could re-up Regehr to anchor our bottom pair and keep some sandpaper on the backend. I still see a big need for a top pairing D-man to play with Myers.

 

[heartsabres*]

What is wrong with playing this year`?

 

[Jame]

I think there are several teams who would pony up if Vanek were to become available. He's a natural goal scorer that has been chained up by Ruff for quite a bit. Maybe something like Vanek for Vlasic+?

Why would San Jose want to weaken their blueline significantly, to acquire another goal scoring winger with 1 yr left on his deal?

San Jose has less than 10 mil in cap space next year, with only 8 forwards, 5 defensemen, and 1 goalie

 

[Jame]

Of that Group, I'd say Pysyk is the only real top 4 d-man in our prospect pool, maybe McNabb if he can straighten out. We could re-up Regehr to anchor our bottom pair and keep some sandpaper on the backend. I still see a big need for a top pairing D-man to play with Myers.

uh, Sekera? He's pretty much the same player as Vlasic

 

[TehDoak]

uh, Sekera? He's pretty much the same player as Vlasic

I'm just picking out names from teams that struggled to score but have deep defenses at this point. I'd really like Hammer from Chicago, but I don't see the fit with them already having Hossa and Kane on the wings. And, rumor has it he would cost much less than Vanek at this point

 

[joshjull]

You're getting a little ahead of yourself basing Vanek possibly heading out the door on Girgensons and Armia making the team next year.

 

[Jame]

I'm just picking out names from teams that struggled to score but have deep defenses at this point. I'd really like Hammer from Chicago, but I don't see the fit with them already having Hossa and Kane on the wings. And, rumor has it he would cost much less than Vanek at this point

Ii'd love to get Hammer, you know i've always been a big fan since their cup run.

I'd like to see Sekera-Myers for a year first.

Solving that hole for 2.75 cap, for 3 years... would allow them to do a lot of other things with their cap space.

sorry, off topic...
I don't think anyone is going to trade anything of value for a 25 goal scorer with a 6.4 cap hit (10% of 2013/14 cap).

 

[HockeyH3aven]

You're getting a little ahead of yourself basing Vanek possibly heading out the door on Girgensons and Armia making the team next year.

Agreed. I doubt either play up here full time. I could see Girgs being an injury call-up next season.

 

[Paxon]

The Sabres need to increase their talent level. That means drafting young talented players, keeping the right talented players, and signing free agent talent when it makes sense to. They swapped Roy for Ott which I think is reflective of the young talent they have in Ennis/Hodgson/Grigorenko/etc. Trading Vanek would then be taking that thought too far, and likely be a mistake unless they can get some solid young NHL-ready or near NHL-ready talent.

Personally they should be looking at Vanek as a guy they want to resign after this current deal to provide the scoring depth and talent depth that you need to succeed. The Kings, Flyers, Blackhawks, Penguins, etc found success with deep teams. Yes, he's never quite been the player we were hoping he'd be from the start of a season to the finish, but he's an incredibly valuable offensive player who draws a huge amount of attention and takes a huge amount of physical abuse. Vanek and Poms are exactly the kind of guys you want to pair with youngsters like Grigorenko, Hodgson, Zemgus, etc.

 

[MacOfNiagara]

No he is not / will not be.

One of the better goal scorers over the last 5 years.

 

[Hal2000]

30+ goal-scorers with much-improved defensive play are few and far between nowadays.. Yet everybody is always ready to move this guy at the drop of a hat

 

[1TuchAnd1NoTuch]

I hope not, love vanek

 

[hizzoner]

I think some of the lustre has come off Vanek. He is strong on the boards and will pay the price but I really want more goals from him for the time he gets on pp etc. and of course the $$$. He is slow off the mark which means if he loses the puck he finds it hard to recover position. I want him on the team but not for 10% of the cap. That said I do not think anyone would offer enough in value to make a trade viable.....

 

[heartsabres*]

I was putting together a 2013-2014 Roster...I realized:

Vanek-Hodgson-Armia
Foligno-Ennis-Stafford
Grigersons-Grigerenko-Pomniville
McCormick-Ott-Kaleta
Porter

But the D:

Myers-Sekera
Ehrhoff-???
????-?????

Combine that with the boon of good forward free agents:

Iginla, Semin, Getzlaf, Perry, Morrow, Horton, Clowe, Zajac

And quite the lack of D free agents....

Perhaps this offseason (or even as soon as the trade deadline) is the time to strongly consider moving Vanek. He's had a good run with the Sabres, however, a seeming strong youth movement of forwards combined with strong need on D next year, perhaps the time is now?

Big contracts don´t get traded at the deadline unless it is the last year. Why do you want to get rid of him? Why do these threads even exist?

 

[KevinFG]

Agreed. I doubt either play up here full time. I could see Girgs being an injury call-up next season.

I doubt that they intend to have Girgs play 2 full seasons in Rochester, but I could be wrong. He has the stage now with Cody and Foligno getting called up. We'll see how he finishes out the year.

I believe he had 2 assists last night.