The NHL trade deadline has come and gone and I find myself a little confused about the actions of my Buffalo Sabres. They did something they had not historically done under the old ownership but they also didn’t go after it as much or as diligently as I wanted them to. Were my expectations too high? After a week spent in Pegulaville you’ll understand if I and many of the other fans expected too much from the Sabres with the high we’ve been on but now as I come down I wonder how much is really different.
I’m on board with the Brad Boyes move. The Sabres gave up a 2nd rounder for him and did not make a companion deal to shed salary close to what they were bringing in nor did they make a companion deal to acquire a draft pick to replace the one that was shipped out. I applaud them for this and this validates what new owner Terry Pegula stated at his inaugural press conference about takes the shackles off financially. Boyes is signed through next season where the Sabres will pay him 4 million.
I think Boyes will help. He’s a good offensive player with the ability to score, get off a quick, potent shot and make his teammates around him better. He’s not a great offensive player by any stretch but he’s definitely above average and the Sabres lack even those kinds of players so he will certainly plug in as a top-6 forward and see considerable power play time as well. Statistically, if you count his point totals in St. Louis this year, his 41 points makes him our 2nd leading scorer behind Thomas Vanek. The word is that he will play on a line with Tim Connolly and Tyler Ennis in his first game as a Sabre tonight.
Speaking of Connolly, he was my biggest Sabres surprise of the deadline day. I can’t believe he’s still here. Connolly is the antithesis of the direction this team needs to move in. His soft, cutesy, ultra-talented disappearing act has grown beyond tired to many fans and I can’t stand the sight of him on the ice wearing a Sabres sweater any longer. Blocking a few shots last week won’t change how I feel Tim. I’m sorry, you lost me this year. For many years people said if only Tim could be healthy for a full season, who knows what his numbers would look like. I’ll tell you what they look like: Last year he played in 73 games and put in a paltry 17 goals. That’s kinda mediocre for such a dynamic player. This year he’s played in 47 games and has a meager 8 goals and 26 points to show for it with a plus/minus rating of -11. There’s your number one center folks! He has the same number of goals as Cody McCormick and trails such offensive goal scoring juggernauts as Paul Gaustad and Jochen Hecht. He’s still 2 goals behind Derek Roy, who hasn’t played a game since 2 days before Christmas. Maybe I’m laying it on thick but 4 and a half million a year for this kind of production is a bigger robbery than any great Ryan Miller save I can think of.
No Sabres fan can forget the playoffs in 2006. Often times Tim Connolly was the best player on the ice. He skated hard, attacked the defense and looked like an all star. I don’t know if it was the culmination of nearly a decades worth of injuries or some other reason he is not that player any more. Regardless, we as fans have no choice but to rally around him now and hope that he can turn it on for these last 21 games and the playoffs.
If we had traded him Jochen Hecht would be our #1 center! I cringe whenever someone mentions he’s our #2 center right now which he is. To have unloaded Connolly we would have had to acquire a quality scoring center which would have meant 2 separate deals but it is rare to trade one scoring center for another. Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier spoke publicly after the deadline and talked about trying to make other deals but not having any success after the Boyes trade. Considering that the entire NHL made half as many deals on deadline day then on the same day a year ago, I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. In terms of buyers and sellers it seemed like teams were either asking for too much or not willing to pay. Unfortunately, I have to accept that we could not bring in a scoring center so Connolly couldn’t go anywhere.
What’s done or not done is done. The trade deadline is over and these guys are the team that’s left to root for and root for them I will. While I still hate Connolly’s game, I’ll have to deal with him on this team… at least for a few more months. Getting Brad Boyes for a 2nd round pick and having him for this year and next seems like a very good deal when you consider what the Los Angeles Kings gave up to get Dustin Penner who I wouldn’t say is much better if any better than Boyes. In that deal the Kings gave up a 1st round pick, a good prospect and an additional conditional 3rd round pick. Based on that and the Sabres need for help on the offensive end of the ice, I’d say the Sabres were winners on deadline day. Now let’s see if that translates to winning a playoff spot.
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