The winds are swirling in the city of Buffalo this afternoon. No, not the freezing winter winds but the trade winds.
There have been many sources throughout the NHL world that have the Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks paired as trade partners. Want to know why? I’d be glad to tell you.
We know that there were three Anaheim Ducks scouts at the Sabres/Islanders game last night. One of those scouts was Ducks’ General Manager Bob Murray. It was reported that this was at least the third time this season that Ducks’ scouts have attended a Sabres game at the First Niagara Center.
Some hockey writers have speculated that injured goaltender Ryan Miller has been asking for a trade throughout the past few weeks but according to Miller, that could not be any further from the truth.
“I think it’s funny when you hear things like wouldn’t mind,” Miller said. “That implies somebody’s asked me and I’ve never made a comment about my status with the team. My comment about my status with the team now is I’m proud to be a Sabre, I’m excited for what we can accomplish moving forward and I want to be a part of it. There’s no reason for me to want to leave the situation. We have great new ownership who’s excited to put a winner on the ice and I want to be a part of it. For me to want to change that situation and get out, I think the grass doesn’t get much greener than it is here.”
According to “insiders” throughout the NHL, the Buffalo Sabres had recently contacted the Tampa Bay Lightning regarding the availability of Steve Downie. This rumor leads me right into another rumor.
Many of the aforementioned insiders have tied the Sabres to Ducks forward Bobby Ryan but that may not completely be the case. The Sabres are reportedly interested in enforcer George Parros. Could the Sabres swing a mega-deal for Ryan and Parros? Absolutely. With that thought comes the realization that the Sabres are terribly tight on cap room. I refuse to speculate names that I think would be good but if Ryan/Parros were to come in a package deal, the Sabres would have to dump a chunk of cap space.
UPDATE (4:15 PM) – Kevin Oklobzija, Rochester Americans beat writer for the Democrat and Chronicle, just dropped these three notes on Twitter:
“With Bobby Ryan on block and rumors of Ducks-Sabres chatting, let’s add a log to fire: Anaheim scout Jim Pappin at recent Amerk game.”
“Also, Sabres and Ducks scouts/front office folks have seen Amerks play Crunch (Anaheim’s affiliate) 4 times already.
UPDATE (8:40 PM) – There is another rumor going around that Anaheim would like a top four defenseman in return. Who would you be willing to give up, if anyone?