Looking at the roster of the Buffalo Sabres as the trade deadline of February 27th approaches raises several questions in regards to which players will be finishing the 2011-2012 season wearing blue and gold.
As of today, the Sabres sit only two spots and one point away from dead last in the Eastern Conference. Most fans will likely argue that the 2011-2012 campaign has already proven to be a complete wash, and that general manager Darcy Regier should do nothing other than act as a seller as the deadline nears.
Doing so would free up cap space and possibly open up room for the top-line center that Sabres supporters have been begging for since the departure of fan favorites Daniel Briere and Chris Drury at the conclusion of the 2007 Stanley Cup run.
Contrarily, having won seven of a possible eight points in the Sabres’ last four games have left some fans feeling hopeful that the Sabres still have a chance to make the playoffs, and to take it even further, compete with the top teams in the East.
Nothing shows more proof of this being possible than the Sabres’ impressive 1-0 shootout loss to the East-leading New York Rangers, less than a week ago Wednesday evening at the First Niagara Center.
If the Sabres continue in their point-getting ways, you might expect Regier to attempt to add a few key guys to fill gaps that the team has been forced to play with all season.
Doing so could help the Sabres make a run for the Cup and turn such games as their 1-0 loss to the Rangers into victories.
By the end of the week, either way, the Sabres organization is going to have to decide whether or not they are going to be buyers or sellers this season. As the past has proven, Regier isn’t necessarily one of the general managers in the National Hockey League that is known to make many blockbuster moves near the deadline. However, February 18th will mark the one year anniversary of ownership under Terry Pegula, so fans wouldn’t be crazy to expect to see more action this year than they have in the past.
Over the next week here at Sabres Hockey Central, I am going to let you know just what kind of movement you might expect to see from the front office of the Buffalo Sabres. Later today, we’ll start by taking a look at the Sabres that I think hold the highest trade value (in no particular order) on the open market in the NHL.
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