There have been a lot of rumors talking about Bobby Ryan becoming available again and that the Sabres may be one of the front-runners in acquiring him. Here’s one from John Boruk on Twitter:
Two NHL insiders had told me last year a Bobby Ryan/Jonas Hiller deal for Ryan Miller was all but done and then the Lucic incident happened.
— John Boruk (@JohnBorukCSN) June 19, 2012
Ryan is signed through the next three seasons for about $5M. He would be a great addition in Buffalo, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There is no reason the Ducks should want to give him up, unless they are getting some remarkable talent in return. Ryan is the type of player that everybody wants on their team.
If the Sabres do acquire Ryan, it will have to give up quite a bit. However, there are other options out there.
Another player people have been talking about is Zach Parise, who is not signed for next season. Parise, like Ryan, is a winger, but has put up a few more goals and points than the Anaheim forward.
If Parise does become a free agent, that means teams will not have to give anything up (other than $$$$$$) to acquire him.
This is all if the Devils don’t re-sign him, than the Sabres would have to battle all of the other teams interested.
But still, there is one other option that I believe the Sabres should consider over Parise and Ryan. That is Jordan Staal. He’s a 6’4″ center that weighs 220 pounds. The Sabres could really use a player like Staal.
Staal is signed through the next season with a cap hit of $4M, the equivalent of what Jochen Hecht made, and he’d be a pretty big upgrade over Hecht.
Not only is he a 4-time 20 goal scorer, but he has played in over 70 postseason games and has the playoff experience. Not to mention, he won the Cup in 2009.
The Sabres are thin at center, so I think out of these three players, Staal may be the best to go after.
I hope Buffalo can find a way to obtain at least one of these players, if not two. We’ve seen what the Sabres organization has done since the arrivals of Terry Pegula and Ted Black. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make a big splash this summer.