If Peter Chiarelli wants Iginla, he's going to have to pay through the nose to get his hands on the future Hall Of Famer.
Calgary GM Jay Feaster is said to be asking for a hefty booty on exhange for Iginla.
Calgary is said to be asking for scoring/play making centre Alex Khokhlachev (Windsor Spitfires and Russia's 2013 WJC team), D prospect Matt Bartkowski and Boston's 1st round pick in this June's draft.
Steep price to pay for a great player. If I'm Chiarelli, I make the deal all day long. Prospects come and go. Hall of Famers who score 30 goals a year do not.
Iginla will have make an immediate impact on the balance of power of the Eastern Conference. The Sabres usually play nip-tuck hockey with Boston. One goal games are the order of the days when these two rivals lock horns. What effect will Iginla have on the Buffalo-Boston rivalry?
At present, the Sabres do not have a rugged left winger on its present roster, other than Marcus Foligno and Steve Ott, who can dominate the bigger, tough Iginla. Vanek can trade shots and chances with Iginla, however, won't be able to grind and slam with iggy for 60-65 minutes.
Darcy Regier better be thinking about upgrading his size and skill on the left wing.
If/when the Iginla trade is finalized, Sabres fans will get their first look at the newly minted Bruin on Easter Sunday when the Bruins will visit Buffalo, in a life or death match for the Sabres playoff hopes.
Mikhail Grigorenko did it again on Wednesday night. Grigo scored a beauty of a goal and assisted on another in Quebec's 4-0 win over Chicoutimi, to give the Remparts a 3-1 series lead,
Grigo now has 2 goals and 12 assists in his 5 games that he has played since the Sabres returned the Russian Rifle to the Remparts on March 15th,
Not bad production for a fourth liner who was a frequent healthy scratch on a struggling Sabres team that had trouble scoring, eh?
Drew Stafford spent the past two games parked in the press box. The former first round draft choice has been a frequent flier in the 'underachiever express' in Buffalo this season.
If you listen to the outside chatter (and there's a lit of it these days), Stafford's days in a blue and gold sweater may be numbered. The NHL trade deadline is on April. Between now and then, Stafford says that he can only control his attitude and his on ice performance. Everything else is just noise to the struggling winger.
Today at practice in Sunrise, Stafford skated alongside Tyler Ennis and Ville Leino. Perhaps Ron Rolston is looking to avoid another 14 shot on goal performance on Thursday night, thus, the offensively dangerous Stafford will draw back into the lineup. You have to think that Stafford can go off on a point producing spree at any moment.
Hopefully, he gets his act together and lead his teammates out of their offensive doldrums on Thursday night against the Panthers.
No Thomas Vanek at Sabres practice in Sunrise today. He was the only Sabre missing from the session. Vanek's status is "questionable" for Thursday's game.
Amerks right winger Corey Tropp's hockey life came to a screeching, painful halt on October 12, 2012. Tropp was about to begin his second season in AHL Rochester, after playing 34 games with the Sabres in 2011-12, when he suffered a major injury.
It was then that Syracuse Crunch D, Radko Gudas, would end Tropp's season with a nasty hip check. Tropp was on fire for the Amerks in their season opener. He had already scored twice and was looking for the hatty when his knee was badly injured by the Gudas kiss.
Tropp would undergo successful surgery to repair the ACL in his right knee in mid November.
Today, Tropp was cleared for contact by the Amerks team doctors. Tropp's not ready to play in a game, yet, however, he'll continue to grind out his workouts in an effort to expedite his comeback to the Amerks lineup for the playoffs.
Who knows? Tropp may be ready to play later this month or early next.
Tropp has been skating for the past six weeks. The rambunctious winger is on his way back.
Amerks head coach Chadd Cassidy told Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester D and C that Tropp is in the early stages of his comeback and today's news is by no means a clearance for him to join the active lineup. Yet.
“He’s skating really well, but, again, he hasn’t had guys leaning on him,” Amerks coach Cassidy said.
The former Michigan State Spartan will have to pass a series of strength tests. His left leg is obviously in better condition that his right leg. How soon until both legs are close to equal strength and dexterity? Only time and Mother Nature can tell.
“I think we all just assumed there was no chance he could come back,” Cassidy said.
Tropp, however, said his rehab and return to action are bang on to the time table that his doctors had given to him months ago.
“The progress has been going really well but there’s still a lot of steps to be taken,” he said. “There’s a big thanks to all the people in this organization that helped me get to this point
.
It will be great to see Tropp on the ice again for the Amerks in meaningful games this spring. Lets hope he can make it all the way back.
Mike Weber and Steve Ott may as well be brothers. They don't share the same blood, however, they are closer than two guys can be. The two Sabre teammates have been friends and family members since Weber arrived at the Ott household when he was an 18 year old Windsor Spitfire rookie.
Thanks to the Sabres for producing yet another entertaining "Beyond The Blue & Gold" episode.
Did you know that Mikhail Grigorenko has 12 points in the 4 games that he has played since the Sabres demoted him back to the Quebec Remparts?
The Russian rookie is leading the Remparts in playoff scoring with 1 goal and 7 assists in his three games played against Chicoutimi.
In his triumphant return to Quebec after his demotion from the Sabres, Grigorenko went off for 2 goals and 2 assists on St. Patrick's Day vs. Rimouski.
Grigo has picked up his torrid scoring pace, right where he left off in January when he departed Quebec to join the Sabres for their one week, abbreviated training camp. The kid's impressive play in camp convinced Ruff and Regier to offer his a roster spot in Buffalo. His entry level contract kicked in, and he played 22 games in the NHL. Last month, he was sent back to junior after he was relegated to fourth line duties while skating with John Scott, Pat Kaleta and Drew Stafford. When he wasn't skating five minutes on L4, we had become a Rolston healthy scratch.
Better for him to be skating 20+ minutes per game for the Remparts. He's touching the puck a couple dozen times a game and he's thriving on the PP. He's back in his comfort zone, leading his team, rather than sitting and watching.
Grigo will have options in the days and week's to come.
His Remparts are on their way to advancing to the second round of the QMJHL playoffs. If for some reason the Remps are eliminated ( I don't see it with the Erne-Grigo-Sorensen line tearing it up right now), Grigo could then ship off to Rochester to play with the Amerks. Should the Sabres qualify for the playoffs, he would then be cleared to re-join the Sabres for a playoff run.
Grigo won't be the only propect who will head back to Rochester when/if sabres playoff bubble bursts in the next few weeks.
Marcus Foligno, Cody Hodgson, Mark Pysyk, Kevin Porter, and Brian Flynn will head down the I-90 to help Chadd Cassidy and the Amerks in their quest for a deep playoff run. Don't be surprised at all to see Joel Armia, either. That is, if/when his Assat team is eliminated from the Finnish Elite League playoffs.
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