Remember when Darcy Regier was being applauded for taking Garth Snow behind the barn and whooping him on the Thomas Vanek-Matt Moulson trade?
Hold on. Not so fast.
We have some details. Interesting details that sway this deal back to even.
At first blush it appeared as though Regier had gotten the better of his counterpart by getting the 2014 first round draft choice and the 2015 second round draft choice of the New York Islanders.
Pierre LeBrun reports that the Islanders have the option to defer their 2014 1st rounder to the 2015 1st round, in the event that they end up tanking their season and finishing in the top ten NHL draft teams.
Another wrinkle in the Vanek deal: if the 1st round pick NYI sent Buff ends up top 10 in June, Isles have option to defer the pick to 2015
If Garth Snow's team succeeds and makes the playoffs for the second straight time this season, no worries.
However, if they have lousy rest of this regular season and finish at the bottom of the NHL standing, then they can activate their "defer" option.
Sabres faithful are already screaming at Snow to keep his 1st rounder in 2014 so that Buffalo will have more "currency" to work with in 2015 when Connor McDavid will be the #1 overall pick on the NHL entry draft.
This news comes hours after it was learned that the Sabres would be absorbing $1.4 million, or 20%, of Thomas Vanek's contract for this season.
Like Paul Harvey, now you know the rest of the story.
Ron Rolston said this morning that Sabres fans may will get to see Corey Tropp back in the Buffalo lineup as soon as this weekend.
The Michigan State Spartan alumnus hasn't had good news in a month. It was on September 29th that he suffered a broken jaw and a concussion in a scrap with Toronto Marlie Jamie Devane at the Air Canada Center.
Tropp's been skating and it appears as though he'll be a real option to plug and play this Saturday when the Sabres host Anaheim, before they fly stab westward.
Meeting or beating Matt Moulson's Buffalo Sabres debut will be a tough act for Thomas Vanek to follow tonight when the Islanders meet the struggling NY Rangers. Moulson scored two pretty goals, one on his first shot as a Sabres at 3:26 of the first period, in his first game with the Sabres following Sunday night's trade from the Islanders to Buffalo. Moulson seized his opportunity and created instant chemisty with new line mates Tyler Ennis and Cody Hodgson . He scored twice and could have had another one were it not for a nice Kari Lehtonen glove save.
Here's the Reader's Digest version of Moulson's first game in the Blue and Gold.
Thanks, cbc.ca
Tonight, Vanek gets the trade stage all to himself. He'll get the chance to tell the Sabres:
"Anything Moulson can Do, I Can Do Better".
On Monday, after his first skate with new line mates John Tavares and Kyle Okposo, Vanek said:
“It (his trade) was going to happen sooner or later with the situation in Buffalo, but obviously when it does happen, initially you’re shocked,” he said. “I was excited to come here to a great young team with an up-tempo style and I’m looking forward to it.”
Knowing the type of intense competitor that Vanek is from having covered him for the past decade, I can assure you that Vanek will be calling for the puck early and often tonight against the bruised up Rangers D and goal tending corps.
Vanek knows that his Sabres friends and coaches will be watching the game tonight. They will be scouting ther next opponent. The Sabres play the Rangers on Thursday night. Don't be shocked if Vanek puts on a show with his new line mates JT and Booker.
Great news for Vanek. Cam Talbot will start in net for the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist is still injured.
On Sunday night, Thomas Vanek was traded from Buffalo to Long Island for Matt Moulson, a 2014 1st rounder and a 2015 2nd rounder. The trade of the UFA-to-be is a reminder that Buffalo will continue to acquire more young prospects and high draft choices. Sabres GM Darcy Regier’s vision is to re-build the Sabres into a perennial winner through the draft. Just like the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins did earlier this decade. Free agent acquisitions are not the solution in Buffalo.
Regier spoke with CBCs Elliotte Friedman during teh first period intermission in Buffalo on Monday night. Regier talked about the Vanek-Moulson trade and how it will be of benefit to the Sabres in the re-building process. Regier said earlier this week that based on the situation with Vanek wanting to explore all of his options as a UFA-to-be, that he thought that Vanek would not be open to re-signing a long term deal to stay and be a part of the changes in Buffalo.
The Vanek trade was a stroke of genius for Regier because he took Garth Snow's 2014 1st rounder and 2015 2nd round draft choices in the deal. Vanek is a rental player, as is Matt Moulson. Snow is gambling on signing Vanek long term. He becomes UFA i July and may well end up in his second home in the "State Of Hockey". Maybe he will. Maybe he won't. Thats for Snow and the Islanders to work out. Regier got a handsome haul for Vanek and helped other NHL GMs by setting the marketplace for 2014 UFAs-to-be.
If You want one, be prepared to trade a 1st and 2nd rounder to get one.
Draft choices are the brick and mortar. To build a big building, one needs a lot of bricks and mortar. Regier is prepared to acquire more “bricks” and “mortar”
“Draft picks are your currency," Regier said. "You can either use them to select players, or use them in other ways to help your team."
If that means trading UFA-to-be Ryan Miller then so be it. The Islanders created the market for a 2014 rental player by sending a 1st and 2nd rounder to Buffalo for Vanek. Contrary to what you may here around the hockey globe, there are teams interested in Miller right now. There is a market for him. He may not want to go to a Canadian team today, however, his list can change. There U.S. teams who are built for deep playoff runs right now, however, are struggling to find consistency in their net who would love to get their hands on Miller.
Regier has to do whats best for the future of his team.
He helped his organization immensely by trading vanek. One assumes that Ryan Miller will be next.
How long will this re-building take in Buffalo?
"
It's a bit of an unknown," Regier answers. "But I have confidence things will get better."
There is good news and bad news in Edmonton today.
The good news is that reports out of the City of Champions say that veteran center Sam Gagner has been cleared to resume play after missing the past 13 games with a broken jaw suffered by a Zack Kassian high stick.
The bad news is that Gagner cannot suit up in goalie gear to help his teammates win a game vs. Toronto tonight.
Gagner at 1st line centre with Eberle and Yakupov. RNH between Perron and Arcobello. Top 6 skilled but mighty small.
The Oilers enter tonight's action ranked 16th out of 16 teams in the Western Conference wiyth a 3-8-2 record. Its always nice to add a dynamic leader and scorer to a lineup, however, the Oilers don't need another scorer right now. They are in desperate need of a starting goaltender who can make the big saves at key times in games.
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