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Hawks Re-Acquire Versteeg; Dudley The Choice, Miller's Value Way Up If....

November 14, 2013, 11:03 AM ET [87 Comments]
Eklund
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The Chicago Blackhawks have re-acquired a key cog of their 2010 Stanley Cup winning squad, as they traded prospect forward Jimmy Hayes and defenseman Dylan Olsen to the Florida Panthers for winger Kris Versteeg.

Versteeg, 27, is under contract for another two years at $4.4 Million per season but according to TSN's Bob Mckenzie, Florida will be paying half of Versteeg's salary for the balance of the contract.

This appears to be the first of many changes to be made in Florida by GM Dale Tallon.

*******

Quick update with more to come later, but talking to those around the NHL there is a big consensus building that if Rick Dudley wants to be the next Sabres GM he should be. I have beaten this drum in the past, but now is the time for action.

the following passage was written in a blog I wrote here 22 months ago and with the exception of Dudley now being in the Habs organization versus the Leafs organization it all rings true.

On Rick Dudley...

It's rare you will find a better fit for a team than Dudley and these Sabres. Dudley is a Buffalo guy through and through...still lives and keeps his family in Buffalo since his playing days...

Dudley is currently on the Habs staff, yet league-wide you'd be hard-pressed to find a more highly regarded talent evaluator/team chemistry builder. There isn't a GM (working or unemployed) who has been more directly responsible for building two distinctly different successful Cup winning teams, and if Pegula is to stick to his promised Cup goal.... it is time to make that a reality.

Dudley built the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning championship team and the 2010 Chicago Blackhawk Stanley Cup team. Period. Yes, there were some twists and he had some help, but ask anyone in hockey who built those teams and the answer is Dudley. He also cleaned up the mess in Atlanta and built the framework of the play-off-contending Winnipeg...and he did it in one year!

Consider that when Tampa Bay won their Cup, only four players on the team were not there when Dudley left the year before... Stillman, Fedotenko, Dingman, and Sydor.... he signed Marty St. Louis as a free agent when no one wanted him and acquired Dan Boyle for a 5th round draft pick...He also hired the coaching staff led by John Tortorella who had no NHL head coaching experience. The first to give Torts a shot.

In Chicago, he served as the architect under Dale Tallon, and was big in drafting a Buffalo area kid he knew well in Patrick Kane number 1 over Turris and van Riemsdyk. It looks like a slam dunk in hindsight, but I was at that draft and many were questioning if Kane was big enough to be the #1 pick....right up to until the final seconds.. He was instrumental in drafting Toews over Backstrom as well.. He then stole Patrick Sharp from the Flyers for the infamous Matt Ellison, and somehow managed to get Versteeg and Havlat for a song....he also signed Niemi...

In fact, not one player on the Stanley Cup-winning team had been there when Dudley arrived in Chicago – they completely rebuilt the ENTIRE TEAM. When the Blackhawks won the Cup, every single player dressed, except Nick Boynton, was a holdover from Tallon and Dudley.... the entire team the night Chicago won the Cup – was acquired by Dudley/Tallon.

In the past I have been hard on the new Hawks management and have on multiple occasions tried to show how Tallon and Dudley deserved much more credit for the Cup winning team. Both were fired and yet no changes were made and the Hawks won a Cup. Many others have given credit to Tallon and Dudley as well for what happened in Chicago, but when I watched the Hawks raise the Cup I felt for these guys. Good guys. Great Hockey guys. I do remember Jonathan Toews taking time out to thank them both, showing the class and maturity Toews always shows.

It is easy to understand how Brian Burke acted immediately this summer when Dudley became available. He has experience operating on budget (Florida/Tampa) and with a cap payroll (Chicago).

Terry Pegula has the perfect hockey guy in his own backyard to make the transformation from old to new complete, and on top of his track record when you consider the other Buffalo-synergies it becomes a slam-dunk, no-brainer. He has won and he has a history with the Sabres as a player and coach. He lives in Buffalo, knows the fans and the culture, and he is loved in the Buffalo hockey community.

Anyway, that's my rant for the day. Sabres fans deserve more than this, and the prospect of Dudley as Sabres GM are as intriguing as the prospects of Pegula as owner were a year ago.

+++++++++

(fade back to present day....)


Also talking to some GMs and there is no doubt the only thing holding the Sabres back from getting HUGE value for Miller is his contract this year. The Sabres ate some of Vanek's contract and I fully expect them to fully eat as much of Miller's contract as need be to get the kind of return they deserve by handing a top 5 goalie to a team looking to make playoff noise this season.

But as one source noted...

"If you are going to eat the contract the timeline for the trade changes. It becomes far more likely the Sabres push it to the deadline. Why not get something for your money."

another source agreed but not entirely....

"The Longer a team has Ryan Miller the more you will get in return. Unless a serious injury were to happen to a team considered a Cup favorite."

As for Pegula eating the contract...it will be a no brainer in terms of return. You are really just paying for better picks and prospects...something the Sabres need to do.
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