Z Chara tattooed into the end wall Max Afinogenov with a crushing bodycheck twenty four games ago. Tweaked groin and hip soreness forced Max to the crow's nest. Since that ill fated Saturday afternoon, 61 has not played a minute with his Sabres squad. Lately he's been practicing with his teammates, however, he's been rockin the Hugo Boss as a spectator. One wonders when/if 61 will play again for the Sabres. He's still listed on Buffalo's injury report, however, word is that Max has been healthy enough to play for the past ten days or so for his team. begs the question:
Is Max still injured, or, has he been a healthy scratch?
If he's healthy, why not play him? Why not let the scouts evaluate him? If they like what they see, they can make a trade proposal to the sabres. We're three days from the trade deadline and Max Afinogenov is a name that shouldl be flowing from the mouths of opposing scouts and GMs.
He'll become a free agent this July and the sabres should want to get max return for this asset before he leaves Buffalo without compensation. There has been a story circulating that Max was made available to the other teams in the league last Summer. There were no takers for his services. I spoke with an NHL executive recently and he told me "no one offered him to us" last summer.
Is there a marketplace for a 29 year old player with over 10 years of NHL experience? People I speak with say that yes there is. His -14 and two goals in 34 games not withstanding. The Sabres should be thinking about moving 61 in in order to procure a scoring forward in return.
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The Sabres now find themselves in a 9th place tie with Carolina (69 points). The Sid-less Penguins defeated Dallas on Sunday afternoon and their 70 points; the Panthers and Rangers are now tied for 7th with 72 points.
The two points blown on Long Island may prove to be the fatalistic to the Buffalo Playoff run.
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