Today was one of the more puzzling trade deadlines in recent Sabres history. Buffalo made one trade yesterday to send Robert Hagg to Florida in exchange for a 6th round pick, and after that, there were no trades for the blue and gold.
With pending unrestricted free agents like Colin Miller, Cody Eakin and Vinnie Hinostroza available to other teams prior to the trade deadline, General Manager Kevyn Adams opted to keep the squad together for the rest of the season. His reason? The continued development of the team.
“At the end of the day, for me it was always about ‘what’s the best thing for this group moving forward?’… Adams said during his post-deadline press availability. “What’s the best thing for the development of the group... to put these players in a position to keep getting better.…
That’s all well and good. There are some glue guys on the team like goalie Craig Anderson and defenseman Mark Pysyk whom Adams clearly values for the veteran presence they bring to a young and developing team.
“(Anderson and Pysyk) would be the two examples I would say. What those two guys do every day, and have done every day, and the impact they’ve had on the culture of the team and certainly the way they’ve performed,… Adams said. “But it’s bigger than that for me. It’s really powerful. And when you make a decision like that, and if you pull people like that away from it, it’s tough.…
That makes sense. Anderson and Pysyk likely have more value to the team than the hypothetical 6th round draft pick they would have gotten in return for them. In Anderson’s case, it’s incredibly easy to make the case that he’s worth more to the team than a late round pick due to his 11-9-0 record as the goalie this year. He has a winning record on a 22-33-8 team! Got it.
As for the decision to retain Colin Miller and Cody Eakin, well, it makes far less sense.
Specifically in the case of Miller, it appears that Adams was concerned about the return he would get for the expiring contract, and he was further worried that he might be getting lowballed by GMs as the hour of the deadline approached.
“So as you get to 3 (o’clock), you get calls, or maybe there’s things than can happen, people try to see if they can make a move, can they get you to cave,… Adams said.
That’s a strange way to view the negotiation regarding a potential trade of a pending UFA; of course another GM is going to try to get you to cave on trading that player.
The question is whether you’re any better off in the short, medium or long-term by not caving to the pressure of that deadline. In Miller’s case, it’s hard to argue that refusing to trade him for less than the Sabres believe he’s worth was a good idea. He’s likely going to walk at the end of the year and the Sabres are going to get nothing for him, and unlike Anderson or Pysyk, he hasn’t really been a part of the mini winning uptick the Sabres have enjoyed recently. He was out of the lineup from January 15 to March 17th.
The same largely goes for Cody Eakin. Yes, he wins faceoffs like the faceoff in overtime that eventually led to Rasmus Dahlin’s goal in Vancouver last night, but is that an essential element that the team needs to have over the final 19 games of the season? Or can a younger player assume that role and gain the experience necessary?
On one hand, it’s hard to say if any of this matters without definitively knowing the value of the offers expressed. If the offers for Miller were for a 5th round pick then this is isn’t worth worrying about too much. The chances of that player becoming something useful are pretty remote. On the other hand, why not get something for a player who wasn’t even around for a large part of the season and likely won’t be part of the team in two months?
This is the second year in a row that Adams has refused to part with expiring UFAs at the trade deadline.
Last year it was Linus Ullmark and Jake McCabe who stayed in Western New York after the clock struck three o’clock because Adams hoped to re-sign them. That didn’t happen and Ullmark and McCabe would find new teams when free agency opened. That decision actually may make more sense than today’s decision to keep Miller because at least there was a desire to retain them long-term. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Miller.
Whatever the reason, whether it be development, or a desire to re-sign a player, or fear of being taken advantage of, this is now two deadlines in a row where Adams has opted not to sell players in favor of letting them potentially hit the market. That’s a trend.
Next season will be year three for Adams and he’ll need to prove that his plan to keep morale up at the end of this year was worth it, or at least worth more than a mid-round draft pick.
Time will tell.