Buffalo Sabres defeated the Vancouver Canucks 6-3 on Thursday night. The Buffalo fans are not feeling the love right now. What they are feeling is anxiety and depression. All they want is for their Sabres to lose out the rest of the season. The team is not complying with the wishes of its fan base. Its an emotional time to put it lightly.
Buffalo's "lead" on the Edmonton Oilers is down to only 3 points in the McEichel standings.
Forget Edmonton. The Regierizona Coyotes. Regierizona is where former Sabres GM Darcy Regoer calls home now. He's Don Maloney's AGM and he happens to know a thing or two about tanking and suffering. Its as if Regier is tormenting his former employers in his quest to steal McDavid or Eichel away from Tim Murray and the Sabres. Former Sabres head coach Ron Rolston is now a scout for the Arizona Coyotes and he attends all Sabres home games. Regier, Rolston and Maloney are not satisfied to finish in the bottom five and to earn a top ten lottery pick. They want McDavid or Eichel. It would give the Coyotes great pleasure to swipe McEichel out of the grip of the Sabres. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Notice how arctic and sub zero the Buffalo air is ever since Darcy left Buffalo?
It's not a coincidence. It's the Curse of Regierizona that has been confounding Buffalo for the past two months.
I understand that you are still suffering. pic.twitter.com/syRr73MtLC
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) February 27, 2015Over the course of the past two weeks, the Sabres have collected 8 points in their last 6 games played. Neuvirth has been playing at a .960 save percentage and has been stealing points at an alarming rate.
The Coyotes have been in free fall mode. The Sabres have stolen at least one pint in six of their last seven games while the Desert Dogs have now lost eight straight games.
The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games. The Oilers are 4-5-1. The Coyotes are 1-8-1.
Ugh!
Sabres fans want to finish 30th overall so that they can be rewarded with the first or seocnd overall pick in the NHL draft. Sabres fans want Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. Nothing else matters.
The NHL trade deadline is Monday at 3pm and the intensity is increasing. The David Clarkson for Nathan Horton deal occurred during the supper hour on Thursday. Several other smaller trades have been made in the past couple of days including Daniel Winnick, Jiri Tlusty, Reggie Sekera, Davante Smith-Pelly, Jiri Sekac.
Things are definitely heating up. Contenders are fearful of becoming pretenders. Bubble teams need to make the playoffs. Injuries to star players (see Patrick Kane and Tyler Seguin) are a huge concern.
The market is open and the Buffalo Sabres have several key pending UFAs who will be on the move in the next four days.
Sabres GM Tim Murray’s phone has been buzzing and beeping with frequency the past couple of days.
Yesterday, the alpha GM spoke with 3-4 NHL GMs.
Today, Murray spoke with more GMs. He’s been circling back to previous trade conversations that he had begun weeks ago with NHL GMs. Some calls are business as usual. Others are from out of the blue. Murray told WGR that he was surprised to hear from an unidentified GM who called him to ask about a specific player. Murray said that he was surprised that this particular GM was inquiring about this certain player.
The Buffalo press box is buzzing with pro scouts tonight.
The Dallas Stars have sent their head pro scout to Buffalo for the Vancouver game. The Stars need a top six forward in the wake of the Seguin injury.
The Washington Capitals have sent their director of minor league operations. The Caps would like to add a gritty top nine forward.
Scouts from Vancouver, Edmonton, Boston, NY Islanders, Washington, Columbus, Toronto, Chicago, Colorado and others.
The Canucks can always use D depth. Edmonton need goaltending and veteran D. The Bruins and Islanders need a gritty top six forward. Columbus need D help in the vent that they trade James Wisniewski at the trade deadline. The Leafs are sellers. Colorado need D and forwards with speed. Might the Avs be raedy to move Ryan O'Reilly to Buffalo? In Chicago, Matt Moulson may be a short term solution to replace Pat Kane who will be out of the lineup for 12 weeks.
When this many scouts are in the house it means that that your team has several players that opposing GMs want to make trades for. The tire-kicking phase is over now. It’s buy or die time. Murray is ready, willing, and able to make deals.
Here’s Murray’s candid interview with WGR. He spoke at length about the process of preparing for the NHL trade deadline. He also spoke candidly about how it’ not his management style to micro-manage Ted Nolan and the Buffalo pro scouts. Murray demands that Nolan present his plans on a regular basis. Plans such as when will Anders Lindback play his first game as a Sabres and what is the discipline plan for Nikita Zadorov. Murray said that he learned from his uncle Brian never to tell his coach which players to play in games.
Murray also elaborated on his definite interest in Boston University free agent goalie Matthew O’Connor. Murray loves the fact that the 6’5… 210 lb. athletic goalie is a “free player…. Murray said that the Sabres can meet the demands of O’Connor and his agent to play in NHL games this season. One assumes that once BU is eliminated from the NCAA hockey playoffs or the Frozen Four (if they get that far), O’Connor would transition directly to an NHL crease. Murray didn’t say it directly, however, he has hinted several times this week that his pending UFA goalie Michal Neuvirth will not be approached about a new contract until after the Monday 3pm trade deadline. A sure sign that Neuvirth will be on the move. To where? I suspect Anaheim, Boston, San Jose or Montreal for veteran depth and insurance for the playoffs. The Canadiens crumbled when Carey Price was injured last spring in the playoffs. Dustin Tokarski could not maintain Price’s high standards. They won’t get fooled again. That’s why they are shopping for a veteran backup. In Boston, Tuukka Rask has been wildly inconsistent of late. His backup Nik Svedberg has been a yard sale. Malcolm Subban was chased from his NHL debut after allowing 3 goals on 6 shots to St. Louis last week. The Ducks and Sharks need help in their net as well. Once gone, Ted Nolan could then lean on a youngster like O’Connor to play out the string of 19 games that remain in the regular season.
Take a listen to Murray’s interview. You will notice how he slips and mentions Edmonton in his answer regarding the Evander Kane trade. Naturally, Kane was traded from Winnipeg to Buffalo. So, why did Murray mention Edmonton? Was it a slip of the tongue? Was he tipping he cards? Murray is a master poker player and doesn’t give off “tells…. That Edmonton mention was surely a “tell…. What if Murray and Craig MacTavish are working on a trade that would send Michal Neuvirth to Edmonton? The Oilers could use an upgrade in their net. You never know.
Thanks, WGR 550