While all is quiet on the Sabres front other than the dull roar uttered at the news that the NHL’s bottom dweller are raising their season ticket prices, a few alumni have been making their mark in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the Atlantic Division rival Montreal Canadiens.
The Habs came back from a 3-2 deficit in their second round series against the Boston Bruins thanks to a pair of goals from former Sabres captain Thomas Vanek’s in Game 6 on Monday and won the deciding Game 7 at the TD Garden on Wednesday, with Daniel Briere assisting on Dale Weise’s opening goal less than three minutes into the first period and banking a shot off of Zdeno Chara’s humungous skate past Tuukka Rask for an insurance goal late in the third.
Montreal is likely the favorite to advance to the Cup Final from the East, as they begin the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon.
Vanek leads the Canadiens with five goals in the post-season and represents a home run trade deadline acquisition for GM Marc Bergevin, who gave up only a 2014 second round pick and prospect Sebastien Collberg for the three-time 40 goal scorer.
Montreal was under no illusion that acquiring the Sabres 2003 first round pick from the New York Islanders was more than a rent-a-player deal, since it is expected that the pending UFA will be heading to the Minnesota Wild to join former Buffalo captain and linemate Jason Pominville.
Briere is an entirely different scenario altogether. In spite of being very popular and a clutch playoff performer in his six years with Philadelphia, the Flyers bought out the final two seasons of his eight-year, $52 Million contract last June, which enabled him to sign a two-year $8 Million deal with Montreal.
Canadiens coach Michael Therrien has handled the Gatineau, Quebec native with little respect this season, as he averaged the lowest ice time of Montreal’s top ten forwards in the regular season and has played the least of any Montreal skater in 11 playoff games.
In spite of seeing mostly fourth line duty with Weise and Brandon Prust, Briere has continued to be a clutch playoff scorer with six points in 10 games. It is expected that no matter how well the veteran forward plays for the remainder of the playoffs, he will be playing elsewhere next season.
Conditions of the compliance buyout prevent Briere from returning to Philadelphia for a span of 12 months and it may be tough for the Flyers to fit him under the salary cap, but the Sabres could be a team that would have interest in him.
Bringing in Briere would be a good PR move for a Sabres club that has a fan base in turmoil due to the mass exodus of star players such as Vanek and Ryan Miller. He would provide their young group of forwards a veteran leader to emulate. It would also help the Sabres reach the salary cap floor with his $4 Million cap hit. The path for the 2014-15 Sabres is likely to give their prospects and young players a chance to grow and play at the NHL level, while at the same time finishing near the bottom of the league to have a good chance to land potential franchise players Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel in the 2015 Draft.
Would the acquisition of Briere be a constructive move to make?
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