will lindy "the tinker" ruff keep this line together?...he said that they will get more ice-time the better they play, so i guess it's up to them...pretty sure most sabres fans would like for that line to continue to produce, and lead--and therefore continue as a legitimate #1 line--so that the sabres can address other areas...
since darcy regier seems to be married to #2 center tim connolly, at least until the end of the season, most sabres fans would agree that "tiny-tim" isn't going anywhere...add in the fact that his lack of production dating back to last years post season has caused his "stock" to plummet and you have an "immovable 'glass' object" skating for the sabres at center...fine...whatever...maybe we'll revisit this in 2011...
jason pomminville is a solid top-six, all-purpose rw, so that position is set...which leads us to #2 lw...
i'll defend jochen hecht 'til the end...during the '08/9 season which saw his play and production plummet, hecht was vilified by the media and fan-base...last season he produced typical hechtian numbers--20 goals, 20 assists and lead the team with a +14...even so, he was considered "grossly" overpaid...
sure, hecht has a cap-hit of over $3m, but with the sabres under the cap by $4m, he should not be considered a cap-liability...he should be considered a quality #3 winger who can ably fill in on the second-line, one who can produce in that role provided he has good chemistry with his line-mates...last season the hecht, connolly, pomminville line was the best, most consistent line...until hecht's injury and the subsequent demise of connolly...in addition to 5-on-5, hecht anchors the sabres top pk-unit along with pomminville...
ideally, hecht playing on the third-line in a shutdown role with rob niedermayer at center and mike grier on the other wing this season...if the sabres could fill that #2 lw spot with a quality top-six winger and drop hecht down to the third-line, they could make some serious progress (the only thing better being a quality #2 center)...
that being said, i've probably gotten way ahead of myself concerning the near-future of the sabres roster, but it's still interesting to see if the sabres could pull off an upgrade to the top-six lw spot...here's a list of some lw's who could fit in nicely...are they actually available?...(shrugs)...what would it cost the sabres?...probably more than gm darcy regier is willing to give up...an exercise for an "arm-chair" gm?...absolutely...nothing more, nothing less:
- simon gagne, tampa bay lightning--went to the bolts in the off-season as a philadelphia cap-casualty...a former #1 pick of the flyers (#22 overall) in 1998, gagne is a former two-time 40-goal scorer capable of potting 30+ provided he stays healthy...something that's become a problem over the past few seasons...the bolts moved #2 lw, ryan malone and his $6m contract, to the right side to make room for gagne, who played 6 games for his new team producing zero points and coming in at a minus-8 before he was, again, sidelined by injury...gagne has a cap-hit of $5.25m and will be hitting ufa-status this off-season...would be a classic rental for a team in the stretch-run heading into the playoffs...some problems for the sabres: incredibly pricey for the frugal sabres, pairing gagne with connolly could end in disaster as both are known to be injury-prone and, probably most important, gagne has a no-trade clause in his contract...every year for the past two or three years, tampa has been hailed by the pundits as the team on the rise ready to reach the playoffs, and every year they've missed out...should this pattern continue, the bolts may want to ship him to a contender, and should the sabres be in that position, they would have the cap-space to bring on that contract...
- cory stillman, florida panthers--the panthers went into full rebuild-mode under new gm dale tallon before the draft shipping some serious quality in nathan horton and keith ballard to boston and vancouver respectively...stillman, a former #1 pick of calgary (# 6 overall) in 1992, is with his 6th team, including a stint with ottawa as a rental...he has two stanley cup rings during his career bookending the lockout with a championship in '04 (tampa) and one in '06 (carolina)...although stillman never hit 30 goals, he was consistently in the lower to mid-twenties through the prime of his career...not sure how much this 6' 200 lb, 36 year old has left in the tank, and he's surely not known for his defense, but buffalo could use his pp acumen (five times hitting 10 goals or more) on the second unit...they could also use two-ring playoff leadership in a top-six role ...he comes at a price ($3.5m) that is "more affordable" for the sabres (as opposed to gagne) and the return for him could probably end up in the second-round area, a place where regier seems very comfortable...
- wojtek wolski, colorado avalanche---could be a classic "fish out of water" in phoenix...where does the only polish player in the nhl go for pierogis, kielbasa and golabki in glendale arizona?...exactly...bring him in, sit him down at the polish villa in cheektowaga with a large solidarnosc flag and give him a taste of home...wolski's starting to pick up the pace for the yotes after a very slow start, and it'll be interesting to see what the former #1 pick (#21 overall, colorado, 2004) does for the remainder of the year...he's had solid numbers throughout his young career and is surrounded by a quality coach and team in arizona...problem for the sabres would be that phoenix is weak down the left side behind ray whitney, which means the yotes would probably not be interested in moving him, and if they did, the price would be much higher than for the previous two...it would be worth it, though...the sabres could jump-start their organizational move towards a bigger team by adding the 6'3, 210 lb winger and not skimp on the skill-set either...wolski's signed for the next two seasons with a cap-hit of $3.8m
those are three for now...
although it's fun to think that the sabres would actually upgrade the top-six by pursuing a #2 lw, any likely move up there would come from within...
6' 2" 215 lb luke adam is tearing it up for the portland pirates this season with team high 11 goals, 19 points (tied for the team lead) and is a defensively responsible plus-10 in 15 games...the organization cannot deny what adam brings to the table...the question remains whether he can transfer that to the nhl...average results in two games with the sabres this season did nothing to detract from his potential, though, conversely, it did nothing to force them to keep him up...although he's playing center for the pirates, a move to the lw on the second line may not be bad for himself or the buffalo sabres...
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