tradeable assets (Andrej Sekera, Drew Stafford, Jhonas Enroth, Mark Mancari)

if, by some wild stretch of the imagination, buffalo sabres gm darcy regier were to bring in a legitimate top-six forward, i.e. a #1 center, left-wing or right-wing or a #2 center or left-wing, via trade, it'll certainly come at a cost...no team in the nhl will want to trade a player like that for the likes of tim connolly, drew stafford or jochen hecht...one of these could certainly be a piece, but teams willing to trade a top-six player will be looking for a top-notch prospect in return, a young nhl'er with up-side as well as a top draft pick (or two)...

right now, the sabres best prospect-commodity in a trade for that caliber player would be:

• jhonas enroth, g--although he's on the smallish side, enroth is a position-goaltender type with quick reflexes...he's shown steady improvement since coming over the pond and, although he didn't wow the team in his only call-up, he's on the nhl-cusp right now...why would a team want him?...enroth is real close to being nhl-ready and his ahl-play makes him a potential #1 with some nhl-seasoning...unless your goaltending situation is set for the foreseeable future, allowing enroth's talents to evolve at a reasonable pace could pay big dividends in the future...why would the sabres part with him?...they really don't want to, but enroth would probably be a key piece in any trade for top-notch talent...one thing that we do know is that ryan miller is the sabres goaltender for at least the next four years (barring anything funky happening) and that the sabres will not use enroth in a back-up position when he can get everyday work in the minors...although the sabres are a bit thin in goaltending depth after enroth, four years could be enough time to develop one of brad eidsness, nick eno or hulking connor knapp all of whom are in college right now...a wild-card in the works is williamsville, ny native david leggio, who is providing quality back-up work with portland...in four games he has a 2.41 gaa and a .933 sv%...he was signed to a two-way contract this past august...
• as for other prospects, the sabres are organizationally thin up-front so teams who are interested in the likes of luke adam, zach kassian or even present sabre tyler ennis will need to be offering a premium player in return...on defense (see names below,) the sabres have plenty of puck-movers who probably won't be a part of any trade, unless there's a premium return, defensemen being the organization's strong suit...and they can probably forget about prospect brayden mcnabb, a prospect whom the sabres coveted for his size, grit, strength, skating ability and production...not any like him in the system right now...

which leads us to a couple of current roster players as "sweeteners":

• andrej sekera, d--"rej" is into his third full season with the big-club and will be a restricted fa at seasons end...his price tag is $1.2m...he's a puck-mover on the back end capable of logging secon-pairing minutes...although he doesn't hit the score sheet as much as you would like, he does contribute and has the potential to up his numbers...on the down side, although most think he's having a solid season thusfar, he's still inconsistent and it's still scary when he's defending the zone...why would a team want him?...anaheim is one of few teams who are in need of an nhl-caliber d-man right now and, as the old adage goes, you cannot have enough of them...why would the sabres part with him?...the sabres have some good puck-movers in the ahl right now lead by marc-andre gragnani who had a legitimate shot of making the team out of camp before he was injured...offensive-minded tj brennan has been working on the defensive aspect of his game and it seems to get better all of the time...drew schiestel is continuing his development in portland as a puck-mover and seems pretty solid in his own end...nick crawford was a offensive revelation last season in the juniors and is presently developing in portland...that's a succession of four puck-moving d-men that makes sekera tradeable...

• drew stafford--he's got good size, has been able to put the puck in the net and has shown that when he wants to he can really control the play in the offensive zone...problem is, he's inconsistent...he comes at a cost this season $2.3m, but will be a restricted fa afterwards...why would a team want him?...show the game tapes when he's motivated and you see a power-winger waiting to have a breakout season...why would the sabres get rid of him?...they've seen too much of his jeckyl/hyde routine over the past 3+ seasons and would part with him, putting him in a package for a legit top-six

one more possibility:

• marc mancari--a hulking presence in the ahl, mancari is earning the reputation of "the next jody gage"...he has ahl-all-star talent, but falters when he comes to the big-club...he is slow and the action seems too fast for him on an nhl level...why would a team want him?...as a throw in, it wouldn't be a bad gamble for a player like mancari who could someday have the switch turned on and take a spot on the top-six in the line-up...odds are stacked against this happening, but it could happen...why would the sabres move him?...why not? after this season zach kassian will be with portland as the #1 rw prospect, and a slew on unheralded, mid-lower-round draft-picks like cory tropp, maxime legault and gregg sutch will have the opportunity to move up the depth-chart....the depth on rw is very, very thin, but guys like undrafted fa derek whitmore and nhl-castoff mark parrish should be able to hold down the fort in portland and/or bring as much to the table with the sabres as mancari has...

just some food for thought...