There are a few teams who don't, and you'll see them repeatedly going deep into the playoffs. Teams like Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia are strong down the middle. San Jose', Vancouver, and Tampa Bay as well.
The only team to go deep into the playoffs without a legitimate #1 center was the Boston Bruins, who happened to go so deep that they won the Cup. Their #1, Marc Savard, was sidelined for the season in January with a concussion. Two young top-two centers--Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci--picked up the slack down the middle while the rest of the team hunkered down and totally frustrated the Vancouver Canucks on their way to a seven-game series win.
It's something to keep in mind, but something that should not be desired going forward.
The buffalosabresnow roster foundation, as laid out in two previous blogs--top-six and bottom-six--, looks like this:
Top-Six Forwards:
- Thomas Vanek, ?, Jason Pomminville
- Tyler Ennis, Derek Roy, Drew Stafford
- Nate Gerbe, Jochen Hecht, ?
- Cody McCormick, Paul Gaustad, Patrick Kaleta
We'll start by looking at filling the #1 center spot.
And I say, good luck with that. Any attempt to land that type of player will take a boat-load of money, and in the case of a trade, they'll need to add in a first round pick (maybe two,) a top-six player (or two) and a top-notch prospect.
In other words a total commitment with a healthy dose of intestinal fortitude will be required to get the job done.
Looking at Regier's track record, it seems as if it'll be a long shot.
The easiest route to take would be to go after the only bonafide #1 center available in the free agent market:
Brad Richards.
The soon-to-be former Dallas Stars' center has all the tools in the offensive zone to score or set up and has produced 168 points in 152 games over the last two seasons.
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| Dallas Stars center Brad Richards will be headed somewhere other than big-D this summer. Just don't expect him to land in Buffalo. |
Everybody and their brother knows what he brings to the table and come playoff time, he's shown that he can continue to produce, as evidenced by his Conn Smythe Trophy from the 2003 Stanley Cup win with Tampa Bay.
Because he's the only legit #1 center this off-season, and because of his production, the talk is that he'll command around $8M per season. And because he's 31, it's being said that he'll be looking for a longer-term contract that could be around four to five years in length to keep him secure into the latter years of his career.
All the cards are in Richards' hands this off-season.
But, from Buffalo's perspective, Richards is a gamble when you take into consideration that he's coming off of a late season concussion and that injuries are beginning to creep into his career. A concussion is a concussion whether we're talking about Richards or Tim Connolly.
Not to mention that Buffalo probably wouldn't be high on his priority list when you have the likes of NY and Toronto interested in his services. The Sabres would need to go above and beyond what the Rangers or Maple Leafs would be offering in order to land him.
Taken as a whole, it would seem that there's too much going against the Sabres in this situation, and it's highly doubtful that they'd have Richards in the fold.
The trade route seems to be the only way to land that top-center this off-season and it seems as if the center that has the highest probability of moving would be Paul Stastny in Colorado.
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| 'Lanche center Paul Stastny has the pedigree as well as mad skills and is getting paid well in Denver. This may be a golden opportunity to land a young, talented, bonafide #1 center for some team. Hopefully it will be the Sabres. |
This year the 'Lanche will have the second overall pick and have one of three top-notch centers to choose from should they wish to go the Pittsburgh Penguins route and go three-deep down the middle. Some would say four-deep with 2010 1st-round pick (#17 overall) Joey Hishon ready to start his professional career after putting up outstanding numbers in junior.
That would seemingly leave Stastny and his $6.6M contract on the way out.
The 'Lanche need goaltending and they need some help on the back-end and I'm not sure if the Sabres have what they'll want, but the 25 year old Stastny should be a prime target for Regier and Co. if the rumors are true that Colorado is looking to shed his hefty salary.
Another trade possibility would be with arch-rival Ottawa.
Word surfaced around the deadline that the Sabres were discussing a deal with the Sens' Brian Murray to acquire center Jason Spezza.
Spezza's legit and he has the numbers to back it up: 526 games, 192 goals, 340 assists for a total of 532 points.
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| Long time Ottawa Senator Jason Spezza seemingly wanted out last summer. Now he seems content in Ottawa. Or so it seems. Even if available, would the arch-rival Sabres be a trade partner? |
Nothing came of it and he's said to now be interested in sticking around while the Sens rebuild.
He has four years left on his contract that pays him $8M the next two years then goes down to $5M and $4M for the final two years. His cap-hit is $7M.
At one point it was thought that he and his contract were immovable. Now, though, it seems as if the Sens could be building around him.
Who knows, but a player smack-dab in his prime at age 28, with all of his skill, would be coveted by many a team and should be coveted by his present team.
I can't see the Sens parting with him unless there's still some ill-will carrying over from the 2009/10 season.
If the possibility exists to land Spezza, he should be another prime target.
The Philadelphia Flyers will finally have a legitimate #1 goalie this season when they sign Ilya Bryzgalov. Problem is, he'll probably cost somewhere in the $6M area.
For a team that's tight against the cap as is, even with it going up to $64M, something's got to give.
Jeff Carter is the name surfacing, mostly tied with Columbus.
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| Something's got to give in Flyerdom. They're running out of cap room and anti-Flyer Jeff Carter may be on the move. |
Those contract lengths would be untradeable to almost every team including the Sabres.
Looking at these possibilities, the trade-option with the most up-side would be Stastny. It might take young Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth as a centerpiece, but it would be something that could pay off for the Sabres throughout the length of his career.
As for that #3 RW opening, for a team like Buffalo who's beginning to "get it" but could still use a boost of leadership, especially with the impending departure of veteran leader Mike Grier, Jamie Langenbrunner should be pursued.
Langenbrunner had a brutal season last year.
First off, he spent the first half of the season with the New Jersey Devils. A team that was still reeling from off-season turbulence and who seemed to be scouting the #1-overall pick in the draft until their late-season surge to respectability.
Langenbrunner was traded to Dallas to reunite with an old friend in Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk. The two had played on the 1999 Stanley Cup winning Dallas team.
Out of the fire and into the fire.
Dallas was struggling under the cloud of the impending free agency of Brad Richards as well as ownership problems.
The result for Langenbrunner was his worst post-lockout production--9 goals, 23 assists, 32 points and a minus-18.
Ouch.
Although he's getting up there in age at 35, and he's on the declining side of his offensive output, the intangibles he brings to the table are unquestionably longstanding and inexhaustible.
The former captain and two-time cup-winner should be a high priority for Regier should they end up with an opening at RW.
The buffalosabresnow forwards for the 2011/12 season (additions in bold):
Top-Six Forwards:
- Thomas Vanek, Paul Stastny, Jason Pomminville
- Tyler Ennis, Derek Roy, Drew Stafford
- Nate Gerbe, Jochen Hecht, Jamie Langenbrunner
- Cody McCormick, Paul Gaustad, Patrick Kaleta
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