Torrey Mitchell was on the left side and had the puck headed into the Nucks' zone. He sent a pass to Cory Conacher who was streaking up the right side.
The lone defenseman was in retreat and there was tons of space. But...
Mitchell's pass was off the mark. By a mile. Not even remotely close.
Mitchell was acquired at the trade deadline, along with two 2nd-round picks, for pending UFA's Matt Moulson and Cody McCormick. Mitchell will have one more year on his contract earning $2.5m in salary with a $1.9m cap-hit.
Talent-wise, McCormick and Mitchell are basically a wash. Both are mid-round draft picks who skate on the fourth line and average less than a point every four games.
The difference between the two comes down to Mitchell having more speed and McCormick having more grit and toughness.
Another difference is that Mitchell was said to have requested a trade, whereas McCormick is a good soldier.
One would hope that Sabres GM Tim Murray was either doing the Wild a favor or is expected to make a strong push for Moulson July 1. Two second-round picks--one of which will probably be in the #40-range this year--does not seem like a good return for a three time 30-goal scorer who was on a pace for 20 goals on a Sabres team that may end up being the lowest scoring team in NHL history.
It's understandable that Murray wants to immediately make his mark, and Sabres fans (this one in particular) couldn't wait for the full dismantling of "the core."
But Moulson is one of those players who's an excellent player on the ice and thus far seems to have been an excellent member of the community.
A 30-goal scorer doesn't come around all that often so not attempting to keep him is a head-scratcher.
It's understood that the Sabres are in rebuild mode and that by the time they become playoff-competitive Moulson will be in his mid-30's. But, so what?
If he wants to stay (it's been implied that he and his wife like Buffalo,) and the Sabres have the cap-room (even at $6m, Moulson would be less than 10% of the projected NHL salary cap next season,) why would Murray not have contract extension in hand for Moulson before the trade deadline? If Murray were to get less than he really wanted, he could offer the contract to Moulson to sign.
No one outside of Washington St. knows what happened behind the scenes, but we do know that there was some turbulence with the departure of Hockey Ops President Pat LaFontaine.
Rumors are rampant as to why LaFontaine and the Sabres parted ways with some mentioning that the trade of Ryan Miller caused the rift.
I beg to differ.
Looking from the outside it would seem as if the trade and inherent message of moving Moulson was the wedge that split the two sides.
It looks as if Murray bypassed his direct boss, LaFontaine, and danced to the tune Team President Ted Black and Advisor Ken Sawyer were playing. Both Black and Sawyer are a part of owner Terry Pegula's inner circle and both were a part of the Pittsburgh Penguins management team when they tanked to save the franchise back in the early/mid 2000's.
On innumerable occasions, all parties involved have invoked the Penguins rebuild model, one where they had four consecutive top-2 picks, including "winning" the Sidney Crosby sweepstakes.
Murray even said that the next two drafts are the key to the rebuild. And to assure that the team finishes in a high draft spot next season, Murray had this to say on WGR (for a link click here):
"You have to watch the team every day and you have to judge. Are you getting better and by how much? There will come a time next season where we might be five spots higher in the standings than we are now, but spinning our wheels long-term.
The trade deadline comes around, and I don't want to say "manipulate" where you're going to finish, but you make decisions based upon looking a little farther ahead in the future."
LaFontaine, it would seem, was looking at this team as if they had already bottomed out and were trending upwards. He had openly said that he liked Miller and wanted him to return.
His hiring of Ted Nolan as interim coach was also a cue as to what he wanted. Nolan is known for squeezing blood from a stone when it comes to talent and he had the team playing inspired hockey.
But it was all to come crashing down at the deadline. LaFontaine knew it and there was nothing he could do about it.
Even though Murray really didn't need to "manipulate" the Sabres finish this season--they were pretty much assured a last place finish--next year might be a different story. Especially with a 30-goal scorer like Moulson on board.
It's the "Connor McDavid Sweepstakes" next year, and hell be damned if Black and Sawyer are going to mess up the Pittsburgh model by having the team finish any higher than last place again. One would look for players like Drew Stafford and Chris Stewart as strong trade candidates to be moved next year's trade deadline.
Both are big forwards who can score and will be unrestricted at the end of next season.
One could see LaFontaine, with his competitive nature, saying goodbye to a tank. One would think that Nolan would be of the same ilk. Unfortunately he's in a tough spot and declining the extension that's reportedly on the table might be career suicide.
The Matt Moulson trade was curious on a number of levels. Sure the market dictated the return, but it should also have dictated whether or not he was re-signed by the Sabres.
Once again, Murray may have done the Wild a favor (they have connections) or he might be planning on making a strong push for Moulson when free agency opens up July 1.
Time will tell, but after watching the Sabres lose eight of nine games, including averaging a goal/game during a seven game losing streak where only two players--Stafford and Tyler Ennis--scored, one might think that the Sabres took this rebuild a bit too far.
If you doubt it, last night there was Torrey Mitchell's widely errant pass and Matt Moulson's overtime game winner at Detroit:
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