TSN: Chris Johnston when asked if the Buffalo Sabres are hesitant to make a trade given their past trades where former players played a big part in other teams’ successes.
Frank Corrado: “Do you think Buffalo would be reluctant to trade some of their young players because of the success other guys have had going elsewhere? Whether it’s been (Ryan) O’Reilly or (Sam) Reinhart or (Linus) Ullmark.
Do you think Buffalo looks at a guy like (Dylan) Cozens or (Jack) Quinn and says, ‘Like, we’re just we’re not going to let it happen again on our watch?'”
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Johnston: “100%. I mean, how can you miss that? Every, every year it seems like a quote, unquote failed Buffalo Sabre is leading his team to Stanley Cup these years. I mean, we didn’t even mention Jack Eichel among those ones. Obviously Reinhart last year. You know, we’re not even talking players that won a Stanley Cup, but guys that were a key part of teams that got the job done.
And so I do think there’s some trepidation there. I think that’s probably the biggest thing that’s held up a trade to this point, because the Sabres have been a team that have been pretty active in trade discussions.
But I think they’re very worried about making the kind of move, because some of these guys are struggling, that it won’t look too long, whether it’s a couple months or maybe a year down the road, and you think, wow, why did we give up on him at that stage of his career?
And so, you know, I think for all kinds of reasons, it’s got to be a bit of a gunshy organization. Obviously, they’ve turned through head coaches. They turn through players. Have turned through GMs.
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And you know, here they are with the longest playoff trout in NHL history, and looks like it’s going to be one year longer with where they’re at today. And so I think they’re trying to be patient. But, you know, the reality of their situation, I think, is going to make it harder and harder if they keep losing games into the Christmas break and beyond it.
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