On the Buffalo Sabres …
Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News: The Buffalo Sabres should now be hanging a “for sale” sign out, GM Tim Murray must look to sell some assets. Murray need to fix some of his own mess.
Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News: The Sabres should be able to trade Cody Franson and Dmitry Kulikov for mid-round picks. Brian Gionta has said that he wants to remain with the team. Gionta has a list of five teams he’d accept a trade to.
On the Columbus Blue Jackets …
Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch: Portzline talking to Columbus Blue Jackets hockey operation boss John Davidson about the approaching NHL trade deadline and about being patient.
“We all dream. We all want. And then we settle into reality. What’s more complicated this year, Porty, is the expansion draft. We’re all dealing with this. So when you make deals, you have to look at who now is going to be exposed, who’s not, and are we going to pick a different format for protection … everything pulls into it. We’d like to do things, for sure. But not at the expense for two months as a rental. Not at the expense of pushing one more guy out there, exposed, this summer.
With the prices being asked, it doesn’t make sense. We had a lot of town halls and discussions in St. Louis about trading a first (round pick) for somebody who might get us in the playoffs, and to the chagrin of many people, I wouldn’t do it. Call me stubborn, call me whatever you want. If you build it properly you can have a run. Through all this rollercoaster stuff we’ve been through in Columbus, I don’t think we’ve jeopardized the future with something that’s a short-term fix.
We’re getting better as a club. We have growing pains ahead of us. If we can add this or add that, or get something of significance if the price is right and doesn’t affect the expansion draft too much …we have to look at it. Sometimes players are available that don’t come around too often, so it’s beneficial to make the move. You have to weigh everything. Jarmo is really good with a patience level. He knows we’re looking down the road a little bit. We’re not going to jeopardize the long-term for the short-term. That makes no sense right now.”