The Buffalo Sabres should be buyers, but likely not aggressive buyers
The Chris Johnston Show: Could the Buffalo Sabres be looking to be buyers ahead of the trade deadline? They should be buyers, but may not be aggressive buyers.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Julian McKenzie: “And if the Sabres continue to play well, what about, could there, does there’s has to be a world where the Sabres could potentially be a buyer at the deadline, right? Like, where they look at the momentum they’ve generated with this team and how the players on the roster have played.
And if you want to really reward them and give more reason for your fans to be excited, like nothing says that, then by adding another piece to this team. And maybe it’s a bit too premature to say, as it is still late January, but I would love to see this team, when it comes time in March, try to make some kind of swing to make their team not just better for the future, but for the now.
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Johnston: “Well, I think that’s coming. I mean, you know, because there’s, there’s really not that many games left before the trade deadline, even though there is that window of time. And so Buffalo, it’s fair to say, like it’s not even a hot take, they’re going to be either just in the playoffs or just out of the playoffs come March 6th. Unless something crazy happens. If they win 10 in a row or lose 10 in row, but I’m not sure that either those things are, you know, in the offing here.
And so I think that there will be some pressure or some expectation, maybe more accurately, way to describe it to, you know, add to the court. To give that, that push down the stretch, because it’s going to be a real sprint, you know. Especially in the Eastern Conference, where you have so many teams bundled together in terms of where they’re at, points-wise, or points percentage-wise.
And you know, you come back from the Olympics, and most teams are going to have, you know, call it 25 games to get to the house. To get to, you know, when the real season starts.
And so, you know, I think Buffalo will be a buyer. I don’t know how aggressive they’ll be. I mean, that, that’s maybe some of the details that we’ll get a better sense of as it gets closer.
You know, even the Tuch scenario, where I’m sort of like low key saying, maybe they’ll have to make a decision about trading him. That, to me, that wouldn’t be a that’s not like a dumping of a player. Like you’re making that trade trying to get something back that helps you, right? Like it’s, it would be just about managing the asset.
You know, at this point, there’s no realm. I see the Sabres as sellers, and if anything, they’re going to be small B buyers, and maybe even something a little bigger than that. I mean, you know, I’ve pointed out before, but I really think we have to look at this GMs track record and emphasize that Jarmo Kekalainen, and has made a lot of difficult decisions in his career, has never hesitated for taking a big swing.
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And, you know, I think he understands that what’s on the table here for the Sabres as well as anyone. And for him starting out in this job, I don’t think he’s going to tiptoe into it. I think this is, you know, this, this, this Doan contract is sort of a separate piece of business, but I think it’s a sign of, you know, being very targeted, of what’s needed, what needs to happen, and just going and getting it done.
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