Tomorrow’s trade deadline promises to be packed with excitement and countless trades as GMs from around the league attempt to stock up for a final push for the playoffs and a potential Stanley Cup run.
Only, a laundry list of players have already been moved, leaving a relatively thin crop of players left to be moved before Monday afternoon’s deadline. While tomorrow’s action won’t be nearly as exciting as it has been in year’s past, the weeks leading up to the deadline haven’t been lacking when it comes to trade activity.
Tim Murray is bound to be busy tomorrow as he attempts to bring in the final pieces to bring his rebuild home. Sabres.com ran a feature on Thursday that highlighted the top ten deadline deals in Sabres history. Without stealing too much thunder from Kevin Snow’s post, here’s a look at the five best and five worst deadline deals in Sabres history.
The Good:
Buffalo acquires Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, a 1996 2nd round pick (Corey Sarich) and a 1997 3rd round pick (Maxim Afinogenov) from St. Louis for Yuri Khymlev and a 1996 8th round pick (Andrei Podkonicky)
One of many Sabres deals that helped lay the framework for the future of the franchise. Grand-Pierre never became much of a player for the Sabres, despite being one of my favorites in the early 2000s. But Sarich carved out an impressive NHL career after being selected by the Sabres. While Sarich never featured prominently in Buffalo, he was a primary piece in the trade the brought Chris Gratton to Buffalo. As Gratton eventually became Daniel Briere, Sarich’s role here was anything but minor.
Afinogenov speaks for himself. A player who was a little more Swedish and a little less Finnish than people would have preferred, he was a key contributor through the mid-2000s and was a fan favorite for his blazing speed and slick hands. Snagging that entire package for a late pick and an aging veteran makes this a mightily impressive haul.
Buffalo acquires Miroslav Satan from Edmonton for Craig Millar and Barrie Moore
Well detailed in the Sabres.com rundown, this was an amazing swap for the Sabres. Satan became a lethal sniper in Buffalo, scoring over 30-goals on multiple occasions while Millar and Moore never amounted to anything as the two players only played a combined 40 games with the Oilers.
Buffalo acquires Daniel Briere and a 2004 3rd round pick (Andrej Sekera) from Phoenix for Chris Gratton and a 2004 4th round pick (Liam Reddox)
A true bargain as the Sabres took on a player who had been previously waived along with a draft pick that would eventually turn into a solid second-pair defender during his time in Buffalo. Sekera, who was eventually moved for Jaimie McBain and the pick that became JT Compher, maybe didn’t realize his full potential in Buffalo but was a steady contributor during his time here.
Briere was the true prize as he became a leader both on and off the ice, consistently among the team leaders in scoring and a playoff monster. He was a key piece to the teams that pushed the Sabres to the Conference Finals in 2006 and 2007 and his absence remained prevalent well beyond 7/1/07.
Giving up Gratton was a small sacrifice as the powerful center showed promise in Buffalo but was never the true number one pivot that Briere would eventually become. Reddox enjoyed time as a role player but he pales in comparison to Sekera when analyzing each of the picks swapped in this deal.
One interesting fact about this trade, Briere was selected by the Phoenix/Winnipeg organization with a pick acquired in a trade with the Sabres. Part of the expansive Rick Martin trade tree, the pick was originally acquired by Buffalo from San Jose before being packaged with Craig Muni in the deal that brought Michal Grosek and Darryl Shannon to Buffalo . Grosek, of course, turned into JP Dumont and Doug Gilmour in a future deadline deal. In an even more convoluted twist, the pick that was used to select Briere originally belonged to Philadelphia , the team that signed the center away from Buffalo in 2007.
Buffalo acquires Rhett Warrener and a 1999 5th round pick (Ryan Miller) from Florida for Mike Wilson
A swap that paid off in the short and long term as Warrener became a cornerstone of Buffalo’s Cup team and remained as a stalwart defender until he was used as part of the package that eventually became Chris Drury.
The other half of Buffalo’s return became the second-best goaltender in franchise history and a player who was the face of the franchise for nearly 10 years. Ryan Miller enjoyed a stellar career with the Sabres before moving on last year and all it cost to acquire him was a young defenseman who never truly found his game at the NHL level.
Buffalo acquires a 1981 3rd round pick (Colin Chisolm) and a 1983 1st round pick (Tom Barrasso) from Los Angeles for Rick Martin
Easily the most impressive steal in Buffalo’s deadline history. Martin, who was on his way to retirement, played only four games for the Kings and now has his number hanging in the First Niagara Center rafters.
Chisolm never broke in as a full-time NHLer but Barrasso stole the show, picking up a Vezina and the Calder Trophy his rookie season before eventually being flipped for Doug Bodger and Darrin Shannon.
What’s even more impressive about this trade is that it laid the roots for a trade tree that remains alive today. If you wind your way through the entire list of players acquired from the pieces in this trade, you’ll find your way past names like Pat LaFontaine, Daniel Briere and many more. This tree is set to grow tomorrow as Chris Stewart’s acquisition can be traced to the Martin swap along with prospect JT Compher.
The Bad
Buffalo acquires Bob Corkum from Atlanta for a 2002 5th round pick (Paul Flache)
No Sabres trade deadline post would be complete without mentioning Bob Corkum. Corkum was the only acquisition made by the Sabres during the 2002-03 season and at the time of the deadline the team was on their way to a 10th place finish in the Eastern Conference.
The trade itself is really quite inconsequential. The team wasn’t going anywhere that season and they were about to head into a world of hurt as the Adelphia scandal was almost upon them. Flache never amounted to anything but it’s still fun to joke about Corkum being the lone deadline acquisition by Darcy Regier that season.
Buffalo acquires Jason Holland and Paul Kruse from the New York Islanders for Jason Dawe
Somewhat similar to the Corkum trade, the long-term result of this swap didn’t help or hurt the Sabres. Dawe only played 76 games after leaving Buffalo and only compiled 18 points in that time frame. However, Dawe had scored 19 goals for the Sabres at the time of the trade and was fresh off a 50-point season the year before.
Holland played only 12 games in Buffalo while Kruse stuck around for just over two seasons. His biggest contribution was 114 penalty minutes during the 1998-99 season as neither played brought in from New York amounted to the commodity the Sabres gave up at the time.
Buffalo acquires Bob Errey from Pittsburgh for Mike Ramsey
Both players were heading towards the downside of their careers but the real error in this deal is that Errey only played eight games in Buffalo during the 92-93 season before moving on to San Jose the following season. Ramsey, who remains one of the greatest defensemen in franchise history, remained in Pittsburgh for the 93-94 season before finishing his career with the Red Wings and playing in 15 playoff games during Detroit’s run to the Cup finals in 1995.
Buffalo acquires Mike Ryan and a 2003 2nd round pick (Branislav Fabry) for Stu Barnes
Barnes was a fan favorite who had helped galvanize Buffalo’s push to the Cup finals in 1999 and their playoff run in 2001. However, with the team mired in a losing season and destined for a draft lottery selection, Barnes was deemed expendable. Ryan never amounted to much more than a 4A player, never breaking in full-time with the team while Fabry never saw a contract from the Sabres.
2
Buffalo acquires Clint Malarchuk, Grant Ledyard and a 1991 6th round pick (Brian Holzinger) from Washington for Calle Johansson and a 1989 2ndround pick (Byron Dafoe)
Buffalo parted ways with a former first round pick who would go on to play nearly 1,000 games for Washington, including 21 games during the Capitals run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998. Johansson became a cornerstone for the Capitals throughout the 90s while Malarchuk and Ledyard would each have moved on from Buffalo by 1992-93.
Even the pick given up to the Capitals turned into a solid NHL goaltender as Dafoe eventually settled into a significant starter’s role with the Bruins in the late 90s.
Holzinger is the lone silver lining here, as he played a number of seasons for the Sabres and would be a key part of the trade that brought Chris Gratton to Buffalo.
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