The Buffalo Sabres are perhaps being a little cautious in the trade market. Given their history of trading away players who've gone on to thrive elsewhere, writes Chris Johnston for TSN, that's not particularly surprising.
Current notables include Ryan O'Reilly, Sam Reinhart, Linus Ullmark, and Jack Eichel. Of those, Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel went on to majorly factor in a Stanley Cup win with their new teams.
And these results perhaps weigh on decisions about where to go with some pieces of the young roster.
This may temper how they proceed with Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn, for example, considering Frank Corrado stated the team appears to be set on not repeating the same old mistakes.
Similarly, Chris Johnston added that perhaps it's the fear of making mistakes holding up the trade talks, even with Buffalo seeking to find ways to fill in immediately.
Their cautiousness is even magnified in their continued attempt to end the NHL's longest playoff drought. Years of managerial, coaching, and roster instability have made them gun-shy about making high-risk moves.
As noted by Johnston himself, it has definitely gotten to be a bit of a gunshy organization that has to figure out how to balance patience against how much more they can afford for the team to slip further behind, should things continue falling apart this season.
POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 19 | 320 ANSWERS Sabres' Trade Hesitation Linked to a History of Misfires, per Insider Have the Buffalo Sabres made the worst trades in NHL history? | ||
Yes | 254 | 79.4 % |
No | 66 | 20.6 % |
List of polls |