Buffalo Sabres Should Trade For Tyson Barrie, And . . . And . . . And . . .

The Buffalo Sabres are painfully thin on the left side of the blueline, so why is anyone discussing Tyson Barrie?

Last Friday I came across the following Tweet regarding the possibility of Buffalo Sabres General Manager Tim Murray inquiring about Tyson Barrie of the Colorado Avalanche:

As I was in a talkative mood, I responded to Harrington and had a lively discussion, not about Barrie, but about Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic and their current roles with the Colorado Avalanche.  It never even occurred to me to actually discuss whether or not the Buffalo Sabres should inquire about Tyson Barrie, because everyone knows we need a top-4 LHD in the 716, right?

Right?!?!?!?

Call it Rebuild Syndrome, call it having an inferiority complex (or maybe having delusions of grandeur) – call it what you will, but it seems like almost every time you hear rumors about a good player being available, either via trade or free agency, I wind up reading about how the Buffalo Sabres need to go out and get this player.

Please: stop the madness!

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For starters, the Buffalo Sabres are just one of the 30 teams in the NHL – and not a very good one, at that.  Sure, the team improved last season, remarkably so – but they still missed the playoffs, and could fall short again in 2016-17.  Thinking that every player wants to come play for Buffalo is silly – it’s just not going to happen.  Writing about every player whose name gets mentioned is even worse, as it fills the heads of fans with a bunch of possibilities that are unrealistic, causing fans to complain about the front office not doing enough.  We all like to speculate, but to hear some people, the Sabres have the inside track on every available player in the NHL.

The ridiculous part about all of this chatter about someone like Barrie is that he is a right-handed shot, which makes him exactly the sort of players the Buffalo Sabres do NOT need.  Between Rasmus Ristolainen and Zach Bogosian, the Sabres already have their top 4 RHD established, plus they have Casey Nelson, Cody Franson, and Mark Pysyk on the roster.   Sabres fans and media have been clamoring for a top-4 defenseman with a left-handed shot all season, but the minute a good RHD sounds available, it’s time for the “You can never have too many right-handed shots!” philosophy.

Come on.

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Tyson Barrie is an exciting young player, and will make an NHL team better, but it makes zero sense to spend time and money bringing him into Buffalo.There’s nothing wrong with speculating about the Buffalo Sabres bringing in players via trade and free agency, provided that the Sabres actually have a reason to want said player, and there is a realistic chance the player will be wearing a Sabres’ sweater in the future.  Making it sound like the Sabres should pursue every trade rumor, or that the team is the desired destination for prized free agents, however, is counter productive.