Is Danny Briere Right For the Buffalo Sabres Part Duex

Your Going To Buffalo And Your Going To Like It. Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Its like a bad version of the hamster dance in Buffalo all over again.  Danny Briere is a healthy scratch (no the first time this season BTW), and twitter is a mess with people saying that the Buffalo Sabres are deep in “talks” with the Montreal Canadiens about a trade.

So I have heard them all at this point.

Drew Stafford and a prospect for Danny Briere and another center.

Briere to Buffalo with a defenseman (that’s why they called someone up from the Bulldogs right?) for Mikhail Grigorenko.

But the important and constant name in all of the equations is Danny Briere coming back to the Buffalo Sabres.

We were all there that fated summer of 2007 when Danny Briere gave the old adios to the Nickel City for the City of Brotherly Love.  Can you honestly blame him for going where the money was?  With hindsight being what it is, the old 20/20 – Briere wasn’t a dumb guy – and both him and Chris Drury got out before it got bad in Buffalo.

Did it doing anything for their careers?  Drury got lost in the sauce that is the Big Apple, and Briere had some good years with Detroit.  The Montreal Experiment has been, well – when your Danny Briere your probably not use to being a healthy scratch.

But I digress.  Remember when Mike Grier left – he was very vocal that there were problems with the organization.  Everyone hated Grier for leaving because he was a fan favorite.  Then he came back.  Instantly forgiven.  Don’t you think the same would be done for Danny Briere?  Briere is 36 years old and probably on the down swing of his career.

He is under contract through the next season, and has a no trade no movement clause.  Well guess what, that’s the key point right there.  Danny Briere is finding himself aged out of the NHL.  The league is getting younger.  Sure, there are guys that are playing beyond 38 years old, but this is probably the last contract Briere might land in the National Hockey League.

So if you had a no movement clause – were a Stanley Cup Champion, and your current team was setting you down in the press box for no good reason other than they didn’t need you to win – wouldn’t you want to go somewhere that you would get played?

The Buffalo Sabres need help at center, and they have already shown they don’t want to trust in the younger guys that have been drafted that aren’t NHL ready according to Ted Nolan.  Danny Briere gets ice time, Buffalo Sabres have a center.  And guess what, you don’t even have to worry about falling in love and having to buy a new jersey, just dust off your old one and head down to the arena.

So Danny Briere might be coming back.  Who cares.  Him leaving is ancient history as far as the National Hockey League life span is concerned.  If the Buffalo Sabres aren’t planning on making a real push for the Stanley Cup for a couple of years when they think there players they want to build around will be ready – Danny Briere can bridge you to that point as he plays out the end of his contract.

Was I pissed at Danny Briere for leaving in 2007.  Sure I was, what fan wouldn’t be.  Do I want him blackballed forever – doesn’t matter huh – guess it means something that he is willing to come back right?

You might as well put the Thin Lizzy back on your iPod.  Or you can think back to last years trade deadline when Drew Stafford was supposed to have been traded for Alex Ovechkin.