Buffalo Sabres Need Bold Moves To Become Relevant Again

Tuesday night’s loss to the Panthers at home should be a wake up call to this Sabres team.

Hey, Buffalo Sabres fans: it’s safe to come out.

Wherever you were hiding from following Tuesday’s embarrassing loss to the Florida Panthers – whether it was behind the couch, under the covers of your bed, behind the Wegmans paper bag you threw over your head (eyeholes are totally optional at this point), or that fallout shelter you had built solely for days like this – come on out, and stay out, for that matter.

You see, no one cares that the Sabres lost. As a matter of fact, no one cares that the Sabres exist. They have become the NHL’s equivalent of the invisible man: out of sight, out of mind, and absolutely irrelevant.

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It’s kind of sad, knowing that the Sabres are so bad that even your friends don’t bother ribbing you when they lose. Why would they, when they probably don’t even notice that the Sabres bother to show up for the games any more?

I mean, you probably have to walk into work and announce that the Buffalo Sabres lost, again, last night, because who honestly cares? And if any of your co-workers do take the time to bust your balls a bit following your desperate attempt to draw attention to yourself, it’s purely out of pity. Some teams, people love to hate; other teams, people target because they have fallen on hard times, or because their front office is full of buffoons.

Then there are the Buffalo Sabres, who just flat-out don’t matter to anyone outside of the 716.

If you’re wondering why the Sabres have become the NHL’s most irrelevant team, Tuesday night’s loss to the visiting Florida Panthers is a good place to start. Buffalo was down 4-0 just 22 seconds into the second period, Robin Lehner was chased out of the net after facing just 12 shots, and the highlight of the Sabres’ evening was when Evander Kane bragged to the crowd that he was 2-0 in fights with Panthers defenseman Alex Petrovic. Kane would later complete the hat trick by defeating Petrovic in a third fight, before being ejected.

Let’s go Buffalo!

There are so many things wrong with the Sabres’ most recent home defeat, I don’t even know where to begin. The fact that Buffalo is only 9-16-3 at the First Niagara Center this season is one reason why the team is not even worth being the punchline in jokes this season – even diehard Sabres fans are looking forward to opening day for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, and there are still 13 home games left!

And the fact that the Sabres came out flat, even though they should have been all sorts of fired-up following their overtime loss to the Boston Bruins over the weekend, a game that was decided by an absolute joke of a penalty shot – that lack of focus and determination following an insulting loss is unacceptable.

Throw in the fact that Kane felt the need to showboat, despite the fact that his team was getting its ass handed to it on the ice, and you have a game that perfectly encapsulates why no one in the NHL – not the media, not the league office, not the other teams, and certainly not the fans of the other teams – bother paying attention to what happens in Buffalo.

Since 2000, the Sabres have only qualified for the playoffs six times. The last two times the team made it to the playoffs, the Sabres could not make it out of the first round, and the club is about to make it five straight seasons without a postseason appearance. Better still, the team is only one point away from having the worst record in all of hockey, so it is entirely feasible that, as better as this roster may be, the Sabres could wind up with the worst record in the NHL for the third year in a row. It’s safe to assume that the Sabres will not make the playoffs next season, and possibly even the season after that, making it seven straight years without postseason play in Buffalo . . .

. . . that is, unless the Sabres’ front office makes some bold moves starting, ah, now.

When I brought up the idea of using Sam Reinhart in a trade package to land the likes of, say, Steven Stamkos, many readers pointed out that trading for a pending UFA was silly. Why not just wait for Stamkos to become a free agent, and try to sign him? My response: because it’s the Buffalo Sabres. You think Steven Stamkos (or any top-six forward UFA) is going to pick the Sabres over ANY other team in the NHL?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha! That’s cute.

I know I keep bringing up Stamkos because he is the biggest pending UFA , but honestly there is no chance that any high-caliber, instant-impact UFA is going to sign with the Buffalo Sabres during the offseason. The only players currently playing for the Sabres who were signed as free agents are Matt Moulson, Brian Gionta, Carlo Colaiacovo and Cody Franson. This is because there are only three types of players who would sign with a team like the Buffalo Sabres right now:

Washed-up players who are just happy to be employed;
Washed-up players who just want to finish their career close to home; and
Mafia informants who are looking for a place to hide where no one will ever find them.

Now, I cannot prove that Carlo Colaiacovo fits that third description . . . but with a name like that . . . .

Next: Buy or Sell: Reinhart As Trade Bait

Anyway, the point is this: Tim Murray has shown that he is willing to think big when it comes to trades. Forget the deal that brought Robin Lehner into the 716, and focus on the fact that the man went out and got Evander Kane and Ryan O’Reilly. With free agency being used primarily to fill in the bottom half of the roster, Murray is going to have to be bold once again if he wants the Sabres to prove that this is not some perpetual rebuild the team is undergoing, a la the Edmonton Oilers.

At some point, the Buffalo Sabres need to be able to rely a little less on the draft and begin using free agency a little more effectively, especially when it comes to sustaining any progress this team makes. Problem is, the team is too irrelevant for that to happen any time soon. Top six talent is not going to sign with the Sabres because of where the team MIGHT be if Buffalo’s prospects pan out. It is going to take one or two more trades involving proven talent in order for the Sabres to finally be able to lure some UFAs who will make an impact into Western New York, which is why I am not one of those fans hoping for the trade deadline to come and go without seeing the Sabres make an effort to bring a proven player, preferably on the left side of the defense.

Only then will you have a team relevant enough for your friends to bust your balls over.

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