Buffalo Sabres Fans: Don’t be irked over former players winning Cups

Just over 24 hours ago, Buffalo Sabres fans witnessed yet another former player winning the Stanley Cup, but it’s nothing to get discouraged over.

Let’s go back to the year of 2015. The Buffalo Sabres held the second overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. As everyone is aware, that was the Connor McDavid/Jack Eichel draft. After the Edmonton Oilers selected McDavid first overall, the Sabres selected Eichel next.

After selecting Jack, the Sabres made a trade with the Colorado Avalanche. Former general manager Tim Murray acquired Ryan O’Reilly in a trade. Just like that, Buffalo had their top two centers in one night.

What do both of these guys have in common? Both were traded away a few years later and won the Stanley Cup with their current teams. O’Reilly won it with the St. Louis Blues in 2019 and Eichel won it just recently with the Vegas Golden Knights.

This seems to becoming a habit for Buffalo. Trading away players who were hoped to help transform the franchise and instead were sent away to other teams then having immediate success.

Despite former players’ success, Buffalo Sabres fans shouldn’t be discouraged

Look Sabres fans, I know it looks grim right now and it’s frustrating. But here’s why you should not get discouraged. While the O’Reilly trade didn’t start out so well, Tage Thompson was the only piece that was the biggest takeaway.

After a slow start in his career, Tage has became one of the biggest stars in the league. People forget that the first round pick that Buffalo got in that trade turned out to be defenseman Ryan Johnson. While we don’t know how Johnson will pan out, let’s hope he does well because getting Thompson was a great thing for the franchise.

Then there’s the Jack Eichel trade. In November of 2021, the Sabres sent Jack to Vegas and got two players in return. Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch were the players coming to Buffalo. Fast forward to today, Tuch had a career season and Krebs is projected to be a key depth player for the Sabres.

Say what you want to say about who won either trade. Here’s what I’m trying to tell you. Yes it is frustrating to see former Sabres have success with their current teams. I am frustrated as well and it’s annoying but it’s not all that bad.

Buffalo was able to get key players in the trades they made. I know Eichel and O’Reilly winning doesn’t help, but think of the positives. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.

Again, yes it’s unfortunate another former Sabre won something but look at who Buffalo got in return. Whenever the Sabres make the playoffs, the players who came to Buffalo from the deals will be huge reasons why.