The 2007 offseason was a pivotal one in Buffalo Sabres' history and seemingly set in motion a domino effect that would set the franchise back. After a season where they would win the Presidents' Trophy and reach their second straight Eastern Conference Finals (although coming up short both seasons), they had their Big 3 heading to free agency as Chris Drury and Daniel Briere as unrestricted free agents and Thomas Vanek as a restricted free agent.
Unfortunately, the Sabres' inaction cost them two of those players and almost all three. It was a decision that, even though they would make the playoffs back-to-back seasons in 2009-10 and 2010-11, really was what set the table for the 14-season playoff drought.
Buffalo Sabres mistakes began a year earlier that cost them both players
Leading up to the 2007 offseason, the Sabres were led by one of the best trios of forwards in the league at the time in Vanek, Drury, and Briere. Those three would end up combining for 248 points, and the Sabres led the league in goals.
The Sabres mis-steps leading up to that began the offseason prior, and something general manager Darcy Regier admitted shortly after Daniel Briere signed with the Flyers and Chris Drury signed with the Rangers. The Sabres' GM noted they should have been more proactive re-signing them at the time, but mentioned Briere winning arbitration with a one-year deal worth $5 million caused a problem.
Shortly after both players had signed with their new teams, Thomas Vanek would sign an offer sheet with the Edmonton Oilers. At the time, the Sabres really had no choice but to match, so they didn't lose all of their top players in one offseason.
However, if the Sabres were able to re-sign Daniel Briere, Chris Drury, and Thomas Vanek to long-term deals in 2006, they probably would have been able to fit them all under the cap. More importantly, they probably would have set themselves up for annual trips to the playoffs.
In three of the next four seasons with the Flyers, Briere surpassed 50 points, while Drury had back-to-back seasons with 50 or more points with the Rangers.
While the Sabres did lose two key players, they remained competitive and came up just four points short of a playoff spot in 2007-08 and two points short in 2008-09. They got back to the playoffs the next two seasons, but both were first-round exits.
It is easy to imagine a world where, if the Sabres had both of those players during this four-year stretch, they would have had more success. They probably would have continued their playoff stretch in 2007-08 and 2008-09 while going deeper the two times they did make the playoffs.
Sometimes it is easy to find the silver lining in certain moves, or lack thereof, but Sabres' fans knew early in the 2007 offseason that losing both was not going to end well. In the end, they were right but they might not have realized the extent to which it would set the franchise back.
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