Lazar should be appealing to many teams given his character and two-way game. The Buffalo Sabres may be interested, considering they’ve taken his former teammate, Mark Pysyk, in 2010. There will be more talented players available when their first pick comes up at No. 8, but he won’t likely be available for their next pick at No. 16. The Phoenix Coyotes, who drafted teammate Henrik Samuelsson last year, may also be in the mix at No. 12. - homiedclown
Yeah, here's what I think. While it's unlikely any of us has a clue about what's inside Darcy's head, and things like the salary cap, NTCs/NMCs, and the declining economy's impact on future revenues make it nearly impossible to trade anyone of any significance, it's not inconceivable that the Sabres could make a mid-season move.
Vanek, Roy, Miller, Pommer are probably not on the block since they represent the young core of this team and are all locked up long-term. We all know Vanek's contract is insane, but given the length and amount of the others, it seems unlikely to me there's a better deal out there. Remember Larry Quinn is a numbers guy, and 5 mil 6 years from now will be looking pretty good. Roy's deal is an especially favorable one for the club. You might even be able to throw Goose into this category b/c his value to the Sabres is high given his hustle and toughness.
Max, Kotalik, and Connolly are popular choices for a change of venue, but their UFA status would mean they'd need to go to a contender for the receiving team to be willing to assume the risk. That said, what's the likelihood of a contender sending the Sabres something worthy of a blockbuster? That's not even taking into account Max sucking for the last 2 years, Kotalik getting a reputation of being lazy, and (Tin) Connolly being more fragile than the leg lamp in A Christmas Story. This, coming from the guy who actually owns a Connolly jersey.
As far as young talent at forward goes, Stafford, MacArthur, Paille are the only roster players in that category. They're all tradable, but not enough to bring in an impact player. To me, the Sabres would need to include one of Mancari, Gerbe, or Kennedy to get another team interested. Possible, though Gerbe seems like he's got a future here.
Lastly, if they're really trying to fix the recent injury problem at defense, they're not going to trade any defensemen. Even still, it's more likely they'll do what they did last year and bring in a veteran like Nolan Pratt to temporarily fill the gap until Weber and Sekera are healthy again (a few weeks?). I haven't looked to see who like that is available, but they found someone last year and could probably do it again.
We Sabres fans have gotten used to the fact that Darcy rarely makes any moves. In fact, who really does anymore? I'd love to be wrong, but not at the expense of 26 / 9 / 30 / 29. You can have Peters. Twice.
