No big deal, Sabres are in self-help mode
Published: February 04, 2010, 11:12 pm
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At the start of the season, Darcy Regier said the Buffalo Sabres were a playoff-caliber team. Now, with 27 games left, they sit atop the Northeast Division. It leads their general manager to believe they can do something more than merely fill a playoff spot.
"I view us as in the group of teams to contend," Regier said Thursday. "But we have a lot of work to do, too."
Improvement is needed for the Sabres to make a run at the Stanley Cup. The defensive breakdowns and other problems that have hurt them during their 2-5-1 slump need to depart, with the next chance coming tonight when Carolina visits HSBC Arena.
Regier said the improvements can come from within. Though several teams began trading players this week, Regier isn't interested in that route yet.
"The focus isn't to look right now for outside help," he said. "It's how do we all get better internally. I think we're all focused on that.
"You're always looking at ways internally within your own organization, first and foremost, how you can become better. You're looking at your minor-league club. You're looking at players in positions, which are the things [coach] Lindy [Ruff is] doing. We sit down and talk about how we can become better internally or on the outside."
The trades involving big names such as Dion Phaneuf, Ilya Kovalchuk, Olli Jokinen and Jean-Sebastien Giguere could lead folks to believe phones are ringing nonstop inside the offices of GMs. Regier said that's not the case, that it's not like the trade deadline.
"Talks are going on now, but it still has the feel like there's a few weeks to go," he said. "Teams have to really feel the need for urgency to change things up. I think the other part of it is maybe the Olympic break is putting some early pressure on, but it doesn't feel significantly different than other years."
The NHL will have a trade freeze during the Olympics, beginning next Friday and lasting until Feb. 28. Deals can resume March 1, with the trade deadline set as March 3.
"With the trade deadline being three days after the Olympics, technically you could look at two deadlines: One is the actual one, one is the pre-Olympic deadline," Regier said. "I think the actual deadline will be more active. There will be some talks over the Olympic break, but you can't do anything."
Regier isn't sure much will happen anytime. He believes too many teams are contending for playoff spots to start selling their assets. Entering Thursday's games, only five points separated sixth place from 13th in the Eastern Conference. The Western Conference was similar, with seven points separating seventh from 13th.
"I don't think there are going to be a lot of sellers because a lot of teams are in the running," Regier said. "In most cases they're not going to want to give up players off their roster with the chance of making the playoffs."
Standout players with expiring contracts, like Kovalchuk, can usually be found on the trade market. Regier feels their price tags have gone up substantially in the salary-cap era. Teams almost universally want a high draft pick in return for their players, and the Sabres' GM says it's vital to retain draft picks.
"Picks in this system have become more valuable," he said. "It's not just the picks, it's the cost of the picks. Those are relatively inexpensive players, and if they have success they could become expensive players, so you need to constantly replenish.
"It's really tough to do for a rental player because the likelihood is that player is going to go to the market, and for that short period of time you will have given up significant assets that are going to have a long-term impact on your club."
That's not to say Regier will definitely avoid that trade category. He has made at least one swap at 10 of his 11 trade deadlines with Buffalo. In 2007, he gave up a first-round pick for Dainius Zubrus because the Sabres were Cup contenders.
"You can't do it every year," Regier said. "You have to do it in the most opportunistic way, and you have to be in the upper echelon of teams, which historically has been top five teams in order to win the Stanley Cup."
The Sabres could be in the top five, though for now Regier likes what he has.
"Outside of the goaltending position, it's more just if there's ways for us to be better at a position — not necessarily position, but ways to improve the team," Regier said. "Those are the conversations, and that's really it."
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