The Buffalo Sabres have seven pending unrestricted free agents and a long-forgotten one might return to the lineup Wednesday

— if he's not moved at the NHL trading deadline.

Winger Maxim Afinogenov, who hasn't played since Jan. 3 due to groin and hip injuries,

could play against Montreal because the Sabres are desperate to inject any life into an

offense filled with slumping players.

"Max is a possibility," coach Lindy Ruff said. "We've got him through some good practices.

We're evaluating his practices to see whether he can make a difference. He's definitely a

possibility for playing."

Afinogenov, of course, has been in a huge slump of his own with just two goals, 10 assists

and a minus-14 rating in 34 games. In fact, he has just 12 goals in 90 games over the last two

years.

Afinogenov has missed 24 games but has been medically cleared for about two weeks and has

thus become a healthy scratch. He told The Buffalo News Saturday in Long Island that he would

welcome a trade if that trend continued and reiterated his stance Monday.

"I've been here for like 10 years. All my career," said Afinogenov. "Played all my games

here. All my friends [are] here. My home here. I want to be here. But just for once, I want to

play. If I'm sitting, there's no reason for me to be here."

Afinogenov skated Monday on the third line with Ales Kotalik and Tim Connolly. The top unit

was Derek Roy between Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford and the No. 2 line was Paul Gaustad

between Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville. The fourth line appeared to be Matt Ellis centering

Patrick Kaleta and Daniel Paille, with the spares being Adam Mair, Clarke MacArthur and Andrew

Peters.

. . .

Other pending free agents who should draw interest at the deadline are Connolly, Kotalik and

Jaroslav Spacek. Veteran defenseman Henrik Tallinder, who is signed through 2009-2010, also

figures to be attractive to teams.

"I don't like to think about anything I can't personally control," Kotalik said. "I'm sure

[General Manager] Darcy [Regier] is going to do the best for our organization.

"For me, I've been here for a long time. I see an opportunity to play in the playoffs with

this team this year and I would love to stay and compete. Not just get to the playoffs but to

make a run with this group."

Ruff annually tries to stay out of trade chatter and he took that road again Monday.

"I'm not going to speculate on what's added or not added or subtracted," Ruff said. "You

read all the stories, read all the speculation, read the rumors. They're all there. It's a

distraction but it's a distraction that everybody has to deal with."

. . .

A week ago, the Sabres' No. 1 crisis revolved around goaltending. Not now. Patrick Lalime

is winless (0-2-1) since Ryan Miller went down with a high ankle sprain but he has a 1.97

goals-against average and a .932 save percentage in his three starts since Miller's injury.

"I feel good," Lalime said. "You always want to win, that's the big thing. But I've been

doing some good things and I want to keep improving as well. You do little things and the good

thing is you're right back at it the next day. You want to build on that momentum."

Said Ruff: "He's answered the call. He's been the real bright spot for us."

. . .

Among teams ranked 4-11 in the Eastern Conference, the Sabres were the only one to go

winless last week (0-2-1) and have the worst record over the last 10 games.

The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last 10 and the only other team in that group below .500 is

the New York Rangers (3-4-3).