(WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres have been awful in overtime this season, but then went to Western Canada and won two games in overtime to come home with four out of six points.
Buffalo had the puck for the full 48 seconds of overtime on Sunday, thanks to Cody Eakin winning the opening draw. It was then Rasmus Dahlin, who was, by far, the best player in the game, winning it over the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2.
Buffalo has now won four out of five games, and six out of nine. Jeff Skinner and Casey Mittelstadt had the other goals for the Sabres, as Craig Anderson made 30 saves.
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The real story following Sunday's win will be the NHL Trade Deadline, which is Monday at 3 p.m. ET. Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams already made a trade early Sunday when he sent defenseman Robert Hagg to the Florida Panthers for a sixth round pick.
Others that could move for Buffalo are Colin Miller, Mark Pysyk, Anderson, Eakin or Will Butcher. All are on expiring contracts.
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Trades finally started being made league-wide on Saturday after teams were waiting.
“I think some of it was the salary cap situation teams are in, where you just don’t know," Adams said. "A number of teams have told me that they just don’t feel they can do anything this year, so that’s a piece of it. I think there could potentially be some players out there that teams were waiting to see if they can be in on them, and if they get it, it could change what they do. I think the other part is, especially out west, there were teams still trying to figure out if they’re buyers or sellers, and how the next couple of games shake out. But every hour that we get closer, [we'll see] a little more urgency.”
That’s something that we’ve seen the past few days.
There are teams that need cap relief and will ask teams like the Sabres to take on dead money. That is something that does interest Adams for the right price.
“For us, we have to look at our situation that we’re in and what we’re trying to do, and how we’re building our team now and into the future and stick to our plan and be disciplined," Adams said. "But we also know that we have cap space, and if we’re able to take advantage of that cap space and create a better asset by doing that, we’re all in. I’ve made sure I’ve told teams around the league that."
That type of a trade doesn’t have to happen on Monday. Adams says the groundwork can be laid down now.
“Some of those conversations may lead to more in the offseason, some of those conversation could be like, ‘Well, that’s good to know, but I don’t want to lose that player right now in my lineup, but maybe let's talk about it in the offseason.’ Sometimes you’re planting seeds,” he said.
Adams has had a conversation with Anderson about being traded before the deadline. The general manager felt he owed the veteran that chat.
“I’ve already had that conversation with him. I wanted him to know personally, directly from me, that let's talk about this," Adams explained. "We have to have an appreciation for not only what he’s done for us this season, but for the career he’s had. So we had a conversation, and I was honest. I asked him where he’s at and how he’s feeling about things and I believe we, as an organization, have to do things the right way. He's first class, and we owed him that conversation.
“I just think in my role, you have to be honest. You have to have conversations with players because to me, the more transparency that you show players, the more they appreciate it. I think that will go a long way not just with a guy like Craig, but all our players.”
Last year’s trade deadline saw Adams trade Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar to the Boston Bruins for Anders Bjork and a second round pick, which turned into Aleksandr Kisakov.
Adams made a few other deals before deadline day. He traded Brandon Montour to Florida for a third round pick that turned into Stiven Sardarian.
He also shipped Eric Staal to the Montreal Canadiens for a third round pick, which was Josh Bloom, and a fifth round pick, which became Viljami Marjala.
Stay tuned to WGR Sports Radio 550 all day, as I’ll be live from the arena talking to Howard and Jeremy, and well as Sal and Joe and Schopp and the Bulldog.
