More like Myers, Ennis, Adam, and a couple of 1st rounders.

The Pens wouldn't want the contracts of Vanek & Roy.

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Sabres Hockey: Commitment to Mediocrity

Malkin would be tough to get from the Pens, maybe Backstrom from the Caps, he's a great playmaker too, with a decent shot.

Line 1 Center
Line 2 Left Winger
Line 4 Left Winger
Power Play QB Defenseman
Backup Goaltender

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Lord Stanley's Cup is what its all about.
Mr. Pegula, your destiny awaits you sir.

No way they let Backstrom go.

That was fuckin HI-larious. Someone promote this man

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

I would take Marleau. I always liked the guy.. for what reason idk... he seems like he could be a good fit here in buffalo... but... I doubt he will come here.

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LETS GO BUFFALO!

Trade Connolly and Roy for draft picks and get yourself something nice in the draft. Pick up Marleau. It should be a no brainer if he is available.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

The Caps won't deal Backstrom.

They'll likely deal Semin, due to his Connolly-esque playoffs this year, to free up money to re-sign Backstrom.

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Sabres Hockey: Commitment to Mediocrity

No thanks.

Marleau is another "regular season" guy.

Joe Pavelski is the only Sharks FWD that I would think about. But, he could end up being a guy that is a secondary guy that can't handle being "The Man" ala Connolly & Roy.

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Sabres Hockey: Commitment to Mediocrity

SJ is not likely to give up Marleau, although his playmaking would be welcomed. As for Semin, the way he played for the Caps this year, Backstrom would more liekly be trade bait. Besides, Semin is like Afenigenov was for us. Awesome dangler that doesn't like to pass a lot, doesn't fit with Buffalo's current offensive system.

Marleau is an UFA after the season.

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Sabres Hockey: Commitment to Mediocrity

Kassian will need to make the team out of camp, Luke Adam is the only other forward we could bring up.

Unless Kassian impresses greatly, he's staying in Juniors.

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True, but chances are he will resign with them, I'd guess 2-3 years. But who knows, if we offer right......

Trade Connolly? Get real. This talk cracks me up. GMs will be lining up to trade away draft picks and prospects for a soft 4.5M/year player in a contract year. Dude's with us til his contract expires, so get used to the idea.

Yes trade Connolly he's not going to fetch you alot but something is better than nothing for this soft injury prone forward. I'm sure he would end up hunting us like all the past sabres do but lets face it. Great regular season player and was a great player until he was blasted by Mike Fisher in the playoffs and he will never recover into that player.

Exactly. However they might be inclined to keep him if they can sign a legit 1st line center that can put up numbers.

I don't see Darcy signing a big name free agent and I don't want Marleau! He will go after somebody low end. If I were GM I would look at a team that's are in a cap bind and look at their prospects and try to snag one or two of them. Skille from chicago would be a nice start.

Connolly will be poison. Fat paycheck, contract year, proven unreliable player in playoffs. What team is going to want to deal with that?

That's a really good question on what team! But they need to unload him and get something for him and I would rather do it now rather than wait further into the season at least he's not in the dressing room right from the start of the season and you give someone else a chance to fill his void. Problem is with Buffalo this team lacks any serious talent on offense in the system besides Adam and Kassian and Kassian isn't a Connolly type of a playmaker and either is Adam.

It wasn't Mike Fisher that hit Connolly, it was Peter Shaeffer (sp?). Connolly had a broken foot that kept him from practicing or skating for three weeks until the day before the playoffs started. He had one practice and started the Boston series. Those were the first games he missed in his last 121, and getting a broken foot from blocking a slapshot is not a "soft" or "injury prone" thing.

Could he have played better, yes. Was he near 100%, no, and neither would any player in the league after not being able to skate for three weeks. You guys put him in a no-win situation. If he doesn't play he's a wimp...if he mans up and tries to do what he can far short of top game shape he's still a wimp. He comes out and tries to man up again after the series by taking blame and he takes shit for that too.

If he wasn't doing certain things on the ice that Ruff wanted him to do then that's one thing (and I can't stress that enough), but all this huffy-puffy talk about who's soft is a crock. I know first hand the level of commitment it takes to be in top game shape through twelve years of little league, high school, and college football...six years of organized hockey...and 20 years of playing little league, high school, college, and amatuer league baseball. It takes so much to be at peak performance that any nagging injury or time away from training is enough to set you back for a month. There is no way a player comes back at their best after being off their feet for three weeks. An upper body injury would at least allow for running or skating to keep the cardio up, but a foot/ankle/leg injury ruins that.

I think the people that gripe the most about Connolly are the people that never picked up a wiffle ball bat, let alone trained and competed at a high level in any demanding sport. Again, if Connolly was not doing something Ruff wanted, or making mental screw-ups than he needs to take blame for it. Physically though, the guy wasn't near 100% and there's nothing he or anyone else could've done to get there after one practice.

As for next season, he knows like anyone else that he's in a contract year. We should all be expecting his best effort because we all know there's self-interest involved. Will he produce like a legit #1 center...maybe but we all know he and Roy are better off as 2nd line centers. They would also benefit from having a legit scoring winger, and only Vanek fits that mold. For now they're the best on the roster, and both should put 70+ pts up in a full season, which is better than half the league.

Marleau (if he didn't scoff at the idea of playing in Buffalo) would cost about 7 mil per, and there are too many other holes to fill than to put it all in one position. Buffalo needs a scoring winger and two GOOD d-men that can play the PP, and a back-up goalie. No matter how much anybody hates Connolly (for legit reasons or not) those other needs are more important than replacing him with a cap space hog that leaves the rest of the roster hurting.