The past few years have sucked, but I can't say for sure that there were even moves to BE made. I think Darcy's on the right track (as evidenced by your post), but he doesn't make the move for the sake of making a move.

I still dispute Larry's creative accounting methods, but that's a story for another thread.

-Matt Barnaby traded to the Pitt Penguins for Stu Barnes

Wow. That was a terrible deal. An agitator for a captain.

-Mike Wilson traded to Florida for Rhett Warrener and a 1999 5th round draft pick (Ryan Miller)

Nuff said.

-Alexei Tezikov traded to Washington for Joe Juneau and a 2000 4th round draft pick (Tim Preston)

Juneau was a rental, but he produced in the playoffs that year.

-Michal Grosek traded to Chicago Blackhawks for Doug Gilmour and Jean-Pierre Dumont

One of the biggest fleece jobs in team history.

-Michael Peca traded to NYI for Tim Connolly and Taylor Pyatt.

Wish he never made this trade, but he at least got something out of an asset that wasn't doing anything.

-Dominik Hasek traded to Detroit for Vyacheslav Kozlov, a first-round pick in 2002 and future considerations
-Vyacheslav Kozlov, 41st pick overall in 2002 traded to Atlanta for 31st and 82nd picks overall in the 2002 draft.

Got a first rounder for a player that no longer wanted to be here.

-Erik Rasmussen traded to Los Angeles for Adam Mair and a 5th round pick in the 2003 entry draft.

Mair has been a fixture on the team, and got an extra pick.

-Chris Gratton and a 4th round pick in 2004 entry draft traded to Phoenix Coyotes for Daniel Briere and a 3rd round pick in 2004

Yea.

-6th round pick in 2006 NHL entry draft traded to the Washington Capitals for Tim Kennedy.


While he hasn't always made the right moves, he's made moves. EVERY YEAR.

Which is one thing I like about the guy, for sure. No itchy trigger finger on him at all. Sometimes it's bad, but I'd rather a patient GM than Bob motherfucking Gainey (or heaven forbid, Mike Milbury).

Your talking trades he made many years ago before his Briere, Drury and Vanek Blunder. I don't have anything bad to say about those moves but the last few years his high draft picks for player rentals have been brutal. For an organization that relies on building thru the draft it doesn't make sense to trade away high picks for rentals unless you are a guy away for being a cup contender and the last two years they weren't cup contenders. He is getting stale as our GM that's all I'm saying.

Milbury was a brutal GM no questions ask. I'm all for a GM that is patient but not Darcy type Patient! In today's NHL especially if you want to build a winner you need a GM that has balls that isn't afraid to take risk and Darcy isn't a risk taker.

As I've said, if you want to criticize the results of his moves, I'm all ears. Lots here will agree with you.

However, your mantra is normally 'Darcy never makes moves', which is patently false. His recent history hasn't been very active, but it cannot be denied that he's made some very good moves in the past. If you're going to judge a guy, it's only fair to judge the body of work, and not cherry pick a timeframe that suits your pre-conceived opinion.

All you guys have your opinions and I have mine. I'm not disagreeing with everything most of you guys are saying I'm not a fan of Darcy or Larry and who really's know's what going on behind the scenes here in Buffalo but their is no reason with the fanbase this team has that they should settle for being mediocre. Doesn't winning bring you more fans and more fans bring you more money.

As I've said, if you want to criticize the results of his moves, I'm all ears. Lots here will agree with you.

However, your mantra is normally 'Darcy never makes moves', which is patently false. His recent history hasn't been very active, but it cannot be denied that he's made some very good moves in the past. If you're going to judge a guy, it's only fair to judge the body of work, and not cherry pick a timeframe that suits your pre-conceived opinion.

your shit gets annoying when its the same thought in every thread and you have nothing relevant to add to the conversation.





Back on topic.
Assuming Phil's analysis of the holes we'll have is correct, I'd like to see:

Sharp as first line RW
Lombardi as third line Center
Winchester or Nystrom as fourth line LW

Biron or Budaj as backup goaltender, probably leaning a little towards Budaj statwise

The Moore move was a bit of a gamble. Didn't work out, and in hindsight it would have been better to keep Kotalik.

You really can't criticize the Torres move. When he got here, he WAS THE LEADING SCORER ON THE TEAM. Torres was having a good season. It's not Darcy's fault that Torres decided to mail it in.

You probably want to refine your point. Darcy's recent moves have not worked out well, but many of his deadline deals in the past have been very effective.

To be honest, it's pointless to evaluate a GM based on rental pickups at the deadline. Research has been done that shows how little impact rental players usually have on their new teams.

In his early days he made moves that make sense trading for players that still aren't in their prime or still have a couple of years of being a very effective player and he made those deals without giving up much. I'm not questioning those moves.
The last few years just seems like he is stale. He has the same lame excuses for the media and fans, his deadline deals have been brutal recently , he's not proactive when he needs to be. I just think it's time that a change is needed for a smart hockey guy that can take this team further.

OK, name three that are available that would be (here's the important part) WILLING TO SIGN HERE.