Sabresfansince1980 wrote:
B&Y - I agree, except if "flourish" means 80 pts I doubt it.
Legionair - Anaheim is a budget team and they don't want to take back a big contract, so I doubt Stafford is a piece they want let alone Vanek.
Jammerz - You're downplaying Stafford and propping up Ryan to the max. Obviously Ryan is better, but nowhere near better enough for Regier to throw in two d-men, Adam, and a 1st...even for a 2nd rder back. Ryan could very well be a regular 70 pt player while Stafford becomes a regular 60 pt player (with a talented center and playing on a solid line). Let's not forget that Ryan plays with friggin Getzlaf and Perry while Stafford has played with a recovering Roy and mish-mash of inconsistent 2nd rate talent. I don't know how you can think that 10-20 pts more from Ryan is worth 2 d-men (including Sekera who just had a GREAT season), Adam and a 1st.
Anaheim wants a 2C and Buffalo doesn't have that unless it's Hodgson or Ennis. Regier has already stated he won't trade them and I agree because Buffalo is thin at C and already needs a defensive type C as it is to complement them. This makes any Ryan trade with Buffalo a very slim possibility. BUT, if somehow they do become partners and Stafford is the main piece leaving there shouldn't be more than one very good, or two average pieces going back.
Ryan is a goal scorer. Kid scores 30 goals every year. Stafford has scored 30 goals once in his career, that weird year where he got like 40 hattricks then just disappeared.
Ryan, to me, is a more talented Vanek. 30 goals a year but Vanek gets in the dirty areas more. So throwing in Vanek is a no no for me, but for Stafford, Adam, a D man and a 1st we can afford to do that.