How Much Destruction Can One Man Do?

When the Buffalo Sabres new GM Stu arrived in the city know for its many Buffalo, he promised significant change. It was not that the Sabres didn't have some top flight superstars, they did. Names like Cale Makar, Gabriel Landeskog, Mika Zibanejad, and Andrei Vasilevskiy were famous Bufftonians. In the month after Stu ascended to the GM chair, all the four aforementioned players were gone, traded, to a significant uproar in Buffalo and across the league. This article will examine two of the trades, Mika Zibanejad to Columbus and Andrei Vasilevskiy to Los Angeles, to see where we are a season out:

Trade 1

To Columbus: Mika Zibanejad, Nick Paul, Calgary 5th, San Jose 6th

To Buffalo: Troy Terry, Ryan Donato, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Alex Turcotte, Columbus 1st

This trade is one of circumstance as well as value. Mika Zibanejad was becoming a UFA at the end of the year and while he would be a top candidate for a re-sign, there were other players coming up as well, which put Buffalo in a predicament. Overall, Zibby had an excellent season and appears to be a solid number 1 center for some time into the future.

Nick Paul is a sneaky good addition by Columbus. He is an RFA at the end of this season and had a career renaissance of sorts where he looks to be a solid third liner who can chip in on the second line if needed.

The picks are towards the end of the draft so I won’t factor in them too much.

Troy Terry is the reason this trade is close. In my view, if it were not for Terry being a part of the deal, Columbus would be walking away with a steal of deal. Terry blossomed substantially. At the start of the season, a 4th line winger with ok defensive instincts. NOW? A top line winger with scoring prowess.

Ryan Donato had another so-so season and was shipped off by Buffalo to the Rangers as part of a big package that saw Matthew Boldy coming back to Buffalo. Donato did not live up to expectations as appears to be the story of his career thus far.

Nik Hjalmarsson played his role as a number 6 defender for Buffalo before being shipped off to Toronto as part of a salary move.

Alex Turcotte became one of the top prospects in the Buffalo organization. While his trajectory is not as pronounced as some would like, he played excellent hockey in the AHL this season and looks to be a future top six to middle six forward.

The Columbus 1st is an interesting piece of the puzzle. It was used in a subsequent deal to bring in top pairing defenceman Ryan Ellis from the Island. It’s difficult to evaluate the pick in that respect as Buffalo did not pick any player with the selection and Columbus didn’t part with Ellis. In any event, getting Ellis for a later 1st appears to be a very solid move. 

Conclusion

I am inclined to give a slight edge to Buffalo when Terry, Turcotte and Ellis factor into one side and an expiring Zibanejad and Paul factor into the other. The real key will to be what happens in the next 1-2 years in this trade. Does Terry continue to be a star? Does Turcotte become an everyday player? Will Ellis be plagued by injury? Will Paul ascend into a top six role?

Slight edge to Buffalo but too early to make definitive call

Trade 2

To Los Angeles: Andrei Vasilevskiy

To Buffalo: Jack Campbell, Joel Farabee, Zach Hyman, Alex Alexeyev, Tristen Robins, LA 1st, La 2nd, LA 3rd , LA 2nd (12),

Now what to say about this one? Buffalo gives up a hall of fame goalie, likely the best one in the league at the moment. In exchange, they get so many pieces that it will take some time to dissect each one:

Jack Campbell. Campbell ends up having a terrific season but he is a UFA at the end of the year. In a misstep, Buffalo trades Campbell and picks for Semyon Varlamov. Now Varlamov played lights out for Buffalo this year and looked to be a Vezina contender but I think Campbell’s value has surpassed Varly going into next season. Varly does have one more year on his contract and the UFA portion was a big factor to moving Campbell along.

Joel Farabee: Buffalo hoped they had their next top line left wing in Farabee… and they still may. But this season was pedestrian. He’s been passed on the depth chart, not only by Chris Kreider but upcoming rookie Matthew Boldy.

Zach Hyman turned in a career year and is signed for a nice contract. Only issue is Buffalo traded him in the aforementioned Boldy deal as well. Hyman turned into a reliable top six winger.

Alex Alexeyev may be the biggest disappointment thus far in the deal. He looked to be a guy who can make the team and provide quality 5-6 minutes on defence. Instead he toiled in the AHL with few points and a narrower view of how to get to the big league. It’s not to say he won’t be a big league player. But his former top 4 potential is looking like a distant memory.

Los Angeles 1st turned into Corson Ceulemans. Who was traded along with Zach Dean for Jake Oettinger. Now this may be the biggest “X” factor in the deal as Corson was the main piece in getting the future goalie for Buffalo. Oettinger had a good season but will need to have many more solid seasons to consider that Buffalo got a solid return for Vasy.

Los Angeles 2nd turned into William Stromgren. While early reports are positive on him, it’s just far too early to know what Buffalo has in him.

Conclusion

This is a harder deal to review as so many pieces turn into other pieces down the line. Initially, I give an edge to Los Angeles for the simple fact they have a top 3 goalie on the planet for the long term. It will never be a “bad trade” for them even if Farabee ascends to a 1st line wing and Oettinger becomes an elite starter.