BY: KEVIN BOGDAN
After the first seven games of the season, it is quite obvious that the Sabres’ two biggest needs are goaltending and defense. I will focus on the players the team should be looking to trade for and not speculate on the assets the Sabres would give up to trade for these players.
Marc-Andre Fleury
The Flower would be an excellent addition to this organization on and off the ice. Fleury has been known to be one of the most liked teammates around the league and would certainly help boost the moral around the team. On top of that, he is an outstanding goaltender who can still put-up great numbers. Last season in 49 games, Fleury had a .905 Save Percentage and a 2.77 Goals Against Average. Last season during the playoffs, Fleury’s agent Allan Walsh posted a picture (see above) of a sword with Pete DeBoer’s name on it going through Fleury’s back. Judging from that I’m going to assume that relationship isn’t the best right now and Allan can be looking to move Fleury to a team that will give him the starting job.
Keith Yandle
Yeah…SOONKKK. Keith Yandle would be a great veteran presence in the locker room along with a solid defenseman who can chip in offensively. Last season Yandle put up 5 goals and 45 assists in 65 games. That would have put him in third place in points on last year’s Sabres team. There was some drama involving Keith and the front office in Florida where reports came out that Yandle was going to be a healthy scratch in the season opener for the Panthers. Yandle is currently the iron man leader in the NHL with an active streak of 866 consecutive games played. This caused a huge uproar with the fans around the league and Keith ended getting to play in the game keeping his streak alive (he also scored in that game).
Joonas Korpisalo
The Columbus Blue Jackets have two very solid goaltenders with Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo. Korpisalo had a .911 Save Percentage and a 2.60 Goals Against Average last season for the Blue Jackets in 37 games played. Joonas is a year younger than Linus Ullmark and also put-up better numbers in previous seasons, so it would be an instant upgrade for the Sabres.
With a shortened season the Sabres don’t have much time to waste if they want to bolster up for a playoff run. If they want to show Jack Eichel and Taylor Hall that they mean business and are in a win now mode, Kevyn Adams is going to need make some calls.
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One Response
I live here in Vegas and totals agree on grabbing Fleury it makes too much sense ! Vegas has big cap issues and needs to eventually trade him away..I hope Adams works some magic.