2/11/10: Three Stars/Something to Ponder
2/11/2010 | Posted by
Devin
Before I get to the three stars from tonight's game in Carolina, I wanted to dive back into the trade talk a little bit more. The NHL roster freeze hits all teams tomorrow afternoon at 3PM, so there is a good chance we'll be seeing quite a few deals get done in the next 16 or 17 hours. Teams don't have to feel rushed though, as the regular NHL trade deadline isn't until Wednesday March 3rd. It is my understanding that teams can still talk and discuss trades, but nothing can be announced during the Olympics, so we might be gearing up tomorrow for trades that won't be announced for a couple of weeks.
In my last Sabres article, I was pretty adamant that the Sabres needed to swing a trade with the Islanders for Martin Biron. Don't get me wrong, I haven't backed off of that stance one bit. But instead of harping on that topic even more, I want to explore other goaltender options. More specifically, Marty Turco.
Earlier this week the Stars acquired Kari Lehtonen from the Thrashers. Lehtonen's contract will expire at the end of the season, but one would have to assume that he wasn't brought into Dallas simply to give the Thrashers any cap relief. Lehtonen is only 26 years old and has shown (when healthy) that he can be a number one goalie in the NHL. He has been injured for the better part of this season, but is healthy now and was subsequently traded by Atlanta.
To me, this spells the end of Marty Turco's tenure in Dallas. He is in the final year of a 5.7 million dollar contract and Dallas most likely has zero interest in bringing him back at that price tag. Even before the Lehtonen trade, Turco's name was thrown out in multiple trade rumors. Normally I wouldn't even give this a second thought in terms of Buffalo, but it may be worth thinking about. According to CapGeek.com, Turco is owed right around 1.7 million for the rest of this season. It is no doubt a hefty price to pay with Buffalo only having 22 games remaining before the playoffs, but it could be worth it. Ryan Miller has already played in 51 of 59 games this season and he will no doubt need to rest a bit before the playoffs. So what if the Sabres entertained the idea of bringing in Turco, strictly as a rental, to play 10-12 of those 22 games leading up to the playoffs. Would you do it? Would you feel comfortable in letting him play that many crucial games and allowing Miller to properly rest before the second season starts? Would you feel more comfortable with Biron filling that role? Or is the best course of action to allow Miller to wear himself out as Lalime plays poorly in a handful of those games? It's an interesting thought to say the least.
| Player | Approx. Remaining Salary | GP | W | L | OT | GAA | Save % |
| Patrick Lalime | 310,881 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3.21 | .896 |
| Martin Biron | 435,233 | 18 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 3.20 | .899 |
| Marty Turco | 1,772,021 | 41 | 17 | 15 | 9 | 2.73 | .911 |
There are a few other factors in this decision. Buffalo would have the cap room to make the deal, but it would definitely make things tight if they were looking at any other deals. Of course, that would all depend on what they give up in a deal like this. Dallas is currently on the outside of the Western Conference playoff picture, but they are far from out of it and might not want to throw the towel in just yet in order to make a run. Also, Turco would have to waive his no-trade clause for anything like this. I'm not saying there is any substance to Turco being traded at all, let alone to Buffalo, just something for us to think about as we hit the first of two trade deadlines tomorrow afternoon at 3PM.
Now, on to the three stars from tonight's game.
Tonight's game started out like the perfect slump buster as the Sabres stormed out to a 2-0 lead in Raleigh. Apparently they weren't informed of playing all three periods because that lead quickly dissipated. Carolina was able to tie the game right before the first period ended and Stephane Yelle gave the Hurricanes the lead in the second period. The Sabres tied in late in the third but failed to get two points again and are now looking up at Ottawa in the Northeast Division.
3. Ray Whitney (Carolina) – Ray Whitney had quite a few chances in the first period and finally cashed in on the power play with 0.1 seconds remaining in the period to tie the game at two. Whitney is most likely playing in one of his last games in Carolina, so scoring will only help up his stock a little bit as we inch closer to both deadlines. Buffalo has been a team mentioned in the trade rumors so hopefully Darcy Regier was watching this game with a keen eye. 2. Derek Roy (Buffalo) – I was impressed with the entire MacArthur/Roy/Stafford line in the first period and even more impressed with the play of Roy. He chipped in two goals tonight including the crucial game-tying third goal with less than 10 minutes remaining in the third period. Just in case anybody was wondering, Roy has now scored three goals in the last two games since I last wrote a Sabres article and ripped him. I need to start using these jinxes to my advantage. And also if you're wondering, I'm still all for trading him.
1. Brandon Sutter (Carolina) – The soon to be birthday boy chipped in a goal and two assists including the first of the game for Carolina on the power play. His last assist was the biggest as he took the puck from Steve Montador and found Sergei Samsonov for the game winner.
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