Just What the Doctor Ordered
3/05/2010 | Posted by
Devin
If you asked me before the trade deadline what the Sabres needed to acquire to improve their chances for a deep playoff run, here is how I would've answered the question.
Grit. Toughness. Scoring. Competent backup goaltender.
Ok, so the Sabres didn't get their competent backup goaltender. The only thing that means is that Lindy Ruff will either drill Ryan Miller into the ground so that he is completely worn out by the time the playoffs start, or the Sabres will toss away a handful of games by starting Patrick Lalime. Awesome.
But I didn't write this blog to complain about that. No, I want to actually applaud the Sabres for making the right move on the deadline.
Before the deadline I had written several times that the Sabres were in need of a serious shakeup. I still feel that way, but it wasn't realistic. This isn't a video game where the GM can pull off lopsided trades with the computer and make everything better. This is real life where good trades are sometimes hard to make.
The Sabres wanted to keep their basic core together but they obviously had to make a move to improve their grit, toughness, and scoring. Luckily for them, they did the job with one trade. Of course, I'm talking about trading Clarke MacArthur to the Thrashers for a 3rd and 4th round pick. Ok, I'm kidding, but I did like this trade. The Sabres flipped an upcoming restricted free agent that had worn out his welcome in Buffalo for two draft picks. This helped make up for the loss of their second round draft pick, which went to Columbus along with Nathan Paetsch for Raffi Torres, a potential rental player.
Prior to the deadline, Torres was one of the names being talked about the most. At one point, there was word that at least 10 teams had made contact and inquired about Torres. While I don't know the validity of this statement, I had read that Columbus was asking for a first round pick in return. That is relatively high for a potential rental, but seems about right considering what rentals have cost before.
So knowing that information, I think the Sabres got a great deal in giving up a second round pick and Paetsch. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Nathan Paetsch and always liked him in Buffalo, but he needed to play and that playing time obviously wasn't coming to him in Buffalo. I'm sure he appreciates the opportunity to move on and hopefully get playing time in Columbus.
So as I said in the beginning, the Sabres needed to improve their grit, toughness, and scoring. Torres obviously fills the first two needs as he is known as one of the harder nose players in the league and should greatly improve those areas on a rather soft team. But surprisingly enough, he also greatly improves their scoring. Most of this can be attributed to the team's overall lack of scoring, but Torres comes to Buffalo and is now their leading goal scorer with 19. Yes, you read that correctly.
Right off the bat, I want to say that I hope he isn't a rental player and that something can be worked out in the offseason. Of course, I haven't seen Torres play very often since watching him in the OHL so I need to take in these final 20 regular season games and get a more solid evaluation of his play.
As it stands, he is skating with two of the softer players in Buffalo, Derek Roy and Jason Pominville. It's been over a full day since the trade has been announced and I'm still very upbeat about it. Time will tell whether or not that will last, but I'm excited to find out starting with tonight's game against Philadelphia.
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