Vanek Traded to NYI

[mikey287]

Vanek adds a lot more to the lineup than Moulson does. If players that don't backcheck are considered "one dimensional" than Moulson has no dimension. He's not a whole lot more than a friendly Tomas Holmstrom at ES. He can't skate, he doesn't play physical, he doesn't backcheck, he just pots JT's wizardry. Which isn't without value, don't get me wrong. But with Vanek, you add so much more skill (I can't emphasize how much more talent he has than Moulson) and you add so much to your ability to transition the puck. If it's Vanek-JT-Okposo, now you have two players that can move the puck forward. And without Lubomir Visnovsky in the lineup, you have no ability to carry the puck through three zones without JT. That's a lot to deal with. Now, there's at least a second option. The ability to create goals and keep possession of the puck should increase noticeably with Vanek in the lineup.

[pcm]

It's easy to play the if game, but I'm not sure the Pens get past the Isles last year with Vanek in the lineup.

A year of playing with Tavares will make Vanek think long and hard about where he could sign that would be a better situation. The Isles are an up and comng team with loads of cap space and a superstar to feed him the puck. Its really a perfect situation for Vanek.

[largegarlic]

Vanek is definitely an upgrade on Moulson, but I don't like the trade from an Isles' perspective because I think they lost to the Pens last year more due to defense and goaltending than lack of offense. It gets kind of overlooked in the wake of Fleury's meltdown, but Nabakov was pretty bad in the playoffs. I don't see them going anywhere (i.e. winning more than 1 round) with their current defense and goaltending. Now, they've spent presumably their best trade assets (their 1st rounder this year and a solid, but replaceable top-6 winger) and have much less to deal to address those other issues.

[mikey287]

They have one of the deepest prospect pools out there and this won't be their only deal. It didn't necessarily address their most pressing need, I'll grant that. But they had a chance to get a high level skill player and they went for it. They've had a lot of draft picks over the last few years, their prospect pool shows that, right now they find themselves in a weak division with a chance to make a move and get into playoffs before going into a new building and get some excitement going with a player that can bring you out of your seat. I think they did fine. There's plenty of time for them to address their other needs. I don't think anyone is confusing them for a Cup contender right now, but they had a chance to buy a top-end talent and I think they have a fair chance at keeping him given their cap space and the money that Barclays is paying them to be there.

[JS©]

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[Pitts]

Mouslon had 2 goals for Buffalo last night. Buffalo winning the deal so far!

[mikey287]

Sabres retained about 20% of Vanek's salary as part of the deal. Seems to be worth a lot on the market for doing so.

[Jim]

Sabres retained about 20% of Vanek's salary as part of the deal. Seems to be worth a lot on the market for doing so.

That helps even the deal a bit...

[Idoit40fans]

For the islanders. I don't think the Sabres care about dollars, don't they have the crazy owner that acts like he's playing with Monopoly money?

[Jim]

For the islanders. I don't think the Sabres care about dollars, don't they have the crazy owner that acts like he's playing with Monopoly money?

Buffalo is 26th out of 30 for salary... so ... no.

[MRandall25]

For the islanders. I don't think the Sabres care about dollars, don't they have the crazy owner that acts like he's playing with Monopoly money?

Buffalo is 26th out of 30 for salary... so ... no.

That's because like 75% of their team is still on entry-level or 1st real deals.

They're paying Ville Leino $4.5 mil.

[meow]

Pegula sold his natural gas company to Shell for $4.7 billion. $4.7 billion. 4.7 then 8 zeros. The monopoly comment is pretty spot on.

[mikey287]

For the islanders. I don't think the Sabres care about dollars, don't they have the crazy owner that acts like he's playing with Monopoly money?

Absolutely. Pegula (the owner) said during his press conference that if he wanted to make money he'd drill another oil rig (or some such), he wants to give the Sabres what they need to build a winner. Then he proceeded to get emotional over the fact that his hero, Gilbert Perreault was in attendance at the press conference. Money is no issue for the Sabres, they ate money in the Pominville deal as well. Currently, it's a top to bottom rebuild though - which, as noted, involves a lot of entry level deals.

[pcm]

I wonder if there's any way Shero could swing a deal for Marcus Foligno. Exactly the type of young power forward this team needs.

[GSdrums87]

Buddy played a lot of high school and pee-wee hockey with him. It'd be interesting, but given all the injuries, our strong trading point is becoming necessary to dip into.

[pcm]

The Sabres don't need a roster player. And Foligno's EL salary could be accomodated by waiving Jeffrey or D'Agostini or some such thing. So, we could trade a guy like Despres or Poliout, hell, even Maatta for him without weaking our group of dmen very much.

(If we traded Maatta, Despres would come up... he's been excellent in a top pairing role by all accounts this year.)

[mikey287]

I wonder if there's any way Shero could swing a deal for Marcus Foligno. Exactly the type of young power forward this team needs.

Seems unlikely. Even with his sometimes inconsistent effort, he's still looked at a good piece moving forward. Plus the whole "his dad played for the team" connection is still in its honeymoon phase. I think they want to find what they have in him before they move him on. Plus, young defenders is not a need of theirs with Pysyk, Ristolainen and Zadorov playing regularly in their lineup. He has been somewhat underwhelming from an offensive point of view, often over-handles the puck and gets away from the north-south game that would make him more effective. I like him, but he's still piecing it all together and I'm not sure what the outcome will be...I've gotten less sure that he becomes a full-on second liner recently.

[pcm]

Mikey, read your hockeysfuture report on Dallas. What's your take on Chiasson and Ritchie's place in Dallas? Both seem like ideal targets for that power forward role in Pittsburgh, and Dallas is certainly looking for help on the backend. Any chance another fwd-dman swap could happen with Dallas?

[mikey287]

Both are considered untouchable by the organization at last check. Chiasson's non-inclusion in the Eriksson/Seguin swap nearly prevented it from happening all together. Nill would not budge. Ritchie has looked good in his transition to pro so far and he's really matured over the last 18 months or so. Very difficult to knock off the puck. Chiasson is just terrific. Exciting night for Alex tonight, he'll have about half a hundred friends and family in attendance as the Stars visit Montreal.

Both I project to be better players like Foligno and we aren't getting either of them I don't believe.

[Jim]

I had originally thought that Buffalo really won the deal but now a few extra bits have come out. Buffalo is paying about $1.3M of Vanek's remaining salary and the Islanders can defer the #1 pick to the next year if it ends up being a top 10 this year. Granted, the pick could be a #7 is 2014 do the defer it until 2015 and then that could be #1... but it at least give the Islanders a bit of a safety blanket.