BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres made four trades before Friday’s NHL Trading Deadline with the most significant being Casey Mittelstadt to the Colorado Avalanche for Bo Byram. Byram is two years younger and was a fourth overall pick in the NHL Draft while Mittelstadt was an eighth overall selection.
This is the type of defenseman the Sabres should’ve acquired last offseason, a guy that can play on your top pair and compliment Rasmus Dahlin. The bonus of this trade in Byram is only 22 years old. This kid has already shown he can skate and lead the attack out of the zone in just one game as a Sabre.
The most impressive thing for me is how well he played in the playoffs the year the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup. He elevated his play, and at 20, was a big reason Colorado won.
Adams did a great job getting Byram because he was right when he said to get the skill and the youth that this player has, you normally would have to draft that player.
Ryan Johnson started his NHL career this season really well, but he’s fallen off by quite a bit in the last month. Now he can go back to Rochester and play in all situations and also play in the Calder Cup Playoffs if the Amerks make it. Kale Clague is better being the No. 7 defenseman in Buffalo.
I was more than a little surprised that Zemgus Girgensons wasn’t traded. It sounds like Adams is going to begin working on a contract extension. Girgensons is everything the Sabres don’t have, an excellent forechecker, a guy willing to be at and around the net, and a guy that can get you double figure goals from a bottom six position, but I still think it’s time to move on.
The 13-year playoff drought is definitely not his fault, but Girgensons has been here for 10 years of it, and I just think it’s time for both parties to get a fresh start.
Kyle Okposo was hoping for one last chance to play for a Stanley Cup, and he got that by being traded to the Florida Panthers. Many fans don’t get this, but things like that go a long way for an organization that has a bad reputation. If players know they’ll be taken care of, they’re more likely to come here and that kind of stuff gets around.
Adams got more than I thought he would when he sent Erik Johnson to the Philadelphia Flyers for a fourth-round pick. Johnson was one of the biggest reasons the Sabres penalty kill improved, but his 5-on-5 play just wasn’t that good, and it cost him games in the lineup.
Sometimes I wonder if the Flyers actually have scouts. They gave up a No. 1 pick to get Rasmus Ristolainen and then actually re-signed him despite his poor play continuing in Philadelphia.
Johnson will bring much needed leadership to the Philadelphia room. He is a winner and a class human being.
With Devon Levi staying in Rochester, Devin Cooley was traded to the San Jose Sharks for a seventh-round pick. In Rochester he was 6-6-2 with a 3.77 goals against and .891 save percentage.
Adams said he was looking for a veteran center, but felt there would be more to pick from in the summer.
So the 12-year playoff drought will soon be 13 years, and Adams spoke about trying to decide how much of this year's drastic decline is just young players learning, and how much of it is where were they off and what didn't they do well enough.
In my opinion he should spend very little time on the first part and put most of his effort in the second.