Thanks to Ash Wednesday services, this one was a bit rushed, but that doesn’t mean the barely fathomable nature of re-signing Paul Gaustad pre-trade deadline is any more understandable. AB Podcast Eleven: Re-signing Gaustad would be a symptom of the sick, Ash Wednesday and Rick Santorum vs. the Illuminati

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

Podcast:

AB Podcast Ten: Only a Year of Pegula and Why He May Be Keeping Darcy

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

Podcast:

An ode to Darcy Regier’s search for the man in the middle.

Centerman – AudioBuffalo.com

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

LYRICS:

Waitin’, watchin’ the clock, another loss, it’s got to stop

Fans will take no more, the playoffs out-of-reach Excuses are out the door, so much hubris Didn’t win with Gratton or Dainius Zubrus

He lies and says he’s in love with them, can’t find a centerman… He dreams of Spezza and then Malkin, can’t find a centerman… Can’t find a centerman Can’t find a centerman Ohh…

Talkin’ to himself, can’t get those GMs on the phone… And then there’s Leino-o-o… Memories back when he had Drury and Briere

Now he’s stuck waiting for D. Roy to come along… Would trade a kidney, just for Bergeron

He lies and says he’s in love with them, can’t find a centerman… He dreams of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, can’t find a centerman…

He lies and says he’s in love with them, can’t find a centerman… He dreams of Crosby and then Malkin, can’t find a centerman…

Can’t find a centerman Can’t find a centerman Yeah…

He loved Tim, ah… He won’t let Goose leave this way Luke Adam… ah… we’d even take Jokinen

Can’t find a centerman Can’t find a centerman

Oh, Jordan Staal. Oh, Ryan Getzlaf. Koivu, Any Koivu, Just a Koivu, Find a Koivu.

Podcast:

1) It’s no surprise that Lindy Ruff keeps trying to prop up Ryan Miller — who again was ordinary-at-best tonight — because the only way to consistently win hockey games without good center play is with an A-plus goaltender.

2) Really, you can’t even adopt the “Where’s the leadership?” line because Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville continue to produce on the ice with quick counter goals when it matters.

3) This team needs a No. 1 center or better goaltending, which means we could be reaching the end of the “Ryan’s infallible as the clear No. 1″ era (yes, even with Lindy Ruff), because Darcy only makes trades that floss other GMs.

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

Whoops there goes another rubber tree plant

Apparently, the gods in Hockey Heaven let any ol’ sinner inside the gates, because this Sabres team is worse than their .500 record indicates. The team spending the fourth-most money in hockey certainly isn’t damned at this point in the season, but the fans can be forgiven for feeling they’ve taken a trip into purgatory.

Fourth-highest cap hit for the league’s fourth-youngest squad, by the way. What’s even more remarkable is that the average age of 26.543 will barely budge once Tyler Myers (21), Nathan Gerbe (23), Patrick Kaleta (25) and Brad Boyes (29) return. What does that say for the veterans on this team?

This team is playing like garbage right now from the crease to the center. Thomas Vanek is trying to put the team on his back, but apparently the other guys are covered in Crisco.

It’s time for a change. I wouldn’t fire Lindy Ruff, but I would love to see him get the keys to the GM’s office. I almost salivate at the idea of seeing which guys he immediately moved out, because it’s not about the parts being brought in… it’s about what’s still here. Christian Ehrhoff and Robin Regehr were worthwhile additions to the club, but who’s playing center? Who’s been given such a long leash that their trade value is questionable at-best considering what you’d be giving up. You don’t have to totally fire Darcy Regier, though I would. Let him run scouting because whoever’s in charge of that is doing just fine.

How bad are these 16-16 Sabres? Well, how about some more of my beloved numbers. There are a lot of average teams in hockey. During the Sabres’ stumbling start to last season, you heard me advocate patience until the schedule settled down. Buffalo’s 2010-11 gamut was front-loaded.

This year? Not even close.

There are nine teams in hockey at least five games above .500, with just six more than five below the even mark (counting overtime losses as the losses they are). That leaves 15 clubs within shouting distance of .500.

Buffalo is:

– 0-6 against the Top nine teams in the league

– 6-9 against any team above .500

– 10-6 against any team below .500

– 2-5 against the worst six teams in the league

So, no, this team is not good. They pick up the easy wins and they don’t pick up the hard ones, either. They are horrendous and home and as I detailed here, beating horrible teams at home.

This is a bad hockey team, injuries or not. This is a team that needs a change. If the general manager won’t do it, then he needs to go.

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of what we take for granted and what we overvalue as sports fans, especially Buffalo sports fans. Do we take solid running backs for granted because we have a track record of NFL name-value players running through our lines (Thomas, Henry, McGahee, et. al)? Did we immediately overvalue Ryan Fitzpatrick because he’s the anti-Edwards?

In hockey, it cuts even further to the core when you consider the Sabres lack of a No. 1 center and their fans’ fetishisation of trade rumours. Brendan Morrison was rumoured to be on his way to Buffalo so many times you’d think he was a Bass Pro big wig. Steve Bernier’s numbers had fans salivating, but Big Bear’s big inconsistency has him out of the NHL. Raffi Torres danced like sugarplums over the heads of fans 10-20 times as well only to be a tattooed lump of coal when he finally arrived.

So how does it work in reverse, especially pertaining to the Sabres stars or trade bait? When fans are cultivating deals that involve Drew Stafford as the center piece in an offer for Bobby Ryan despite the fact that they lament No. 21′s very existence on the ice most nights, what can you expect in return?

Numbers can be whores sometimes, but they are also pretty reliable when you’re looking at a big picture. Think of it as a Magic Eye: if you look at that bugger long enough, you’ll either go nuts or figure out something oddly revelatory. So let’s get together and find some comparables, then see if we really want to deal Derek Roy or Drew Stafford? We may want to anyway because of the culture of the room, but at least we’ll get an idea of what an opposing fan would see coming their way.

2001 NHL Draft Class, 2nd rd, 32nd overall — Derek Roy — 500 GP, 151 goals, 404 points .8 points a game is pretty solid for a second-round center. Who else has a similar ‘O’ reputation at center in the ’01 class?

1st rd, 4th overall: Stephen Weiss, 588 GP, 135 G, 365 pts 1st rd, 6th overall: Mikku Koivu, 465 GP, 104 goals, 345 pts 2nd rd, 49th overall: Mike Cammalleri, 523 GP, 183 goals, 400 pts 3rd rd, 95th overall: Patrick Sharp, 524 GP, 176 goals, 348 pts

Cap hits: Roy (4.0), Weiss (3.1), Koivu (6.75), Cammalleri (6.0), Sharp (3.9)

2004 NHL Draft Class, 1st rd, 13th overall — Drew Stafford — 347 GP, 100 goals, 211 points

1st rd, 4th overall: Andrew Ladd, 433 GP, 101 goals, 222 points 1st rd, 21st overall: Wojtek Wolski, 399 GP, 91 goals, 248 points 2nd rd, 53rd overall: David Booth, 328 GP, 92 goals, 179 points 3rd rd, 97th overall: Johan Franzen, 425 GP, 135 goals, 248 points 5th rd, 134th overall: Kris Versteeg, 280 GP, 80 goals, 180 points

Cap hits: Stafford (4.0), Ladd (4.4), Wolski (3.8), Booth (3.88), Franzen (3.95), Versteeg (3.0).

How many of those players would you say are worth more to their teams than Stafford and Roy? What are the relative values? Sharp is a budding star, but third fiddle. Franzen is a proven playoff vehicle. Ladd and Koivu still wear C’s if I’m not mistaken, et cetera, et cetera.

The debate is interesting, which obviously doesn’t say anything definitive — it’s more an exploratory journey through numbers. If I had to sum it up in a certain fashion, I’d say that dealing either of these players would be a message to the locker room about attitudes than numbers. Both players will be getting you someone else’s problem, not an answer. That’s why I’m relaxing despite my desire for a trade.

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

Twitter and Facebook

– The love for the Sabres in Buffalo is massive right now, but the one question that remains unanswered is will anything less than the Stanley Cup Finals — or even a win — satiate this fan base over the 2011-12 campaign?

There’s no question the team has been given the utmost confidence from both its owner and area, but is this team really built for a Cup despite two consecutive years without clutching up in the first round of the playoffs?

There are more questions than answers right now — this is what happens before a season — but here are the three biggest unanswered toss-ups for the blue-and-gold:

1) Ville Leino: Repeater Forsberg or Swedish Meatball?

Ran into a Flyers cab driver in Pittsburgh last month and he told me he was super bummed that the Flyers lost Leino to the Sabres, saying that last year’s Leino reminded him of Peter Forsberg.

If the Sabres signed the equivalent of one of the best two-way forwards/leaders to ever play hockey, then Leino’s $4.5 million cap hit means they need to make “Moneypuck” starring Drew Carey as Darcy Regier. If Leino’s ’10 playoff run and career/contract year of  10/11 were aberrations compared to his zero production past, well, all of the sudden Regier looks like he’s more foolish with green than Michael Vick pre-bankruptcy.

2) How much will Tyler Ennis grow in Year Three?

I have a lot of faith in Tyler Ennis and it would be wrong of me to ask if he’ll boom-or-bust, because I rest assured that he’ll at worst be a consistent 20-goal scorer in the league. He has too much talent and seeming drive not to reach that plateau consistently.

So while I won’t ask whether he’ll be a stagnant Sergei Samsonov or, even worse, Kyle Wellwood (not as short, nor as good as Ennis), I do wonder whether Ennis can have the star quality of lesser-built heroes like Brian Gionta or Martin St. Louis, or if his ceiling is that of Steve Sullivan. While you’d gladly take multiple Sullivans, Ennis’ emergence as a bonafide star would not only be welcome, it would be terrifying to opposing defenses.

3) Are they strong enough?

Robyn Regehr is a bad, baaad man, but are the additions of his grit to go with Leino’s sharpened hips enough to hold up in a seven-game series with Boston or Philadelphia? Buffalo can skate-and-rate with any team in the NHL now, but are they strong enough? The Sabres are now talented and tough enough to go with a deep defense corps and one of the Top Five goaltenders in the league. The Cup is reasonable if they don’t wear down over the grind.

Outside Buffalo…

– I’m backing the Colorado Avalanche to do some surprising things despite only posting 68 points last season. The Semyon Varlamov pick-up between the pipes is a nice look for Colorado and now that they’ve spent the last three years not treating first round picks merely as deadline bait, players like Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene will propel them very near to — if not into — the postseason.

If you’ve been following the preseason — a dubious idea at-best — it’s likely you’ve seen the name Matt Read, the Bemidji product who tormented Niagara amongst other schools during a torrid four-year scoring spree for the Beavers.

Well, the Flyers signed the kid and believe you/me there’s a good chance we’ll spend the first few months of this season hearing from Sabres fans about Buffalo not pursuing the sniper. I won’t buy the hype until I see him perform for a full season and past a contract. Read is infinitely-talented, but multiple NHL scouts to whom I spoke before Bemidji games over the past few years questioned whether there’s any hockey fire in his belly a la Clarke MacArthur in Buffalo. We’ll see…

– The Flyers, Kings, and Jackets have three of the most intriguing subplots to follow this offseason. Columbus has finally given Rick Nash an elite talent center in Jeff Carter and No. 61 will have every chance to put up 50 for the first time in his career. The Kings added in veteran leader/contract albatross/scumdog millionaire Mike Richards to try and pull guys like Anze Kopitar in the right direction. Los Angeles has enough talent to win the Cup, but ask the Sharks how far talent takes you.

Philadelphia finally said, “Okay,” to getting a real goaltender for the first time since — arguably Bernie Parent (look up Ron Hextall’s numbers. Yikes!). If Ilya Bryzgalov was not a product of Dave Tippett’s system, and I don’t think he was, Philadelphia should be the favorite to come out of the East barring Sidney Crosby’s full return. The only question is whether overturning a fine apple cart by moving Richards and Carter will ground Philly.

– I wouldn’t bet on Carolina to anything of merit this year, but I wouldn’t bet against them in a single game, either. The Canes are loaded with talent — very young talent — and feature the most overlooked star goalie in the NHL in Cam Ward. They have future Phoenix/Colorado chock full o’ talent team written all over them.

– This could be the year Vincent Lecavalier is actually moved out of Tampa Bay. He’s still a great talent, but he’s become more of a power play guy than even strength for the first time since before the lockout. Destination: Montreal? I have no read on the Habs this year.

Top Eights:

West: Detroit, Vancouver, San Jose, Los Angeles, Chicago, Anaheim, Calgary, St. Louis

East: Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Montreal, Toronto

Last Four Out: New Jersey, Dallas, Winnipeg, Phoenix

Bottom 10 (worst to first): Florida, Ottawa, Minnesota, Carolina, Edmonton, Rangers, Isles, Stars, Avalanche, Blue Jackets

Calder finalists: Gabriel Landeskog, COL; Mika Zibanejad, OTT; Brandon Saad, CHI

Vezina finalists: Jaroslav Halak, STL; Carey Price, MTL; Ryan Miller, BUF

MVP finalists: Ryan Kesler, VAN; Carey Price, MTL; Alex Ovechkin, WSH

Norris finalists: Drew Doughty, LA; Nicklas Lidstrom, DET; Duncan Keith, CHI

Rocket Richard Trophy: Steven Stamkos, TB; Alex Ovechkin, WSH; Rick Nash, CBS

Final Four: Detroit over Vancouver; Pittsburgh over Philadelphia

Finals: Penguins over Red Wings

Conn Smythe: James Neal

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

(Edit: I was just talking to — watch for the falling name — Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News who was out covering the Sabres today and I remarked how we have no idea who Darcy Regier is anymore. Was any of what happened before now his fault? Never has a vitriol bullseye received such a nearly-universal reprieve. It literally feels like we’ve never known a guy who’s worked here for 450 years. Nutso).

With the news today that James van Riemsdyk has inked a six-year, $25.5 million extension with the Flyers, it got me thinking. Is it a “must” that the Sabres sign Tyler Myers to an extension before he becomes a restricted free agent on July 1, 2012?

I’ve often never been one to criticize D.J. Regier, but if there’s one thing that’s perplexed me during this spending spree it was giving the salary cap a high-five on the way to Surplus City without addressing the giant man who’s arguably more important to the next 15 years of Sabres hockey than any player in the National Hockey League. In fact, this has a chance to be a Top Five pivotal contract negotiation for the Sabres since Gretzky became a millionaire and starting Crazy Money Doomsday (Hasek, Peca, Drury, Miller are the other four).

When free agency began on July 1, it opened the doors to a new world: one where Sabres GM Darcy Regier could ink Tyler Myers to a contract extension early and give the parties a little bit of mutual benefit. Myers would get a raise before he’s obligated to get one and Regier could snare the World’s Tallest Acrobat at a relative discount.

Sure, money isn’t any of Regier’s concern as long as he’s under the cap thanks to Uncle Terry, but that doesn’t mean anyone’s operating money-drunk at the FN Center. It’s not like they’re building fireplaces in the locker room or anything! Side note: I love fireplaces.

This has me thinking about the new economics of Regier and it leads me to a place where I’m giving the nouveau-riche some credit. Is it possible Regier plans to wait even longer to sign Myers in order to put off the payday, but still benefit the player? It’s a bit of a stretch, but if Regier were to sign Myers to an extension after March 1 he’d be able to ensure the players long-term future earlier than July 1, avoid any offers in restricted free agency and be able to put the cap hurt off until the 2012-13 financial season.

Don’t let the numbers fool you any more than Regier’s words. The GM doesn’t want the league thinking he plans on buying out a player they could sign for nothing, but a “Hockey Heaven” isn’t one where veterans get sent to Rochester to wallow one year after signing a deal (Shaone Morrisonn) or three months after being reacquired in trade (Ales Kotalik). My gut feeling all along is that players will be bought out. I have no deep basis for this, just as I — IMPORTANT — am not a CBA whiz or anything if some of my dates are off-base. Regier can’t answer questions by saying, “Buying out is totally an option. If no one wants to play these guys those sick dollars, I sure ain’t.”

JVR is netting a cap-hit near $4.25 million per-year and Drew Doughty is rejecting a 9-year, $6.5 million-per offer from the Kings (rejected on basis of term, not dollars). JVR wasn’t due to be a restricted free agent until next July 1, like Myers, while Doughty is currently an RFA. Signing early could probably net Myers somewhere in the middle, but once the ballgame gets to March 1 there will likely be no “discounts” versus four more months of waiting.

Regardless of the quandary, the Kings will likely set the market for Regier, who did a bit of it himself with the Christian Ehrhoff deal. Is Tyler Myers going to be getting an Ovechkin or DiPietro-length deal with jacked-up salaries in the first couple years? With the looming chance of another lockout followed by the Wild Wild West in a few years, I’m not sure anything can be certain. I’m just having fun dancing with the details.

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

(WECK 1230) — I haven’t been the biggest supporter of Darcy Regier since 2006-07, but the pre-July 1 personnel moves he made to improve the Buffalo Sabres have been more than enough to get me to give him a second chance (as if he’s massively desirous of such an opportunity!).

Then, I read that Ville Leino had become a Buffalo Sabre and got even more excited… until I saw the price tag. At six years and $27 million, Leino had become the Sabres third-highest paid forward. Derek Roy and Drew Stafford would be paid less than a player with a commendable playoff record but 70+ career points by age 27.

I was perplexed, maybe even a little angry. Did Regier understand the concept of a salary cap? Shouldn’t he have been signing Tyler Myers to a long-term extension? I didn’t need him to get Brad Richards (in fact, I’m somewhat against it), but for real?

Yes… and I get it.

I really hate agreeing to this move, but armed with the knowledge that Leino is a natural center I’m ready to like — not love — the move. The fact of the matter is that the Sabres have added three winners to the roster and kept a guy who throws his body around like he’s indesctructible. They also extended a gutsy mighty mite to an extremely reasonable contract.

An the anatomy of these moves points to another major surgery forthcoming… a big trade. Follow me:

1) Chris Butler & Paul Byron to Calgary for Robyn Regehr, Ales Kotalik and a second-round pick.

The Sabres entered the offseason with four RFA blueliners: Mike Weber, Butler, Andrej Sekera and Marc Gragnani. The likelihood of signing all four was fine, but the odds that the majority of them would be happy were ridiculous.

2) Trading a fourth-round pick for the rights to negotiate with Christian Ehrhoff.

This is actually the only truly un-Darcy thing that’s been done. Regier loves draft picks, but this risk was phenomenal. The 10-year deal is absolutely fine, but only plausible because T-Pegs is okay with giving a defenseman $13 in signing bonuses over the first two years of the deal.

3) Resigning Cody McCormick and Nathan Gerbe to three-year deals.

You work hard here? You stay here. Boom.

4) Signing Ville Leino for six years and $27 million.

Whether Leino as center is a smoke screen or truth, the guy has shown up beginning three seasons ago in a brief spell with the Wings. He arrived in the playoffs with Philly in 2009-10, scoring 21 points in 19 games including three goals and six assists in the seven-game Cup loss versus Chicago.

Leino also gives the Sabres 14 forwards under contract and terrific depth at defense. In fact, the guy who deserves the most credit for the upcoming Step Five is someone who wasn’t doing it on purpose: Tom Golisano.

5) Trade multiple roster players, prospects and picks for a true No. 1 center

No rewards without risks, but the Sabres have an almost gross amount of prospect depth. They’ve drafted defensemen for years and not sent them packing because of Golisano’s rules. They’ve got some terrific NHL-ready forwards as well, and now can deal those picks, which may not even be precious anymore.

It could be multiple deals: Maybe Pominville and Morrisonn go to some team short of the cash ceiling and then Sekera, Adam and a first go for a stud. Perhaps it’s a blockbuster. Maybe they land a piece we didn’t even know was available: Dustin Brown, David Backes, Zach Parise, Paul Stastny, Ryan Getzlaf, Evgeni Malkin… who knows?

It’s all on the table at this point, and that — more than a substandard free agent class — is what makes the new Sabres a threat to win a Cup as early as next year. It’s pretty awesome. If this Leino signing, however, is it, I’m going to temper my enthusiasm a bit. Tyler Ennis is a natural center, too, but what comes natural isn’t always what’s best in a league that features the best of the better.

Email: nickonweck@gmail.com

P.S. Expect Ryan Miller to post Vezina numbers again with Regehr and Ehrhoff joining the fold.

I’m really sorry to sour the effect Pegula’s millions can have in the immediate future, but the “Wait til July 1st” folks have me feeling obligated to issue this warning about the perceived EXTREME STAR MAKEOVER of the Sabres in short order. Part I was the warning. Part II is this post… some options to get the fix. Follow me on Twitter here or Facebook here. I’m listening to Mastodon’s “Leviathan” through this, so apologies if I slip into rants about sailors, whales or blood.

(WECK 1230) — Buckle up, this is going to take a while.

Let those who pondered my affinity for our local professional hockey club rest easily with this sentiment: I hope the Sabres win the Stanley Cup this year and next, as I have since I was a young buck sitting in the cathode glow of blue and gold and the dulcet tones of Ted Darling and Mike Robitaille.

So when I wrote Tuesday that the Sabres would be in a battle to become a perennial top team, I did so with the plan of presenting a fix. Should the Sabres not win the Brad Richards lottery — presuming Darcy Regier and Terry Pegula want him — they’ll have to be creative in fixing their biggest issue: the men in the middle.

Regier went out of his way in 2009-10 to call Tim Connolly and Derek Roy two of the Top Twenty centers in the league. This was patently absurd, but his reasoning is easy to see: Regier’s best players and prospects were wingers, forwards much easier to find than middlemen.

Go through the Top 20 centers in hockey. I’m talking real centers, not “he can play center” centers. You don’t need to use any provided list… make your own. Go ahead, get a piece of paper or type it out in another window. Got it?

How many of those players have played for only one team in their entire career? How many were allowed to hit free agency? How many were traded?

In no particular order, here are the first 20 centers I think of as the best in the league (any winger/center questions were settled by whether the play is in the Top 100 in faceoffs taken in the league this year):

Sidney Crosby, Patrick Sharp, Jeff Carter, Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Anze Kopitar, Ryan Getzlaf, John Tavares, Joe Thornton, Eric Staal, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Backstrom, Henrik Sedin, Jonathan Toews, Ryan Kesler, Henrik Zetterberg, Jason Spezza, Evgeni Malkin, Danny Briere

Now, Roy is on the periphery of that group — with David Backes, Matt Duchene, Paul Stastny, Mike Richards and Tomas Plekanec — and if he was healthy and still a point-per-game guy at this point in the season he might even squeak in there.

But look at the names on my list that have been in multiple organizations and ask yourself if they were moved at any point in time. Sharp was a slow developing third-round pick of Philly. Richards was moved because the Lightning had three massive contracts and had to lose one. Thornton was a play by Boston to shake up their room. Briere, well, you know that scoop.

Point is you need centers. Think of the wingers who went from good to great or elite because of their centers. There’s Eric Lindros moving John LeClair into the elite. Pat LaFontaine ushered Alexander Mogilny into the upper echelon.Who was Martin St. Louis before Lecavalier came calling? Just a up-and-down flickering Flame.

***

So, seeing as the Sabres have maybe one Top 20 center, how do you fix it? Here’s what’s under contract and presumably with the big club in 2011-12:

Wings: Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Jochen Hecht, Zack Kassian, Tyler Ennis, Brad Boyes, Pat Kaleta, Paul Byron

Centers: Derek Roy, Paul Gaustad, Luke Adam

Defensemen: Jordan Leopold, Tyler Myers, Shaone Morrisonn

Goalies: Ryan Miller, Patrick Lalime

RFA forwards: Nathan Gerbe, Drew Stafford, Mark Mancari

RFA defensemen: Andrej Sekera, Chris Butler, Mike Weber, Marc-Andre Gragnani

RFA goalies: Jhonas Enroth

***

WARNING: These are simply things the team could do. I haven’t decided to endorse any particular one besides being the team that ends up with Brooks Laich.

1) Outspend everyone else for Brad Richards. Self-explanatory, but still risky. The Stars have made the playoffs just once with Richards and could miss again this year after beginning the year up top West. Richards will be 31 entering next season and while I’ve been advocating signing him since, well, October, he’s going to cost money and term. Richards has topped 90 points twice in 10 seasons. His previous high was 79.

2) “Do the (Perceived) Darcy” and hope one of the three promising centers you’ve drafted in the past few years blow up. Tyler Ennis, Paul Byron and Luke Adam were all drafted as centers, though one would have to know Lindy Ruff’s positional plans in order to plan on riding the wingers for a couple more years. I do like Ennis’ chances in the future as a No. 2 center, even moreso if you employ the next point.

If this is the case, I’d highly recommend the Sabres do what they can to land Brooks Laich, who will be an unrestricted free agent. At 27, the regular 20-goal scorer, power play contributor and penalty killer would become an instant candidate for captain on this squad. He’s a “letter on the sweater” guy in any event and he’s No. 2 on my UFA list after Richards.

3) Trade Derek Roy. Let me preface this by saying I don’t have much interest in moving Roy at all, despite where some pundits may rank his “speed skating to the bench as compared to other players who skate to the bench.” I’ve talked to fans and reporters around the league and Roy is very well-liked. While I haven’t spoke to opposing GMs, I’d imagine his $4 million cap hit makes him a prized asset. With his actual pay escalating to $4.5 in 2011-12 and $5.5 in 2012-13, the economics of what you get in return isn’t all that wild.

I would imagine the prospect of sending Roy to a team that is hamstrung by the cap with forwards to spare could net a star in true blockbuster fashion, just as Turgeon was turned into LaFontaine and Jimmy Carson was turned into Gretzky.

Earlier in the year, my friend Jer asked if the Flyers would trade Briere back for Derek Roy. I’d ask whether the Sabres would. Buffalo would need to get someone better as part of any deal that included Roy’s cap hit and anything extra (this isn’t to say I remember whether Jer said he would).

Could you use Roy, prospects and picks to pull Evgeni Malkin away from Pittsburgh? The Pens have two $8.7 million centers and a third who will one day escalate near that status in Jordan Staal (Staal’s contract is very much like Roy’s… brilliant work by Pittsburgh).

4) Sacrifice the next four drafts for Steven Stamkos. If Tampa’s prized possession makes it to July 1st, which is possible but not probable, you can offer Stamkos an eight-year, $64 million deal and dare the Lightning to match it. You’d lose four No. 1 picks as well as any cap wiggle room. Whoever you put on a line with Stamkos and Vanek would immediately become the right wing on one of the top three lines in the NHL. A cheaper RFA option with less evidence of star play is under-the-radar Thrashers captain Andrew Ladd.

5) Dabble elsewhere in restricted free agency: This could also be called “Have the best wingers in hockey.” It sounds like a tongue-in-cheek thing to say, but with Thomas Vanek, you already have one of the top wings in hockey. Jason Pominville and Brad Boyes are both acceptable Top Six wingers, though both represent a chunk of change. One could argue that Drew Stafford and Vanek could elevate Roy even further, provided you can wrangle in Stafford for more time. Odds are you’re looking at $4-5 million over five years to keep him (total guess, but that’s my thought).

The finances would be slim as all get-out, but if the Devils’ RFA Zach Parise makes it to July 1st without a new deal from New Jersey it would be dynamite-squared for Buffalo to pick him up. We’ve seen in recent years how John-Michael Liles’ name keeps coming up as a potential Sabre due to his friendship with Ryan Miller. Well, it’s no secret that Parise and Stafford are great friends. If your two winger pairings were Vanek/Boyes and Parise/Stafford, you could let two pigeons — good-skating ones — center them and be alright (In all likelihood, however, have to trade one of your high-priced wingers (Boyes, Pominville, Stafford)).

Cheaper options in RFA? L.A.’s Wayne Simmonds and NYI’s Kyle Okposo.

Conclusion: Look at the non-dynastic teams to win Stanley Cups: Carolina, Anaheim and Tampa Bay. Two-star depth at center abounds in two cases; Staal/Brind’Amour, Lecavalier/Richards, while in Anaheim’s case they had Ryan Getzlaf and a supporting cast of elite wingers who made Andy McDonald an elite center/playmaker for two years (Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne, Dustin Penner).

Whether or not you think the Vezina and silver medal was a fluke, there’s no question the Sabres have a goaltender good enough to play well through four rounds. They need more firepower in the middle or a player capable of getting his ancillary weapons to fire. None of these ideas are foolproof. Heck, the majority of them could not be option on July 1st. There’s little doubt, however, that franchise centers are going to show up in unrestricted free agency. The odds are barely better than the Sabres will self-destruct into a “top of the draft” team any time soon.

Got better ideas? Let me know. I’m on-the-air from 7-10 p.m. EST and available by email here: nickonweck@gmail.com