Victor Olofsson sustained an injury in last Thursday’s win over Edmonton. In addition, Jeff Skinner has already been out of action as he recovers from his own injury.
That is two of the Sabres most offensively talented players. Not a great situation for a team already limited at the forward positions. With a surplus of defenseman, a trade seems inevitable, at least among some who follow the team.
Jason Botterill did ship defenseman Marco Scandella to the Montreal Canadians for a fourth-round draft pick. He expeditiously flipped that asset to Calgary acquiring Czech forward Michael Frolik. I like the acquisition as he will help in many areas including penalty killing, leadership and size. He should, by no means, be that big move this team has needed since this time last season. He needs to use draft capital, prospects and/or NHL defensemen to bring in a center to play on the second line with Skinner.
Frolik is an experienced former first-round draft selection. He is extremely valuable on the penalty kill and has the size the blue-and-gold has lacked. He has some offensive skills, but at the NHL level he will not be breaking Alexander Mogilny’s franchise scoring record. (76 goals). Frolik will be that team player that frolics on the ice. He frolics in the locker room. Frolik frolics often. Hockey is a game. He fancies playing the game. Frolik the frolicking 31-year-old kid. Enough. I digress.
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Things we know about the Buffalo Sabres this week:
- Dylan Cozens scored against Russia helping team Canada successfully come from behind and win the gold at the IIHF Junior Championships. The Sabres first-round draft pick looked good in training camp and preseason and should make the Sabres next season if the lack of depth at the forward positions continues.
- Buffalo defeated Edmonton last Thursday 3-2 on a successful Jack Eichel penalty shot in overtime. They won a consecutive game beating Florida Saturday which was overshadowed by the Bills playoff loss. WGR 550 references the game as the Houston Heartbreak. The Sabres need to end their playoff drought first before any playoff run expectations evolve. When they accomplish that, they will not be held to high expectations that first time qualifying. The Bills already tackled the low expectations two years ago when they ended their drought. So, this second time in the playoffs was much more disappointing as they were a much better team in many places. The process continues…
- The Sabres play the virtuoso Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues Thursday.
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