Favorite Sabres Trades

[Derrico]

I’m sure this is an unpopular opinion because Peca was our heart and soul but I loved that Tim Connolly trade.  Absolute shame he suffered the nasty concussions.  He was an absolute wizard with the puck.  
 

Game 1 against the sens in 05/06 is my favorite Sabres game of all time and he was just so incredible when healthy, and in that game in particular. 
 

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Derrico

[Stoner]

Juneau to Sabres at the deadline in 99. Joey had knocked us out in 98 in overtime. He wasn't in Buffalo long. But he was good, and Darcy was going for it.

What was he thinking though, trading a YOUNG defensive PROSPECT to try and help his team achieve a short term goal???

[bob_sauve28]

Stu Barnes

[thewookie1]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

Juneau to Sabres at the deadline in 99. Joey had knocked us out in 98 in overtime. He wasn't in Buffalo long. But he was good, and Darcy was going for it.

What was he thinking though, trading a YOUNG defensive PROSPECT to try and help his team achieve a short term goal???

 

Well the Juneau trade was weird for sure

Juneau and a 3rd for a defensive prospect (who busted) and a 4th. 

How often does a rental get traded with the higher draft pick?

[Flashsabre]

1 hour ago, Derrico said:

I’m sure this is an unpopular opinion because Peca was our heart and soul but I loved that Tim Connolly trade.  Absolute shame he suffered the nasty concussions.  He was an absolute wizard with the puck.  
 

Game 1 against the sens in 05/06 is my favorite Sabres game of all time and he was just so incredible when healthy, and in that game in particular. 
 

 

Connolly was one of the most purely talented players the Sabres have ever had. The Ottawa game was the high point. What could have been that season. And as you said what could have been for Connolly without the injuries.

Pyatt was a great prospect at the time too but never developed the way people thought he would.

Losing Peca hurt but by that time it was well past the point of being repaired and he had to go. The return at the time was very good, two players picked in the top 8 of the 1999 draft.

Isles picked Connolly 5th, Pyatt 8th And Mezei 10th that year. 

I remember the Isles made the Peca trade and then traded the 2nd pick (Spezza) And Chara to the Sens for Yashin. And the pundents were all predicting years of dominance for the Isles moving forward.

[DHawerchuk10]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

Juneau to Sabres at the deadline in 99. Joey had knocked us out in 98 in overtime. He wasn't in Buffalo long. But he was good, and Darcy was going for it.

What was he thinking though, trading a YOUNG defensive PROSPECT to try and help his team achieve a short term goal???

My people are still saying to expect big things from Alexei Tezikov!

[DHawerchuk10]

15 hours ago, Taro T said:

We have a pretty cool thread about who we hated to see go out the door the most from the Sabres through the years.

But who were your favorite guys brought in via trade.

Mine were:

LaFontaine.  Couldn't stand Turgeon and absolutely thought LaFontaine was one of the top 5 players in the entire league.  That they pulled that one off was incredible.

Hasek.  Had Chicago played him rather than Belfour against the Pens, they might've been Stanley Cup champs.  Killer pedigree, just could never get the dinosaurs coaching him to give him a break.  Didn't expect him to be the best goalie of all time when the trade was made, but DID expect him to be an all-star caliber goalie.

Hawerchuk.  Couldn't stand Housely and thought Ducks was at least a top 30 player in the league and possibly top 10.  Absolutely loved that one.

Briere.  Thought he was really good as a power play specialist in Arizona.  Never impressed by Gratton.  Loved the thought of what he MIGHT become in Buffalo.  At a minimum, they needed somebody that could help the PP.  And Briere would do that.  Anything beyond that would be (and was) gravy.

Zhitnik.  Thought he was LA's 2nd best D-man and thought his ceiling would be way closer to Rob Blake's than it actually was.  Plus, he had one of the, if not the, best hockey names of all-time.  (Lame reason to love a trade, but still loved it.  Still regret never getting a Zhitnik sweater.)

So who were you stoked to see play in a Sabres uni after watching them play for somebody else?

Agree with all these, except I really liked Turgeon.  But getting LaFontaine was a major coup.  As others have noted, the Satan trade was an underrated highway robbery.  

[Norcal]

Doug Gilmore proved valuable

[dudacek]

OK, I’m reading this as purely emotional, as opposed to the “best” trades.

I think I’ve always had a bias for “Sabres” so in the moment when a homegrown guy gets traded I usually feel more disappointed that they failed, than excited about the new guys coming in.

A huge exception was the Hawerchuk trade. Housley was never a favourite and Dale may have been my favourite non-Sabre. Absolutely loved that guy as a Jet, and loved him here too. Probably my favourite all-time Sabre who isn’t thought of primarily as a Sabre. The fact we also got Brad May in that deal cements it. Big fan of him as a prospect and a player.

[Norcal]

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

OK, I’m reading this as purely emotional, as opposed to the “best” trades.

I think I’ve always had a bias for “Sabres” so in the moment when a homegrown guy gets traded I usually feel more disappointed that they failed, than excited about the new guys coming in.

A huge exception was the Hawerchuk trade. Housley was never a favourite and Dale may have been my favourite non-Sabre. Absolutely loved that guy as a Jet, and loved him here too. Probably my favourite all-time Sabre who isn’t thought of primarily as a Sabre. The fact we also got Brad May in that deal cements it. Big fan of him as a prospect and a player.

Hawerchuk had alot left in the tank too. He was pretty great here.

 

[Taro T]

17 minutes ago, Norcal said:

Doug Gilmore proved valuable

That was another one that was pretty cool when it happened.  They ended up getting Chicago to keep 1/2 of his salary (actual salary, no cap yet) plus they got Dumont in the deal.  And all for freakin' Grosek.

Was pretty happy with getting Mike Grier the 1st time too.  For Jakub Klepis.  Was actually pretty happy with landing Klepis for Varada because the Otters were really good at drafting F's at that time, but he never panned out and Grier was a huge part of that magical '05-'06 team.

[dudacek]

And while I’m not interested in re-litigating the hockey merits of, or reasons behind the Eichel trade here, it has become another trade I love.

We got 3 fast, competitive guys who play the type of hockey I like, and the type of hockey I identify with the best moments of this franchise. Tuch also happens to be a stud.

More importantly, 2 guys who have already thoroughly embraced becoming Sabres for a guy who very publicly didn’t want to be one.

Give me guys who are easy to cheer for.

[Taro T]

17 minutes ago, dudacek said:

OK, I’m reading this as purely emotional, as opposed to the “best” trades.

I think I’ve always had a bias for “Sabres” so in the moment when a homegrown guy gets traded I usually feel more disappointed that they failed, than excited about the new guys coming in.

A huge exception was the Hawerchuk trade. Housley was never a favourite and Dale may have been my favourite non-Sabre. Absolutely loved that guy as a Jet, and loved him here too. Probably my favourite all-time Sabre who isn’t thought of primarily as a Sabre. The fact we also got Brad May in that deal cements it. Big fan of him as a prospect and a player.

Which is why the thread title is "favorite" Sabre trades not "best" Sabre trades.  And as discussed in the OP it really is meant to be geared towards bringing a guy (or several) into the fold rather than punting them into the sun.

[PerreaultForever]

6 hours ago, Night Train said:

Getting Rene Robert for Eddie Shack. 

This is the one. Impossible to beat this one. 

Hard to argue with Hasek either. 

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Juneau to Sabres at the deadline in 99. Joey had knocked us out in 98 in overtime. He wasn't in Buffalo long. But he was good, and Darcy was going for it.

What was he thinking though, trading a YOUNG defensive PROSPECT to try and help his team achieve a short term goal???

A contrarian-like selection.  

[Weave]

37 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

This is the one. Impossible to beat this one. 

Hard to argue with Hasek either. 

At the time, noone had a clue that Hasek might be more than a backup goalie.  I know when that trade went down, I was very “meh”.

[Thorner]

Briere for sure

Gilmour trade was pretty fun. Especially cause it came with JP Dumont

Edited July 16, 2023 by Thorny

[Thorner]

3 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Juneau to Sabres at the deadline in 99. Joey had knocked us out in 98 in overtime. He wasn't in Buffalo long. But he was good, and Darcy was going for it.

What was he thinking though, trading a YOUNG defensive PROSPECT to try and help his team achieve a short term goal???

I totally remember him eliminating us in 1998 but yet had zero recollection of acquiring him in 99. Cool

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

OK, I’m reading this as purely emotional, as opposed to the “best” trades.

I think I’ve always had a bias for “Sabres” so in the moment when a homegrown guy gets traded I usually feel more disappointed that they failed, than excited about the new guys coming in.

A huge exception was the Hawerchuk trade. Housley was never a favourite and Dale may have been my favourite non-Sabre. Absolutely loved that guy as a Jet, and loved him here too. Probably my favourite all-time Sabre who isn’t thought of primarily as a Sabre. The fact we also got Brad May in that deal cements it. Big fan of him as a prospect and a player.

A fair few notable Sabres Jets swaps tbh

[GASabresIUFAN]

5 hours ago, Taro T said:

Yes, it was.  But had you read the fine print, this thread is for players that CAME to the Sabres via trade, not players that left.  So, the bringing in of Tuch would fit the bill (if in fact that was what you were really happy with).

I honestly don’t remember what I wrote about the trade, so I looked it up.

Quote

 

The forward group just got immediately better and the Jack drama is over.  Good luck Jack your going to need it.  I hope your surgery goes well.

Ultimately this got done and I think Jack, KA and Pegulas got what they wanted.  
 

The pieces are fine. Tuch is a solid middle six winger from Syracuse who is young enough to be part of the future here.  Krebs was part of the deep center draft class from 2019 and like Cozens has yet to fully establish himself in the NHL.

 

I think my assessment from then has held up pretty well.  Tuch has been way better than advertised. His personality and game has really come to define this group of Sabres for me.  He is the definition of “want to be here”

[Stoner]

6 hours ago, Pimlach said:

A contrarian-like selection.  

Not really. I think you're the contrarian for wanting to make all of my takes contrarian.

[shrader]

22 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Getting a 1st rounder for Risto and Gaustad have been my two favourites.

We also gave Nashville a 4th round pick along with Gaustad. Don’t look up who that became. 

[Taro T]

16 minutes ago, shrader said:

We also gave Nashville a 4th round pick along with Gaustad. Don’t look up who that became. 

It all comes full circle.  (Hopefully.)

D'oh!

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Not really. I think you're the contrarian for wanting to make all of my takes contrarian.

We traded for Star players like Robert, Korab, Luce, Foligno, LaFontaine, Hawerchuck, Hasek, Peca, Briere, Drury, and you pick 29 games of Joe Juneau - that is contrarian.  

[SwampD]

8 hours ago, Pimlach said:

We traded for Star players like Robert, Korab, Luce, Foligno, LaFontaine, Hawerchuck, Hasek, Peca, Briere, Drury, and you pick 29 games of Joe Juneau - that is contrarian.  

It’s not contrarian as much as it is obscure. I, too,remember being pretty psyched about the acquisition of Joe Juneau at the time.

[Lanny]

Grosek for Gilmour, Dumont and a draft pick

 

I was in my early teensr, but my memory of this was that Grosek was very up and down and was an often criticized player. And they got DOUG GILMOUR!!! (from the milk commercials) and the top prospect from The Hockey News 98 season preview magazine!!! Insane