The Cup has been handed off - Darcy bait the hook

[foster]

Darcy,

It's time to bait the hook. If you don't find exactly what you want it's not anybody's fault but your own. We have so many forwards there has to be a deal there somewhere. From Max to Kotalik to TC to MacArthur to Stafford to Ryan to .... Plenty of bait - even if you overpay a little, we have a full bucket.

Your time is now to make the Sabres the next dominant team in the NHL.

Oh ... and Orpik would look great in a Sabres uniform.

[SabresFan220]

Nobody wants Mike Ryan, not even us. If they want him he's a UFA and can be had for peanuts as a 4th liner. But Max and Kotalik are the real trade bait here, Connolly is too much of an injury risk for anyone to want to trade for him, at least not at fair value. MacArthur is only sent off if we're acquiring a real game breaker for Afinogenov or Kotalik. I don't see Stafford being moved, but I didn't really see MacArthur on the block either.

I don't know what kind of players are really available to us for what we want to give up. Right now Max's trade value is so low we'd be better off keeping him and seeing if he rebounds, which I think he will. If he has a strong season his value will be highest at the trade deadline and we can really fleece somebody who sees him as the key to their playoff run (see Pittsburgh and Marian Hossa, with a lesser but still good return).

[daryls61]

You really want Orpik after his lazy effort on Detroits second goal? I don't think he is as good as everyone thinks.

[г]

Orpik is a third-tier d-man, mayyyybe second-tier on a good day

Check how many PP points he has in three years and that'll give you a good indication that he's pretty much a scrub that doesn't have the confidence of his coach.

[sabredan17]

How many powerplay points did Jay McKee have during his prime? Thats exactly the type of defenseman we need right now. Orpik is a possibility, but there may be others as well. I'm not looking for a scoring defenseman right now.

[ninecarpileup]

Brooks Orpik is 6'2", 228 Lbs and is 28 years old. He hit more guys on one shift in a STANLEY CUP FINAL game than our whole defense would hit in a complete game, regular season or playoffs. He averages 20 min a game against the opposing teams best lines Yet, some of you call him a scrub. First, what the hell game are you watching. Second, have you ever played hockey at all?

[3LH]

Yeah Orpik is not perfect, but he is good and is the type of guy we need on D right now. I also don't think scoring from a D man is what we need right now. We have guys like Spacek and hopefully Sekera can continue that nice little scoring touch he flashed at the end of the season.

I want a guy that blasts people out of the goal crease with force - like Orpik did to Franzen last night. We need some guys on D that put people on their asses in our defensive zone with regularity. I wonder if Miller would agree?

[ddpderek]

Judging Orpik on one bad play? Come on every Dman makes a mistake every once in awhile.

Also juding him on PP ability? Thats not his game , not every D man has to be your point on the PP. We have Spacek and Sekera for that anyways and we usually play 4 forwards.

[ddpderek]

Also I say bait the hook with Drew Stafford.

[Smapdi]

I'd definately take Orpik here.

We could use a player like him on the back end. He's a big, aggressive defensemen who doesn't let anyone near his goalie; pretty much the antithesis of everyone of our d-men. He's also a WNY'er.

The glut of forwards can be cut by a few leaving plenty of space to fit him in.

[SabreBill30]

All I know is that Detroit's D throttled the Pens. Give me some of that!

[billspwn]

i'll take kronwall instead of orpik