Um, so, yeah, the Sabres are apparently 'stepping up' their pursuit of Anaheim forward Bobby Ryan.
Excuse me for a moment while I laugh hysterically.
After the Sabres dealt Derek Roy to Dallas for Adam Pardy and Brave Steve Ott, they basically had dealt away the one guy that could be instrumental in acquiring Bobby Ryan. The Ducks are in need of a center to play on the second line behind Ryan Getzlaf, and Derek Roy fit the bill perfectly. Now that he's in the Lone Star State, the piece that Bob Murray would very likely be asking for as the centerpiece is young center Tyler Ennis. And if Buffalo parts with him to acquire a winger, they're even stupider than I thought.
The Sabres signed former Flyer Ville Leino after the 2011 season to a six year $27M contract in hopes that he would be the top line center they had been searching for. Of course, they were severely mistaken in not one, but two areas. First, why in hell would you give that kind of a contract to a 27 year old who had 2 decent years? Second, he was far from the top line center they were looking for and Sabres fans came away disappointed. With the departure of Derek Roy, the #1 center job has been all but handed to Tyler Ennis. Bruins fans remember Ennis from this jarring hit in the 2010 playoffs against Buffalo.
Ennis is one of the better young players the Sabres currently have, aside from the obvious names such as Mikhail Grigorenko, and appears to have already been declared off limits by the Sabres. Ennis would be the player the Ducks would need to get in return, a young center who can play behind Ryan Getzlaf, and the Sabres would be crazy to deal him.
However, this does affect the Bruins one way or another. If the Sabres trade Ennis for Ryan, it ensures that Buffalo will continue to suck for at least a few more years. If they don't, it leaves the Bruins basically competing with themselves for the big winger assuming they are in on him. With Buffalo and Philadelphia out of the running, it would leave the Bruins all alone in the race for Bobby. With no competition and Rick Nash already dealt for just pennies on the dollar (as I stated before), the Bruins could easily prepare a package of, say, David Krejci, Jordan Caron, and a 1st round pick in 2013 for Ryan, a trade that would greatly benefit the Bruins.
The problem with this scenario is that Anaheim is asking for a lot in return for Ryan. While it may sound nice to dream and fantasize about trading garbage for gold, that's just not how it works in professional sports. Bob Murray would obviously begin by asking for much more in return than he will get from anyone and then steadily come down on his price until he reaches a happy medium, which will still be a lot to swallow as a fan. The Ducks would look to acquire assets for both the present and future, which could very easily equate
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