Darcy Regier's Top 10 Worst Acquisitions

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This is Part Two of a two-part series dealing with Darcy Regier's player acquisitions over his tenure as the Buffalo Sabres' General Manager.

 

This article is a list of Darcy Regier's worst player acquisitions during his tenure as the Buffalo Sabres' General Manager. Late-round draft picks are excluded from this "worst list" for obvious reasons, as many of them are long-shots to make the NHL in the first place.

10. Artem Kriukov

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Kriukov is just one in an unfortunate long line of first-round busts. Drafted 15th overall in 2000, he was touted as an eventual top-line center, and his 6'4" frame and powerful shot had many general managers, and Regier, drooling over his potential. But that is all Kriukov amounted to be as he never played a game in North America, let alone the NHL.

9. Jocelyn Thibault

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Darcy Regier's signing of veteran netminder Jocelyn Thibault at the start of the 2007-2008 season looked like a good move on paper. He was a former first-round pick and was a quality starter with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Montreal Canadiens. He was brought in to take some of the workload off of Ryan Miller's shoulders. However, Lindy Ruff had no trust in Thibault's abilities after poor showings, and as a result, Miller played the most games of his career (76), and the Sabres missed the playoffs. Thibault's final numbers: Three wins in 12 games, a 3.31 GAA, a .869 save percentage, and two shutouts.

8. Barrett Heisten

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Heisten can be deemed as yet another first-round bust. Drafted 20th overall in 1999, Heisten had good showings in the World Junior Championships and was a solid player for the University of Maine. He never played a game in the Sabres system, being signed as a free agent by the New York Rangers in 2001. He played a total of 10 NHL games and 256 AHL games. His abilities were never able to translate in the NHL game and he ended his pro career playing for the ECHL's Alaska Aces.

7. Dominic Moore

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Darcy Regier acquired Moore at the 2009 trade deadline. Moore was the definition of a journeyman player, having played for four different teams in five seasons. He was meant to bring face-off and penalty killing skills to the Sabres, as well as a little offense as he was having a career year with the Toronto Maple Leafs. For a second-round pick, Moore had a total of one goal and four points in 18 games with the Sabres, and it was later found out that he was playing injured and not to his full ability.

6. Steve Bernier

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Steve "Big Bear" Bernier was acquired in the Brian Campbell trade with San Jose in 2008. In his first game with the Sabres, he had two goals and an assist, which had fans very excited about his potential as a power forward. However, Bernier did little else registering only six more points in 16 games. In the ensuing offseason, Bernier was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round pick in 2009 and second-round pick in 2010. Bernier has since played for Vancouver and he will play for the Florida Panthers this upcoming season. The former first-round pick has never scored 20 goals in his career.

5. Jiri Novotny

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Drafted 22nd overall in 2001, the big center was highly touted coming out of the Czech Republic. Novotny ended up playing a total of 64 regular season games with the Sabres, totaling 8 goals and 16 points. He was pointless in four playoff games in 2006. Novotny was traded to Washington in the Dainius Zubrus trade and played a total of 189 NHL games before signing with the KHL in Russia.

4. Mika Noronen

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Noronen may have been the odd man out in the rise of Ryan Miller, but for a first-round goaltender, his NHL career has been a bust. Noronen was drafted 21st overall in 1997 and was a career backup with the Sabres behind Martin Biron. Noronen is the only goaltender in Sabres history to be credited with a goal, but his accolades end there. In his last year with the Sabres, he registered one win in four games along with a horrendous 4.26 GAA and a .844 save percentage. He was later traded to Vancouver for a second-round selection. Noronen played a total of 71 NHL games with a record of 23-32-0. He has since played in the KHL and the Finnish Elite League.

3. Marek Zagrapan

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Darcy Regier drafted Zagrapan in the first round (13th overall) in 2005. He was meant to eventually become a top-line center after putting up 169 points in 118 games with Chicoutimi of the QMJHL. He totaled 127 points in 227 games in the AHL, but never played a single NHL game. He signed with the KHL in Russia in 2009, and can be officially labeled as another first-round bust in the Darcy Regier era.

2. Raffi Torres

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Darcy Regier pulled off one of his worst trades in recent memory by trading Nathan Paetsch and a second-round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets for winger Raffi Torres. After starting on the second line with Derek Roy, Torres was quickly demoted to the fourth line and was eventually a healthy scratch in the 2010 playoff series against the Bruins. After scoring 19 goals in Columbus, Torres failed to register a goal in 14 regular season and 4 playoff games with the Sabres. He registered five assists in the regular season and two assists in the playoffs. It was later learned that Torres was overweight and out of shape when he came to Buffalo and he will go down as one of the worst trade deadline moves by Darcy Regier.

1. Andrew Peters

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It is a general rule among NHL general managers not to draft an enforcer in an early round. However, that is what Darcy Regier did when he drafted Andrew Peters in the second round (34th overall) in 1998. In 200 NHL games with the Sabres, Peters totaled an amazingly bad four goals and seven points. He registered 557 penalty minutes and never played a single playoff game. Peters' junior totals were not even good with 61 points in 156 OHL games. A list of players taken after Peters: Mike Fisher, Mike Ribeiro, Brad Richards, Brian Gionta, and the list goes on. The highlights of Peters career include his fight with Ray Emery in the infamous "Brawl Game" against Ottawa in 2007 and when Jarkko Ruutu bit his hand in another game against Ottawa. Peters is ranked 16th on the Sabres all-time list for penalty minutes.