Darcy Must Deal! Part 1 Of 2

With the upcoming trade deadline less than three weeks away, Buffalo Sabres general manager Darcy Regier has once again spent over half the season "evaluating his team."

The Buffalo Sabres are currently locked in a battle for the seventh or eighth seeds in the Eastern Conference playoff race. In this time that Regier has generously given to himself to evaluate the Sabres roster, it has allowed me the time to do the same. On that note, lets see if I could help Regier in his evaluation and maybe point him in the right direction come Deadline Day.

Buffalo's goaltending tandem of Ryan Miller and Patrick Lalime is about as solid as any in the NHL. Although Miller tends to show brief signs of his "teenager trying to find his way" profile from last season, overall he has been very solid. His record may not show it, but Lalime has proven that he is a huge improvement over Jocelyn Thibault. It seems to me that in most of the games that Lalime has started, the defense of the Sabres decides that if Miller takes the night off, so will they. No deals here, Darcy.

Taking into consideration the barrage of injuries to the Sabres defense this season, it is hard to believe that Regier would not have a crystal clear picture of Buffalo's future on defense. Is it a surprise that while defensemen Teppo Numminen and Henrik Tallinder were out of the lineup that the Sabres won so much, even with up to three rookie defensemen playing in the brief absence of Jaroslav Spacek. The noble gesture of the Sabres to bring back Numminen this year was just that. He has been consistently beaten to the puck, not to mention pounded into the glass when he has it. It is time to let him go.

Let's face it folks, Tallinder has not been the same since he first broke his arm a few seasons back. He has been even worse since the second time he broke it. That leaves Craig Rivet, Andre Sekera, Tony Lydman, and Spacek as Buffalo's core on defense.

I can live with the combination of offensive, defensive, stay at home, and physical styles of that quartet. Although Chris Butler has had some strong games while up with Sabres, many of his games remind me of the Darryl Shannon/ Mike Wilson defensive pairing in Buffalo long ago.

He needs more time as does Marc Gragnani. Also, I do believe that Mike Weber should be in Buffalo now. Late last season when he was paired with Sekera, he thrived, as did Sekera. Why Buffalo chose not to use that pairing to start this season is a question that will always be left unanswered.

Poor Nathan Paetch has looked better at forward than he has ever looked on defense. Make him a forward with the added value of stepping back on defense if needed. Otherwise, move him. It's evidently clear that Buffalo is in need of a puck moving defenseman who can score.

Wait, I thought we had one of those. Nevermind.

And please Darcy, find someone that has some experience and isn't 80 years old. In my eyes, good-bye Teppo, Hanko, and Paetcho. Hello to anyone who does not fit the above description.

I will be back tomorrow with the task of breaking down the forwards of the Pirates, I mean the Sabres.