Quote:
Originally Posted by Sabretip
My gut feeling is that, despite his preference to get maximum return in any trade, Regier will feel that it would be far worse to hold onto him because:
1) the Ruff-Roy relationship is too strained to risk dissension or chemistry issues spilling over to the locker room next season - especially with so many of the team's other core players being fellow alumni of Rochester; and
2) Roy's pending UFA status next summer will make his trade value during the season even less than it is now since any interested teams would think they could just sign him next summer, rather than give up an asset for him - and if Roy underachieves again next season, the Sabres will once again be forced to let a free agent walk without getting anything of value back.
For those two reasons, I can see Regier looking for the best offer he can get this summer - before training camp begins - and accepting it, just to get something back for Roy and eliminate the likely distractions that the Roy-Ruff relationship and trade rumors will fuel.
I also got the sense from his interviews after the season that Regier, while clearly wanting to get another center, isn't that scared with a duo of Ennis-Hodgson in the mix.
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The "Ruff-Roy" stuff is overblown. Roy didn't say anything that wasn't in the minds of other players, and he didn't make any dramatic stand about what he said, AND Ruff even apologized for calling out the team the way he did. Nothing to see here folks...nothing to see here.
This past trade deadline Roy was hard to move BECAUSE he still had another year left on his contract. Teams making a trade to bolster a playoff push prefer a pending UFA, not the other way around. They don't want to get hampered by additional years of committment to a player, they just want him for a playoff run. That's why Roy will have a better market later in the season, not this summer.