Editors Note:  This was an outstanding fan post and deserved front page recognition.  It is an excellent post about a topic that is very relevant after the Grier signing.  It looks like the Sabres are going to have to make a trade soon.

The much maligned General Manager of the Buffalo Sabres has had his share of highs and lows.  Below I will attempt to look at some of his better moments where Darcy improved the Sabres via a trade.  I will do a follow up of his “worst” trades and may do similar post(s) on free agent signings and draft history of Darcy as well depending on the reception of the trade posts. 

Amazing

Mike Wilson for Rhett Warrener and a 5th round pick

Never mind the fact that the pick became Ryan Miller.  The fact that Darcy somehow convinced Florida that a draft pick was needed in this deal to land Mike Wilson will never cease to amaze me.

Michal Grosek for Doug Gilmour and J.P. Dumont.

Again, the mere fact that Darcy got Dumont thrown into the deal shows that sometimes patience will reward you when the other guy blinks at the deadline.  It also shows that Darcy is serious that he won’t make a trade unless he can get what he wants.  Highway robbery!

Great

Matthew Barnaby for Stu Barnes

A fan favorite who had worn out his welcome, for a leader and strong two way forward.  Great deal for the Sabres.  Also notice that the trade that sent Barnes to the Stars is not on this list…..perhaps I’ll be talking about that trade in another post?

Chris Gratton and a 4th for Daniel Briere and a 3rd

Enough Said

Rhett Warrener and Steve Reinprecht for Chris Drury and Steve Begin

Warrener is a solid player, and it was unfortunate that he had to be included in the deal, but with the exception of a few trades (see above) you have to give something to get something.  It’s unfortunate that the Sabres screwed up by letting Begin slip away as he is a tough player who would look pretty good in a Sabres uniform right now.

Solid

A 5th rounder for Jason Wooley

Any time you trade a fifth round pick for a player who was a contributor for 5 seasons and scored an overtime game winner in game one of the Stanley Cup Finals, this could be classified as a good trade

Jakub Klepis for Mike Grier

A player who didn’t amount to much for a role player and a leader in the locker room.  A gritty forward, who hopefully will be able to provide the leadership to cause some of the immature forwards to grow up during his second stint in Buffalo.

Eric Rasmussen for Adam Mair and a 5th round pick.

Once again, two players who are very similar (although I would argue that Mair is nastier) but Darcy gets a 5th round pick thrown in there.

Mika Noronen for a 2nd round pick – I could go either way on this one.  On the surface, trading a goaltender you picked in the first round for a second round pick appears to be a bad trade.  However, when you realize that Martin Biron was traded for a second round pick (a high one, I know) and that Noronen was the 3rd string goaltender, it would appear the Sabres did OK.  You would ideally like a roster player to help the team, but how many teams are going to trade a player off their roster for a backup goaltender?

3rd round pick for Toni Lydman

He is much maligned recently, but if he had been a Sabres draft pick, I think we would say it was worth the pick.

To be determined

6th round pick for Tim Kennedy

So:

Did I leave anything trades off of this list?

Do you disagree with one of these trades being on the “good Darcy” list?

Did I make a mistake with any of these? (I checked these out the best I can, but it’s possible I didn’t get everything right)

Did any of the draft picks (traded by or to the Sabres) make any of these trades look differently? (I didn't take the time to see what all of the picks turned into, but feel free to do that....maybe I'll do that in a comment later)