Derek Roy was traded to the Dallas Stars on July 2nd. Yet, it is July 11th and there are still things that keep popping up that forces the Buffalo Sabres organization to question itself. The Dallas Stars announced on Wednesday that Derek Roy will be shut down until November as he has gone through shoulder surgery. Here is the explanation from Stars’ beat reporter Mike Heika:
Roy was cleared medically for the trade, but upon a more intense physical in Dallas, the shoulder issue came up. Roy hurt himself in the [preseason] last year and played through the injury. His plan was to play through it again, Nieuwendyk said. However, after deliberation with the medical staff and the front office staff, the Stars decided to get the surgery now.
“He played through it before and he could have played through it again, but we want the best Derek Roy we can get,” Nieuwendyk said. “It was a group decision, and we felt this was the best decision.”
So, why exactly should the Sabres be concerned about this decision? If Roy was injured during the preseason, how aware of the injury was the team? The fact that Roy played through it last season means that it most likely affected his performance, which could explain the lack of scoring. Considering that Roy was going to play through the injury this season, the team must have thought that it wasn’t serious enough to shut him down and force him to get the surgery. If Roy was still playing with the team, would the team have made the same decision as Dallas did?
Considering the inordinate amount of injuries the team suffered last season and this current situation, does the team need to take a hard look at their current training staff? With all of the money that Pegula has been throwing around the last year and a half, player’s health would seem to be priority one. That seems to come into question.