Buffalo Sabres General Manager Tim Murray spoke to the media at the KeyBank Center soon after the trade deadline passed with the team not getting involved in the trading activity today.
(Note that the comments below are paraphrased from my listening of the press conference, I apologize for any errors there)
GMTM: “I’m not asking for time from you guys. I have a plan. Today was a small little speedbump.” #Sabres pic.twitter.com/iTrCQsxiiU
— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) March 1, 2017
On the overall failure to make any trades –
Murray said he made a lot of calls, trying to trade away a couple of players. He also tried to make some hockey trades and get younger, but got nothing.
On if anyone was untouchable –
Murray says he took every call on every player.
On Brian Gionta possibly leaving –
He spoke to Brian Gionta after he got one call, but he wanted to stay.
GMTM said that he took calls on Gionta but didn’t trade him. Here’s why #Sabres @WKBW pic.twitter.com/jHeqyYw5y6
— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) March 1, 2017
On how he failed two trade away UFAs Dmitri Kulikov and Cody Franson for anything –
Murray said he wasn’t able to deal away UFAs for picks. Had some calls on two dmen, was open on price.
Had one call late, comparable to Detroit’s 2nd and 3rd for Brendan Smith, but didn’t work out. He definitely didn’t miss out because he demanded too much.
“I had a lot of calls on Kulikov, and I didn’t ask too much. Multiple guys said, ‘That’s a fair price’.
“I know injuries are not an excuse and I’m not supposed to use that, but that came up a lot in the conversations.”
He also said that he was not a hard-ass and was only looking to be fair, didn’t look to fleece anyone.
Murray ended that bit saying he didn’t want to talk too much about the two UFAs because they remain on the team and didn’t want to hurt them.
“Am I disappointed? Of course I’m disappointed. We still have two players who are here, so I don’t want to sit here and just say I couldn’t get anything for them.
I don’t want them to walk in tomorrow with their tail between their legs.”
On calls for Evander Kane –
Couple of teams called on Kane. He said he wasn’t actively trying to trade him, but was willing to listen. Wasn’t blown away by the offers, so he turned them down.
Murray also said he wouldn’t be against re-signing Kane as well.
“There’s a lot of bridges to cross before that time. But would I be open to it, in a scenario where a couple of things he has going on off the ice go away and stuff like that, absolutely.”
On the effect the expansion trade has had on trades –
Not sure if the expansion trade has affected the market in general, today was the quietest deadline day since he came to Buffalo.
On the level of frustration over the team’s performance –
“I think there’s a part of the fan base here that thinks we’re going in the right direction, then I think there’s a part of the fan base that wants to see it done quicker. I understand that, but nothing good in life comes quickly.”
Click on the link in the tweet below for the full audio from the press conference
The full audio from Tim Murray’s trade deadline press conference is now available at the Sabres Digital Press Box. https://t.co/iOgNs5mRcq
— Sabres PR (@SabresPR) March 1, 2017