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How did the Sabres do at the NHL Trade Deadline?

So the NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and the Buffalo Sabres remain relatively unchanged. While most of the trades and deals were sealed in the days leading up to the Monday 21st March deadline, the day itself also saw a flurry of activity leading up 3pm and then after that too as news of already-completed deals kept trickling out in the hours afterwards.

Fans of the Sabres will not be worrying too much about learning new names after the trade deadline with General Manager Kevyn Adams making just the one trade, defenseman Robert Hagg getting shipped off to Florida Panthers who are desperately trying to replace their injured figurehead Aaron Ekblad. The Sabres get a sixth round pick in return in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

Buffalo were always expected to be sellers as we play out yet another season with no postseason hockey on the horizon, but there were no cap-relief type of deals either as the Sabres refused to take on salary from cap-strapped teams.

Speaking after the deadline, the GM indicated that he was quite happy with how the young roster is starting to come together and gelling into some kind of positive form while developing a culture – when was the last time Buffalo was over even .300 in March?

It’s not like the Sabres were not picking up the phones, with Adams indicating that he was in talks for some three-team deal that didn’t work out. Colin Miller was expected to be the biggest piece we could move, but his recent injury history certainly played a part against any interest in him. Which left Robert Hagg as the only player to be moved, and that open roster spot should mean we see Owen Power up in Buffalo next season too.

So with that said, how do you think the Sabres and Adams did on NHL Trade Deadline Day? Was it the right thing to sit pat and continue to build the team we have right now? Or should he have dropped his demands to clear out some players like Miller? Grade the GM below and leave a comment on why you voted like you did.

Grade GM Kevyn Adams on the Sabres’ NHL Trade Deadline activity

A – Didn’t come off as an easy mark, Sabres had little of value to trade away 291
B – Opening a d-man roster spot was priority, could have gotten more picks 210
C – Didn’t do enough to move Miller, got fleeced on Hagg, but meh otherwise 132
D – Should have cleared out more players, even if it was for 6th and 7th rounders 79
F – Got his priorities all wrong, needed to start using picks to get veterans now 13