Post by Gary Jones on Aug 24, 2005 8:12:13 GMT -5
the Sabres still hope to improve their roster prior to the beginning of the 2005-06 season. The club's chief need is on the blueline, and while Graham points out there's still a few affordable veteran defencemen out there ( Dmitry Yushkevich, Bryan Marchment and Lyle Odelein), Sabres GM Darcy Regier said two weeks ago he'd try to bring in blueline help via trade rather than free agency. Defencemen who've been named in trade rumours of late include Ottawa's Wade Redden, Washington's Brendan Witt and Toronto's Ken Klee. The Sabres could shop one of their excess goaltenders as trade bait, but the market for goalies appears to have dried up for now. The Sabres' payroll presently sits at just over $24 million, and the club is willing to top up to between $27-$29 million, meaning there's room in their budget to spend.