Buffalo, NY - The Buffalo Sabres added Steve Yzerman on Saturday night after a trade with Carolina. Buffalo offered up two picks in the 2005 draft (a late 2nd and a late 3rd) however Buffalo GM Jason Fisher was pleased with the deal.
"It was a lot more than I wanted to give up, however it was still a deal i felt we needed to make. We have been beaten handedly and I wanted to get a player to strengthen our weakest positino, which was center. We know hoave three solid centers in Briere, Drury and Yzerman. I felt going into the season we can make the playoffs, and this move should only help us in that respect. Steve has been in numerous high pressure games, and he should help us a ton."
The Buffalo lines for tonight's game against Atlanta should look like this:
Satan-Briere-Kotalik
Hecht-Drury-Grier
Brashear-Yzerman-Dumont
Worrell-Mair-Ray
Zhitnick-MacInnis
Kalinin-McKee
Tallinder-Patrick
Bob Boughner is out of the game, he is recovering from a fractured skull suffered in the Sabres 2nd game against the Kings, when Klatt checked him from behind. Trent Klatt was ejected from the game and recieved a 4 game suspension from the league. Early on friday night, the Sabres also traded D Brad Brown to Detroit, for a 3rd round draft pick. The Sabres were 9 deep in NHL level talented defenseman and felt they could afford to lose Brown. This move helps soften the blow of the loss of 2 picks for Yzerman.