The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington took a look at the Philadelphia Flyers’ suddenly worrisome offseason and concluded that it’s bad news for the Buffalo Sabres.
Most specifically, Harrington believes that high-profile strikeouts by the Flyers and other big market teams could greatly hinder the Sabres’ chances of landing two of the last promising targets: Shane Doan and Bobby Ryan.
It all comes down to the Sabres’ recruiting problem. The word gets around this is a good place to live with a great owner. But it’s not attractive to players who want to win a Stanley Cup -- yet. Are you going to go to Pittsburgh, Philly or New York or come to Buffalo, where the team took a step back and didn’t even make the playoffs last season?
If Regier lands either Doan or Ryan, he’ll be pulling a major rabbit out of his hat. The Flyers, meanwhile, think they darn well better get at least one of them.
Of course, a devil’s advocate might argue that the Sabres’ “recruiting problem” boiled down to getting burnt by splashy moves last summer.