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Sabres GM Regier making trade calls; Ehrhoff to return tonight

Darcy Regier

Buffalo Sabres general manager Darcy Regier talks during an NHL hockey news conference in Buffalo, N.Y., Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was hurt during a puck-chase drill as Jordan Leopold was trying to cut off forward Ville Leino Monday Feb. 6, 2012. Ruff was standing in the middle of the ice looking the other way when Leopold lost his footing and went sliding head first and crashed into the back of his coach’s skates. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

AP

It’s been busy in Buffalo lately on both the injury and speculation front.

To the latter -- speculation! -- Sabres GM Darcy Regier told ESPN.com he’s making calls around the league, looking to make a deal in the hope of snapping Buffalo out of its 3-6-1 start to the season.

More: Sabres GM Regier: “Lindy is the guy”

""I’ve talked to some GMs the last few days,” Regier said. “It’s a pretty quiet market right now. A number of teams have very small things they want to do, quite honestly, with the hope that whether it’s with their players or our players, they’re going to get them on track because of their previous history of them being a lot better.”

It’s obvious Buffalo needs to improve its defensive play -- they’re allowing nearly four goals per game -- and that improvement could come from within as injured blueliners return to action.

It also might have to come from within.

ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reports it “appears to be a soft trade market” at the moment, with defensemen at a premium.

Wade Redden found work quickly after being bought out by the Rangers, and Detroit signed 33-year-old Kent Huskins -- unattached to start the year -- after a rash of injuries depleted its defense.

Speaking of defensemen, Christian Ehrhoff returns from injury tonight to face the Habs after missing Tuesday’s game in Ottawa with a undisclosed muscle strain.

It’s unclear who he’ll play with on defense because, as alluded to earlier, Buffalo’s a mess injury-wise.

Andrej Sekera and Robyn Regehr are both out with ankle injuries (though head coach Lindy Ruff said both could return by the weekend), and the Buffalo News projects it’ll be Ehrhoff, Mike Weber, Jordan Leopold, Alex Sulzer, Adam Pardy and Tyler Myers on defense, with T.J. Brennan the odd man out.

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