On July 11, Ilya Kovalchuk surprised many in the hockey world by retiring from the New Jersey Devils and walking away from the remainder of his ridiculous 15-year, $100 million contract he signed with them a few seasons ago.
With the Devils now left with a gaping hole in their first line on the left wing, the speculation immediately turned to the Buffalo Sabres and their purportedly available star left winger Thomas Vanek.
Now, it's important to state that any talk to this point has been completely speculative and the idea of a N.J.-Buffalo trade has, as far as anyone knows, been the complete product of that rampant speculation.
Yet this is not just everyone grasping at straws.
The Devils have a serious need for a top-line winger now and the Sabres may have one available for them. For the right price, of course.
That is where this speculation starts to hit a wall called reality.
While the deal makes a lot of sense in theory, there are a few considerations that make it much less likely than some would have you believe.
First, the Sabres' initial asking price is likely starting a ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Matt Clouden
Debating a Potential New Jersey-Buffalo Trade for Thomas Vanek
July 13th, 2013 by Matt Clouden Leave a reply »
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