In the month of August, as the news in the hockey world slows to a crawl, we will be taking a look at the most consequential deals in Buffalo Sabres history (using the Hockey News Archives as source material) and ranking the 15 best and the 15 worst deals in the club’s 54-year history.
This required the input of a trio of veteran media members (Dave Reichert, Randy Schultz, and Pete Weber), as well as three lifetime Sabre fans (Chuck Bender, Todd Riniolo, and Joe Schwartz).
13. – July 3, 2003 – Chris Drury and Steve Begin from the Calgary Flames for Rhett Warriner and Steve Reinprecht.
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The Sabres after making the Stanley Cup Final in 1999 and the postseason the following two seasons faltered with the departure of Dominik Hasek in 2001. Buffalo missed the playoffs the next two seasons and head coach Lindy Ruff was looking for some leadership and offensive punch in the club’s top-six group.
GM Darcy Regier in an effort to shake up his squad traded 2002 first-rounder Keith Ballard (who was in his junior season at the University of Minnesota) to Colorado for center Steve Reinprecht, and then quickly flipped him along with defenseman Rhett Warrener to the Calgary Flames for center Chris Drury and forward Steve Begin.
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Reinprecht had a solid 11-year NHL career with Los Angeles, Colorado, Calgary, Phoenix, and Florida, scoring in double figures eight times. Warrener was acquired by the Sabres in 1999 and helped in their run to the Final and was a solid stay-at-home defenseman who finished off the final four years of his career with the Flames.
Begin never played for Buffalo, as he was placed on waivers at the start of the 2003 season and was claimed by Montreal. The rugged forward played 524 career games with the Habs, Dallas, Boston, Nashville, and finishing with Calgary in 2013.
Drury had a winning pedigree going back to his childhood, winning the Little League World Series in 1989, the Hobey Baker Award at Boston University, the Calder Trophy in 1999, and a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2001.
#OTD in 2007 Chris Drury scores with 7.7 seconds remaining to give Buffalo a 1-1 tie against the Rangers in game 5 of their Eastern Conference Playoff series. Max Afinogenov scores at 4:39 of OT on the power play and the Sabres take a 3-2 series lead. pic.twitter.com/cuV7bguO0u
— ThisDateInBuffaloSportsHistory (@BuffSportsHstry) May 4, 2023
After missing the playoffs in 2004 and the NHL lockout in 2005, that pedigree came to the forefront for the Sabres in 2006 and 2007, as Drury put up the two best offensive years of his career (30 and 37 goals) and led Buffalo to two Eastern Conference Finals and a President’s Trophy in 2007.
Unfortunately, Drury’s stay in Buffalo was short-lived, as the club could not keep him or Daniel Briere from leaving via unrestricted free agency. Briere signed with Philadelphia and Drury signed a five-year deal with the NY Rangers. He performed well for two seasons in New York but faded in the final two years because of a degenerative knee issue.
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