In the month of August and early September, 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).
7. March 5, 1972 – Sabres acquire winger Rene Robert from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Eddie Shack
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READ ABOUT OTHER SABRES TRADES
Best Trades In Sabres History – #8
Worst Trades In Sabres History – #8
While Punch Imlach’s drafting of Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, and Jim Schoenfeld with his first three first-round picks and other solid contributors (Craig Ramsay, Bill Hajt, Peter McNab) in the lower rounds was a large part of the talent assemblage that led the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Final in five seasons, his astute trades made Buffalo a more complete team.
The Sabres acquired starting goalie Roger Crozier and center Don Luce in two separate deals with the Detroit Red Wings and added defenseman Jerry Korab in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks, but one of the most impactful deals in club history was the swap with the Pittsburgh Penguins of veteran winger Eddie Shack for Rene Robert in 1972.
The 35-year-old Shack was a four-time Cup winner with Imlach in Toronto and after being acquired from Los Angeles in November 1970 finished second behind Perreault in scoring with 25 goals. Robert was an undrafted free agent signed by Imlach with the Leafs in 1968 and scored regularly in the minors for three years before making his debut in the NHL in 1970.
Imlach first tried to obtain Robert by claiming him in the 1971 NHL Intra-League Draft but he was claimed from the Sabres by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nine months later, after scoring only seven goals in 49 games with the Pens, GM Jack Riley traded the 23-year-old winger to the Sabres.
The trade was an immediate success for Buffalo, who plugged him in on the right side with fellow Quebec natives Martin and Perreault to form the famed French Connection. Robert scored 40 goals in two of his first three seasons, a career-high 100 points in 1974-75, and 222 goals over eight seasons before being traded to Colorado in 1979 and finishing his career with the Leafs.
Shack averaged over a point-per-game to finish out the 1972 season and scored 25 goals for Pittsburgh the following year, before returning to Toronto in 1973 and retiring in 1975.
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