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 October 3, 1975 – Jacques Richard from the Atlanta Flames for Larry Carriere and a 1976 first-round pick.
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After making the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 1975 and losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games, Buffalo Sabres GM Punch Imlach was looking for that final piece to put his club over the top, and just before the 1975-76 season traded for talented winger Jacques Richard.
The 22-year-old was a scoring phenom for the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL and teammate of Hall-of-Famer Guy Lafleur who scored 71 goals in his final year of junior. Similar to Sabres star Gilbert Perreault, he was the first draft pick of an expansion franchise, going second overall to the Atlanta Flames in 1972, but unlike Perreault, Richard had difficulty adjusting to the pro game and living in the US.
He scored 27 goals in his second season but slumped to 17 goals in 1974-75, prompting the Flames to Buffalo for defenseman Larry Carriere and a 1976 first-round pick.
The move was not a good fit for the offensively gifted forward, as he could not crack into the Sabres top two lines: the French Connection (Rick Martin, Perreault, and Rene Robert) and Craig Ramsay-Don Luce-Danny Gare. He struggled in his first season with Buffalo, scoring only 12 goals in his first season, and had repeated issues with intoxication, including a DWI in 1976. After scoring only twice in 21 games, he was demoted to AHL Hershey.
Richard played the entire 1977-78 season in the minors but returned to the Sabres in 1978-79 when Imlach and head coach Marcel Pronovost were dismissed. After another year in the minors, new GM Scotty Bowman terminated his contract.
The enigmatic talent signed with his hometown Quebec Nordiques, and playing with Hall-of-Famer Peter and brother Anton Stastny, finally showed his potential with a 103-point (52 goals, 51 assists) season.
Carriere was a journeyman defenseman who played in Vancouver, Los Angeles, and Toronto after playing two seasons with the Flames. The Sabres first-rounder was later traded by Atlanta to Washington, who selected forward Greg Carroll.
This deal was ranked one of the worst based on the Sabres inability to place Richard in a better position in the lineup to take advantage of his talents. Had they done that, another excellent scorer could have made the difference following their run to the Cup in 1975.
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