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).
7. July 24, 2001 – Buffalo acquires center Tim Connolly and winger Taylor Pyatt from the NY Islanders for center Michael Peca
View the original article to see embedded media.
READ ABOUT OTHER SABRES TRADES
Best Trades In Sabres History – #7
The acquisition of Michael Peca in the trade that sent Alexander Mogilny to Vancouver was one of the best moves made in club history, converting a player who no longer wanted to be in Buffalo to someone who became the leader and team captain of the Sabres 1999 squad that made the Stanley Cup Final.
The Selke Trophy winner followed up his career-high 27-goal season in ’99 with his third 20+ goal campaign in 1999-2000, but in spite of his importance to the team, Sabres GM Darcy Regier and Peca’s agent Don Meehan could not come to an agreement on an extension that summer, with the two sides more than $1 million apart, forcing the 27-year-old restricted free agent to hold out the entire 2000-01 season.
The Sabres had begun to dismantle their Cup competitive club in July 2001, trading goalie Dominik Hasek to Detroit in. Just over three weeks later, Regier dealt Peca to the NY Islanders for center Tim Connolly and winger Taylor Pyatt.
Connolly was 20 and Pyatt 19 at the time of the trade and both had been rushed to the NHL by GM Mike Milbury’s poorly run bottom-dwelling Islanders. That early exposure to the league and recurrent injury issues would plague the talented Connolly throughout his eight seasons in Buffalo. He missed the entire 2003-04 season with concussion issues and all but two games in 2006-07 with a herniated disc. In spite of some moments, the talented Syracuse native never scored more than 18 goals in his career and retired at the age of 32 in 2013.
Pyatt spent four seasons in Buffalo, topping out at 14 goals in 2003 before being dealt to Vancouver for a mid-round pick. He posted five straight seasons scoring in double-figures with the Canucks and Phoenix Coyotes and made stops in New York and Pittsburgh before retiring in 2015.
Peca posted a career-high 60 points and led the Islanders to the playoffs in 2002, as well as winning a gold medal for Canada in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, but suffered a serious knee injury in the first-round loss to Toronto. The injury had a detrimental effect on his career. After two more seasons in New York, he was dealt to Edmonton and helped the Oilers reach the Cup Final in 2006. He played one year for the Leafs before finishing out his NHL career with Columbus and retiring in 2009.
LATEST THN BUFFALO STORIES
Sabres Say They Are Ready For Accountability
Ruff Sees Similarities Between Sabres And Former Club
Ruff Hopes To Bring Winning Culture Back To Buffalo
Follow Michael on X @MikeInBuffalo
