Rome Wasn't Built in a Day

It's amazing to think about the waiting game that we as Sabres fans were playing during the Suter and Parise sweepstakes that went on beginning July 1st. The whole league was really. The choices of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise were going to set the market and allow for the trading to begin. Sports pundit logic followed that once Suter and Parise's deals were done, Rick Nash would get traded. Then once the most available trade bait was off the table, the slightly less available Bobby Ryan would be able to be traded for by the Buffalo Sabres (or anyone else in the league, but let's be serious, we're more interested in the Sabres here).

After a long wait, the first domino fell; Suter and Parise were both signed by the Minnesota Wild. But then a funny thing happened; absolutely nothing. The Nash deal didn't happen, nor anything else on a large scale. Even Shane Doan has yet to decide on what team to sign with, torn between his desire to stay in Phoenix and his need for stability. With the market stagnant, the Sabres did what it seems like everyone locally was waiting for them to do and moved Derek Roy to the Dallas Stars in exchange for the gritty Steve Ott. 

Then came word of a massive contract offer from the Eastern Conference for Shane Doan with some conjecture that it is possible that the Sabres had made that offer. It sounded ridiculous, utterly and completely so, until the other shoe dropped; A report from Elliott Friedman of the CBC stated that the Sabres had offered the Wild's wonder twins up to $100,000,000 to play at the First Niagara Center. A move that would brashly make use of the deep pockets of owner Terry Pegula and let Darcy Regier figure the rest out. 

This changes everything. It may not seem like it does, seeing as the aforementioned whales didn't land with the Sabres. It means that no one on this team is safe. Don't get me wrong; in my head I have a list of players (namely Myers and Ehrhoff) that are essentially untouchable. But let's imagine for a moment that Ryan Suter and Zach Parise are Buffalo Sabres. Then we have an overwhelming abundance of quality defenders. Then, all those deals for top superstars, the ones that start with "We want Tyler Myers," the ones that we all figure Darcy would immediately hang up on, may become possible.

Can you imagine, for a moment, the Sabres starting the season with a line of Thomas Vanek, Ryan Getzlaf and Zach Parise? 

This all means that the Sabres can do just about anything. It reaffirms thoughts of making big deals and making this team something that we can not just hope, but expect to be in the conversation to challenge for Division, Conference and Stanley Cup Championships. And for that, I can be patient. I don't want to make a deal for the sake of making one. I want there to be a big deal. I expect a big deal. But I know that Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither are Stanley Cup Champions.