Sabres might not fire sale, but Miller, Vanek, Pominville aren’t untouchable

Last week, Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier said that he wasn’t in “a blow-it-up mindset” as the April 3 trade deadline gets closer. At the same time, he clarified to NHL.com that he’s willing to consider just about any trade that might benefit his team.

No one is off the table. Regier is even willing to trade goaltender Ryan Miller and top forwards Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek if he thinks it will benefit his team in the long run.

All of those players are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2014.

“I don’t think it’s a case of making players available or not available; it’s that you’re trying to improve the club and the focus goes beyond this season,” Regier said. “It’s that simple, so you have to be open to anything that’s going to do that.”

Buffalo has won two straight games and clearly at least some of their players are still talking publicly about fighting for a playoff spot.

If they stay strong over these next two weeks then that will likely have an impact on what Regier does. However, if a buyer wants to make a major trade on a player that will be more than just a rental, it sounds like Regier will at least hear them out.