Buffalo's Plan B of acquiring Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn allows the team to go deep in the playoffs, while also saving some cap space to re-sign pending UFA Alex Tuch.
Call it a blessing in disguise, if you'd like.
But the Buffalo Sabres might have dodged a $6.5-million bullet when St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko refused to waive his no-trade clause and accept a move to Buffalo on Thursday.
That is, after you move past the initial embarrassment.
Hearing that Parayko didn't want to go to Buffalo had to hurt and only confirms what former GM Kevyn Adams had said about the city lacking "palm trees" to compete with the more desirable locations around in the NHL.
Essentially, Parayko was saying that he'd rather remain on a non-playoff team over one that is two points out of first place in the Atlantic Division. Whatever you think of his decision, Parayko has the right to make that choice.
And while it must have been a blow to Sabres fans, players and management, credit goes to GM Jarmo Kekalainen for quickly moving on and going to Plan B, which meant acquiring defensemen Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn from the Winnipeg Jets in a package for picks and prospects.
In this case, Plan B might prove to be even be better than Plan A.
Neither Stanley nor Schenn will ever be confused with Parayko. But squint hard enough, and you might not notice much of a difference — at least for what Buffalo is looking for this season.
Remember, this is a team that already has Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson as its top defense pairing and Owen Power and Bowen Byram as its second pair. They didn't need another top-four defenseman.
What they needed was depth, size and someone who could help the penalty kill.
That's where Stanley and Schenn come in.
By themselves, neither will do what Parayko can do. But combined, they offer a pretty solid alternative.
Parayko, who is 6-foot-6 and 228 pounds, has one goal and 14 points. Stanley, who is 6-foot-7 and 231 pounds, has scored nine goals and 21 points this season.
Parayko has delivered 67 hits this season, while the 6-foot-2 and 225-pound Schenn has delivered 139 hits (Stanley has delivered 96).
So, the Sabres are getting someone who is bigger and another who is more physical.
Parayko's biggest asset is on the penalty kill, where he is averaging 2:37 per game. Stanley and Schenn, meanwhile, have combined for 2:17 per game.
The best part? Unlike Parayko, who has four more years remaining on a contract, Stanley and Schenn are both cheap rentals. That's good news for a team that needs to sign Alex Tuch in the summer.
They might even have some money leftover to sign a big-name defenseman. And while Buffalo doesn't have palm trees, depending on how the Sabres' playoff run goes, the just might change some minds and could have free agents lining up wanting to play there.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.