The Buffalo Sabres are ready and willing to trade Chris Stewart. After Stewart was used as a healthy scratch, the writing was more or less on the wall that the club was prepared to move on. This rumor has been around for several weeks, but some more fuel was added to the fire in a new Pierre LeBrun column.
“Chris Stewart was a healthy scratch Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings, and he hasn’t played very well this season.
Still, there are teams who look at the pending unrestricted free-agent winger and wonder if he wouldn’t play better on a better club. Chris Stewart has just three goals and one assist in 27 games this season. One thing’s for sure: Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray has let it be known that he’s willing to move Stewart any time, but he’s waiting for a fair offer.”
What’s a fair offer for Stewart? That’s in the eye of the beholder, but Stewart’s value is arguably at it’s lowest. He has just four points (three goals and one assist) through 27 games. He’s displaying a lot of the characteristics which made him an expendable option for the St. Louis Blues. Stewart looks sluggish on the ice and isn’t playing with much physicality. These two reasons (and many others) made the decision to use him a healthy scratch an easy one.
It sounds like the Sabres want to move Stewart, but they may have to lower their asking price. Stewart has now failed to impress over the last two years and it looks like another team is giving up on him. A deal is going to have to come at a very affordable cost for another team to take a chance.
