Rumor: Four major trades that Sabres failed to pull off this past offseason

The Buffalo Sabres snapped their 13 game losing streak last night in convincing fashion. 

The Sabres managed a 7-1 victory over the New York Islanders and now head into their Christmas Break on a positive note.

Still, clearly there are serious problems with this team. The Sabres are dead last in the NHL's Atlantic Division and fans are calling for serious changes. Tage Thompson, Bowen Byram, Dylan Cozens and Jason Zucker are all reportedly on the trade block, but GM Kevyn Adams has failed to pull the trigger on a significant deal this season. In fact, it's been nearly a year since the Sabres have made any serious moves. The last significant move that the team made was to acquire Byram for Casey Mittelstadt... and now he's rumored to be out the door.

Something's got to give...

The thing is... Adams is working from a disadvantage. And that disadvantage, quite frankly, is that players don't want to play in Buffalo.

And why would they? The team has been awful for an entire generation now. The franchise hasn't done anything to make themselves a destination for quality players.

Sabres insider Mike Harrington of The Bufffalo News reports that Adams tried desperately to acquire Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas this past offseason but he was outbid by both the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Winnipeg Jets. In the end, Necas chose to re-sign with the Hurricanes on a two year deal. Swing and a miss for Adams. Strike one.

Harrington further reports that he believes the Sabres tried to acquire forward Andrew Maniapane from the Calgary Flames before the Flames shipped him to the Washington Capitals. Strike two.

Finally, Adams reportedly tried to acquire Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers but he simply couldn't put together an enticing enough of a deal for Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. Strike three.

So, Adams is out right? Three strikes and you're out? That's how it works, right?

Not quite... not in Buffalo, at least.

Adams maintains that he'll continue to try to improve his team's roster even if they're third last in the NHL. The only two teams worse than the Sabres in the NHL's standings are two teams that are actively trying to be bad for the sake of draft capitals.

Again, something's got to give...