Hindsight on the Zubrus - Novotny trade

Only half a year after the trade, neither Zubrus nor Novotny are playing with either of the teams involved in the trade, and nobody knows where Timo Helbling is playing this season. As such it seems the only long term asset was the first round draft pick Buffalo gave up to Washington. At this point it looks as if the Sabres got the worse end of the bargain, giving up a good draft pick and Jiri Novotny for a player that they were unable to resign to a long term deal. At the time it didn't look to bad as Zubrus is a great player and looked likely to resign, while Novotny seemed easily replaceable by Stafford of Paille. Even if the Capitals didn't want to resign Novotny (now with Columbus) doesn't mean that the Sabres couldn't use him. He no longer looks so replaceable with either Michael Ryan or Peters likely to take his spot, and while the Sabres still have a great lineup, they are lacking the depth behind their top 20 that they could really use. Funny how a trade can go downhill so much in so short of a time frame...