Should Thomas Vanek Go?

Happy Canadien Thanksgiving and USA Columbus Day, puckheads! Seriously, I keep thinking that Thanksgiving Day is both on the same day in Canada and the US. Guess I'm always surprised at the things I hear. Anyway, let's talk about Thomas Vanek and the Buffalo Sabres.

They are the worst team in the league right, sitting at 0-5-1. They have a stench of a team that can't get up and has basically no defense. Ryan Miller looks like nothing out there and that is very well going to hurt his chances for the USA Olympic team. But the story right now for the Sabres is the possibly that they're going to trade Thomas Vanek. The most likely team to get him is the team that they're playing tonight: The Minnesota Wild. Being traded to the Wild means he'll be reunited with Jason Pominville, who also played for the Sabres at the point, and he'll go to a better team with better odds at making the playoffs. Also, Vanek is a pending free agent next summer and he played college hockey for the University of Minnesota.

So the question is: Should Vanek be traded now? I don't think so. There's plenty of hockey left for the Sabres to make a turn-around. And they're going to need Vanek right now if they want to do now. If the Sabres trade Vanek now, they're basically sending a message that they are done for this season and don't want to make a run when it matters the most. They're basically acting like the Jacksonville Jaguars in just trading away their highest-rated players in exchange for the future. I don't think the Sabres should think about their future right now. They need Vanek at this point in time while it still matters. If by chance they still can't turn it around in February or so, then I would think they should consider trading Vanek away. In the meantime, hold on to him and see if he can help the Sabres in the long-run. Right now, they need him more than ever.

The Sabres play the Wild tonight on NBC Sports Network.