Tim Murray is a smart guy and the Sabres are clearly still in something of a rebuild mode. But given the moves this weekend, the end-date on that was moved up considerably.
People who would consider the Sabres “contenders” headed into next season are currently using a new and interesting definition of the word, but there's no doubt at all that this is a roster which has been significantly improved in a very short period of time. And how it all came together was genius.
That, by the way, is the benefit of doing what Murray did since he took the job: Trading everything that isn't nailed down, and some stuff that is, gets you a lot of draft picks and prospects.