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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- These arent sunny days for the Buffalo Sabres. Theyre off to an NHL-worst 2-10-1 start, have two players currently suspended and Sunday night traded star scorer Thomas Vanek to the New York Islanders. But longtime general manager Darcy Regier doesnt want to consider himself under pressure, despite his current situation. "I dont do well with that word," Regier said. "I think theres a better word. Is it a bigger challenge? Yeah. Id substitute the word challenge for pressure." As far as challenges go, its a monumental one. Regier is in the midst of trying to rebuild a roster around a young core without losing the support of fans, ownership and his veteran players. Trading Vanek was another step in that process, which could include shipping out franchise goaltender Ryan Miller and others before the March trade deadline. Its up to Regier get the best return out of such moves. "If youre under so much pressure, its paralysing, so you cant operate that way," he said. "You have to operate as though its a challenge and its something that you have to get done as a part of our team thats working on this. And you have to find the enjoyment in doing your work." Its not enjoyable for Regier or any man in his position to hear home fans chanting for him to be fired. But with Buffalo in the Atlantic Division basement after failing to qualify for the playoffs the past two years, that frustrated sentiment is certainly expected. Lindy Ruff, who coached the Sabres for 14 full seasons before being fired in the middle of 2013, gets it. "I understand where theyre at," said Ruff, whose Dallas Stars were in Buffalo to face the Sabres on Monday night. "Its tough to see where the team is at in the standings, but I watch how these players play and how some of the young players play and I think theres a lot of promise there." Its a long rebuild, and one Vanek told reporters in Uniondale, N.Y., that he didnt really want to be a part of. Regier knew Vanek would not re-sign, so he took a major step toward the future by acquiring winger Matt Moulson, a first-round pick in 2014 and a second-rounder in 2015 from the Islanders. "I dont want to show any lack of respect to our fans, but internally its just doing the work and focusing on what our plan is and trying to execute it as well and as soon as possible," he said. "I dont love where we are. I love what were doing and I believe in the direction were going in." That plan includes stockpiling draft picks. The Sabres have 17 first- or second-round picks from 2012 through 2015, the most in their history, something that is by design. Buffalos two first-round picks from 2012, Mikhail Grigorenko and Zemgus Girgensons, and 2013, Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov, are all getting NHL experience right now. Thanks to the trades of Vanek to the Islanders, Jason Pominville to the Minnesota Wild and Robyn Regehr to the Los Angeles Kings, the Sabres have two first-round picks and three second-rounders in Junes draft, and one first and three thirds in 2015. "With where our hockey club is the first and second-round picks are important," Regier said. "Whether we use the picks to select players at the draft or whether we use them to continue to improve the hockey club as we go forward through this season is yet to be determined." Its also yet to be determined how many early picks the Sabres will have by the time theyre done dealing. Like Vanek, Moulson is a pending unrestricted free agent, so its very realistic to think he goes to a contender by the deadline in exchange for more selections and/or prospects. Moulson isnt worrying about that right now, preferring a "day-to-day" approach. "Being from Mississauga Im well-acquainted with Buffalo. I used to love coming to Bills games," he said. "Its a great city and who knows, it could be for a long time. Well see what they have in store." Of course the biggest question surrounding the Sabres roster has to do with Miller, the 33-year-old goalie who has been a franchise cornerstone since he became the starter in 2005-06. Miller is in the final season of a US$31.25-million, five-year deal and figures to generate significant interest in the trade market. "I think any time a player plays better, you get more and when he plays poor, you get less," Regier said. "I think that will happen. I think its obviously good for our organization, its great for Ryan and it means a lot." Miller has a no-trade clause that allows him to block a move to eight teams. Asked if he had received any inquiries about Miller, Regier said: "I probably talk to a third of the league of my counterparts on a weekly basis. You end up talking about a lot of things." Impending free-agents Steve Ott, Cody McCormick and Henrik Tallinder could be talked about, too. What the Vanek trade showed is that the Sabres are open for business, and players know it. "Everybodys job is kind of up in the air right now," said Ott, who became the full-time captain after the trade. "I dont think anybody has a free pass in trying to rebuild and I guess you could say restructure the whole organization and thats something right now we can only control what you can control as a player, and thats something Im planning on continuing to preach to the team." Regier said its "too early" to know what value veterans could have in the coming months. "Teams, I think theyre dealing with a very heavy October schedule, which is a little bit unusual that were getting because of the Olympics," he said. "There are quite a few injuries around the league, so in some cases theyre waiting for players to get back, get healthy and get back before they start to assess what their needs are. But I would also say that theres probably more conversations now than there have been in the past." Regiers focus is on getting younger and relying on his scouting staff to find the next-generation versions of Vanek, Pominville, Regehr and others. Its very different from the task of building and retooling a playoff team. "Its a process that you work through," Regier said. "And it is exciting when you can get young players and you can see them grow. The hard part is when you dont win games while theyre growing, and it makes it difficult. But the nature of this business is short-term pressures and its a long-term plan that is going to get it done." Alvin Kamara Womens Jersey . First, the Red Wings scored the tying goal after officials missed the puck hitting the protective netting, then the Kings wound up losing in a shootout. That could affect playoff positioning in the Eastern and Western Conferences, and thats a concern for everyone. Erik McCoy Womens Jersey . -- Wide receiver Sidney Rice should be fully recovered from a torn knee ligament by the time the Seattle Seahawks start defence of their Super Bowl title, general manager John Schneider said Wednesday. http://www.authenticsaintssportsonline.com/saints-ted-ginn-jr-gold-jersey/ . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. Alvin Kamara Jersey . Matt Carkner got back into the Ottawa lineup, and made his presence felt right away by settling his clubs score in a one-sided fight with Rangers forward Brian Boyle. Rickey Jackson Jersey . Terrance Broadway threw for 227 yards and Hunter Stover kicked three field goals as the Ragin Cajuns won an unprecedented fourth straight New Orleans Bowl with a 16-3 triumph over Nevada. OTTAWA -- There has been very little room for error for the Ottawa Senators over the past couple of weeks, but now, there is none. Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist as the New York Islanders earned a 2-1 win over Ottawa Wednesday, leaving the Senators five points out of a playoff spot with just five games to play and four teams ahead of them. "We knew they were a desperate team and we knew it was going to be a tough game." Bailey said. "They came at us pretty hard." Bailey scored a power-play goal in the first period, and assisted on the winning goal from Casey Cizikas midway through the third, when he outwaited Senators goaltender Craig Anderson and slid the puck into the crease from behind the goal-line for Cizikas. The win was the third straight and fifth in six games for the Islanders (31-35-10), who were helped by a 35-save performance from rookie Anders Nilsson. Ryan Strome chipped in with two assists. Milan Michalek scored the lone goal for the Senators (32-30-14), on the power play 6:41 into the third period to tie the game 1-1. That goal game exactly 110 minutes after the last Senators goal, with the exception of a shoot-out goal in Mondays 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Michalek was at the side of the Islanders goal when he jammed a loose puck past Nilsson with four bodies lying in the crease. "I thought I had a glove on it but its tough. It was so fast and it was tough for me to know and tough for the ref to see," Nilsson said of the goal. "Those goals happen. They did a good job crashing the net and the puck came loose so credit to them. "We battled hard and everyone stuck up for each other. Everybody is doing a hell of a job and battling hard and thats why we keep on winning." The loss snapped a three game winning streak for the Senators. They had also recorded points in five straight games going into Wednesday. "We didnt score goals and youre not going to win hockey games when you dont score goals," Senators defenceman Marc Methot said. "Its deflating, for sure. Itts funny because I thought we played pretty good hockey.dddddddddddd We just couldnt bury it when we had opportunities and it sucks in terms of the atmosphere in the room. We were riding a pretty nice high despite our situation in the standings. "When youre stringing together wins at any point in the season it feels good so were going to keep rolling and keep trying to get wins." Bailey had the only goal through 40 minutes of play, beating Anderson with a snap shot from the face-off circle 17 minutes into the first period. "We played a really solid game five-on-five and the difference was special teams," said Anderson, who finished with 25 saves. "Thats the way this game is and some nights, youre going to generate lots of opportunities on the power play and some nights youre not. That was the difference-maker tonight." The Senators had managed to kill off a 34 second five-on-three disadvantage but were unable to escape the back end of the two penalties unscathed. It wasnt the only opportunity on special teams for the Islanders, either. Cal Clutterbuck was unable to cash in on three short-handed opportunities. Clutterbuck was stopped by Anderson on a short-handed breakaway early in the first period, and later in the period, with an open net to shoot at, he slid the puck through the crease and along the goal-line. Clutterbuck had another short-handed breakaway, this time in the dying seconds of the third period, but his shot sailed over the Ottawa net. Notes: Defenceman Jared Cowen and forwards Bobby Ryan, Jason Spezza and Colin Greening are all injured and did not play Wednesday for the Senators. Defencemen Radek Martinek, Lubomir Vishnovsky and Brian Strait and forwards Kyle Okposo, Eric Boulton and Michael Grabner did not play for the Islanders a The Senators have not won five straight this season a The Senators close out a five-game homestand Friday when the host the Montreal Canadiens a The Islanders are 13-4-2 in their past 20 road games a Wednesday was the 400th game of Baileys career. ' ' '