Kevin Oklobzija

@kevinoDandC

Within hours of one of the Rochester Americans' most embarrassing losses in years — a 10-5 no-defense, less-care debacle at Ricoh Coliseum to the Toronto Marlies — the parent Buffalo Sabres announced a seven-player trade.

Gone: center Phil Varone, right winger Jason Akeson and defenseman Jerome Leduc.

They were shipped to the Ottawa Senators and immediately assigned to the AHL Binghamton Senators.

In return, defenseman Michael Sdao and forwards Cole Schneider (a Williamsville native), Eric O'Dell and Alex Guptill join the Sabres organization. They should all be Amerks with the possible exception of Guptill, who has been playing for ECHL Manchester.

The question now is: What took so long?

Seriously, this was something, especially in the case of Varone, that needed to be done in December; January at the latest.

That he and Leduc were re-signed was surprise enough over the summer. It was infinitely clear they weren't going to play for Tim Murray's Sabres or Dan Bylsma's Sabres. Yet rather than let them explore new opportunities, Murray opted to tender offers to two players who were stuck in neutral in his organization.

It was especially baffling with Leduc. The Amerks didn't need another puck-moving, offense-first defenseman; they needed someone besides Brady Austin to bring snarl and toughness in the D-zone. They finally get it with Sdao, a guy who loves to hit.

The Amerks, who are a disappointing 26-26-2-1, have paid the price for those July roster decisions. Varone has not been nearly as productive, or demonstrated the same determination, night in and night out, as he was the past four seasons. Not even close.

To be honest, that's just human nature. He played 28 games for the Sabres last season and came to training camp naturally thinking he'd have a chance to be skating in Buffalo again this season. Instead, he was clumped in with the first batch of players dispatched to the Amerks.

Camp had barely begun and already Bylsma told him exactly where he stood.

It took him three months to rebound. Between Nov. 1 and Jan. 1, he produced just 2 goals and 1 assist in 17 games. He was a healthy scratch in three of four games in late December.

The Amerks desperately needed Varone's production, his creativity with the puck, his knack for making things happen in the offensive zone. And since they weren't getting it from him, they needed to get someone who could help.

Yet the Sabres stood pat. And the Amerks continued to flounder in mediocrity. The past three weeks have perfectly defined their season. They lost three straight games on the weekend of Feb. 12-13-14; two losses were by shutout. Last weekend they bounced back with three consecutive victories, including a home win over powerful Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In keeping with their M.O., they did a full-scale bellyflop this weekend, losing 5-1 at Lake Erie on Thursday before the 10-5 masterpiece in Toronto on Saturday.

That was, by the way, the first time an Amerks team had allowed 10 goals since April 6, 2008, the final year of that wonderful shared affiliation between the Sabres and Florida Panthers.

So the Amerks find themselves a long shots to make the playoffs. In other words, just another season of Amerks hockey. They are seven points behind third-place Utica in the North Division. Since it's likely that the fifth-place team in the Atlantic Division will have more points than the fourth place team in the North, the Amerks will need to finish third.

Akeson has produced in the past — 47 goals and 70 assists in 127 games the past two season for the Flyers' AHL affiliate — but was the wrong fit with the Amerks. He's more play-maker than finisher, more perimeter than drive-to-the-net, more dance and dart than crash and bang. The Amerks needed net-front presence and goal-scoring hands, especially since they had the hands of Cal O'Reilly and Varone to set up linemates.

The Amerks have 21 games to make up the deficit. That's plenty of time. The problem is the schedule; 11 are against teams with a .570 points-earned percentage or better. Then again, they need to show they can beat elite teams. Otherwise, what would be the point of even making the playoffs.

KEVINO@Gannett.com

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