Andrej Sekera, Mike Weber and Marc-Andre Gragnani are all one contract removed from their entry-level deals and are looking at the near-future through the lens of Restricted Free Agency.
Oh, and one more thing, all are young defensemen in an organization who's organizational strength lies on the blue-line with more than a few prospects looking to land a job with the Sabres within the next two to three years.
So we start.
And we keep in mind Terry Pegula's edict concerning retaining players, "I wanna keep not only statistically good players, but winners, gritty players."
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| Buffalo Sabres RFA, Andrej "Rej" Sekera may be looking at a new home in the near future. |
Simply put, he's a puck-moving d-man who's looked to for scoring as well. The kid can move the puck out of the zone as good as any other Sabres' d-men and often times would log some big minutes.
When paired with Tyler Myers for a couple of months in the middle of last season, things seemed to really click between the two and many believed that the top-pairing had been found.
Unfortunately, Sekera's defensive short-comings eventually lead to that pair splitting up.
Sekera is scary in his own zone. He can be out-foxed rather easily, isn't difficult to move off of the puck and does not have a physical aspect to his game.
In the offensive zone, he's prone to turn-overs--some resulting in odd-man rushes the other way--and has a penchant for making hasty, poor decisions.
"Rej" is in the vein of Alexei Zhitnik and Dmitri Kalinin, which is to say smooth puck-moving d-men who can log big minutes, are good for 30-40 points, decidedly in the minus of plus/minus, aren't physical and are prone to mental lapses in all three zones.
It's not that I dislike him or his game (for the most part,) but the fact is, the Sabres have one rear-guard in Marc-Andre Gragnani who can move the puck real well, yet is much more solid in his own end and looks as if he could make a big impact with the team next season.
Defense is the Sabres organizational strength as well with "puck-movers" being predominant. AHL All-star, Drew Schiestel, TJ Brennan and former 1st-round pick Dennis Persson have all been plying their trade in the minors and all may have an opportunity to make the big club out of camp this year.
Which leads me to believe that Sekera will probably re-sign a short-term contract, possibly one year, at a reasonable salary ($1.75m?) only to be looked at as trade-bait in the very near future.
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| It doesn't matter who you are, Sabres d-man Mike Weber treats everyone the same on-ice. |
--Mike Weber--The antithesis of "the core," Weber is a tough stay-at-home d-man who plays a rough, physical game, somewhat in the vein of a young Craig Rivet.
Although you shouldn't expect more than minimal offensive numbers, you should expect, and often see, Weber physically removing any impediment in the crease of goalie Ryan Miller. Mess with his goalie, and your gonna pay a price. Just ask Philadelphia Flyer Daniel Carcillo.
He's also not afraid to drop the gloves with the leagues heavyweights as shown when he dropped the gloves with the Ducks' George Parros in the Dec. 21st game.
This is not to say that he's nothing more than a goon on the back-end, incapable of moving the puck out of his zone or is a pylon when it comes to skating because he has shown some pretty slick moves that have surprised more than a few opponents. He's a surprisingly good passer and skater.
Being young and not uber-talented, he's prone to mental errors, but the kid is comfortable with himself and his game and seems to be improving.
Will he end up being a top-pairing d-man?
The jury's still out. It seems as if he's coming close to plateauing into a rock-solid #4/5 d-man.
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| Gotta think that goaltender Ryan Miller loves what Mike Weber brings to the table. |
Back in February I did a piece on him--I like Mike--and mentioned that he's a d-man that they should look to sign for five or six years. And I stick by that because there's only one other d-man in the system that seems to have his grit and attitude--the recently signed junior, Brayden McNabb.
Five years may be a little long, but if the Sabres could do that for a total price of about $8-10M, they should jump at it.
--Marc-Andre Gragnani--Gotta wonder what he'd have looked like had he not injured his knee in training camp.
"Grags" seemed to be a lock to make the Sabres team out of camp before the injury hit and it's safe to say the the offensive d-man with powerplay acumen was going to get a serious look at the point with the man advantage. Until adversity hit. The cool part about Grags' career thus-far is that any and all of his success has been earned.
He spent three years in Portland plying his trade and showing marked improvement every year, culminating with 12 goals and 48 assists for 60 points in 63 games and going a plus-22. He was named and AHL All-star and won the Eddie Shore Trophy for most outstanding d-man in the AHL this past 2010/11 season.
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| Sabres d-man Marc-Andre Gragnani has no problem rounding out his offensive game with a little bit of grit and physicality. |
His performance in a very tough seven-game series vs. the Flyers in the playoffs solidified his standing as a player who has a job to lose next season. He has one goal (pp goal) and six assists (lead the team) for seven points (lead the team.)
In addition, Grags logged over 21 mins of ice-time per game (third on the team) and had an even plus/minus. This being done against, arguably, the most relentless forecheck in the league. Plus, he was not afraid to lay a body on the opposition.
Add it all up and Grags is a keeper with at least top-four potential written all over him.
I see no reason why he shouldn't be on board for at least three years and should come at a very affordable $1.25-1.5M cap-hit.
The Pegula Rewards Program buffalosabresnow list:
GM, Darcy Regier--No
Head Coach Lindy Ruff--Yes
Director of Amateur Scouting Kevin Devine--Yes
UFA Players:
Tim Connolly--No
Steve Montador--No
Mike Grier--Yes, in a front office role
Rob Niedermayer--Yes, if the Sabres are contenders
Cody McCormick--Yes
Matt Ellis--Yes, in two-way contract
Patrick Lalime--No
Mark Mancari--No
RFA Players:
Drew Stafford--Yes
Andrej Sekera--No
Mike Weber--Yes
Marc-Andre Gragnani--Yes
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