Although the Sabres didn't blow up the team, they totally blew up their approach to players and cost while completely shattering their image as a curmudgeonly tight-wad organization.
Plus they got themselves some pretty good players to fill some holes they had.
Robyn Regehr, Let the Off-season Begin
On June 25, the Sabres finalized a deal with the Calgary Flames: Regehr and former Sabre Ales Kotalik plus a 2012 2nd-round draft pick for Chris Butler and Paul Byron. The deal actually began on June 22nd with Flames GM Jay Feaster proposing a trade with Darcy Regier to alleviate cap-pressure. It took a few days for Robyn Regehr to approve of the trade because of his no-movement clause.
The Regehr trade, as mentioned previously, was huge for the Buffalo Sabres. A quick recap:
- The Sabres had a player with a no-movement clause waive it to go to Buffalo
- Ales Kotalik, who's set to make $3M next season, was part of the trade, yet he and his salary might be off the books via a demotion to Rochester. A Flyers/Rangers-type of move to alleviate cap-pressure.
- Sabres owner Terry Pegula would not be denied and was a big part of convincing Regehr to wave his nmc
- Pegula, his wife Kim and Head Coach Lindy Ruff flew to Saskatchewan to help allay any family fears the Regehr's may have had with the move to Buffalo. This was done during Day-2 of the NHL Draft.
- And, the cool part? GM Darcy Regier got a second-round pick ta-boot.
Onward Towards July 1, the Start of Free Agency
With the draft over and the Regehr deal done, the Sabres turned their attention to the up-coming free-agent market.
This year, they did not wait for a late Day-1 or Day-2, reasonably priced, third-tier player to sign. No Jocylen Thibault, Patrick Lalime, Mike Grier or Rob Neidermayer this time. In fact they didn't even wait for July 1 to jump into the fray.
With the Sabres emboldened by the Robyn Regehr trade, Darcy Regier did something unheard of in Buffalo: traded for the rights to negotiate with an unrestricted free-agent before July 1.
Vancouver d-man Christian Ehrhoff's rights were traded to the NY Islanders on June 28th for a 4th-round pick. When it was clear the the two sides would not come together (the Isles reportedly offering $33M over six years), the Isles traded his rights to Buffalo, for a 4th-round pick.
The Sabres then signed Ehrhoff before he hit free agency to the tune of 10 years, $40M.
All-in-all, the Sabres organization blasted away the past with this move:
- They traded a draft-pick, once considered precious--the life-blood of the organization--just for the right to negotiate with a pending unrestricted free agent.
- That they out in front of almost every organization was a very peculiar phenomenon.
- That they succeeded in reeling in what many considered the second-best pending-unrestricted free agent.
- A ten-year contract, unprecedented in Sabres history.
- The contract being front-loaded with $18M coming in the first two years via bonuses.
- An Ilya Kovalchuk-type finish to the contract where the Sabres spend $1M/year over the final three years of the contract when Ehrhoff will be in his mid-to-latter 30's.
- The fact that they worked the long-term deal to the point where they have a $4M cap-hit.
- An NHL "investigation" into the legitimacy of the 10-year contract.
- Drawing the ire of clubs throughout the league for "circumventing the cap."
- Doing everything within the bounds laid out by the NHL and the NHL Players Association, yet stretching it to its limits.
Such was the desire for the Sabres to have the services of Ehrhoff.
The Sabres Are Players For Brad Richards
A Sabres offer to free agent Brad Richards would be "welcomed with open arms" by the Richards' camp. Or at least it seemed so.
The team, fresh off of upgrading their defense while having an owner with deep pockets and a desire to get things done up-front, set their sights on the "crown-jewel" of the 2011 Free Agent market.
Pegula and Co. were ready to duke it out with the leagues financial heavyweights like Toronto and the NY Rangers,to snag the only superstar-quality player on the market in Richards. Not only had he put up the numbers the last two seasons, but he also has a Cup-ring and Conn Smythe Trophy on his resume'.
Oh, and Richards is a true #1 center, the only one on the market, and one of only a handful in the National Hockey League.
Richards and his agent were holed up in their Mississauga, Ontario offices--Brinks truck by the back-door--waiting for his suitors ala Lebron James last summer.
When it came to the Sabres, Pegula and Regier had a significant offer ready, but the Richards' camp pushed them near the back of the line.
The Sabres did not take kindly to it and bowed out to focus solely on former Philadelphia Flyer, Ville Lieno.
Of note in the Richards episode is the fact that:
- Sabres fans were not accustomed to a legitimate shot (albeit, long-shot) at the NHL's top free agent.
- The team did not feel out of place going after Richards.
- They were willing to go to Mississauga to present their case and offer their deal.
- The Richards camp took the Sabres seriously.
Ville Leino, the "Consolation Prize"
With the writing on the wall concerning Richards, the Sabres bailed, allowing themselves enough time to go after Flyers winger, Ville Leino.
You read that right, Flyers winger.
Another winger when the team really needed a top-two center?
Another winger to join the ranks of Thomas Vanek, Jason Pomminville, recently re-signed Drew Stafford, youngster Tyler Ennis, and trade-deadline acquisition Brad Boyes?
Another winger who's salary would add to the $21.2M combined cap-hit for the aforementioned?
Where's the center?
Turns out that Leino prefers to play center having played wing for two teams--Detroit and Philadelphia--who were deep down the middle.
OK, so it's somewhat of a gamble. Maybe more of a gamble in that he's played all of 149 games scoring a grand total of 30 goals, 19 of them last season.
Actually, it's a huge gamble considering that the Sabres signed him to a 6-year, $27M contract.
Some people around the league are looking at this even more quizzically than the Ehrhoff re-signing, some laughing at the signing, some miffed at the price-tag.
$27M for a winger for a team that was thin at center? $27M for a player with such a limited body of work? $27M for potential?
Twenty-seven Million Dollars?
Sure. Why not? He was the guy they targeted.
But, what the Sabres did by signing Leino was:
- Initiate Plan-B immediately once they decided to bow out of the Richards sweepstakes.
- They brought in what some would consider a top three-to-five free agent this off-season.
- They continued to show that they were hell-bent on bringing in high-quality players to help the team immediately, regardless of the cost.
- Although they may have (probably) overpaid, it mattered not. They wanted him, they went out and got him.
- What they also did with the Leino-signing was put the onus completely on Regier and his scouting staff as well as the coaching ability of Lindy Ruff to make this move work.
This Is Not Your Father's Buffalo Sabres
Fact is, we're not accustomed to having a top-notch player waive his no-movement clause to accept a trade to Buffalo.
Nor are we accustomed to the team pushing the limits of the collective bargaining agreement to sign a player.
Neither are we accustomed to having the highest payroll of any NHL club at one point.
June 22nd thru July 1st will be 10 days to remember in Sabreland.
Although delusions of Stanley Cup grandeur have been held in check for this season, the desire for Pegula and Co. to do what's necessary is a definitive split from the past that should make the Buffalo Sabres a perennial playoff team with the potential to get to the promised land in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment