With training camp set to begin next week, slowly but surely players are making their way to Buffalo.
Two veterans, Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek, have arrived. The pair are in the last year of their respective contracts and will be facing questions about trades and contract extensions all season until either a trade or extension is consumated.
Which is reminiscent of former Sabre Brian Campbell's situation back in the 2007-08 season.
Jon Vogl of the Buffalo News tracked down Campbell to discuss Miller and Vanek's situation and what he went through.
'I felt fine [for most of the season,] then the last few games before [the trade deadline] that I think it weighed on my mind pretty heavily,' Campbell said. 'I didn’t play very good the last couple games because mentally I wasn’t in it.'
The difference between Campbell and Miller/Vanek is that Campbell wanted to stay.
Both Miller and Vanek are playing their cards close to the vest for now and are looking at it as an emotionless business decision on the parties involved.
Just how long that will last remains to be seen.
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Vogl pens a piece on Vanek and the star winger delves into the past and present while admitting that he's not surprised to still be with the team.
Alluding to the 2005-07 teams, Vanek said, '[our] teams in the past we’ve had, we had off nights and we would still win. I don’t think that’s going to happen too much anymore.' As for where the Sabres are now, 'Whoever makes our team, we won’t be favored by anyone.'
Vanek, in his business-like approach to the season, will be using his status as an unrestricted free agent at year's end to assess the situation in Buffalo and decide what's best for him on his side of the equation. The Sabres, of course, will be deciding what's best for the team on their end.
Said Vanek on the upcoming season, 'I just want to see where it goes. I have that right, and I’m taking it. I don’t feel like I’m doing a disservice to anyone. Some people might agree with me, some don’t. That’s the way it goes either way.'
Back in 2007, Vanek also had the right to sign Edmonton's 7yr./$51M offer sheet, which he did.
It's a business. He knows it and has known it.
Was he surprised that he's presently slated for the Sabres camp next week?
'No, not at all,' he said. 'My end-of-the-year meeting was good. I just said my thoughts. I never asked for a trade, so from that point on I’m not surprised that I’m still here. But at the same time, if they would have moved me, I wouldn’t have been surprised either way.'
I'd be surprised if Vanek was a Buffalo Sabre after the deadline. Opportunity is knocking. He could very well be looking for one of those teams who can have an off night and still win and be paid a handsome sum on said team.
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What do Toronto's Nazem Kadri, Ottawa's Jared Cowen, the Ranger's Derek Stephan and Buffalo's Cody Hodgson all have in common?
They're all talented players coming off of their entry level contracts looking for a big raise after playing at a high level last season. And they're all unsigned as of yet.
As for Hodgson, he believes that he and the Sabres "[will] get something done."
Vogl quotes Hodgson as saying 'I like it here [in Buffalo],' and the 23 yr. old center points to the way Drew Stafford and Tyler Ennis came off of their entry level deals.
'[Stafford] told me he was just about going on the ice when he signed his contract,” Hodgson said. “I know Ennis was right up to the last minute, too. I’m excited to be here, and I’m just focusing on what I’ve got to do to get ready for the training camp.”
Quite the proffesional approach.
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Sabres forward Ville Leino and his contract will always be the butt of jokes. Something's not right if there's a Sabres season prediction and his $27M contract doesn't come up.
Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald writes that Leino will be ready for camp after having hip surgery this summer.
Leino says that he was having hip problems dating back to his days in Detroit four years ago. He had surgery on one side in 2010 and was playing through pain the last few years as the right side was acting up.
But, 'Now they’re both fixed up,' Leino said last week after skating with some teammates inside the Riverside Ice Rink. 'Obviously, the right one doesn’t feel exactly normal. It’s probably going to take a little bit. But it’s definitely better than it was.'
Another area that might have been "fixed up" for Leino is the coaching situation.
Leino couldn't get much going when Lindy Ruff was at the helm, but he seems to have taken to new bench-boss Ron Rolston and his approach. 'I like the way he coaches,' Leino said about Rolston. 'He demands a lot. He’s very detail-oriented. The stuff that he talks makes sense to me. I think he’s fair. If you play good and work really hard, you get to play. Yeah, I’m intrigued what this season brings.'
Throughout the last couple of seasons with Buffalo, Leino has had a littany of excuses for his below average play.
With healthy hips and a coach that "makes sense to him" it would seem as if there are no more excuses which leads to a make-or-break year for Leino.
For the sake of the Sabres, let's hope it's a "make."
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