Sabres should retain their focus on the future this off season

With a boatload of cap-space and a owner with an open wallet, it would be easy for the Buffalo Sabres to don a drunken sailor cap this off season.

Throw $6-7M at Ryan Callahan for 6-7 years, and I'm pretty sure the Rochester, NY native will think long and hard about coming back to Western New York.

Former Sabres winger Matt Moulson has the wind at his back and a one-time shot to cash in come July 1. The sniper has paid his dues. He and his wife have said that they liked the Buffalo area. Set them up with $42M over seven years and they might like it even more.

The Sabres could throw $30M at former Sabers Captain Steve Ott and that might lure him back to Buffalo, a place he's said he really loved.

They could bring back all three at those salaries and still have money left over to fill out the roster, especially when they clear Ville Leino's (*shivers*) $4.5M off the books.



The Buffalo Sabres have the freedom to do whatever they want from a financial standpoint. They're also free to trade for any available talent on the market. Former Sabre fan favorite and playoff whiz Daniel Briere seems to be the player du jour right now for Sabres fans.

And the fallout from this season--from the failures of Washington and Toronto to make the playoffs to the San Jose' Sharks implosion to the Boston Bruins (impending?) makeover--offers the opportunity to bring in any number of players that can pull the Sabres out of the basement.

They can do any of the aforementioned.

But they won't.

Sabres President Ted Black has said on a number of occasions that they will focus upon their plan. And a run to the middle of the pack is not in the cards. It wasn't last season and it won't be this season.

It's gonna be another long year for Sabres fans, but outside of the season ticket holders who took a bath on the secondary ticket market, it's a wholly acceptable path the organization is on.

Not only have the Sabres acquired a large number of first and second round picks during their tear-down of "the core," another bottom finish will secure them high quality, top-end picks for two years running.

And with the team focusing upon an organizational reset, it wouldn't be surprising to see very few youngins playing with the big club this upcoming season.

A player like Rasmus Ristolainen has all the tools to continue his development at the NHL-level, but might be better served in Rochester. The organization, the Amerks, and Ristolainen as well may reap both long-term and short-term benefits by having him anchor the Rochester's d-corps. Not only anchor but, hopefully, dominate in that role.

Nikita Zadorov, a player who will be stuck in limbo without the benefit of being eligible for Rochester, may need to suck it up for a year and return to the London Knights.

And this year's first round pick, whether it be Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett or Aaron Ekblad will probably be in junior next season dominating the CHL for another year.

Whether the player thinks they should be there or not, it's about the future of the Buffalo Sabres.

The Sabres organization is intent upon having their future groomed in a winning atmosphere and Buffalo will not be that next season. Only the hardiest of souls, borderline NHL'ers and grizzled vets on short-term contracts will populate the roster as the team is sure to endure another bottom finish.

One more season of "suffering," and it's on to the building process.