Fortunate twists of fate keeps Sabres out of deep cap-trouble and may help in Sam Reinhart negotiations

The fates may have once again worked in favor of the Buffalo Sabres to keep their impending cap problems manageable as the effects of Covid-19 has put the National Hockey League, and all other sports, in a precarious situation. The NHL is slated to finish the 2019-20 regular season and playoffs in a bubble without fans to fulfill television obligations. Gate-receipts, a major source of income to the league, dried up and the NHL is trying to bring in whatever dollars they can. Finishing the season this way at least assures them of pro-rated television revenue. 

It's a situation that's having an adverse effect on the salary cap. The NHL and the NHL Players association have a lot of work to do when it comes to figuring out the logistics of the current salary cap and those of the 2020-21 season as well but right now in general terms, rumor has it that the cap will remain at it's present ceiling of $81.5 million for the next two seasons with a very modest increase into the mid $82 million range for 2022-23. A situation like this is forcing many teams with high payrolls and little, if any, cap wiggle room into a huge bind but won't have a daunting effect on the Buffalo Sabres as most of their roster consists of free agents. They have a projected $34 million in cap-space heading into the off season, according to CapFriendly.

However, that $34 million figure worsens a bit as 2019-20 performance bonuses come into play.

Buffalo was looking at cap-overages for this past season which the league will tack on as a penalty in 2020-21. Prior to the stoppage the Sabres may have had 2019-20 cap-overages totaling over $3 million, according to a piece from Joe Yerdon of The Athletic. Yerdon wrote that because the pandemic ended the regular season the Sabres saved $2 million in cap penalties as defenseman Rasmus Dahlin finished just outside the top-10 in assists by defensemen. Had he hit that mark, which was a definitely possibility, his bonus would have been $2 million. As is right now, Dahlin will receive a $850K bonus and fellow d-man Henri Jokiharju will get and extra $425K bringing the Sabres overage to $1.25 million which is slated to come off of next year's cap-ceiling as a penalty for going over. 

Although having a full $81.5 million to work with in 2020-21 would have been ideal, working with over $80 million is better than the possible $78.225 million had the season not come to it's early conclusion for Buffalo and Dahlin hit the mark. It's also the third time in the past 18 months that the Sabres have gotten lucky with their cap.

When former general manager Jason Botterill was hired by Buffalo in 2017, he was perceived as a salary-cap guru, among other things. Botterill had been in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization as an assistant to Jim Rutherford and amongst his tasks was trying to fill the roster around five players who took up about 50% of their cap space. In both 2015-16 and  2016-17 Botterill was at the forefront working through that situation and Pittsburgh wound up winning back-to-back Stanley Cups. However, his cap-acumen never really came to fruition in Buffalo, as we see by the cap-overage that new general manager Kevyn Adams inherited. 

Although he was saddled with some bad contracts when taking the job, Botterill did himself and the team no favors with some of his trades and signings. The optics of the Ryan O'Reilly trade were bad enough on the surface as Botterill traded away a player for a second-rate package that featured quantity over quality and the player he sent packing ended up helping the St. Louis Blues win their first-ever Cup while claiming the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP. O'Reilly also won the Selke Award as the league's best two-way player that season.

Two of the players that Botterill got in return for O'Reilly were forwards Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka, a pair of mid-bottom roster forwards who combined for a cap-hit of $7.35 million (just $150K less than O'Reilly.) This was on top of the bloated cap-hits he inherited in Kyle Okposo and Zach Bogosian ($11.143M,) both of whom were also playing in the bottom of the roster, as well as two players Botterill traded for--Jason Pominville and Marco Scandella, who combined for $9.6 million. Add in that Jack Eichel was pulling in $10 million and former Carolina Hurricane Jeff Skinner at another $5.725 million and you had a 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres team that was headed towards a cap-overage.

But a funny thing happened while on the way to an impending cap-crunch, Berglund decided he'd had enough and walked away from the remaining three-plus years of his contract worth over $13 million. With Berglund's $3.85 million cap-hit off the books, the Sabres finished just $2.8 million under the cap. 

It was the second time under Botterill and then head coach Phil Housley that a player was disgruntled in Buffalo and ended up leaving. O'Reilly famously said he'd, "lost his love for the game" at locker cleanout in 2018, just before he was traded and less than a year later Berglund, who never recovered from being traded to Buffalo, walked away from that huge guaranteed contract. Fourteen months after Berglund's departure, Bogosian voiced his displeasure and was on his way out.

Bogosian came from the Winnipeg Jets in a blockbuster 2015 trade and after initially looking like he could be in the top-four or even a top defensive pairing for Buffalo, he faltered, mostly because of injury. In the six full seasons between the Sabres acquiring him and his departure, Bogosian played in only 249 of a possible 492 games or barely half the potential games all the while sucking $5.143 million/season away from the Sabres cap. 

As 2019-20 rolled around Bogosian once again would start the season on injured reserve and when he came back, he didn't feel as if he was getting a fair shake with head coach Ralph Krueger. After being a healthy scratch, he asked for a trade. Buffalo tried to trade him, then they put Bogosian on waivers, but nobody would touch him and his contract. After Bogosian failed to report to the Rochester Americans the Sabres suspended him before putting him on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. His accumulated cap-hit for this season was $3.8 million saving Buffalo his remaining hit, about $1.3 million, in potential overages for 2019-20.

Although new GM Adams has the cap-overage against him this season, Covid-19 and the effects it's having on the league's revenue and salary structure over the estimated next three seasons comes into play when with the possible contract extension of Sam Reinhart.

The 2014 second-overall pick came off of his entry-level deal and signed what turned out to be a very team-friendly 2yr./$7.3 million deal in 2018 and proceeded to post the best numbers of his career with a combined 115 points (44+71) in 151 games (0.76 points/game.) At 24 yrs. old, and dependent upon how he plays it this off season,  Reinhart could either be on the road to unrestricted free agency in a couple of years or could cash in on a lucrative long-term deal, dependent upon what he and the Sabres want to do. 

As a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, if the proper deal didn't satisfy Reinhart and his agent, they could file for arbitration and take the one-year settlement. He could do that once again after the following season then become an unrestricted free agent in 2022-23. Covid-19 wreaking havoc has the potential to change everyone's thinking as social distancing could effect gate receipts next season with a domino effect making life difficult at least a couple years beyond that. Or at least that's what the NHL seems to be planning on.

Prior to the stoppage in play, the general thought on a Reinhart contract was that of a long-term, 6-8 yr. deal somewhere in the $7 million/season range. Now we're not so sure. With uncertainty hovering over the league, he and the Sabres might be better off with a 3-4 yr. deal and with the salary cap expected to be virtually flat for the next three seasons, a $6 million cap-hit might not be that far off. Reinhart could go the arbitration route, which is brutal for both player and team, and probably come away with that $6 million figure. He could do it again for 2021-22 and maybe come away with a little more or he could sign that 3-4 yr. deal and  he could hit unrestricted free agency smack-dab in the middle of his prime.

It's a situation that not only effects Reinhart but all free agents.

Sabres recap

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-20-2019

The Sabres just finished a three-game western Canada road swing that pretty much turned the Corsi-loving faction of the analytics community on it's head. In Buffalo's 4-3 OT win at Calgary, they were outshot 33-23 and sent only 37 shots the Flames' way while seeing 61 shots attempts at them. Their two losses were just the opposite.

The Sabres got smoked in Edmonton 7-2 to kick off the road trip but were sending all kinds of rubber the Oilers way. Buffalo peppered Edmonton's goalie with 43 shots on goal and sent a total of 72 shots their way while the Oilers managed only 23 shots on goal and 37 total shots. In the Sabres final game of the trip in Vancouver, a 4-3 loss, they had 70 total shots and 39 on goal while the Canucks had 40 total shots and only 23 on goal.

And so it goes.

The only number that really matter revolve around the final score and the Sabres came out on the losing end twice. Props to them for a gutty effort in Calgary where they pulled out a win after getting embarrassed in Edmonton and they should also take heart in knowing that they played a strong game in Vancouver but were victims of their own mistakes. 

*****

Another number that is important right now is 54 and that's the number of points the Sabres have accumulated this season with 34 games to play.

Sabres can put to rest a major screw up with Skinner extension. Plus...

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-20-2018

It was the summer of 2007 and Buffalo was coming off of a President's Trophy-winning season that ended a little too soon for their liking. The Sabres lost their second consecutive Eastern Conference championship game and were headed into the off season with some big questions looming.

The NHL was finishing up their second season with the new salary cap structure and the first year was a big success with three smaller market teams in their respective conference championships. When the league came out of the '04-'05 lockout the salary-cap ceiling was $39 million and for the Sabres it was a very manageable figure. The following season it went to $44.9 million (a 15% jump)which would still afford a team like Buffalo the opportunity to compete with the larger market teams while still "breaking even," which was the organizational mantra under owner B. Thomas Golisano.

However, one could sense that individual star salaries were due for a sharp increase as evidenced by the arbitration award to Sabres center Daniel Briere of $5 million. Briere had an exceptional season with 25 goals and 33 assists in 48 games during an injury shortened season. Regardless of that, the award was still a stunner and would set team up for an imminent fail the following season.

Briere's one-year extension meant that he and co-captain Chris Drury would be unrestricted free agents at the end of the '06-'07 season. In addition, budding superstar Thomas Vanek would be a restricted free agent as well. Throughout the season there was that sinking feeling in Sabreland as the mantra would not allow for both Briere and Drury, along with Vanek, to be re-signed. As we would come to find out, team president Larry Quinn had decided upon re-signing Drury and letting Briere walk. Unfortunately for them, Drury signed a lucrative long-term deal with his boyhood idol NY Rangers while Briere, after being shunned by Buffalo, signed a lucrative, long-term deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. And to make matters worse, Vanek signed a seven-year offer-sheet with an average annual value of over $7 million.

It was a decision that would haunt them for over a decade.

Buffalo @ Washington notes and such, plus, Patrik Berglund suspended

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-15-2018


The good news for the Buffalo Sabres is that they'll be playing against a team that went to the sixth round of the shootout on the road last night and will be flying back home for the second game of a back-to-back against them. The bad news is that Buffalo be playing the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals who've won four in a row and are led by captain Alexander Ovechkin who extended his 13-game point streak (16 goals, 6 assists) last night by posting his second consecutive hat trick.

There's been no Stanley Cup hangover for "The Great Eight" this season as he's been ready, according to his head coach Todd Reirden. "[Ovechkin] came back after winning the Stanley Cup and was ready to go from Day One," said Reirden to the gathered media after Washington's come-from-behind win, "and he hasn't stopped since. He's doing it game after game, obviously. It's very impressive. He's been outstanding."

Ovechkin leads the league with 28 goals, is now tied for seventh with 42 points and he's got his team on a roll. Washington has won 11 of those 13 games during his streak and the Caps have gone from fourth in the Metropolitan division, four points out of the top spot, to leading the division by five points. They extended their present streak in dramatic fashion last night by overcoming a three-goal, third period deficit, killing a penalty in overtime then winning it in the shootout.

Here's Carolina Hurricanes forward, and three-time Stanley Cup champion, Justin Williams put it to the local media last night. "Once they got down, they started playing a different game and scored some goals because of it. There's a reason they are who they are. They had guys flying the zone, and they figured they were either going to lose it 7-1 or tie it up."

The Sabres haven't exactly been chopped liver this season but going into Washington has always been a challenge. Buffalo is only 2-6-2 in it's last 10 games at Capital One Arena with their last win coming November 22, 2014. Buffalo is 0-4-1 since that win. Oddly enough the Sabres had their most success vs. Washington during the tank years going 3-1-2 vs. the Caps overall and 2-1-0 on the road.

Buffalo said goodbye to a five-game losing streak (0-3-2) with back-to-back wins and head into this weekend with a tough assignment as they play the Capitals tonight then head to Boston to take on the Bruins tomorrow. Perhaps the Sabres caught a break with Washington in an emotionally and physically draining overtime game last night, but then again the Caps don't play again until Wednesday and Ovechkin seems to be on a mission once again which could make for a very difficult game.


*****

A lot of attention has been given to the Sabres fourth line and their lack of scoring this season. Zemgus Girgensons and Johan Larsson have anchored Buffalo's checking line for most of the season and they've combined for 11 points (5+6) in 55 combined games and the Capitals offer an interesting comparison.

The Capitals this season have a fourth line anchored by Dmitrij Jaskin and Nic Dowd with the duo combining for 19 points (5+14) in 52 games. They've been particularly hot as of late scoring a goal and adding five assists in their last three games, which is pretty potent for two players whose average even-strength time on ice is 9:45 and 8:35, respectively.

Girgensons and Larsson have also been contributing for Buffalo lately with a goal each in their last two games and have logged even-strength average time on ice of 11:09 and 11:38, respectively, on the season.

Many times Sabres head coach Phil Housley has said that their fourth line has been one of the best lines on the ice for them despite the duo of Girgensons (11.86%) and Larsson (11.44%) having the lowest percentage of offensive zone starts, by far, on the team. By contrast, Dowd comes in at 32.98% while Jaskin is at 48.68%. The huge discrepancy is due in large part to Buffalo's duo being on the top penalty kill unit with Girgensons and Larsson both at 2:36 SH ATOI while in Washington, Dowd is part of a multi-layered PK with four Caps forwards logging more PK ice time than his average of 1:53/game. Jaskin is an afterthought on the PK (:08.)

Despite the heavy defensive responsibilities, Buffalo's fourth line has been able to flip the ice, get on the forecheck and create opportunities. Although a Roberto Duran "Hands of Stone" analogy is fitting on most occasions, they're doing what is asked of them with their duo contributing as many goals as Washington's.


*****

Buffalo's top line of Jack Eichel, Jeff Skinner and Sam Reinhart have also been doing their part as they've carried the load for the team.

Over the last 17 games which includes a 10-game winning-streak followed by a five-game losing streak and these last two wins in a row, the Sabres scored 36 even strength goals in regulation. The top trio has accounted for 20 of those which is a pretty solid ratio of about 56%. Girgensons and Larsson have scored a combined four goals with Evan Rodrigues, who's spent much of his time on their line, adding another. With the Sabres first and fourth lines accounting for 25 of Buffalo's 36 EV goals in that span, that leaves the middle-six with a combined 11 EV goals.

The breakdown of the middle six:

Tage Thompson, Casey Mittelstadt--3
Vladimir Sobotka--2
Jason Pominville, Kyle Okposo, Conor Sheary--1

Luckily Buffalo has gone 12-3-2 during that span which puts them solidly in the Atlantic Division's top three, one point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place but still only four points ahead of the Boston Bruins. However, it would behoove that middle-six, and the coaching staff, to figure things out before the Sabres find themselves in a nutty wild card race.


*****

Speaking of the Eastern Conference, there could be a huge cluster in the middle of the conference at season's end. As of right now the Tampa Bay Lightning is the class of the conference with the Capitals surging towards them and there's no reason to believe that the Toronto Maple Leafs will finish anywhere else but second in the division behind the Lightning.

Over in the Metropolitan the Caps are in the driver's seat of a seemingly weak Metropolitan Division with the Pittsburgh Penguins on the move ready to over take the second place Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Sabres lead every team in the Metropolitan division and are four points ahead of the Bruins, who hold the first wild-card spot with 38 points. The Montreal Canadiens have 37 points and there are four teams in the conference with 32 points.

Over the years the Sabres have bemoaned lost points in October and November leaving them to scramble for every possible point later in the year. With 26 of a possible 34 points in the bag over the last 17 games, they've been able to create a cushion between themselves and that group of teams presently in the wild-card hunt.

It's something that shouldn't be taken for granted, but it's something they may look back upon with pride.


*****

While writing this blog it was announced that forward Patrik Berglund "has been suspended indefinitely by the organization due to failure to report to the team," according to the Sabres. 

Berglund came over from the St. Louis Blues in the Ryan O'Reilly and has been in a bottom-six/reserve role for much of the season. He wasn't in the lineup the last two games due to illness, according to Housley via reports. In 23 games for Buffalo Berglund has scored only four points (2+2) and he's played in only nine of the Sabres last 17 games with zero points and a minus-8 rating.

The team had no further comment.

Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster--LW, Patrik Berglund

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-13-2018


F--Patrik Berglund
30 yrs. old
6'4" 219 lbs.
2006, 25th-overall (STL)
Acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues, July 1, 2018

Career stats:  694 games | 168 goals | 154 assists | 332 points | +10


Yesterday, in what might be considered a reach, we put rookie Rasmus Asplund at third-line center in this roster-building exercise. Asplund has the two-way acumen, skating and stick skills, as well as the mental makeup and on-ice vision to do the job and do it well.  However, at only 20 yrs. old and with a projected one-two center punch of 21 yr. old Jack Eichel and 19 yr. old Casey Mittelstadt, the concern wasn't so much about Asplund's attributes as it was about his age and inexperience in North America as well as the overall youth down the middle.

The obvious option for this edition of the Buffalo Sabres would have been to put 30 yr. old Patrik Berglund and his 10 years of NHL experience in the three-hole. With his two-way game and solid faceoff skills, a grey beard like Berglund could add veteran stability to the lineup and carry much of the two-way load that was lost when Ryan O'Reilly went the other way in the trade with the St. Louis Blues. Berglund might also be looked at to take some pressure off of Mittelstadt in the top-six for brief stints.

It's a sound logic that could very well come to fruition. However, there are a number of factors that could/should lead Berglund to a winger role on a line with fellow Swede, Asplund.

Buffalo GM Jason Botterill has touted the versatility of the forwards he has and Berglund certainly fits that description. He was drafted out of Sweden as a big center with a solid all-around skill set who could score, set up and be a two-way No. 2 or No. 3 center for the Blues. But by the end of the 2013-14 season, St. Louis had loaded up at center pushing Berglund to the wing. Couple that with consistency issues and it was a formula that eventually put his name into the rumor mill.

As his career progressed expectations were lowered and as he moved down the depth chart his production was near career lows but he did, however, score a career-high of 23 goals in a 2016-17 contract year and signed a five-year extension just before the 2017 trade deadline. Yet the rumors still persisted and when he was injured to start the 2017-18 season, the natives were getting restless.

"Patrik Berglund should have been traded during the offseason," wrote Dan Buffa in a scathing piece for SB Nation, St. Louis titled, 'The disappearance of Patrik Berglund should baffle no one." Buffa rips Berglund as "ordinary" and "a decent yet unremarkable talent" that could use a change of scenery in his February 11, 2018 piece and his thoughts were echoed when Berglund was given a C-rating by Todd Panula of fansided's Bleeding Blue.

"The fact that St. Louis Blues fans are still wondering what the real Patrik Berglund is and can accomplish," wrote Panula at the end of last season, "is quite astounding. He is 29 and just played his 10th NHL season.

"He gives you just enough to think there is more in there. He disappoints you just enough to figure there is no way he will reach his full potential. Then the juicy middle ground is normally where he falls."

All of this is not to bag on Berglund for who he is or the path his career has taken. Bloggers (myself included) have a tendency to get overzealous and may or may not have the proper insight at to why a player may or may not be performing up to expectations which might differentiate from what others see. What it intended to highlight is that Berglund might not be the best choice as the third line center. When you factor in that his set-up skills may have been overrated, that he never was the fastest skater to begin with and add in that he's offensively streaky while his defensive game might be a little more suspect than originally thought, perhaps having him on the wing might not be that bad of an idea.

In his 23-goal season Berglund played in all 82 games for St. Louis and scored on at a 15% shot-rate. The year prior his shooting percentage was 12.5% and last year it was a career-high 15.2%. In all three of those seasons Berglund's goal to assist ration was roughly 2:1. The guy can still shoot the puck but as his assists and plus/minus might indicate (minus-12 the past two seasons,) he and the Sabres might be better off having a player like Asplund dishing to him as opposed to Berglund trying to set someone up.

Berglund seems as if he'd be a great mentor for Asplund and his versatility could give Asplund the requisite time down the middle to develop as a center. Conversely, Asplund's hockey IQ and on-ice vision could be very helpful in getting Berglund to another 20-goal season.

How it all plays out is up in the air as there's a lot of competition in the bottom six and we're really not sure how far Asplund can take it during training camp. He has all the tools and if he continues to impress, or impress even more, then he could crack the lineup and do so as their third-line center. If that's the case, Berglund would be forced to move to Asplund's wing. Which isn't such a bad proposition.



Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:

LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
LW, Patrik Berglund / C, Rasmus Asplund /


LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian


G, Carter Hutton

Digesting the Ryan O'Reilly deal

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-2-2018


Former Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier was a thief when it came to the return he got for his players. Tim Murray was a drunken sailor in respect to what he sent away to get his players. in the two years between the two when the Sabres were in rebuild-mode, the assets Regier got from trading is core group were thrown around by Murray and essentially wasted as none of the big three players Murray wanted to fast track his rebuild with are on the team are on the team. Jason Botterill came in as GM last season and in 14 months stopped the madness and began replenishing the cupboards that were left barren by his predecessor.

Murray's acquisitions of Evander Kane, Robin Lehner and Ryan O'Reilly cost the Sabres two first-round picks, a second rounder, three young prospects (Brendan Lemieux, J.T. Compher and Nikita Zadorov) and two older prospects (Joel Armia and Mikhail Grigorenko) in various deals. He also completely emptied the organization in pursuit of the top-overall picks in two consecutive drafts. The two years after Murray and the Sabres tanked for Jack Eichel, his teams in Buffalo and Rochester were still left barren, he was fired and Botterill was brought in last May to clean up the mess.

Botterill took two of Murray's 'Big Three' and brought home some assets. At the 2018 trade deadline he traded Kane to the San Jose Sharks for what would end up being a 2019 first round pick, prospect Danny O'Regan and either a 2019 fourth-rounder or 2020 third round pick (at the discretion of the Sharks.) Last night he traded O'Reilly to the St. Louis Blues for a 2019 lottery protected first round pick, a 2021 second, big forward prospect Tage Thompson and two veteran forwards in Patrick Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka. Of the eight futures Murray traded away to get his trio, Botterill was able to receive six in return.

Which isn't bad considering the place Botterill was in. Everyone knew Kane, a pending UFA, was a goner by the trade deadline and an O'Reilly trade was becoming more and more a foregone conclusion with each passing day. Yet both were valued enough by their new teams for them to send a decent amount of assets Buffalo's way to land them. Did Botterill fleece his trade-partner? Not even close. But he did what he could with what he had and for the situation he was in.

Quantity over quality seems to be the theme of this trade with the picks, namely the first-rounder, being the highlights of the trade. The Sabres now have three first round picks at the 2019 NHL Draft which is strangely familiar to what the team had in 2015. Much to the dismay of some in Sabreland Murray traded two of those picks (Nos. 21 and 25) in separated deals for young vets. Three years later it seems as if the consensus is that they should be trading one of their 2019 first rounders for immediate help.

There were thoughts that Botterill could land a top prospect, hopefully a left-winger, in the O'Reilly trade but when that didn't happen and because of it there seems to be a movement that would like to see a package, including a first-rounder, sent to another team for a top prospect. Which probably won't happen (although many thought the O'Reilly to St. Louis trade was finished.)

Thompson is a former first round pick (2016, 26th overall) but in his brief foray into the NHL, hasn't shown much. After leaving school (UConn) early, the 6'5" 205 lb. Thompson played for the Blues AHL affiliate for 16 games then made the big club last season out of camp. He ended up playing 41 games for St. Louis scoring nine points (3+6.) However, he had more success at the AHL-level scoring 18 points (8+10) for the San Antonio Rampage.

"What we see with Tage," said Botterill in a conference call with the media last night, "is a kid that has a great shot, great size, a really good reach on the ice. We think he's going to be a really good player that will step into our lineup and grow with our young centermen." Botterill would add later, "we really like his hockey sense and he has a bit of a shooter's mentality."

Berglund and Sobotka were interesting acquisitions by Buffalo in that their combined cap-hit of $7.350 million is just shy of O'Reilly's $7.5 million AAV. Berglund has four more years left on his deal while Sobotka has two. O'Reilly is a top-two center on most clubs in the league and will fall right into place in St. Louis.

On the same conference call Botterill framed the acquisition of the two veteran forwards as "getting NHL forwards that come in and [provide] more internal competition for our group, which is very important." The versatile Berglund will probably be somewhere in the top-nine  for Buffalo and if he ends up at center he may be able to help ease the burden of 19 yr. old center Casey Mittelstadt who's right behind Eichel on the depth chart at center. Sobotka can anchor the fourth line in an energy role. Either player can play center or wing.

Although it's not a huge haul for Buffalo talent-wise, perhaps Botterill learned a lesson from the Kane deal. It was rumored that a couple of first-rounders were on the table for Kane in December but Botterill waited. At the trade deadline the Sharks were only team to put forth a viable offer for the talented powerforward and Botterill had to take it. Had he not re-signed with the Sharks, that first-rounder Buffalo got would have turned into a second round pick.

Both St. Louis and the Montreal Canadiens were said to be in on O'Reilly but the Blues came through, and did so prior to 12:01 am today meaning that they took on O'Reilly's $7.5 million bonus for this season. Botterill said that if it went past that deadline and the Sabres had to pick up the bonus, "the asking price was certainly going to be a lot different." In doing that, Botterill put together a package that might not have been the most enticing to Sabres fans, but it got Blues GM Doug Armstrong to consummate the deal. "[Picking up the bonus] certainly played a role in making sure the deal was done" he said.

Botterill played it cool when it came to the goings-on in Buffalo's locker room, of which O'Reilly was rumored to be somewhat of a problem. He wiggled around that notion saying that he and his management group felt that they "had to change the dynamic."
"Bottom line," he continued, "there's a lot of great people in that locker room,  but when you finish 31st you must look to make changes."

Eichel was drafted as a franchise center and ever since that day the Sabres were looked at as his team. Most feel that O'Reilly never subscribed to that philosophy, something that may have caused some friction in the locker room. With him being traded, that's now in the past. The Sabres will move forward with a very young core featuring Eichel, Mittelstadt and Sam Reinhart up front and will be anchored by 2018 first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin on the back end.

With O'Reilly now gone, Botterill's stamp is firmly on this team. Opinions will vary as to how good of a job he's done to this point but in 14 months he's been able to lay a foundation with his vision of what kind of team he wants and he may have moved out pieces that never fit his idea of the type of character he wants in his players.

Three years ago Tim Murray went out with the old and in with the new, as in young vets and two second-overall picks. Botterill flushed Murray's ideals away and starts anew with a very talented group of youngins cutting their teeth in new positions. He did what he had to do, now we'll see where it all leads.