1. Not qualifying Satan was a mistake in hindsight. Yes getting his salary off the books may have been the right move. but drastically underestimating his market value is a mistake that Darcy should not be allowed to sweep under the carpet. It is very obvious to me that Satan could have been qualified and traded to a number of teams. Strike One
2. 2 million Teppo. Darcy once again drastically underestimated the market for defensemen. So he sat and watched, convinced that teams were overpaying for the Aucoins, Gonchar, Foote, Mcgillis, Nieds, Hatcher, et etc. some may have been over paid some may have been fair value. regardless he waited. Then as time past he realised that this was the market place. so he had to act. but who was left? and that my friends is why we have Teppo at 2. Strike two.
3. Announcing to the World that you think the employees of a Company (the NHL) are being overpaid is not going to please the work force. It's hard enough to get free agents to Buffalo. What does a GM gain by whining to the press that he can't sign anyone? Nothing! It's only going to hurt the franchise. Strike three.
Im very disappointed in Darcy's conduct over the last few days. I understand the method we are going for. I want to be in a good position over the next vew years financially. I want to be able to develop our own talent from within. We are on the right path, it just seems to me that Regier is making little mistakes along the way that all start to add up.
Good points. I also have a few disagreements with that:
1st off, not qualifying Satan was a wise decision. You have an extremely large pool of free agents to try to sign instead of overpaying him. He clearly didn't have what it takes to be the elite superstar on our team and carry us. Plus, I have no place on My roster for a man that's taken shifts off to coast around. No way.
As for Teppo, I might agree. Overpriced, but necessary. Our defense is slightly too young to gel without a vet there. He's got heart and a little offensive touch...something we're not too familiar with from the blueline.
Regarding Darcy, I'm really hoping he has something up his sleeve. I've watched our division maintain Brian Leetch, Dominick Hasek, Alexei Kovalev, and bring in guys like Alexei Zhamnov, Shawn McEachern, Dave Scatchard. We've been SILENT compared to the other clubs.
1. Not qualifying Satan was a mistake in hindsight. Yes getting his salary off the books may have been the right move. but drastically underestimating his market value is a mistake that Darcy should not be allowed to sweep under the carpet. It is very obvious to me that Satan could have been qualified and traded to a number of teams. Strike One
2. 2 million Teppo. Darcy once again drastically underestimated the market for defensemen. So he sat and watched, convinced that teams were overpaying for the Aucoins, Gonchar, Foote, Mcgillis, Nieds, Hatcher, et etc. some may have been over paid some may have been fair value. regardless he waited. Then as time past he realised that this was the market place. so he had to act. but who was left? and that my friends is why we have Teppo at 2. Strike two.
3. Announcing to the World that you think the employees of a Company (the NHL) are being overpaid is not going to please the work force. It's hard enough to get free agents to Buffalo. What does a GM gain by whining to the press that he can't sign anyone? Nothing! It's only going to hurt the franchise. Strike three.
Im very disappointed in Darcy's conduct over the last few days. I understand the method we are going for. I want to be in a good position over the next vew years financially. I want to be able to develop our own talent from within. We are on the right path, it just seems to me that Regier is making little mistakes along the way that all start to add up.
I'm guessinmg you didn't listen to the press conference yesterday.
He said point blank, I'm surprised teams are doing what they are doing. WE bid for three players but withdrew because the market place was too high. I have to agree with him.
look at some of these numbers: Tell me these teams aren't paying an extra 10-15%
Rafalski 4.2 m (2 years 8.4 m that seems ok)
Rathje 3.5 m (5 year 17.5 m)
Hatcher 3.5 m (4 year 14 m) (the man isn't what he used to be)
Gonshar 5 years 25 m (that's high)
Zhitnik 4 year 14 m (that's high)
Aucion 4 year 16 m (that way high, he logs ice time but 4 m a year)
Foote 3 year 13.8 m (4.6 a season - he's 34 and has slowed a lot)
Wasn't the over paying of players one of the season we lost an entire season.
How is Anaheim gonna fit under the cap. They have commited 32 million with 12 players. Phily is in a similar position. I hope these contract blow up in their face.
The Sabres will be in good shape, they will have plenty of money to their young guys as they develop and have their contracts expire.
The only thing there I really agree with is that we possibly could have signed and traded Satan.
Let's think this through logically.
The difference between Satan's qualifer and what he got in the FA market was about $1 million, but a trading partner would have to value the net gain for aquiring Satan as being less than that, as they would be one of the teams that lost the bidding. If they traded someone to get Satan, the would be a receiving a guaranteed asset for only one year.
So coming back to Buffalo would have to be something in the $7-800 range (realistically a $500,000 assett) with only one year of guaranteed contractual time. What is that? My guess is a third line forward (which we have plenty) or a Brad Brown type of defensemen. Maybe even a dodgy prospect or a 3rd/4th(ish) round pick.
So coming back to Buffalo would have to be something in the $7-800 range (realistically a $500,000 assett) with only one year of guaranteed contractual time. What is that? My guess is a third line forward (which we have plenty) or a Brad Brown type of defensemen. Maybe even a dodgy prospect or a 3rd/4th(ish) round pick.
And, that's all true. One must remember timing. Why would I trade a pick for the rights to Satan at $3.8 mil when I could just go out and sign him for slightly more than that and give the Sabres nothing in return?
I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, and, while I disagree with Milbury's decision (I would have traded for Miro beforehand and locked him to me) it is an understandable one.
The truth is that a lot of GM's panicked at the open of the market on monday. This is no different than watching the first 20 minutes of any stock market session. A lot of panic trading goes on and after the 10 o'clock doldrums, the tenor of the day is then set.
Regier has a surfeit of assets whose value will rise as this wears on. Teams still have to sign 23 guys. There are only a couple that are even close to having that many in their stables. We're one of them and it gives us bargaining strength.
Good points. I also have a few disagreements with that:
1st off, not qualifying Satan was a wise decision. You have an extremely large pool of free agents to try to sign instead of overpaying him. He clearly didn't have what it takes to be the elite superstar on our team and carry us. Plus, I have no place on My roster for a man that's taken shifts off to coast around. No way.
As for Teppo, I might agree. Overpriced, but necessary. Our defense is slightly too young to gel without a vet there. He's got heart and a little offensive touch...something we're not too familiar with from the blueline.
Regarding Darcy, I'm really hoping he has something up his sleeve. I've watched our division maintain Brian Leetch, Dominick Hasek, Alexei Kovalev, and bring in guys like Alexei Zhamnov, Shawn McEachern, Dave Scatchard. We've been SILENT compared to the other clubs.
you missed my point on satan. my point wasn't that he should have been signed to be on the roster.
I'm guessinmg you didn't listen to the press conference yesterday.
He said point blank, I'm surprised teams are doing what they are doing. WE bid for three players but withdrew because the market place was too high. I have to agree with him.
look at some of these numbers: Tell me these teams aren't paying an extra 10-15%
Rafalski 4.2 m (2 years 8.4 m that seems ok)
Rathje 3.5 m (5 year 17.5 m)
Hatcher 3.5 m (4 year 14 m) (the man isn't what he used to be)
Gonshar 5 years 25 m (that's high)
Zhitnik 4 year 14 m (that's high)
Aucion 4 year 16 m (that way high, he logs ice time but 4 m a year)
Foote 3 year 13.8 m (4.6 a season - he's 34 and has slowed a lot)
Wasn't the over paying of players one of the season we lost an entire season.
How is Anaheim gonna fit under the cap. They have commited 32 million with 12 players. Phily is in a similar position. I hope these contract blow up in their face.
The Sabres will be in good shape, they will have plenty of money to their young guys as they develop and have their contracts expire.
i read the transcript. i know what he said. tell me for what reason he had for saying what he said? i personally think it was just to calm sabre fans down. which is fine. but i also think his remarks hurt the franchises credibility. he is right about what he said. but what's the point of the comments to the press?
Having had time to reflect, I'm much happier with both the team as-is, and with the relative inactivity of the Sabres in the market.
On paper, the Sabres are pretty weak, but especially given the way that some teams (Anaheim, LA, Edmonton, Philly, etc) are already overcommitted or nearly so, Darcy should be able to pull off some really decent deals as roster deadlines approach. I think we'll get our top-pairing D-man for a song.
The Biron contract is probably our biggest liability at this point. That, and I'm still angry about the way they treated Satan and McKee. But financially, the Sabres are in sound position. It's just a matter of time before that translates into sound position on the roster as well.
Well, first off, he could very well still not be done.
Most importantly though I'm optimistic about him mentioning next year's free agent crop because odds are Buffalo will be one of the few teams not bogged down in high priced contracts and should be able to get some good players at good prices.
