Sabres re-sign Gragnani and add to AHL depth

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Nearly a strong month of silence from One Seymour H Knox III Plaza was ended this week when the Buffalo Sabres announced a trio of new signings.

The final signing, a one-year deal for Marc-Andre Gragnani, is the most important of the three. The Sabres no longer have any players left without a contract after Gragnani agreed to terms. Earlier in the week Buffalo came to terms on one-year contracts for Mike Ryan and Paul Szezechura. Both will play in Rochester this season.

The acquisition of Ryan and Szezechura was a good move by the team as the Amerks were in desperate need of help at forward, particularly at center. Szezechura is a natural center and Ryan will likely allow for Matt Ellis to serve as a pivot as well. Both players are capable of putting up numbers at the AHL level in addition to having some NHL experience. Strong marks to Darcy Regier for finding two strong veterans for the Americans. Continue reading →

Brad Smith listed as a QB, Moats moved to ILB

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The Bills opened training camp today and there are already a few interesting tidbits floating around.

Arthur Moats was deadly at OLB last season, apparently the Bills prefer him as an ILB

The first comes from Mark Gaughan’s report in The Buffalo News. Right now, Brad Smith is listed as a quarterback on the roster. This means two things to me. One, they do not want to sacrifice one of their wide receiver positions on Smith when they can “hide” him elsewhere. Basically, Smith can play a variety of positions and you can’t necessarily pigeon-hole him into one. I was concerned after his signing because NFL teams have such ridgid numbers set as they enter camp and the regular season. It is a safe bet that the Bills will not have more than six receivers on their roster entering the year meaning Smith would have likely forced out either Marcus Easely, Donald Jones, David Nelson or Naaman Roosevelt. Now that he is listed as a QB the Bills won’t likely have to part with one of their youngsters.

The second thing this points out to me is the fact that they must really like Easley and Nelson. They are my favorites to secure the final WR spots behind Lee Evans, Stevie Johnson and Roscoe Parrish. I was particularly worried that Nelson would be cut due to the signing of Smith. Now it seems as if he may be safe. That being said, Jones and Roosevelt are likely the odd men out in the grand scheme of things. Smith can run out in kick and punt coverage like these two did last season. They became expendable when the Bills signed Smith. Continue reading →

Bills opt for fringe signings as camp approaches

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Surely the Bills are working towards some bigger free agent signings to address the holes they have at linebacker and offensive tackle. However, they have yet to sign any players at those positions. Rather, they have signed a back-up quarterback and a utility receiver/returner.

Brad Smith wouldn't be a bad signing if the Bills didn't have other glaring needs

Buffalo opened free agency by declaring their desire to get Paul Posluszny signed only to have him leave for more money and a better playing situation in Jacksonville. Buddy Nix was able to get Drayton Florence re-signed for three more years, a big signing considering the loss of their former middle linebacker.

They followed the Florence signing with back-up quarterback Tyler Thigpen. The three-year deal was necessary but extremely underwhelming considering some of the glaring needs on the Bills’ roster. However, I like that they pursued a player who is familiar with Chan Gailey and his offense. It is reassuring to know that the back-up quarterback will know the system and can have success if called upon.

The second free agent signing Buffalo made isn’t as impressive to me. Brad Smith is an exciting player and a valuable weapon. This is why I was happy to hear the Bills signed him. However, a third or fourth wide receiver is the last thing Buffalo needed. I guess the Bills are hoping to sport the greatest roster of kick returners ever assembled. Continue reading →

Sabres/Canisius rink gets some teeth

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It seems my spitballing for a Sabres practice arena wasn’t strictly conjecture. Well, I had no idea that this plan could ever come to fruition. Also my plan would call for the arena to be built in the Cobblestone District near HSBC Arena. But, it is still cool to know that these discussions are occurring.

Give credit to Nick Veronica for getting details on this story at It’s Always Game Seven (Bucky Gleason also mentioned the rumor in a recent column). He explained that the school will be joining Niagara University, Robert Morris University (PA) and Mercyhurst College in meeting with the CCHA on potentially joining the conference when the Big Ten and NCHC poach all of the strong programs in college hockey.

In addition, it seems as if preliminary discussions have taken place for Saint Terry to make a donation towards erecting a rink for Canisius and the Sabres to share on the school’s campus. Continue reading →

New Winnipeg Jets logo = fail

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After quite a bit of hype, the Winnipeg Jets finally unveiled their new logos. Of course, they didn’t include the jerseys, just the logos. What I was left wondering was, is this seriously the best they could do? Honestly, I understand that True North wants to establish their own brand separate from the former franchise that now resides in Phoenix, but c’mon.

The former Jets logos, while similar, were iconic to the team. They also grew somewhat of a cult following after the team left. The same can be said for the Whalers and other defunct franchises.

My problem with this logo is that it is so bland. They do a good job playing off the True North name by giving the compass look, same with including a real jet. Those are really the only good points about the primary mark. Otherwise I just see the same thing as the Penguins Winter Classic, Florida and Columbus third jersey logos. Continue reading →

A closer look at the Sabres’ depth

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With the Buffalo Sabres re-signing Matt Ellis, Jhonas Enroth, Dennis Persson Andrej Sekera and Travis Turnbull this week, the opening day roster is all but set. While there will be tweaks as training camp comes and goes, the main body of the roster is pretty easy to piece together right now.

The Sabres have a boatload of depth at this point and a look in the prospect cupboard reveals even more. I was linked in a post about the Sabres depth being mistaken for a logjam. While I certainly see portions of the roster that are clogged I did not mean to portray the point of view that bodies need to go and go fast. Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff need to capitalize on the depth at their disposal. In two seasons this could be a very different team and that depth will be the reason why.

I divided the team up by position in a relative depth chart. Anyone under a professional contract for this season was accounted for (ex. Shawn Szydlowski). I also included Marc-Andre Gragnani even though he hasn’t officially signed. Of note; the defense isn’t in pairs, it is just split into a relative depth setting to account for who I expect to be on the opening night roster, and the order of call ups. Additionally, the forwards are offset because there are more right wingers than left wingers or centers at this point. Continue reading →

Enroth inked to two-year contract

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The Sabres came to terms with goaltender Jhonas Enroth today on a two-year contract that should finally cement the Sabres’ back-up goaltender position. With Enroth under contract the Sabres only have Marc-Andre Gragnani left to sign.

Enroth agreed to a two-year $1.35 million deal, good for $675,000 a season. A very manageable cap hit that makes the player and contrcat attractive for a potential trade. This was another one of those no-brainer extensions for Darcy Regier. Rather than ride out one season on a qualifying offer, Regier wisely extended the goaltender for an additional year. The same can be said about the Mike Weber extension. This contract will allow Enroth to develop further at the NHL level and maybe even turn into a major asset on the trade market. It is a win-win. Continue reading →

Get your lawsuits ready: Benderson awarded Donovan Building contract

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It seemed more than inevitable that Benderson Development would win the request for the rights to the Donovan Building. For what it’s worth, no other RFP was submitted in the process. The more important piece of this pie will be what effect the development has on the greater Canalside development. Update: Buffalo News story on Canalside. I will comment on this at a later juncture.

Here are the basics (per Buffalo Rising):

  • Benderson will invest $30 million into the site, plus a $1 million deposit that they will start work by December (thanks Buffalo News)
  • Phillips Lytle will occupy the top four floors of the building
  • There is going to be nearly 12,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space on the ground floor, plus a two-story parking garage
  • All of this will go into a re-skinned version of the building which marks the first private investment into Canalside

THE. FIRST. PRIVATE. INVESTMENT. IN. CANALSIDE. Let that simmer for a moment. The grass huffers who shelled out all that dough to the triangulation and power of 10 seminar are getting their wish. This form of investing falls into the lighter, quicker, cheaper mantra of the anti-big box retailer gang. Well, at least it is following their theory of allowing the development to occur organically. Continue reading →

Sabres hit the ceiling, re-sign Ellis and Sekera

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The past few weeks have been pretty boring for most hockey fans and suddenly a few GMs woke up today and made some noise.

Tampa Bay reached an agreement with Steven Stamkos for some big money, Anaheim extended Andrew Cogliano and the Devils announced Pete DeBoer as the next head coach that Lucky Lou will fire.

Darcy Regier got his hands dirty with two more signings as well. He re-signed Matt Ellis and Andrej Sekera each to a multi-year contract. Ellis will be with the Sabres for two more seasons while Sekera was re-upped for four more years. These came on the heels of a pair of minor league contracts for Dennis Persson and Travis Turnbull, somewhat irrelevant but necessary signings.

The terms of the Ellis deal are not fully disclosed, but Bill Hoppe reported that Ellis will be under a two-way contract for the 2011-12 season and a one-way deal for 2012-13. I’m glad to see Ellis back in the fold. He is likely destined for Rochester as he served very well as the Portland Pirates captain last season. He will certainly be one of the first players called up by Lindy Ruff if there is an injury. Another bonus to signing Ellis? The Sabres are 76-39-16 with him in the lineup the past three seasons and 53-49-13 without him (see #EllisPrinciple or #MattEllisEffect). Thanks to Ian Ott for tweeting those stats. Continue reading →

My Sabres practice arena pipedream

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I am a big proponent for developing the city of Buffalo. I even touch on it in this space from time to time. Those of you who follow me on Twitter, or sit behind me at work, know that I have been dreaming up a grand vision for a practice/junior hockey venue near HSBC Arena.

After a little bit of Photoshop and Illustrator work I have a picture to go with my ramblings. Please excuse the polish of my work, I am quite the novice when it comes to both Photoshop and Illustrator. The pictures and overall vision can be found after the jump.

I gave this creation a name just so it looks a little less bare. I chose to call it the New Era Centre because the cap company is a large Buffalo-based corporation and the name flowed well off my tongue.

Basically this idea cropped up in my head because there are two enormous, barren surface lots in the “Cobblestone District” that don’t get very much use. It is a real shame because the remaining buildings in the District have a similar feel to the Distillery District in Toronto. I began thinking of things that could be put in their place to add some life and density to a neighborhood that is composed of about six buildings on one city block. This multi-purpose arena came to mind.

Continue reading →