Sabres Free Agency

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 →

The Pegula Puzzle: How does the roster shake out?

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The first piece of the Pegula Puzzle I focused on who among the Sabres 24 free agents should be resigned or let go. The second piece of the puzzle will address how I see the 2011-12 roster shaping up.

Starting from the net out is pretty much how every team is built. Luckily the Sabres have a superstar goaltender in Ryan Miller and a sparkly new prospect in Jhonas Enroth, this makes things quite easy. Expect to see a healthy dose of Miller again (at least 60 games) while catching Enroth about 25 times in hopes of keeping Ryan Miller fresh for the playoffs.

Things start to get hairy along the blueline, however. Tyler Myers blossomed at the end of the year after struggling through a sophomore slump to start the season. Jordan Leopold was an offensive blessing and Mike Weber and Marc-Andre Gragnani both showed they have NHL chops. Continue reading →

The Pegula Puzzle: Who to keep?

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It is the first offseason under the Pegula Era and just about everyone is expecting to see significant moves made. This is the first part of a series aimed to focus on some of those changes. It is entitled “The Pegula Puzzle”. I will look at what will be taking place down at the corner of Washington and Perry during the summer months. The first portion will focus on which players are to be resigned before the July 1 free agency period begins.

The Sabres enter the offseason with 24 total free agents to resign. Many of these players (nine to be exact) played exclusively in Portland this past season. Of those nine, Dennis McCauley, Tim Conboy, Mark Parrish and Colin Stuart are unlikely to return. In addition, Tim Connolly, Patrick Lalime and Rob Niedermayer are unlikely to receive a contract from the Sabres as well.

Of the ten UFAs the Sabres have, I would only think Cody McCormick, Steve Montador, Mike Grier and Matt Ellis could return in 2011-12. Of those four, I would only extend offers to McCormick and Ellis. I would entertain the thought of bringing back Mike Grier for the veteran minimum in a limited fourth line role, but that wouldn’t be my first choice.

As for the RFAs, Darcy Regier has a little work cut out for him. He got off to a quick start by locking up Drew Stafford for $16 million before July was even within sight. There are also a couple names – Felix Schutz and McCauley – who he won’t need to worry about tendering with a qualifying offer. McCauely is a fighter and can be easily replaced, Schutz went back to Germany and will not receive a tender. I would also let Dennis Persson go. He has been passed by TJ Brennan and Drew Schiestel on the development track and Brayden McNabb isn’t far behind. Let Persson go back to Europe, outside of depth, he doesn’t offer much upside. Continue reading →

Suddenly the Sabres are wheeling and dealing

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Darcy Regier made some waves today, more waves than he has made in a 24-hour span in quite some time, in fact.He waived hometown kid Tim Kennedy before signing veteran defenseman Shaone Morrisonn.

Meet Shaone Morrisonn the newest member of the Sabres.

Upon Tim Kennedy arriving to sign his new contract (recently awarded by an arbitrator) he was waived by the team. This move is beyond surprising for a couple of reasons.

Continue reading →

Watch out NHL! Here come the Buffalo Sabres!

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Not really. The Sabres officially announced another signing today, but it is even more underwhelming that the re-signing of Patrick Lalime.

The Sabres agreed to terms with tough-guy Tim Conboy. The 6’2″ 210lb right winger will spend the season in Portland, barring any unforeseen rash of injuries. Conboy has split time between the AHL and NHL the past few years but, I don’t see a spot for him on the Sabres roster.

Some die hards will remember him for inciting a gongshow at the first Pirates game at HSBC Arena in 2009. This was during my time with the Sabres and I’ll never forget the game because of the lengthy shootout (Portland lost 4-3 to Albany) and the numerous fights. Conboy stuck to the code when he decided Nathan Gerbe was the right dance partner for him that evening. We will see how well those two get together on the farm next year.

Another A-bomb

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This has been the busiest week for free-agent signings for the Sabres this summer.

Darcy Regier went out and grabbed some Stanley Cup experience and grit with Rob Niedermayer and then had Mike Weber accept his one-year qualifying offer. In addition, Corey Tropp was inked to a three-year entry level deal. Then came the big one. This afternoon the Sabres announced that they had re-signed Patrick Lalime to a one-year deal.

The butterfly bandit will be back for another season.

Continue reading →

Sabres stay static on July 1

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July 1 must not be a good day at HSBC Arena. The Sabres have never done too much on the opening day of free agency, particularly in the past few years. Mark down 2010 as another one of those days.

The Sabres only signing on July 1 was defenseman Jordan Leopold.

With a free agent pool deep with defensive talent, and two UFA defensemen likely leaving the team, it was believed that the Sabres would make one or two acquisitions today. They didn’t disappoint in every sense of the word, although most fans expecting Tomas Kaberle are likely up in arms about the Sabres’ signing.

Jordan Leopold is not a bad pick-up. Three years at or around $2 million (his 09-10 salary was $1.75MM) is not a bad rate for a reliable defenseman. Leopold has playoff experience from his Cup run with Calgary and he has shown he is a capable power play contributor. Just don’t expect him to be Duncan Keith on the man advantage.

While underwhelming, Leopold addresses the loss of the Sabres’ two top left handed defensemen. With Mike Weber coming up from the minors, Buffalo shouldn’t lose too much skill. If they were to find another guy later in free agency they might be golden – reason being, Chris Butler and Andrej Sekera do not deserve a regular shift. Continue reading →

It’s almost UFA day – what will the Sabres do?

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The dearth of trades leading up to the beginning of free agency, Thursday at noon, has been somewhat surprising.

We could be only hours away from welcoming Martin Biron back to Buffalo.

Ten days ago rumors were rampant that players like Tomas Kaberle, Jason Spezza and others would be moved on or before the draft. At the very worst they wouldn’t last past June 30. But, there have only been a few “major” deals. Vancouver acquiring Keith Ballard and Victor Oreskovich for a first-round pick, Steve Bernier and Michael Grabner is probably the biggest – followed closely by Nathan Horton and Greg Campbell for Denis Wideman and a pair of picks. Aside from Dustin Byfuglien, the Chicago-Atlanta trade was heavy on numbers but weak on talent.

Either way, the only moves that have been made have been to clear cap space rather than acquire talent. Most of the fringe acquisitions have been smart, but have lacked the pop that all the rumors have predicted. Continue reading →