Spacek

[wonderbread]

IMO, Spacek has became our #1 d-man. with Rivet being a close second. Is it time to offer an extension yet?

 

opinions?

[SDS]

I don't think he should resign at all! He's playing good hockey. In fact, one could argue that we should be looking to re-sign him to another short term contract. ;)

[inkman]

I suppose it depends on the future of Tallinder, Lydman, and Teppo. We know Rivet, Sekera and Weber are penciled in for next year. My first inclination is that they won't sign him, unless they are really down on Tallinder and try to move him.

[darksabre]

You gotta keep Spach. Let Tallinder go.

[Stoner]

I don't think he should resign at all! He's playing good hockey. In fact, one could argue that we should be looking to re-sign him to another short term contract. ;)

 

Nice hyphen.

 

I don't pretend to be an expert on the economics of the game, but why would Spacek want to sign a short-term (and I'm sure most fans would want to add "reasonable" to the description) contract? He's playing for his next big contract, and at this rate, it could be a whopper. Darcy has no hand here.

[SabresFan526]

Nice hyphen.

 

I don't pretend to be an expert on the economics of the game, but why would Spacek want to sign a short-term (and I'm sure most fans would want to add "reasonable" to the description) contract? He's playing for his next big contract, and at this rate, it could be a whopper. Darcy has no hand here.

I disagree here. Spacek's big contract was the one he signed with the Sabres, as I could be wrong, but that was his first foray into free agency because of the new CBA. At this point, Spacho's got a wife and kids and probably wants to play for a team he enjoys playing for and a city he loves playing in. Remember, Spacek's 35, he's not a 27-30 year old guy just reaching his prime. From here on out, it's kind of a downward slope for Spacek. I think he probably plays year-to-year or maybe signs at most a 3 year deal putting him at 38 by the end of that contract. I'd be happy to keep Spacek if Darcy can work a trade to get Tallinder out of Buffalo. I'm enjoying what Spacek has brought in terms of his leadership, slap shot from the point, his defensive ability, and his mentoring of Sekera. You need to keep Spacek around if only to help Sekera in his development in my opinion. We've come a long way since the 2006-2007 season when we all wanted to trade him for a bag of used pucks. Can't believe many of us now want to re-sign him after that terrible 2006-2007 season he had with Buffalo. Oh well, I say we keep the pigeon!

[wonderbread]

you are a crafty one SDS!

 

526 spot on!

 

If he could be had for the next 3 years he could help our young D-men develop. Similar to old man Teppo now.

[carpandean]

I'm enjoying what Spacek has brought in terms of his leadership, slap shot from the point, his defensive ability, and his mentoring of Sekera.

Don't forget his interviews. Every one is an instant classic! :thumbsup:

[wonderbread]

Don't forget his interviews. Every one is an instant classic! :thumbsup:

 

Ja I zee de puck and I jus try and get de Pigeon.

[R_Dudley]

I would rather they try and keep Spach(3yrs would be good) and let someone like Tallinder go.

 

IMO he may actually want to stay and be willing to sign for less.. Let's not forget he started the tradition here with the great Pigeon award...

[tom webster]

As I stated before, I expect next year's defense to be;

 

Sekera

Rivet

Weber

Butler

Toni

Hank, Teppo or a vet defensemen willing to sign a one year deal

Paetsch

 

Spacek is definitely playing great but there is no way he gets a long term deal and I can't see him signing for one or two

[Two or less]

i think Spacek re-signs. This off-season won't be a crazy one. Not too many players who receive "decent" offers from their current employers will reject and test the market, because so many teams are cap strapped at the moment and rumours are the cap will drop for next season. I wouldn't even say that he wouldn't agree to a 2 year deal, get his money, and bounce back home to the Czech Republic to finish his career, like so many Euros do.

[tom webster]

i think Spacek re-signs. This off-season won't be a crazy one. Not too many players who receive "decent" offers from their current employers will reject and test the market, because so many teams are cap strapped at the moment and rumours are the cap will drop for next season. I wouldn't even say that he wouldn't agree to a 2 year deal, get his money, and bounce back home to the Czech Republic to finish his career, like so many Euros do.

 

Rumors are only that cap will not increase at the same rate or that it may remain the same. The effect of a precipitous drop in the Canadian dollar or lower corporate spending will not be felt till the following year.

 

Getting back to Spacek, remember, he has been a free agent twice and he has ended up with offers from Chicago, Edmonton and Buffalo the first time and Edmonton and Buffalo the second time. While he has played well this year, he is neither that highly thought of throughout the league nor is he the type of player that commands big dollars. Both factors would indicate that he wouldn't be that hard to sign but I just don't see Buffalo giving a long term contract or big money to a 35 year old defensemen, especially with up to three prospects projected to be ready next year.

 

Given my track record on these things, he will probably sign tomorrow.

[nfreeman]

As I stated before, I expect next year's defense to be;

 

Sekera

Rivet

Weber

Butler

Toni

Hank, Teppo or a vet defensemen willing to sign a one year deal

Paetsch

 

Spacek is definitely playing great but there is no way he gets a long term deal and I can't see him signing for one or two

 

I'll disagree on Butler. The Sabres like to bring their defensemen along slowly. This is Butler's 1st year in their system. Unless he is just an overpowering presence in the AHL this year, I don't see him being top-6 in Buffalo next year.

 

As for the rest, if Teppo finishes the year as well as he's playing right now, he'll be back, as will Sekera and Rivet. I think you are probably right about Lydman, although I could see him or Tallinder being traded if the right deal came along.

 

As for Spacek (and I will note that I started an identical thread about 10 days ago), if he finishes the year as well as he's playing right now (ie top pairing, 23 min. or so per game, etc.), and the Sabres have a decent playoff run, I can definitely see someone giving him a 3-year or even a 4-year deal. But I agree with you that it won't be the Sabres. I have a hard time seeing us giving him more than a 2-year deal.

[JohnRobertEichel]

FWIW, here's the contract situation for this coming July:

 

Spacek (UFA)

Nummy (UFA)

Sekera (RFA)

Lydman (1 year)

Tallinder (1 year)

Paetsch (1 year)

Rivet (2 years)

 

Weber should be a regular next season. I can't think of any other D-men prospects who will make the permanent jump to the big leagues, so barring any future trades or free agent signings, 1 of the above 7 has got to go. My money right now is on Nummy being the odd man out. Re-sign Sissy Spacek to a 3-year deal :thumbsup: .

[wonderbread]

As for Spacek (and I will note that I started an identical thread about 10 days ago), if he finishes the year as well as he's playing right now (ie top pairing, 23 min. or so per game, etc.), and the Sabres have a decent playoff run, I can definitely see someone giving him a 3-year or even a 4-year deal. But I agree with you that it won't be the Sabres. I have a hard time seeing us giving him more than a 2-year deal.

 

are you busting my balls here?

[darksabre]

FWIW, here's the contract situation for this coming July:

 

Spacek (UFA)

Nummy (UFA)

Sekera (RFA)

Lydman (1 year)

Tallinder (1 year)

Paetsch (1 year)

Rivet (2 years)

 

Weber should be a regular next season. I can't think of any other D-men prospects who will make the permanent jump to the big leagues, so barring any future trades or free agent signings, 1 of the above 7 has got to go. My money right now is on Nummy being the odd man out. Re-sign Sissy Spacek to a 3-year deal :thumbsup: .

 

Teppo may be the odd man out, but I think if his body holds up and he plays well this season, he should be resigned for another year. If the staff and Teppo think he can go another season, he should. He brings some kind of calming presence to the younger players that is invaluable. I'd rather trade one of our one year guys for a prospect or a pick than let Teppo go if he's got another year left in him.

[nfreeman]

are you busting my balls here?

Only if you read or posted in the thread I started. Otherwise, I was just congratulating myself for being ahead of the curve on that one.

 

Teppo may be the odd man out, but I think if his body holds up and he plays well this season, he should be resigned for another year. If the staff and Teppo think he can go another season, he should. He brings some kind of calming presence to the younger players that is invaluable. I'd rather trade one of our one year guys for a prospect or a pick than let Teppo go if he's got another year left in him.

Good call.

[Hank]

No.

[thesportsbuff]

Spacek definitely deserves an extension, and from the looks of things he likes it here in Buffalo. I doubt if he's LOOKING for anything more than another 3 year deal.. which works well for both sides.

 

So if Spacek stays, which I fully expect we'll get a deal done, a lot depends on whether Teppo wants to return. If so, I'm sold on a status-quo defense. If he's calling it quits, I also have no problem with Weber or Paetsch taking his spot.

 

Additionally, on the off-chance that Numminen retires AND Tallinder is traded... i have no problem with both Paetsch AND Weber playing full time.

 

Sekera - Spacek, Lydman - Rivet, Weber - Paetsch, or any combination really, would be fine with me. Butler and Myers hopefully developing in the minors, I'd be alright with that.

[tom webster]

I'll disagree on Butler. The Sabres like to bring their defensemen along slowly. This is Butler's 1st year in their system. Unless he is just an overpowering presence in the AHL this year, I don't see him being top-6 in Buffalo next year.

 

As for the rest, if Teppo finishes the year as well as he's playing right now, he'll be back, as will Sekera and Rivet. I think you are probably right about Lydman, although I could see him or Tallinder being traded if the right deal came along.

 

As for Spacek (and I will note that I started an identical thread about 10 days ago), if he finishes the year as well as he's playing right now (ie top pairing, 23 min. or so per game, etc.), and the Sabres have a decent playoff run, I can definitely see someone giving him a 3-year or even a 4-year deal. But I agree with you that it won't be the Sabres. I have a hard time seeing us giving him more than a 2-year deal.

 

Darcy has already stated that guys like Butler, Kennedy and Gerbe may not need as much time in the minors as some past prospects because of the amount of time spent in high level college competition. And they love Butler.

 

One other factor is what their budget will be. They will have to sign Sekera to a new contract, replace Connolly, Kotalik, Max, Teppo and possibly Spacek. If they get Sekera to agree to a 2 year contract at a $1.5 million cap hit (conservatively low) they will have 18 players under contract at a cap hit of $45.8 million. If they promote Butler, Gerbe and Kennedy at their collective cap hit of roughly $2.5 million that brings them to $48 million. They would still need to add a veteran defensemen and all of us would agree that as veteran center is needed as well. Tell me how Spacek fits in under that scenario.

[inkman]

Tell me how Spacek fits in under that scenario.

Trade Tallinder?

[vasabresfan]

The fact that this thread even exists speaks volumes about Spacek's play in the last two years. His first season with the squad consisted of many fans calling him a bust after signing a "big" contract and that we should run him out of town. There's no way there would ever have been discussion about re-signing him to any kind of a deal. Good for him. I'm glad to see him become a real asset on the team.

 

As for my two cents, I'd like to keep him for two reasons: 1) He has become a stabilizing force on the blueline and one that I no longer worry about when I seen which pairing is on the ice and 2) I want to continue to hear RJ call him Spa-chuk (rhymes with Dale Hawerchuk, Dave Andreychuk, or even Darcy Wakaluk)--as if he is just another one of the farm boys direct from the great plains of Western Canada.

 

On an unrelated note, it did my heart some good to see todays "Ottawa (2-5-1) at Buffalo (6-0-2) (AP)" on the front page. I know it's early, but that team deserves to go back into the basement where they were for all those years. They have been too good in the regular season for too long. It's time for their fans to suffer a little (rather than concentrating their suffering into a few short weeks when their team folds up their tents early in the playoffs like usual *zing*).

[nfreeman]

Darcy has already stated that guys like Butler, Kennedy and Gerbe may not need as much time in the minors as some past prospects because of the amount of time spent in high level college competition. And they love Butler.

 

One other factor is what their budget will be. They will have to sign Sekera to a new contract, replace Connolly, Kotalik, Max, Teppo and possibly Spacek. If they get Sekera to agree to a 2 year contract at a $1.5 million cap hit (conservatively low) they will have 18 players under contract at a cap hit of $45.8 million. If they promote Butler, Gerbe and Kennedy at their collective cap hit of roughly $2.5 million that brings them to $48 million. They would still need to add a veteran defensemen and all of us would agree that as veteran center is needed as well. Tell me how Spacek fits in under that scenario.

Hey, I'll be quite pleased if Butler is good enough to be top-6 next year. It just would be a pretty drastic change from the way they've operated in the past. I suppose we'll have to wait and see how this year plays out. Also, I do think Teppo will be back next year if he's playing as well at the end of this year as he is playing now. There certainly won't be an economic incentive to replace him with Butler, since he (Teppo) doesn't make that much now.

 

I'll also note that I think Sekera will cost quite a bit more than $1.5MM per year. He's an RFA after this year. He could easily end up leading our team in ice time. If we have a good playoff run and he keeps playing well, he's at least a $3MM per year player.

 

As for how Spacek fits in, Inky nails it.

 

Trade Tallinder?

[tom webster]

Trade Tallinder?

 

Even if you trade Tallinder, something I think is very possible, if you assume they will be willing to go to a cap hit of $52 million, and you assume that you can get Sekera for the $1.5 million I laid out earlier, and Free is right it may be low, you still won't have enough room to fit Spacek and add a veteran forward, hopefully a center.

 

Right now they have 41.125 comitted to 12 players. If you figure on .850 for one kid, .850 for Kaletta, 1 million for either Stafford or MacArthur, 1,5 mill for Sekera and .850 for Weber, that gives you 46.175 for 9 forwards, 6 defensemen and 2 goalies. Put another 3 million for 3 third and fourth line forwards and a seventh d-man and you are at 49.175. Even of you trade Tallinder, I believe the choice comes down to Spacek or a number 2 center.

 

And remember, my figures for Stafford and Sekera are extremely conservative.