Devil of a Signing...

[deluca67]

Well he didn't sign Matt Ellis so he can suck it!

How could he? The Sabres have cornered the market marginal NHL quality fourth line forwards. I guess Lou was stuck going after a 40-50 goal scorers instead. He was willing to comprise which is a sign of a great leader.

[bunomatic]

This further illustrates the glaring differences between the Sabres and other teams and answers the question from that other thread perfectly. Lou is proactive and Darcy is reactive. You can make up your own minds on which method gets results.

[jad1]

CBA aside, this off-season the Devils moved to elite team status with Washington and Pittsburgh. If Marty stays healthy they maybe the best team in the East this year.

 

Two of your three "elite" teams didn't make it out of the first round in the playoffs last season.

[nfreeman]

Interesting -- the NHL fined NJ $3MM, a 1st-rounder and a 3rd-rounder for cap circumvention. That's a pretty steep penalty.

 

linkage

 

When you add that to what NJ gave up in trade, plus the big contract -- he was awfully expensive. It'll be worth it if Kovy can carry them in the playoffs, but we didn't see that last year.

[shrader]

Interesting -- the NHL fined NJ $3MM, a 1st-rounder and a 3rd-rounder for cap circumvention. That's a pretty steep penalty.

 

linkage

 

When you add that to what NJ gave up in trade, plus the big contract -- he was awfully expensive. It'll be worth it if Kovy can carry them in the playoffs, but we didn't see that last year.

 

Especially for a team that is known for their drafting. Now I know some will say it's worth it, but it would be worth even more if they still had those picks.

[Two or less]

For an over rated player, that is a very expensive price tag. This guy has never won anything of note and disappears in all the big games. I must have been out of the loop last few days with the NFL starting and all but i didn't know NHL was going to punish the Devils? I thought once the union approved to the new CBA rules concerning long term deals that all these deals were fair game and the subject was dead. When i started receiving twitter alerts from all these reporters tonight about a punishment to be handed out momentary, i was kinda shocked. And when i saw what it was, i was really shocked.

[shrader]

For an over rated player, that is a very expensive price tag. This guy has never won anything of note and disappears in all the big games. I must have been out of the loop last few days with the NFL starting and all but i didn't know NHL was going to punish the Devils? I thought once the union approved to the new CBA rules concerning long term deals that all these deals were fair game and the subject was dead. When i started receiving twitter alerts from all these reporters tonight about a punishment to be handed out momentary, i was kinda shocked. And when i saw what it was, i was really shocked.

 

It has absolutely nothing to do with the new deal and the CBA adjustment though. This is punishment for the first "contract". But anyway, now that this is done, I'm looking forward to seeing how they get back under the cap.

[wjag]

Interesting -- the NHL fined NJ $3MM, a 1st-rounder and a 3rd-rounder for cap circumvention. That's a pretty steep penalty.

 

linkage

 

When you add that to what NJ gave up in trade, plus the big contract -- he was awfully expensive. It'll be worth it if Kovy can carry them in the playoffs, but we didn't see that last year.

Ouch. That certainly makes me smile. Be even more fun if they had a lottery within their conference or better yet their divison for those picks. Teams would wake up in a hurry if their greedy acts benefited their competitors. Alas it will never be so..

 

I still can't get over that he is a Devil and wants to be one. It is the worst possible system for his cherry-picking style of play. On paper it seems like a terrible mismatch of Player, Coach and Team.

[Oakstream]

For an over rated player, that is a very expensive price tag. This guy has never won anything of note and disappears in all the big games. I must have been out of the loop last few days with the NFL starting and all but i didn't know NHL was going to punish the Devils? I thought once the union approved to the new CBA rules concerning long term deals that all these deals were fair game and the subject was dead. When i started receiving twitter alerts from all these reporters tonight about a punishment to be handed out momentary, i was kinda shocked. And when i saw what it was, i was really shocked.

 

[nfreeman]

Ouch. That certainly makes me smile. Be even more fun if they had a lottery within their conference or better yet their divison for those picks. Teams would wake up in a hurry if their greedy acts benefited their competitors. Alas it will never be so..

 

I still can't get over that he is a Devil and wants to be one. It is the worst possible system for his cherry-picking style of play. On paper it seems like a terrible mismatch of Player, Coach and Team.

The lottery for the picks is an interesting idea, but probably too unfair to the rest of the NHL for it to ever happen.

 

As for Kovy -- he was effective for NJ last year, but not great and certainly not enough of a difference-maker to get them out of the 1st round. He'll probably be better after a full season with the team. It's still far from clear though whether he'll be another Heatley as opposed to another Crosby.

[spndnchz]

It has absolutely nothing to do with the new deal and the CBA adjustment though. This is punishment for the first "contract". But anyway, now that this is done, I'm looking forward to seeing how they get back under the cap.

 

It does though. Part of that deal was that the NHL retained the right to fine NJD. NHLPA agreed to it in that final deal. But yeah, how are they going to get rid of 3 mill in cap when 6 out of ten of the guys they need to move to get under have No move or no trade clauses. Park them in the minors?

[shrader]

It does though. Part of that deal was that the NHL retained the right to fine NJD. NHLPA agreed to it in that final deal. But yeah, how are they going to get rid of 3 mill in cap when 6 out of ten of the guys they need to move to get under have No move or no trade clauses. Park them in the minors?

 

Definitely not someone with one of those no movement clauses. I can't imagine any player agreeing to that demotion.

[spndnchz]

They've got three weeks

 

link

[nfreeman]

They've got three weeks

 

link

 

I've been thinking about this as part of my offseason self-delusion program. There are 6 teams over the cap per capgeek. 5 of those teams are several million over the cap (I'm including the Rangers because their overage will climb into the millions once they sign Staal). Those teams are required to unload players, either by trade or by parking them in the minors or Europe, by the end of camp. Some of the teams will probably eat the cash hit and park the players in the minors or Europe, but some are going to make trades. Meanwhile, the Sabres have $4.8MM in cap room. I'm probably kidding myself, but DR's trading approach over the years has been to ignore the fans and media and wait to make a deal. It's not impossible that the Sabres would jump in and add a $3MM forward in exchange for a pick or a prospect at the last possible moment.

 

As for NJ, chz's link lists the guys who might be traded:

 

 

Langenbrunner’s contract, which has one season remaining, carries a cap hit of $2.8 million. Other players that fall into the same tenuous category include defensemen Bryce Salvador (cap hit of $2.9 million) and Colin White ($3 million) and forwards Brian Rolston ($5,062,500), Dainius Zubrus ($3.4 million) and Patrik Elias ($6 million). Of those players, Zubrus and Salvador are the only ones without at least a no-trade clause (Elias has a no-movement clause).

 

 

 

Certainly, the Kovy deal shows that they're spending money, but I have to think they'd rather make a trade than eat another $3MM by parking a guy like Zubrus or Salvador in the minors.

 

Holy mackarel would I be thrilled if the Sabres picked up Langenbrunner.

[nobody]

I won't be surprised if NJ makes some trades to get under the cap if they end up with a 1st & 3rd round draft picks in the deals.

[wjag]

"Of those players, Zubrus and Salvador are the only ones without at least a no-trade clause (Elias has a no-movement clause)."

 

Seems like a no brainer whom is about to be seeking employment.

[nfreeman]

"Of those players, Zubrus and Salvador are the only ones without at least a no-trade clause (Elias has a no-movement clause)."

 

Seems like a no brainer whom is about to be seeking employment.

They're both employed, and very well paid. I expect you meant that these will be Lamoriello's first choices as to whom to try to trade, which I'd agree with, but both are pretty pricey and not likely to garner much interest.

[bunomatic]

Devil of a price to pay :blink:

[nfreeman]

Further to my post above about teams being over the cap, the Rangers just signed Staal for just under $4MM per year, putting them about $4MM over the cap. Speculation is that they will solve this problem by sending Redden and his $6.5MM cap hit to the minors. That's a huge hit, even for the Rangers.

 

It also begs the question as to whether anyone would take Redden even at $3.25MM (which is I think what it would cost to claim him off waivers, with the Rangers keeping the other half of the cost and cap hit). He had 14 points in 75 games last year and has another 4 years to go on his contract. I would guess that no one would claim him even at 50% off -- which is further evidence that Sather should be fired yesterday.