Koivu and Cullen?

[tom webster]

Darcy has twice now referred to two forwards he insist they were close on. I am assuming the one he says stayed with his old team was Saku Koivu and the one that went home was Matt Cullen. Would either of these players been a significant upgrade? Was the plan to get one of these two and trade Roy for Kaberle?

 

For what its worth, I don't give him any credit for trying and have said in the past that his great weakness is his inability to sell his point of view.

[Sabretooth]

I am not doubting Regier is shopping around for a point producing top center. Missing out on Koivu and Cullen may hurt our plans via the free agent market, but the deal is not closed on trades.

 

Connolly and Roy, despite showing flashes of producing, cannot do it to the highest levels they should perform at, and are not the top line centers we need.

 

I am not aware of trading Roy to the Mashing Laughs, but I do not like trading among division rivals unless we get the better end of a deal.

[static70]

Darcy has twice now referred to two forwards he insist they were close on. I am assuming the one he says stayed with his old team was Saku Koivu and the one that went home was Matt Cullen. Would either of these players been a significant upgrade? Was the plan to get one of these two and trade Roy for Kaberle?

 

For what its worth, I don't give him any credit for trying and have said in the past that his great weakness is his inability to sell his point of view.

Cullen would have been a significant line 3 center upgrade, allowing the Sabres to roll 3 lines as a legitimate scoring threat IMO.

Koivu I wasn't aware of, so no comment.

Trading Roy was never going to happen IMO. Roy produces, even on off years offensively.

Kaberle may have been on the radar, but that idea died with the Leopold signing.

[Sabretooth]

Should I assume signing Niedermayer was the backup plan for not signing Cullen?

[static70]

Should I assume signing Niedermayer was the backup plan for not signing Cullen?

This is what I would think as well Sabretooth.

I can only assume Darcy plans on addressing the line 3 center position next off season along with resigning Connolly as line 2 center (God help us, when will this nightmare end)

[Sabretooth]

This is what I would think as well Sabretooth.

I can only assume Darcy plans on addressing the line 3 center position next off season along with resigning Connolly as line 2 center (God help us, when will this nightmare end)

 

Would we want to focus on first and second line forwards instead?

[static70]

Would we want to focus on first and second line forwards instead?

Just a guess, but with Connolly under contract for atleast 1 more season and Roy's friendly cap hit, I would think Darcy was looking for a line 3 center (i.e. Cullen) to help offensive production. Not that the Sabres were last in scoring, but we did spend a significant amount of time in our zone, with failure to break out on offensive rushes to any large extent.

Goose is the perfect fit for a line 4 center.

 

My concern in the top 6 is Connolly and Stafford. I would like to see a RWer for Vanek and Roy. Connolly put some points up, but the consistancy was an issue with me. I would like to see a different line 2 center (Maybe Ennis?) with Pommers on the RW and Hecht or ? on the LW.

 

Just my opinion though.

[Sabretooth]

Just a guess, but with Connolly under contract for atleast 1 more season and Roy's friendly cap hit, I would think Darcy was looking for a line 3 center (i.e. Cullen) to help offensive production. Not that the Sabres were last in scoring, but we did spend a significant amount of time in our zone, with failure to break out on offensive rushes to any large extent.

Goose is the perfect fit for a line 4 center.

 

My concern in the top 6 is Connolly and Stafford. I would like to see a RWer for Vanek and Roy. Connolly put some points up, but the consistancy was an issue with me. I would like to see a different line 2 center (Maybe Ennis?) with Pommers on the RW and Hecht or ? on the LW.

 

Just my opinion though.

 

1.) Agreed the Sabres spend too much time in their own zone. This is a constant concern three seasons running.

 

2.) Depth at RW is worse than C. Stafford failed to dig in. Pominville shows up at his choosing. This is a position I like to fix via the trade route no later than the first month into the season.

[static70]

1.) Agreed the Sabres spend too much time in their own zone. This is a constant concern three seasons running.

 

2.) Depth at RW is worse than C. Stafford failed to dig in. Pominville shows up at his choosing. This is a position I like to fix via the trade route no later than the first month into the season.

Completely agree. I am hoping Anahiem will play ball with Bobby Ryan. It would be extremely high cost to get him, but well worth it, thats if he cannot come to terms with Anahiem on a contract. Outside of him, there's not much available that I can see at RW.

Lee Stempniak? Just another Stafford to me.

[Sabretooth]

Completely agree. I am hoping Anahiem will play ball with Bobby Ryan. It would be extremely high cost to get him, but well worth it, thats if he cannot come to terms with Anahiem on a contract. Outside of him, there's not much available that I can see at RW.

Lee Stempniak? Just another Stafford to me.

 

I guess we can take Stempniak for a year, and see what he can do.

 

Right wing will be the position we need to focus in the next draft if nothing is done this year. The position itself warrants its own topic.

[nfreeman]

Darcy has twice now referred to two forwards he insist they were close on. I am assuming the one he says stayed with his old team was Saku Koivu and the one that went home was Matt Cullen. Would either of these players been a significant upgrade? Was the plan to get one of these two and trade Roy for Kaberle?

 

For what its worth, I don't give him any credit for trying and have said in the past that his great weakness is his inability to sell his point of view.

Based on DR's comments, I think you are right that the players he was referring to were Koivu and Cullen. (Nice detective work there, btw.) It wasn't clear to me whether he was trying to bring in both of them or only one.

 

If his plan was to bring in both of them, skip Niedermayer and trade Roy for Kaberle, I would call that a real team-wide upgrade.

 

I'd also note that Cullen got $3.5MM x 3 years, while Koivu got $2.5MM x 2 years. I wonder whether either of them would've come to the Sabres for another $500K per year. (DR also said that in one case his offer was equal to the one that the player accepted and in the other case the Sabres' offer was higher than the one the player accepted.)

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

It was Ryan Stone and Brad Winchester.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

This is the kind of BS the Sabres pull. Darcy drops ambiguous hints on a network paid for by the Sabres for the most part, and expects the fans to eat it up.

 

OK....if the Sabres really were there for Cullen, explain to me how the Wild GM said Cullen was his #1 priority and that he called Cullen 3 seconds into free agency and had him signed hours later?

 

Cullen

 

Now.....a real journalist would take Darcy's words.....see just who those players that matched the criteria were, then make a few phonecalls to their agents to verify if Buffalo was a player AT OR ABOVE THE CONTRACT THEY SIGNED. Not that hard to do.

 

Here are forwards that signed with their hometown:

 

Cullen

Ryan Stone

 

Here are the forwards who stayed with their team:

 

Prospal

Boulton

Winchester

 

It's a bunch of fluff BS coming from the Sabres. So the excuse is they went after a few names, but instead will fill the roster spot with a 22 year old making 800K.

[jpgr909]

I've liked Cullen's game since he was with the [Mighty] Ducks, and he's an excellent 3rd line center, but he came at a pretty steep price. I don't see him as worth the amount Minny paid for him. Now normally I wouldn't care about that in terms of bringing in a good player, but I WOULD care if the plan was to save the money, sign a Niedermayer for significantly less, and use the spare coin in order to make a play for a "top 6" forward. Nice thought, but that doesn't look like the plan at all.

[inkman]

Saku Koivu...Matt Cullen.

Would either of these guys really addressed the Sabres needs? Both are third line players at this point and the Sabres need to address their physically and mentally soft top 6.

[nfreeman]

This is the kind of BS the Sabres pull. Darcy drops ambiguous hints on a network paid for by the Sabres for the most part, and expects the fans to eat it up.

 

OK....if the Sabres really were there for Cullen, explain to me how the Wild GM said Cullen was his #1 priority and that he called Cullen 3 seconds into free agency and had him signed hours later?

 

Cullen

 

Now.....a real journalist would take Darcy's words.....see just who those players that matched the criteria were, then make a few phonecalls to their agents to verify if Buffalo was a player AT OR ABOVE THE CONTRACT THEY SIGNED. Not that hard to do.

 

Here are forwards that signed with their hometown:

 

Cullen

Ryan Stone

 

Here are the forwards who stayed with their team:

 

Prospal

Boulton

Winchester

 

It's a bunch of fluff BS coming from the Sabres. So the excuse is they went after a few names, but instead will fill the roster spot with a 22 year old making 800K.

I agree that we never get any kind of good sports journalist digging. However, I don't think it was fluff BS from DR. I think he made competitive offers for each guy, reached his price limit and bailed out of the auction. If you think he should've paid more for either (or both), I can't really argue with that, but I don't think there is any dishonesty in what he said.

 

Would either of these guys really addressed the Sabres needs? Both are third line players at this point and the Sabres need to address their physically and mentally soft top 6.

I think either of these guys would've been in the top 6. And if they had added both and traded Roy for Kaberle, I would've been quite happy.

[Lanny]

This is the kind of BS the Sabres pull. Darcy drops ambiguous hints on a network paid for by the Sabres for the most part, and expects the fans to eat it up.

 

OK....if the Sabres really were there for Cullen, explain to me how the Wild GM said Cullen was his #1 priority and that he called Cullen 3 seconds into free agency and had him signed hours later?

 

Cullen

 

Now.....a real journalist would take Darcy's words.....see just who those players that matched the criteria were, then make a few phonecalls to their agents to verify if Buffalo was a player AT OR ABOVE THE CONTRACT THEY SIGNED. Not that hard to do.

 

Here are forwards that signed with their hometown:

 

Cullen

Ryan Stone

 

Here are the forwards who stayed with their team:

 

Prospal

Boulton

Winchester

 

It's a bunch of fluff BS coming from the Sabres. So the excuse is they went after a few names, but instead will fill the roster spot with a 22 year old making 800K.

But what would be the purpose for following it up? What would be the story? Would it be a big news story that Darcy lied to some guy named "The Bulldog"? A real news journalist wouldnt waste time doing that legwork and risk burning bridges with the organization they cover for a non story.

[jpgr909]

I think either of these guys would've been in the top 6. And if they had added both and traded Roy for Kaberle, I would've been quite happy.

Koivu maybe, but I don't see Cullen as a 2nd line center. Solid 3rd line center with what he brings, but no more. Just my take.

[deluca67]

The question is would these players rate as "significant?" I would say no. Neither are long term solutions nor do they represent a change in team philosophy. There were "significant" moves to be made and Regier was nowhere to be found.

[bunomatic]

A desperate gesture on Regiers part to even mention that 'he almost had a deal'on 2 players. Why would he even divulge that information to the fans in the first place. Thats like saying 'I almost got laid' its just idiotic.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

But what would be the purpose for following it up? What would be the story? Would it be a big news story that Darcy lied to some guy named "The Bulldog"? A real news journalist wouldnt waste time doing that legwork and risk burning bridges with the organization they cover for a non story.

 

The fact that this thread was started is reason enough for me.

 

Darcy puts out some ambiguous language saying he MATCHED OR BETTERED AN OFFER TAKEN BY SOMEONE to go to his hometown and was right there for someone who stayed with his current team.

 

It took me 20 minutes to look up every free agent signings' hometown, team he signed with, find an article stating Minnesota was on the phone 3 seconds into free agency with Cullen and made him their priority, and make a post about it. This is simple fact checking. If I was the stalker type, I'd have calls in to the agents myself.

 

The Buffalo Media is a joke. Granted I don't expect Schopp and Bulldog to go ape on him, and they actually did not lob him softballs....but as this team fell apart a few years ago, none of the "journalists" asked real questions. This board had 10 better questions than what was asked out there. Bucky was the only guy upset, but he sounded like he had a vendetta.

 

Nobody ever asks the tough questions. Maybe they can't think of them, or maybe they are happy with their job and keeping C+ access to the players and a free ham buffet on gamenights. You know...they Regier their own jobs.

 

Hey guess what.....I can send a formal offer to Golisano tomorrow morning stating I will purchase the Sabres and all related assets and liabilities in return for $110 million with a $5 million deposit, closing in 60 days. He will turn it down.....it is a "competitive" offer....then I can tell the media how I have grandiose plans for the team but Golisano turned me down.

 

Remember....this is the guy that lost Drury, Briere, Dumont and Campbell for a grand total of $3 million per year when they are making an extra $8 million as we speak.

 

I don't blame Webster for starting the thread....but this is exactally what the Sabres expect. Throw the dog a rawhide to keep him away from the table while everyone else is eating steak and lobster.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

A desperate gesture on Regiers part to even mention that 'he almost had a deal'on 2 players. Why would he even divulge that information to the fans in the first place. Thats like saying 'I almost got laid' its just idiotic.

 

Thank You

[gregkash]

I still think a trade is coming if for no other reason than we just have too many forwards

[inkman]

No they don't just send gerbe down.

[static70]

No they don't just send gerbe down.

Speaking of sending someone down, have the Sabres resigned Mancari?