Berglund suspended, failure to report

[Beer]

Assuming he doesn’t want to return to the Sabres, anyone on LA (already mentioned) or Chicago that we would want for him?  Assuming these are willing trade partners.

[Cheektorado]

15 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Drouin 

Thanks Eleven, I had to refresh the details of the Drouin situation.

The big thing was when his agent put out the "trade him" public statement.

Interesting to see if something like that happens.

[North Buffalo]

I really liked the speed of Zemgus, Larry and Erod and I can see Bergy being the odd guy out.  Wonder if he would have fit better on 3rd line but who do you sit Pommer? Maybe and that might be why the no show..  Sabres are not St louis style though and gotta believe he wouldve been gone by trade deadline.

[Doohicksie]

18 minutes ago, shrader said:

He’ll retire Kovalchuk style. 

Yep.  I posted something to that on HFBoards just now.

[Huckleberry]

Doesn't count against the cap, but we have to keep room if he decides to return.    So basically we are screwed for the next 4 years...

[Doohicksie]

16 minutes ago, Beer said:

Assuming he doesn’t want to return to the Sabres, anyone on LA (already mentioned) or Chicago that we would want for him?  Assuming these are willing trade partners.

I think Bergie's already made the decision to return home.

[shrader]

2 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Doesn't count against the cap, but we have to keep room if he decides to return.    So basically we are screwed for the next 4 years...

It’s really not very difficult to account for. If he decides to return, you paper transaction a few of the non-waiver eligible guys to Rochester until you figure out the real moves you want to make. 

[Brawndo]

48 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

The "sick" angle is interesting. Did Berglund tell the team he was sick and the team believed it but they're no longer buying it? Or was he never sick and it was a cover story for the media? The latter doesn't look good for the team (but did the team report this or is this just Vogl's reporting?). The former raises a slight possibility it could be something in the Robin Lehner realm. Eleven's caveat about depression deserves to be considered.

Based on how the Sabres specifically Botterill handled the Lehner Situation Last Season, I doubt this is the case.  Berglund would have been granted a leave of absence by the team rather than a suspension 

46 minutes ago, IKnowPhysics said:

Can't help but think this is usage related.  He's got the toughest minutes among forwards with the highest quality of competition and an 18% offensive zone start percentage.  When he's playing, he's getting worked, and he's getting worked a position where he's not going to be successful offensively.

I could easily see early season promises made by the coaching staff to elevate his role from checker to a two-way forward, but maybe the checking line was working too well to stop doing that.  Meanwhile, because you can't really break up the top six during the streak and you can break up a checking line, he's rotating in and out with the 13th and 14th forwards just so they can get fair time.

All that said, having a tantrum is no way to fix your station.

Based on Metrics is there an argument to be made that he at least deserves a shot at the 3C Position over Sobotka? 

43 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Drouin, but that was AHL

There was also the Shipacyov from Vegas last season. He signed a two year deal with Vegas and was sent to the AHL where he did not report. The NHL, NHLPA and his Agent Petr Svoboda came up with an agreement where he retired and terminated his contract with Vegas holding his rights for five years.

Could Berglund decide to do the same with the SHL or KHL next. 

Hoss brought up on Twitter that The Blues would be responsible for his cap recapture penalty, while another use mentioned that both the Blues and Sabres would be responsible for 283K a piece for remaining years.

27 minutes ago, Beer said:

Assuming he doesn’t want to return to the Sabres, anyone on LA (already mentioned) or Chicago that we would want for him?  Assuming these are willing trade partners.

Doubt it, the Sabres would have to sweeten the deal with a pick or prospect as his cap hit remains 3.8 for an additional 3 years 

Edited December 15, 2018 by Brawndo

[Doohicksie]

Just now, Huckleberry said:

Doesn't count against the cap, but we have to keep room if he decides to return.    So basically we are screwed for the next 4 years...

That's not the way I interpret it.  "the Club must have Payroll Room for such Player's Player Salary and Bonuses in order for such Player to be able to return to Play for the Club."  If there is never an intention for him to return, the cap can be used for other players.  It just comes down to what does "indefinite suspension" mean?  Can the team legitimately not let him come back for the rest of the season?  The rest of his contract?

This is Day One of what may turn into a lengthy process of terminating his contract.

In the short term, though, I think they can use his cap space for other players, but would have to clear it back out if he were to return.  I have a feeling he won't be returning though.

[shrader]

Speaking of Sobotka, I thought there had been some chatter at the time of the trade that he might be the type to do something like this if he wasn’t happy with his playing time. 

[Doohicksie]

2 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Could Berglund decide to do the same with the SHL or KHL next. 

I think this is the end game Bergie has in mind.  He's going home.

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Gotta go back and listen again, but in that podcast @Brawndo posted a thread about, I’m pretty sure Botterill talks a lot about players that want to be here. Oblique reference to this situation?

@Taro T assuming this is not something that can be resolved internally, and no one wants him in trade, what are our options under the CBA? The dude is owed more than $12 million. He’s not giving that up, and we aren’t going to want to pay it.

Umm, actually this is VERY good for the Sabres.  It's up to the team to un-suspend him, so he just did the Sabres a huge favor.

Not sure how much money he recieved as a Blue above the AAV but the contract does have lowered actual payments during the final 2 years and he's making about $1MM over the AAV this season, so they most likely have some extra cap room at this moment too.  Haven't looked closely at the contract.

What a pinhead.

[Doohicksie]

It strikes me that the Sabres are having the opposite problem they've been having in recent years:  Too many NHLer for not enough NHL positions.  So far this season, the only AHLer on the squad has been a few games from Tennyson.  In past seasons it was almost half the team.

The Berglund situation is one of the outcomes have having too many legit NHLers.

[erickompositör72]

For the purpose of conversation, what should a player do in his situation, assuming usage is his issue?

Obviously step 1 is to work your ass off every night to show everyone you're professional/a good teammate.

Would step 2 be quietly letting management know you feel you might not fit into their plans and would prefer to be moved?

[Brawndo]

There was an interview from this summer where Sobotka said he is not a fourth line player. Next season its entirely possible he is dropped into a 4th Line role or as the 13th forward and he decided to bolt for the KHL.

The end game is that if both Sobotka and Berglund decide to leave that should open up 7.35 Million which can be used on Skinner’s Next Deal 

[Doohicksie]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

What a pinhead.

If his desire is to continue his career at home, this is one way to do it.  Far from being a pinhead, it may be what his agent and he worked out as an exit strategy from the NHL.

[Brawndo]

Here is his contract per Cap Friendly 

 

[Doohicksie]

3 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

if both Sobotka and Berglund decide to leave that should open up 7.35 Million which can be used on Skinner’s Next Deal 

[Taro T]

6 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

If his desire is to continue his career at home, this is one way to do it.  Far from being a pinhead, it may be what his agent and he worked out as an exit strategy from the NHL.

If his desire is to play in the SHL, he shouldn't have signed a deal that runs 3.5 more seasons in the NHL.  He also could have announced his retirement from the NHL should that be his goal, rather than claim to be "sick."

Either way, what a pinhead.

[nfreeman]

 

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

The "sick" angle is interesting. Did Berglund tell the team he was sick and the team believed it but they're no longer buying it? Or was he never sick and it was a cover story for the media? The latter doesn't look good for the team (but did the team report this or is this just Vogl's reporting?). The former raises a slight possibility it could be something in the Robin Lehner realm. Eleven's caveat about depression deserves to be considered.

I think the bolded is likely the case.

I don't think the Sabres would suspend him if they knew it to be depression-related.

 

11 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Umm, actually this is VERY good for the Sabres.  It's up to the team to un-suspend him, so he just did the Sabres a huge favor.

Well, if he gets TF over it and reports and promises to be a good citizen, I doubt they can just keep him on suspension indefinitely and get the cap relief.

 

10 minutes ago, erickompositör72 said:

For the purpose of conversation, what should a player do in his situation, assuming usage is his issue?

Obviously step 1 is to work your ass off every night to show everyone you're professional/a good teammate.

Would step 2 be quietly letting management know you feel you might not fit into their plans and would prefer to be moved?

That seems like the right way to go about it.

And what he's doing seems like the absolute worst way to go about it.

Who is going to want to trade for him now?

 

48 minutes ago, shrader said:

He’ll retire Kovalchuk style. 

 

9 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

There was an interview from this summer where Sobotka said he is not a fourth line player. Next season its entirely possible he is dropped into a 4th Line role or as the 13th forward and he decided to bolt for the KHL.

The end game is that if both Sobotka and Berglund decide to leave that should open up 7.35 Million which can be used on Skinner’s Next Deal 

I have a hard time believing that either of them would walk away from their contracts.  Berglund isn't going to make anywhere near $14MM over the next 4 years (and likely not the rest of his life) playing anywhere else or doing anything else.  Same goes for Sobotka and his $3.5MM next year.

 

[Doohicksie]

I think he came to the Sabres with intentions of playing out his contract, but has since recognized his usage on a top team will not be what he wanted, Taro.

1 minute ago, nfreeman said:

TF

TF?  What's that?

2 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

Who is going to want to trade for him now?

Irrelevant if his target is the SHL.

[Doohicksie]

3 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

Berglund isn't going to make anywhere near $14MM over the next 4 years (and likely not the rest of his life) playing anywhere else or doing anything else.  Same goes for Sobotka and his $3.5MM next year.

How much money do they already have?  How much do they need?  There are more important things in life than making money, especially if you're already sitting on a sufficient pile of it.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

11 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I think he came to the Sabres with intentions of playing out his contract, but has since recognized his usage on a top team will not be what he wanted, Taro.

TF?  What's that?

Irrelevant if his target is the SHL.

Never you mind.

We'll just keep it our little secret.

[Taro T]

17 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I think he came to the Sabres with intentions of playing out his contract, but has since recognized his usage on a top team will not be what he wanted, Taro.

TF?  What's that?

Irrelevant if his target is the SHL.

Pretty ####ing sure that when he signed the deal with St. Louis he believed he was on a "top team."

Also pretty ####ing sure that people were claiming he was some sort of 'Swedish player whisperer' teaching our young Swedes how to be "professionals."  How's that working out?

[Taro T]

22 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

 

I think the bolded is likely the case.

I don't think the Sabres would suspend him if they knew it to be depression-related.

 

Well, if he gets TF over it and reports and promises to be a good citizen, I doubt they can just keep him on suspension indefinitely and get the cap relief.

 

That seems like the right way to go about it.

And what he's doing seems like the absolute worst way to go about it.

Who is going to want to trade for him now?

 

 

I have a hard time believing that either of them would walk away from their contracts.  Berglund isn't going to make anywhere near $14MM over the next 4 years (and likely not the rest of his life) playing anywhere else or doing anything else.  Same goes for Sobotka and his $3.5MM next year.

 

Probably correct.  But have to believe he put some serious thought into this tantrum.  Not really expecting him back.