Available Free Agent Defenseman

[Rayzor32]

"I think it is going to be a very interseting offseason that will be very busy for Regier, but I am not going into next year thinking that this team is going to be much better then last year because we brought some more rookies up to replace some veterans. Other teams will be improving next year, If Buffalo is content with staying the way they are, they will not be better then this year."

 

 

I agree that other teams will catch up to us in molding a roster for the "new" NHL, and that if we stand pat, we won't improve, and will likely slide backward. However, Darcy has proven over time to be more than a one hit wonder. Barnes for Barnaby; Briere for Gratton; Grier for Klepis; Drury for Warrener; Hecht & Lydman for draft picks; Dumont (and Gilmour) for Grosek!?! to name a few over the years...(not to mention drafting Tallinder, Vanek, Pominville, Roy, Novotny, Miller, Campbell, etc.)

 

Darcy's a good GM who's had very little to work with financially -- as a fan, I find him frustating as hell, but I'd rather have a conservative, calculating winner than a trade-a-week loser like a Milbury or Keenan

[hopeleslyobvious]

There was less likelihood of that happening than the likelihood of things working out the way that they did. With payrolls "capped", management no longer had an incentive to lower scoring and place a dull game on the ice in order to keep player salaries down.

 

The method by which the league would increase scoring (bigger nets +/or some other gimmick, or calling penalties the way they are written in the rulebook) wasn't necessarily known beforehand to us, but the league pretty well knew which method it would use to increase scoring before the ink was dry on the new CBA.

 

As for the team not being better next year, 2 comments.

 

1. We'll have to wait and see what happens to the roster before we can predict that. If the Sabres only lose 2 or 3 players from this roster, the team very likely could be as good, if not a little better, next year as they were this year.

 

2. The team earned 110 points in the regular season. 2 more wins and they have home ice throughout the playoffs. A 110 point season is nothing to sneeze at. That is a 67% winning percentage, which in a salary capped league is pretty darn good. (Playoff winning percentage was nearly that as well.) If the team continues to play at that level, the stands will be full and Sabres fever will be hitting epidemic proportions in WNY and along the NP.

 

BTW, I agree (and have been saying it for a long time) that Darcy's final grades won't be available until after we see how the team does this offseason and into the next season. But I do think it looks like he has a solid B going to this point and could easily bring it up to an A. (Hopefully he doesn't stop cramming for the finals now that he's seen the midterms went well!)

 

 

Dave, I look at a few different things. The team has been pretty successful with him as GM, especially considering we had some lost years due to bankruptcy, and league ownership, etc. I also look to the moves he has made in recent years, such as bringing in Briere and Drury, but also what he has really done since the trading deadline 2004. I like the concept of asking the players who they would like on this team. Supposodly Grier, Lydman and Teppo all came in off the recommendation of other players (Briere and Drury). I think that really led to this team being a close knit bunch and putting together a hell of a year.

 

Razor, while I agree that a lot of the other teams have seen what is going to make a successful team in the new NHL, I disagree that they are all going to drastically improve that quickly. I could still see some teams getting caught up in going after big name raises, or giving ridiculious raises to their own (Brad Richards). With the salary cap, this will mean they have less money to spend on other players. I think a lot of the teams could really go in the direction that the Rangers went this year, with a team based on one big name player. As soon as he's out of the equation, they're in trouble. Compare this with the Sabres. Even if they lose a few forwards, they are going to have 4 solid lines.

 

I think if we re-sign most of our forwards, and make sure we keep a defensive corps that is equivalent to the one we have now. Ideally we will re-sign McKee and Teppo will have another good year left and decide to re-sign. If that's not the case I would like to see them sign one or two solid (not necessarily big name) defensemen. If we don't get Teppo back, I would like one of them to be mobile and be able to play point on PP. I would like someone like Zidlicky. I don't know if we can afford him, or if anyone wants him for that matter (I have brought his name up a few times and no one has responded). Anyways, the part about studying in your post reminded me, I need to get back to that.

[frisky]

I agree with the fact they probably aren't going to have every one back or will be active in the FA market. From what Darcy said, and TG said (something like "I have a feeling the payroll will have to increase this year") doesn't sound like it's going to be any different from before. Also, just doing some mental math and looking at the current player salaries and guesstimating increases and what is likely to be about 10 mil under the cap, I see us actually trading players for draft picks and not signing UFA's including our own. Then fill in the spots with Rochester promotions to maintain the budget as well as having enough players to fill the roster. That's the feeling I've gotten from reading the message being put out by the team.

[hopeleslyobvious]

I agree with the fact they probably aren't going to have every one back or will be active in the FA market. From what Darcy said, and TG said (something like "I have a feeling the payroll will have to increase this year") doesn't sound like it's going to be any different from before. Also, just doing some mental math and looking at the current player salaries and guesstimating increases and what is likely to be about 10 mil under the cap, I see us actually trading players for draft picks and not signing UFA's including our own. Then fill in the spots with Rochester promotions to maintain the budget as well as having enough players to fill the roster. That's the feeling I've gotten from reading the message being put out by the team.

 

I'd be interested to see who you think is going to get more than their qualifying offer. There are definately some players that are going to get more years and money, but I don't think it's going to be as drastic as everyone fears.

[Taro T]

Dave, I look at a few different things. The team has been pretty successful with him as GM, especially considering we had some lost years due to bankruptcy, and league ownership, etc. I also look to the moves he has made in recent years, such as bringing in Briere and Drury, but also what he has really done since the trading deadline 2004. I like the concept of asking the players who they would like on this team. Supposodly Grier, Lydman and Teppo all came in off the recommendation of other players (Briere and Drury). I think that really led to this team being a close knit bunch and putting together a hell of a year.

 

Razor, while I agree that a lot of the other teams have seen what is going to make a successful team in the new NHL, I disagree that they are all going to drastically improve that quickly. I could still see some teams getting caught up in going after big name raises, or giving ridiculious raises to their own (Brad Richards). With the salary cap, this will mean they have less money to spend on other players. I think a lot of the teams could really go in the direction that the Rangers went this year, with a team based on one big name player. As soon as he's out of the equation, they're in trouble. Compare this with the Sabres. Even if they lose a few forwards, they are going to have 4 solid lines.

 

I think if we re-sign most of our forwards, and make sure we keep a defensive corps that is equivalent to the one we have now. Ideally we will re-sign McKee and Teppo will have another good year left and decide to re-sign. If that's not the case I would like to see them sign one or two solid (not necessarily big name) defensemen. If we don't get Teppo back, I would like one of them to be mobile and be able to play point on PP. I would like someone like Zidlicky. I don't know if we can afford him, or if anyone wants him for that matter (I have brought his name up a few times and no one has responded). Anyways, the part about studying in your post reminded me, I need to get back to that.

Hopeless,

 

While I, in general, think that Darcy did a reasonable to good job as GM prior to Golisano buying the team, I have a very hard time evaluating Darcy's work pre-Golisano due to the circus that he was working in.

 

He did pull off some really good trades (Briere, Barnes, Dumont) for guys that typically had no future with the team (Barnaby, Gratton, Grosek). He also, at the bidding of his bosses (upon whom's heads I put most of the blame) ran Peca out of town at a time that the team was on the verge of winning a SC (yes, I will go to my grave believing the Sabres would have won the SC in 2001 had the Sabres signed Peca or gotten roughly equivalent value that season). He also was unfortunately the point man during the Dom debacle. He also did not have particularly distinguished drafts during the criminal's reign. Prior to everything, he inherited a team that had won the Northeast Division.

 

There was too much noise in the data for me to fully determine what Darcy was really about. My gut feel was, and is, that he is a good talent evaluator who knows the value of his players and what value other players will bring to the Sabres (both of which are very good things) but there were enough blots on the record to not be able to fully say whether they were due to his abilities or (more likely) due to his doing what the criminals asked him to do.

 

This season, while truly almost magical, is something that Darcy deserves high marks for. But, as this is the 1st season that Darcy can get a fair evaluation of HIS ability, I don't think there is enough data to make a final judgement. This off season will require quite a bit of skill to navigate through the newly created RFA waters. If Darcy does a decent job of it and the team next year ends up with 95-100 points and a 6thish playoff seed, I'd say he deserves a B or a B+. He'll be (in my mind) a good solid above average GM. If the team scrapes into the playoffs, I give him a B- with the grade brought up by this season's work.

 

If the team has a season comparable to last season, I will give Darcy a solid A and say that he is one of the best. Based on this particular season, I give Darcy an A- for this one test. Considering Marty will very likely not be back next year, I would very much like to have seen what might have been had Marty turned into Staois or Spacek. Of course, it probably would have been Sabres - Ducks under that scenario (or maybe Sabres - Sharks, as the Western Conference matchups would possibly have changed), but I like the Sabres chances with that match up as well. Oh, well.

 

As for not commenting about Zidlicky, he's not available. He signed a 4 year contract w/ Nashville in May for $13.4MM.

[hopeleslyobvious]

As for not commenting about Zidlicky, he's not available. He signed a 4 year contract w/ Nashville in May for $13.4MM.

 

I'm really out of the loop these days and it's starting to show...Not enough hours in the day lately!

[frisky]

Hmmm...After playing with salary numbers in Excel (not that I don't have real work to do) and taking wild ass guesses on next years salaries, if most of the players don't want really high numbers, it doesn't look too bad.

 

However, I also assumed that Marty would gone and we would have someone really cheap for a back-up.

 

But, if most of the players sign for decent numbers, it could be do-able.

 

I got the numbers from SabresFans.com

 

If anyone wants to play with it on their own, they can mess around with the numbers for fun.

 

Salary Spreadsheet for Fun

 

Let's hope the pieces fall into place nicely. Now back to doing some real work. :P