Is Regier losing it?

[LALALALALALAFONTAINE]

Regier has made a lot of good moves, but recently, his moves have been quite questionable. And some of his previous inaction has cost us now.

 

It was a lousy decision to keep Biron at the trade deadline, when it was obvious we needed defensive help. Let's remember that Brian Campbell was slumping, Kalinin had a terrible year and Numminen was having health problems at the trade deadline. Regier shouldn't have been expected to expect to replace 4 defensemen, but 1 was obvious. That move quite possibly cost us the Cup. If Edmonton wanted to deal a 1st and a 3rd for Roloson, we probably could have gotten that for Biron. Regier made the laughable claim that Edmonton didn't want to give up a roster player for Biron. So be it...flip the 1st rounder and 3rd for a player if you need to add someone.

 

Not trading Biron at the draft now leaves us with a disgruntled backup who makes $2.1M. Moreover, the market for starting goaltenders has evaporated. And since we dealt Noronen, we need a backup if and when we deal Biron. That may not be a bad thing, depending on who we sign.

 

Signing Campbell to a $3M contract is too expensive.

 

Trading Pyatt for a 4th rounder? Are you kidding me? This move has an extremely limited upside and a huge downside. For those of you who say trading Pyatt saves us salary, it doesn't. Someone who takes Pyatt's place will make at least $450K. Wow, a savings of under $600K. I have the same feeling I did when we dealt Hasek - we just got ripped off. We will regret trading Pyatt. Nonis is having a hell of an offseason.

 

Another questionable move is that Regier went with extremely short term contracts, leaving most of the team as RFA. Perhaps Jim Kelley was right, and Regier just got lucky. If he was certain that we would improve as we did (I thought we would), then why didn't he sign players like Connolly and Briere and Kotalik to multi-year contracts last year? Why not stagger the contracts so we don't face the risk of everyone becoming free agents after a year. This isn't the old NHL...free agency comes much earlier.

 

Trading Pyatt and not resigning Grier and McKee makes us much less tough than we were last year. How is this toughness going to be replaced?

[buftex]

You make some very valid points, but lets just see how all of this plays out over the next month or so before crucifying Reiger.

[apuszczalowski]

Now I've been critical of Regiers moves this offseason too, but I can't say this one is all that bad, theres a logjam at forward, Pyatt was not going to get much time and hasn't shown that much of his potential upside we've been waiting to see. He only played 41 games this year.

 

Regier freed a roster spot at forward and got a pick for someone who hasn't been all that great, I think its not a bad move, and not as crazy as you think, its not like he traded Max, or Briere for the 4th

[bob_sauve28]

 

Another questionable move is that Regier went with extremely short term contracts, leaving most of the team as RFA. Perhaps Jim Kelley was right, and Regier just got lucky. If he was certain that we would improve as we did (I thought we would), then why didn't he sign players like Connolly and Briere and Kotalik to multi-year contracts last year? Why not stagger the contracts so we don't face the risk of everyone becoming free agents after a year. This isn't the old NHL...free agency comes much earlier.

 

Trading Pyatt and not resigning Grier and McKee makes us much less tough than we were last year. How is this toughness going to be replaced?

Pyatt was big, but I don't see where he was tough at all. Novotny was tough, hard worker, hit people, and his attitude seemed contagious. Pyatt worked hard because Novotny pushed him. Now he pushed him out the door

[Two or less]

Regier offered Grier what San Jose did. Only way Grier would stay is if we totally overpaid for him. Thus he's gone. If he stayed with more money, we'd have the same type of topics.

 

Pyatt has no room on this team. I was hoping to package him with Biron or something, but im sure Regier tried and failed, but Pyatt wasn't good enough to play here and that's why he's done.

[slapshot1619]

Regier has made a lot of good moves, but recently, his moves have been quite questionable. And some of his previous inaction has cost us now.

 

It was a lousy decision to keep Biron at the trade deadline, when it was obvious we needed defensive help. Let's remember that Brian Campbell was slumping, Kalinin had a terrible year and Numminen was having health problems at the trade deadline. Regier shouldn't have been expected to expect to replace 4 defensemen, but 1 was obvious. That move quite possibly cost us the Cup. If Edmonton wanted to deal a 1st and a 3rd for Roloson, we probably could have gotten that for Biron. Regier made the laughable claim that Edmonton didn't want to give up a roster player for Biron. So be it...flip the 1st rounder and 3rd for a player if you need to add someone.

 

Not trading Biron at the draft now leaves us with a disgruntled backup who makes $2.1M. Moreover, the market for starting goaltenders has evaporated. And since we dealt Noronen, we need a backup if and when we deal Biron. That may not be a bad thing, depending on who we sign.

 

Signing Campbell to a $3M contract is too expensive.

 

Trading Pyatt for a 4th rounder? Are you kidding me? This move has an extremely limited upside and a huge downside. For those of you who say trading Pyatt saves us salary, it doesn't. Someone who takes Pyatt's place will make at least $450K. Wow, a savings of under $600K. I have the same feeling I did when we dealt Hasek - we just got ripped off. We will regret trading Pyatt. Nonis is having a hell of an offseason.

 

Another questionable move is that Regier went with extremely short term contracts, leaving most of the team as RFA. Perhaps Jim Kelley was right, and Regier just got lucky. If he was certain that we would improve as we did (I thought we would), then why didn't he sign players like Connolly and Briere and Kotalik to multi-year contracts last year? Why not stagger the contracts so we don't face the risk of everyone becoming free agents after a year. This isn't the old NHL...free agency comes much earlier.

 

Trading Pyatt and not resigning Grier and McKee makes us much less tough than we were last year. How is this toughness going to be replaced?

 

 

Let us not forget its not exactly easy as, say NHL 06, to swing a deal in the NHL. Regier goes after what he sees as fair value. Now not to say there was no one out there, but there musn't have been the right deal or else he would have swung it. You can't just make a deal to make a deal. Edmonton may have not wanted to give up a roster player. Alot of teams are like that especially teams that are in a cup run. I'm actually glad he kept Biron because heaven forbid miller gets hurt prior to the playoffs and we have to rely on Leighton to be our goalie going into the playoffs. We would have been swept by the flyers. and swinging picks like they're nothing doesn't happen in the NHL. Plus a 2nd round pick for Noronen, I think, was a steal.

 

I agree with you on dealing Biron at the Draft, but it has been known that Regier wants a backup in place before dealing Marty. With leighton let go, we have Jhonas Enroth and Adam Dennis as the only Goalies in the system... not exactly what you want as a backup. Campbells deal is fair as its not 3mill/yr its $1.25m the 1st yr and $1.75m the 2nd. Pretty damn cheap for a guy who lead all our dmen in scoring.

 

Regret trading Pyatt.... Please... I'll eat my words when he's scoring 30+ goals a year. There was no room for him and we got something instead of nothing since if he wasn't moved and not resigned he would've became a free agent eventually.

 

Contracts... yeah I see your point. but, With such a young team we have we can get away with the short term deals FOR NOW. However Regier does need figure out what guys he wants to build this team around and sign then long term Briere, Tallinder, get'em signed. Regeirs Philosophy is build a team core then shave off expendible players getting more expensive and replace them with younger less expensive players.

 

as for toughness we still have plenty... Gaustad, Mair, Tallinder, Lydman.......... Peters*sighs*... hell even soupy started playing the body more. The entire team plays with Grit. I'm not too concerned yet with lack of toughness.

 

I'm not a regier lover, but the man is a good executive. He may not do what is popular with the fans, but he does what he needs to do keep the team competitive. He has not been given the signal to spend to the cap and I like that. It gives us a cushion to go out at the deadline and possibly pickup a few players with not having to give much in return.

[LALALALALALAFONTAINE]

Regier offered Grier what San Jose did. Only way Grier would stay is if we totally overpaid for him. Thus he's gone. If he stayed with more money, we'd have the same type of topics.

 

Pyatt has no room on this team. I was hoping to package him with Biron or something, but im sure Regier tried and failed, but Pyatt wasn't good enough to play here and that's why he's done.

 

No he didn't offer Grier what San Jose did. If you'll listen to his WGR interview with Schopp, he said that the Sabres offered money "in the neighborhood" of what San Jose offered. In other words, we offered less, and in Regier's eyes, not significantly less. In Grier's eyes, it was enough to move.

 

Pyatt certainly has room on this team. He was one of our better forwards in the last two series we played. He did more than Afinogenov did. Unlike Gaustad, who would initate contact and lose the battle for the puck along the boards, Pyatt won those battles. To deal Pyatt before all the arbitration has been finished is premature. What if Afinogenov gets $4M per? What if Kotalik gets more than $2.5M? There could be surprises. Additionally, dealing Pyatt for virtually nothing is stupid. We got a second round pick for Noronen. And lastly, Regier strength was that he had tons of forwards, so he had the possibility of packaging several to concentrate talent or get younger and cheaper while maintaining the talent base. That's only possible if you have depth to utilize. Well, we've lost Grier and Pyatt.

 

Bertuzzi wasn't good enough to play in Long Island either. Vancouver dealt for him and he came of age at 26. Pyatt won't be Bertuzzi. He's got a chance to be better. His defense is much better than Bertuzzi's. His top end speed is among the best in the NHL. If he can score 30, he will be better. Pyatt accumulated roughly as many points as Kotalik did on a per-minute basis. He's going to surprise some people, and then we'll see people upset at this deal. I'm just ahead of the curve.

[LALALALALALAFONTAINE]

Pyatt was big, but I don't see where he was tough at all. Novotny was tough, hard worker, hit people, and his attitude seemed contagious. Pyatt worked hard because Novotny pushed him. Now he pushed him out the door

 

Perhaps you should recall Pyatt beating the crap out of Boughner, or perhaps when he bloodied McGrattan. Or perhaps when he abused many people along the boards during the playoffs. Nobody on the Sabres was as effective along the boards except for perhaps Grier in the playoffs. Gaustad would initiate contact, but would lose the battle for the puck. Remember Pyatt's game winning assist on Dumont's GW OT goal? The pass wasn't great, but what was great was Pyatt winning the battle to get the puck.

 

Novotny did not push Pyatt out the door. Every game Novotny played in the playoffs, Pyatt was on the ice - getting more ice time than Novotny in fact. There was one game in the regular season that Novotny played where Pyatt was scratched.

 

As for Novotny's role as team muse and psychologist, how did he fail in such a role with Vanek yet succeed with Pyatt. What will your excuse be when Pyatt scores 20 goals in Vancouver this year?

[LALALALALALAFONTAINE]

Let us not forget its not exactly easy as, say NHL 06, to swing a deal in the NHL. Regier goes after what he sees as fair value. Now not to say there was no one out there, but there musn't have been the right deal or else he would have swung it. You can't just make a deal to make a deal. Edmonton may have not wanted to give up a roster player. Alot of teams are like that especially teams that are in a cup run. I'm actually glad he kept Biron because heaven forbid miller gets hurt prior to the playoffs and we have to rely on Leighton to be our goalie going into the playoffs. We would have been swept by the flyers. and swinging picks like they're nothing doesn't happen in the NHL. Plus a 2nd round pick for Noronen, I think, was a steal.

 

I agree with you on dealing Biron at the Draft, but it has been known that Regier wants a backup in place before dealing Marty. With leighton let go, we have Jhonas Enroth and Adam Dennis as the only Goalies in the system... not exactly what you want as a backup. Campbells deal is fair as its not 3mill/yr its $1.25m the 1st yr and $1.75m the 2nd. Pretty damn cheap for a guy who lead all our dmen in scoring.

 

Regret trading Pyatt.... Please... I'll eat my words when he's scoring 30+ goals a year. There was no room for him and we got something instead of nothing since if he wasn't moved and not resigned he would've became a free agent eventually.

 

Contracts... yeah I see your point. but, With such a young team we have we can get away with the short term deals FOR NOW. However Regier does need figure out what guys he wants to build this team around and sign then long term Briere, Tallinder, get'em signed. Regeirs Philosophy is build a team core then shave off expendible players getting more expensive and replace them with younger less expensive players.

 

as for toughness we still have plenty... Gaustad, Mair, Tallinder, Lydman.......... Peters*sighs*... hell even soupy started playing the body more. The entire team plays with Grit. I'm not too concerned yet with lack of toughness.

 

I'm not a regier lover, but the man is a good executive. He may not do what is popular with the fans, but he does what he needs to do keep the team competitive. He has not been given the signal to spend to the cap and I like that. It gives us a cushion to go out at the deadline and possibly pickup a few players with not having to give much in return.

 

I know it's not easy to make a deal, and Regier sure as hell should not have accepted these scraps. I already said Edmonton didn't want to give up a roster player. Apparently Regier said this too. Who cares? Did Regier add anyone at the deadline? Why would it matter? Regier preaches about asset management, but he is sometimes overly patient. His ass dragging with respect to our goaltending has destroyed what we can get. That is poor asset management. I really doubt we can get more than a 2nd rounder for Biron right now. Why would someone give that up when they can sign Legace or Hasek and give up nothing? And draft picks are about as fungible as you can get in terms of acquiring players. If we get a 1st and 3rd for Biron (what they gave up for Roloson), those picks could be dealt elsewhere for a defenseman that could have helped.

 

Draft picks are like currency, now more than ever. Consider the deadline deals:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/trade_deadline/featu...d=6307&hubname=

 

Tons of deals were made for draft picks as the main part of the deal.

 

If Regier is scared of dealing a goalie before acquiring a backup or signing Miller, he should have negotiated Miller's contract beforehand. Or perhaps he should lose his fear, since there are viable solutions elsewhere - Prusek, Hasek, Legace, etc..

 

Campbell's deal isn't cheap. I don't care about his scoring. Tallinder and Lydman were superior to Campbell, and didn't put up anywhere close to the same offensive numbers. Granted, Campbell improved quite a bit and had a great playoff, but he still had erratic periods throughout the year. He was our 5th defenseman, only because Kalinin's game fell apart.

 

Pyatt played 460 minutes, mostly due to injuries. Grier had about 2 1/2 times those minutes. Like Grier, Pyatt is a big body, and he throws it around. Like Grier, he doesn't have the spectacular hits (like the Umberger hit), but he punishes people without making Sportscenter. Like Grier, he's a wonderful defensive forward. Grier's better defensively, but not by much. Pyatt is much better offensively. Give Pyatt the same minutes as Grier, and he not only scores more than Grier, but also outscores Pominville. And Pominville got substantial time on the PP, Pyatt didn't.

 

When you are citing Tallinder and Lydman as representing your toughness, we are in trouble in that department.

 

I don't have a problem with the so-called unpopular moves. Keeping Biron at the deadline and dealing Pyatt for nothing are popular moves. I have a problem with bad moves. Keeping Biron may have cost us the Cup. Dealing Pyatt is simply poor asset management.

 

We'll find out what our budget is after arbitration is done. I suspect we will be close to $40M, or we will see several more forwards moved. And having Pyatt as a $1M 3rd line forward is a cheap option. Then again, he's going to be very cheap as a first line forward in Vancouver, too.

[Rabbit151]

Pyatt for a 4th round pick? I thought they'd do better than that.

 

I really like Novotny. He'll be given every chance to make the Sabres this year. I think he will, and I think he'll be a pleasant surprise. I really like the way he plays. He's a natural at seeing the ice and plays developing.

 

But still...Pyatt for a 4th rounder? Hmmm......

[DR HOLLIDAY]

Pyatt for a 4th round pick? I thought they'd do better than that.

 

I really like Novotny. He'll be given every chance to make the Sabres this year. I think he will, and I think he'll be a pleasant surprise. I really like the way he plays. He's a natural at seeing the ice and plays developing.

 

But still...Pyatt for a 4th rounder? Hmmm......

 

I really don't think he is worth any more then that right now.

[bob_sauve28]

Pyatt for a 4th round pick? I thought they'd do better than that.

 

I really like Novotny. He'll be given every chance to make the Sabres this year. I think he will, and I think he'll be a pleasant surprise. I really like the way he plays. He's a natural at seeing the ice and plays developing.

 

But still...Pyatt for a 4th rounder? Hmmm......

Pyatt will be quickly forgotten

[BetweenThePipes00]

Regier has made a lot of good moves, but recently, his moves have been quite questionable. And some of his previous inaction has cost us now.

 

It was a lousy decision to keep Biron at the trade deadline, when it was obvious we needed defensive help. Let's remember that Brian Campbell was slumping, Kalinin had a terrible year and Numminen was having health problems at the trade deadline. Regier shouldn't have been expected to expect to replace 4 defensemen, but 1 was obvious. That move quite possibly cost us the Cup. If Edmonton wanted to deal a 1st and a 3rd for Roloson, we probably could have gotten that for Biron. Regier made the laughable claim that Edmonton didn't want to give up a roster player for Biron. So be it...flip the 1st rounder and 3rd for a player if you need to add someone.

 

Not trading Biron at the draft now leaves us with a disgruntled backup who makes $2.1M. Moreover, the market for starting goaltenders has evaporated. And since we dealt Noronen, we need a backup if and when we deal Biron. That may not be a bad thing, depending on who we sign.

 

Signing Campbell to a $3M contract is too expensive.

 

Trading Pyatt for a 4th rounder? Are you kidding me? This move has an extremely limited upside and a huge downside. For those of you who say trading Pyatt saves us salary, it doesn't. Someone who takes Pyatt's place will make at least $450K. Wow, a savings of under $600K. I have the same feeling I did when we dealt Hasek - we just got ripped off. We will regret trading Pyatt. Nonis is having a hell of an offseason.

 

Another questionable move is that Regier went with extremely short term contracts, leaving most of the team as RFA. Perhaps Jim Kelley was right, and Regier just got lucky. If he was certain that we would improve as we did (I thought we would), then why didn't he sign players like Connolly and Briere and Kotalik to multi-year contracts last year? Why not stagger the contracts so we don't face the risk of everyone becoming free agents after a year. This isn't the old NHL...free agency comes much earlier.

 

Trading Pyatt and not resigning Grier and McKee makes us much less tough than we were last year. How is this toughness going to be replaced?

 

I think we can all agree we wish Regier would have handled the 3 headed goalie situation better, especially since we all saw it coming for 3 years. But I have to take issue with some of your other points.

 

Trading Pyatt did save valuable money. The guys making $450,000 you speak of were on the payroll whether they trade Pyatt or not. Mair, Gaustad and Pominville all were making 1/2 the money, and they were not going back to Rochester, which would have been the only way to get them off books. It was Pyatt or one of these guys ... it was BOTH. Not to mention the fact that while you scoff at $600,000, that could easily be the difference between locking Briere up or not ... offering him $4.1 million a year sure looks more attractive than $3.5 million a year, don't you think?

 

Thanks for the insight as to WHY $3 million over 2 years is bad for Campbell. It's certainly better than $16 million for 4 years for McKee ... if that is the market for defensemen, the Sabres got Campbell and Spacek for about $4.5 million a year combined ... doesn't look so bad to me.

 

As for not signing guys to long term deals, hindsight is 20/20 ... no one had any idea what the market would be like and they would have been at risk of overpaying guys. And that works both ways ... why would Briere sign a long-term deal without knowing what the market will be? He could short-change himself. You can offer all the long-term deals you want, the players have to accept them. You seem to think if he had offered 3 year deals at small raises they all would have jumped on board. Why would they do that if they can have a good year and make more? If you were a player you would have confidence in yourself and go out and play your ass of and try to get a better deal.You say this is the new NHL and free agency comes sooner, don't you think the players know this too?

 

Not to mention the fact that it was impossible to forsee everyone having career years. Can you honestly say you knew this team would win 52 games and everyone would deserve as raise? And would you REALLY have signed Connolly (you put him in this discussion) to a long-term deal when he had not played an NHL game in more than 2 full years because of concussions? If they sign him to a long-term deal before the season they would have been crucified, and rightfully so.

 

Your best defense for keeping Pyatt seems to be that he beat up a couple guys and was tough in the corners ... that's all well and good, but it is not worth his salary in today's NHL, especially on a team with a budget like Buffalo. High-paid grinders like Grier and Pyatt are a luxury that they cannot afford. Pyatt did play better in the playoffs, and it's a good thing too because with his career he was not worth even a 4th rounder before that. God bless him if they stick him on a line with Naslund and he is the next Bertuzzi, but more likely his good playoff run was the same 10-15 game tease he gave us every year.

[LALALALALALAFONTAINE]

I think we can all agree we wish Regier would have handled the 3 headed goalie situation better, especially since we all saw it coming for 3 years. But I have to take issue with some of your other points.

 

Trading Pyatt did save valuable money. The guys making $450,000 you speak of were on the payroll whether they trade Pyatt or not. Mair, Gaustad and Pominville all were making 1/2 the money, and they were not going back to Rochester, which would have been the only way to get them off books. It was Pyatt or one of these guys ... it was BOTH. Not to mention the fact that while you scoff at $600,000, that could easily be the difference between locking Briere up or not ... offering him $4.1 million a year sure looks more attractive than $3.5 million a year, don't you think?

 

Thanks for the insight as to WHY $3 million over 2 years is bad for Campbell. It's certainly better than $16 million for 4 years for McKee ... if that is the market for defensemen, the Sabres got Campbell and Spacek for about $4.5 million a year combined ... doesn't look so bad to me.

 

As for not signing guys to long term deals, hindsight is 20/20 ... no one had any idea what the market would be like and they would have been at risk of overpaying guys. And that works both ways ... why would Briere sign a long-term deal without knowing what the market will be? He could short-change himself. You can offer all the long-term deals you want, the players have to accept them. You seem to think if he had offered 3 year deals at small raises they all would have jumped on board. Why would they do that if they can have a good year and make more? If you were a player you would have confidence in yourself and go out and play your ass of and try to get a better deal.You say this is the new NHL and free agency comes sooner, don't you think the players know this too?

 

Not to mention the fact that it was impossible to forsee everyone having career years. Can you honestly say you knew this team would win 52 games and everyone would deserve as raise? And would you REALLY have signed Connolly (you put him in this discussion) to a long-term deal when he had not played an NHL game in more than 2 full years because of concussions? If they sign him to a long-term deal before the season they would have been crucified, and rightfully so.

 

Your best defense for keeping Pyatt seems to be that he beat up a couple guys and was tough in the corners ... that's all well and good, but it is not worth his salary in today's NHL, especially on a team with a budget like Buffalo. High-paid grinders like Grier and Pyatt are a luxury that they cannot afford. Pyatt did play better in the playoffs, and it's a good thing too because with his career he was not worth even a 4th rounder before that. God bless him if they stick him on a line with Naslund and he is the next Bertuzzi, but more likely his good playoff run was the same 10-15 game tease he gave us every year.

 

Actually, I did foresee that we would have the success we did. I won a bet from some Toronto Maple Queef fan on the Buffalorange.com. Our bet was that if the Sabres made the playoffs, he would leave. If they missed, I would leave. The welshing bastard never paid up, and I got kicked off for calling him out on it. I foresaw Connolly and Campbell's improvement, although I always thought Campbell would do his best Housley imitation. I didn't foresee him becoming a player rather than a rotisserie player who simply accumulates points and does nothing else. I similarly had Roy's development pegged as well. You can check it out if you wish....LALAFONTAINE is the nickname at that board, where Queef fans are moderators.

 

Also, you might be interested that people were once calling me out to apologize and admit that I was wrong supporting Regier and especially Ruff. Don't get me wrong, Regier has done a lot right. I just don't like seeing a lot of that work going to waste.

 

Teams without the ability to grind in the playoffs won't last in the playoffs.

 

We still might be able to get Connolly cheaper than we should, because of his recent concussion. It might be worth the risk. Kalinin is the one to lock up long term right now. He could easily be the best defenseman on this team, despite last year.

 

I never complained about McKee not signing. I have mixed feelings about Spacek - whether that was good depends on the next two weeks. It does give us the most mobile defense in the league.

 

$600K - still debatable that Pyatt saves that much, too - is not saving salary. We'd get more cap relief by dealing Biron.