News Alert: Sabres Accept Briere Ruling

[Stephen Urbanski]

Briere will be back for at least one year. Confirmed by WGR

[SDS]

http://www.wgr550.com/sabres/fullstory.php?id=1777

[PTS]

No surprises here. If they were offering him $4.0 to $4.5 million, what's another $500k between friends.

[BetweenThePipes00]

Briere will be back for at least one year. Confirmed by WGR

 

He could still be traded ... gotta consider the possibility ....

[apuszczalowski]

Briere will be back for at least one year. Confirmed by WGR

Not Necessarily, this could be part of a sign and trade deal being worked out, Buffalo only has until Monday (unless they are about to announce Mair being signed) to sign or Deal Briere befoer he could then become a UFA. I hope he is here to stay, but it is up in the air because of the gift the arbitrator gave him.

[Stephen Urbanski]

I think they were waiting to see what Dumont got. I also think that Golisano got a taste of success and wants to go for it, even if it is against his original "fiscally resopnsible" plan. I don't think he's the kind of guy who takes losing too well

[PTS]

I wonder what this means for Dumont. I was expecting the Sabres to announce they accepted Briere's $5.0 million the day they announce they DON'T accepted Dumonts's $2.9.

 

It would have made more PR sense. Put out really good news with some slightly bad news.

 

I'm reading into this way to much but I'm going to venture a guess and say they accept Dumont as well. That will almost certainly put them at or over the cap once Dmitri and Ryan are inked. However, if you get rid of Biron, I think think we can fit everyone here under the cap.

 

Goli's got the fever I hope!

[LabattBlue]

He could still be traded ... gotta consider the possibility ....

Absolutely correct. I still believe that Briere, Biron, Kotalik, Dumont or even Max could be traded before the season. As I've mentioned before, don't let the 3 year contracts fool you for some of these guys. That actually makes the players more of a tradeable commodity.

[BetweenThePipes00]

Buffalo only has until Monday (unless they are about to announce Mair being signed) to sign or Deal Briere befoer he could then become a UFA.

 

I don't think this is right ... now that they have accepted the ruling and he is under contract, they can trade him whenever they want, be it before monday, before the season or at the deadline, right? Dave_b? he's not untrade-able after Monday is he?

[LabattBlue]

I don't think this is right ... now that they have accepted the ruling and he is under contract, they can trade him whenever they want, be it before monday, before the season or at the deadline, right?

That is correct.

[Taro T]

I don't think this is right ... now that they have accepted the ruling and he is under contract, they can trade him whenever they want, be it before monday, before the season or at the deadline, right? Dave_b? he's not untrade-able after Monday is he?

Mair's hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. The Arbitrator has 2 days to rule (Sunday) and then the Sabres have 2 days to finalize their plans (Tuesday).

 

You are correct that the Sabres can trade him at any time now that he is signed, but if they hadn't accepted the award, Briere would have become an UFA ~noon on Tuesday which is what Apus seemed to be getting at.

 

I expect that the Sabres will sign Dumont and actually expect them to reach a deal with Mair before the Arbitrator rules on his deal.

[mphs mike]

Frankly I don't expect Biron and Briere to be Sabres come training camp. I also expect them to reject Dumont's arbitration award. They them sign Miller and Khalinin putting them AT the cap - proving to the rest of the league that they can and will go into the season with Biron and Briere if they can't get "value" in return. Any attempt to trade them earlier would allow other teams to lowball them.

[hopeleslyobvious]

I think they were waiting to see what Dumont got. I also think that Golisano got a taste of success and wants to go for it, even if it is against his original "fiscally resopnsible" plan. I don't think he's the kind of guy who takes losing too well

 

This is not only a financial decision, but also a hockey decision. What is better for the team? Yes, this year it is better for the team to have Briere. However, if he is going to sign somewhere else next summer, it may make more sense in the long run to trade him if the right deal is available.

[jwnikita]

Absolutely correct. I still believe that Briere, Biron, Kotalik, Dumont or even Max could be traded before the season. As I've mentioned before, don't let the 3 year contracts fool you for some of these guys. That actually makes the players more of a tradeable commodity.

 

Wrong about Briere. Tsn states: Regier said that in accepting the contract, the team has no intention of trading Briere.

 

I would guess that Dumont will be gone.

[phSabres84]

According to this TSN article, Darcy sounds committed to having DB here next season. Hopefully it is just not media talk...

 

He's a keeper - at least for now

[nfreeman]

 

I expect that the Sabres will sign Dumont and actually expect them to reach a deal with Mair before the Arbitrator rules on his deal.

 

 

I expect the same. Regarding Mair, why announce on Briere before they had to unless they were close to reaching a deal with Mair?

 

Regarding Dumont, I think they will accept the ruling and then trade him. At $2.9 million he's an obvious candidate to be trimmed for fiscal sanity, but there is no reason to let him walk for nothing in return. He's a valuable asset that someone will give us something for in the way of draft picks and/or prospects.

 

I don't think we will trade Briere unless the wheels fall off and we are having a terrible season prior to the trade deadline. I also don't think we will trade Max or Kotalik. Both of these are good young players, just entering their primes, that we have locked up for 3 years at reasonable prices.

 

I am cautiously optimistic that we are going to bring everyone back except Dumont and Marty, both of whom I expect to be traded for prospects and/or picks in order to trim costs.

 

As RJ would say: "Danny Briere! Danny Briere!"

 

Go Sabres.

[frisky]

I wonder if this year's experience with contracts and arbitration is going to have an effect on the way they deal with the ones that come to term next year and if they would start trying to extend contracts before the season is over to avoid arbitration. Next year could look like more of the same escalating salaries for us. And, Lindy's contract ends after this season as well.

[Taro T]

I expect the same. Regarding Mair, why announce on Briere before they had to unless they were close to reaching a deal with Mair?

 

Regarding Dumont, I think they will accept the ruling and then trade him. At $2.9 million he's an obvious candidate to be trimmed for fiscal sanity, but there is no reason to let him walk for nothing in return. He's a valuable asset that someone will give us something for in the way of draft picks and/or prospects.

 

I don't think we will trade Briere unless the wheels fall off and we are having a terrible season prior to the trade deadline. I also don't think we will trade Max or Kotalik. Both of these are good young players, just entering their primes, that we have locked up for 3 years at reasonable prices.

 

I am cautiously optimistic that we are going to bring everyone back except Dumont and Marty, both of whom I expect to be traded for prospects and/or picks in order to trim costs.

 

As RJ would say: "Danny Briere! Danny Briere!"

 

Go Sabres.

I have to believe they are close to a deal with Mair. Heck even if he goes to arbitration I can't believe the 2 sides are far apart. (Adam may think he's worth $900k and the Sabres think it's more like $700k, they aren't $MM's apart (unless they're looking at a 10 year deal).)

 

One reason they may have announced that they are accepting Danny's award before they had to, is to show Danny and his agent that it isn't THAT hard of a decision for them to keep him. Accepting the award today probably garners them a lot of goodwill with Danny. (Whether that is worth anything remains to be seen in January, if the Sabres do in fact keep him; but it doesn't hurt anything.)

 

The team definitely wanted to see where Dumont's award came in before officially doing anything. I'm sure the Sabres have a pretty good idea now of what they will try to accomplish the rest of this month. Considering the Sabres have been considering their options on Danny at least since he got his award and probably much earlier than that, the 24 hours after JP's award was probably enough time for them to feel waiting 4 or 5 more days to make an announcement wouldn't change their opinion of their options.

 

I agree with you that JP's days wearing a Shatanic Goathead or Aftereffects of a Sneeze are likely numbered.

[Iron Crotch]

Just to throw it out there... it's not like the Sabres CAN'T spend $40 mil. or so on payroll. Golisano is a billionaire and if he feels like spending his money then I'm certainly not going to complain... he's not going to go broke any time soon if he goes a little over budget!

[BetweenThePipes00]

Just to throw it out there... it's not like the Sabres CAN'T spend $40 mil. or so on payroll. Golisano is a billionaire and if he feels like spending his money then I'm certainly not going to complain... he's not going to go broke any time soon if he goes a little over budget!

 

Maybe so, but as dave_b has illustrated on other threads, with all the back-loaded deals they have done in the last couple weeks, even if their actual payroll is $40 million they will be right up against the cap. And they really need to stay a bit below if for no other reason so that if they choose to extend Drury or Briere during the season their cap number could go up.

[Taro T]

Just to throw it out there... it's not like the Sabres CAN'T spend $40 mil. or so on payroll. Golisano is a billionaire and if he feels like spending his money then I'm certainly not going to complain... he's not going to go broke any time soon if he goes a little over budget!

With JP's award, the Sabres are close to $38MM in actual outlays this season with 4 players left to add to the mix and are above $41MM in salary cap $'s. The 4 players to add to the mix will cost ~$4.5MM and if any are signed long term will probably count $5+ against the salary cap.

 

The salary cap is only $44MM. The Sabres as currently assembled WILL exceed the salary cap by spending "$40MM or so" on payroll. That is a no-no in the new NHL. Something has to give.

 

Actually, one thing the Sabres might do to save themselves ~$450-600k is only go with a 22 man roster when healthy. The problem with this option is 1 additional guy like Novotny or Thorburn will have to be exposed to waivers in October. The Sabres may be willing to take that risk to save some $'s. And saving $0.5MM will not be enough to bring ALL the guys that are currently Sabres property back next season.

 

Right now, Roy and Paetsch are looking like geniuses for having signed their qualifying offers and guys like Jillson and Thorburn may not be so happy as the Sabres will very likely have to try to lowball the borderline guys to make all the numbers work.

[deluca67]

Even if Briere starts the season with the Sabres they can trade him if the season doesn't go as planned. If he somehow can become the 100+ point player then they can keep him and work out a long term deal. If he reverts to form and is on pace for 55-65 points then they can dump him off to a big market team.

 

Anyway. I would be shocked if Briere and Max were both on the roster at the start of the season. I would also be suprised if Dumont and Mair had their contracts picked up. ;)

[apuszczalowski]

Well, according to Darcy, Briere isn't going anywhere now, He is here to stay (atleast for this season)

 

So I guess Maybe we're looking at Dumont and Biron being moved (maybe even Max too, but with his contract numbers, he is worth keeping)

[Iron Crotch]

With JP's award, the Sabres are close to $38MM in actual outlays this season with 4 players left to add to the mix and are above $41MM in salary cap $'s. The 4 players to add to the mix will cost ~$4.5MM and if any are signed long term will probably count $5+ against the salary cap.

 

 

Good point. Buffalo should be at $35.361 mil. right now without JP (have yet to accept his arbitration ruling and may not). Assuming they dump JP and Biron, that saves $5 mil. They'll probably spend $1.5 mil or so on their replacements, so that would put them at 31.86 with Miller, Kalinen, Mair, + ? yet to sign. I think they'll be okay, but things will look a lot different than last year. I tend to agree with DeLuca that they'll dump Briere and maybe others if things aren't going so well during the season.

[nfreeman]

Anyway. I would be shocked if Briere and Max were both on the roster at the start of the season. I would also be suprised if Dumont and Mair had their contracts picked up. ;)

 

DeLuca -- Sorry, but I'll go on record as disagreeing with all four of your predictions here. Having locked up Max, their leading scorer from last year, for 3 years at a fair price given the market, there is no way they are going to trade him.

 

Regarding Danny, they were unequivocal in the announcement today that they were not going to trade him. It would be a terrible move for team morale to make that announcement and then trade him (unless they got a true star in return, but then it wouldn't be a cost-cutting move, which I think is why you expect him or Max to be traded).

 

Regarding JP, this is the one you are most likely to be right about. However, he's too good of a player to just let go for nothing. Although they did this with Miro, the circumstances were much different -- Miro was much more expensive, and there was much more economic uncertainty around the league -- meaning there was a much greater risk of being stuck with Miro. I think they will sign JP and then trade him in the next 6 weeks or so.

 

Finally, Lindy and Darcy both like Mair quite a bit (as do I, but that is beside the point). He's big, fast, physical and plays with passion. He also isn't going to cost much. Having lost size up front already with the departures of Grier and Pyatt, and with the probable departure of JP via trade, they aren't, IMHO, going to give up any more size by letting Mair go.