Time to show Marty Biron some respect.

[deluca67]

Why not sign Marty to a long term deal. He is a big part of the locker room and this community. Miller will be a great goalie but why not have Biron as an insurance policy?

 

Let's face facts. If Biron doesn't come in and reel off 13 in a row and play a solid goal maybe the rest of the season doesn't fall the way it did. Biron played 13 less games then Briere did and I will go on record as saying he was a more valuable part of last seasons Sabres then Briere was. ;)

[Done]

I'll say it again...if we can give our 6th D-man $2mil/year...then we can give our #2 goalie the same. They will see the same amount of ice time over the course of the year. I also believe Ryan Miller is one cold-streak away from visiting the Outback with Ricky Williams. At least Dom would drink to keep the critters in his head from controling him.

[Stoner]

Why would Marty agree to that? I guess he might, I don't know. As much as he talked about his desire to be the number one somewhere, he just doesn't seem like the Alpha Male to me. Despite some veiled threats, he sure seems pretty happy right now.

 

I love the idea of having Marty here and not some washed-up scrub. Long term? Why not!

 

Actually, the way to show Marty the most respect is to never have him wear the slug. Sorry, had to work that in there...

[fushetti]

I say we dump both of these bums and bring back Darcy Wakaluk and Tom Draper. Now THATS a combo.

[slapshot1619]

While I'd Kill to have 2 #1 calibur Goalies, Marty probably wouldn't want to sign long term, He's already expressed his desire to be the lone #1 goalie on a team and his chance won't be here. I have all the respect for marty. But Ryan Miller is the goalie here in buffalo and his 3 yr contract proves it. We have no wallet room to keep 2 #1 Goalies and we do have players on this team that will need to be resigned and they won't come cheap.

 

During this season and into Next offseason I see a few things happening...

 

1. Biron gets traded and an adequate backup gets signed to spot Miller.

 

2. Briere or Drury get signed long term while the other is left to walk, simply put, because drury will probably command upwards of 4mil next year and Briere the same... thats waaay too much to lock up into 2 players.

 

3. Teppo retires and Paetsch gets involved as a #6 saving another 2.6 Mil.

 

Other scenarios can arise and maybe briere takes less money for longer years, But we all have to realize if Buffalo wants to stay competitve we are going to end up losing players along the way as they all will want raises as long as they are successful and we can't keep everyone. As long as the sabres scouts can find good players in the draft, and the Amerks can keep developing solid players, Buffalo can remain among the tops of the league. Thats the way it is in the new NHL and thats how it is going to stay unless a New CBA gets written up......

 

 

*whew* ok I'm done :P

[shrader]

He married a Buffalo girl, right? That's the only thing that would make this even remotely possible.

[Taro T]

Why would Marty agree to that? I guess he might, I don't know. As much as he talked about his desire to be the number one somewhere, he just doesn't seem like the Alpha Male to me. Despite some veiled threats, he sure seems pretty happy right now.

 

I love the idea of having Marty here and not some washed-up scrub. Long term? Why not!

 

Actually, the way to show Marty the most respect is to never have him wear the slug. Sorry, had to work that in there...

The good thing about Marty is he really seems to genuinely be a happy, look at the bright side of, type of person.

 

I mean, he wants to be a #1 somewhere, but he smiles and jokes around while he's here. Heck, they could probably put a big pile of poo on his uniform and he'd still be smiling. :o

 

Wait a minute, I think they've tried that experiment on him, and he's still smiling. :P

 

While I'd Kill to have 2 #1 calibur Goalies, Marty probably wouldn't want to sign long term, He's already expressed his desire to be the lone #1 goalie on a team and his chance won't be here. I have all the respect for marty. But Ryan Miller is the goalie here in buffalo and his 3 yr contract proves it. We have no wallet room to keep 2 #1 Goalies and we do have players on this team that will need to be resigned and they won't come cheap.

 

During this season and into Next offseason I see a few things happening...

 

1. Biron gets traded and an adequate backup gets signed to spot Miller.

 

2. Briere or Drury get signed long term while the other is left to walk, simply put, because drury will probably command upwards of 4mil next year and Briere the same... thats waaay too much to lock up into 2 players.

 

3. Teppo retires and Paetsch gets involved as a #6 saving another 2.6 Mil.

 

Other scenarios can arise and maybe briere takes less money for longer years, But we all have to realize if Buffalo wants to stay competitve we are going to end up losing players along the way as they all will want raises as long as they are successful and we can't keep everyone. As long as the sabres scouts can find good players in the draft, and the Amerks can keep developing solid players, Buffalo can remain among the tops of the league. Thats the way it is in the new NHL and thats how it is going to stay unless a New CBA gets written up......

*whew* ok I'm done :P

I definitely think this is Teppo's last year in Buffalo. It'd be nice to see him finally get a kick at the can.

 

Unless the Sabres see somebody the really like as a backup to Miller or the team ends up far too close to the cap, I don't see them trading Marty. I was sure they'd have traded him by now, but I really think they believe they're contenders for Lord Stanley's Chalice (because they are) and I think they want an insurance policy for Ryan. Darcy is on record as saying the 1st thing the Sabres will take care of is goaltending. With that being the case, I don't see Marty going away this year.

 

My guess is that they will try to sign him long term. I don't know if he'll go for it. I hope he does stay in Buffalo because while I can see a team giving him the starting reins, I don't know that he'll hang onto them. If he's going to be a backup, he might as well do it here.

 

As for Drury and Danny, I think we'll have a decent idea of who they want to re-sign by December. I think they will try to retain both. There seem to be good young forwards down in Rochester, so the Sabres may be willing to part with Kotalik or Max to hang onto both captains.

[X. Benedict]

He should be a number 1 somewhere.

In the meantime, it's nice to have the league's best backup.

 

I would like to see a rotation for the first half of the season

like Edwards-Sauve.

[nfreeman]

FWIW, I can't see us re-signing Marty long term unless he takes a big pay cut. We are just too close to the cap to keep him on at $2 million+ per year -- esp. if we want to try to keep Drury and Briere (and I think we are going to try).

 

That brings us to whether we keep Marty all year as a $2 million insurance policy against a Miller crackup (mental or physical). I think this is actually quite likely -- 50/50 probability. We are legit cup contenders this year. A legit cup contender needs (as Ottawa found out last year) a legit backup goalie. I think the only way we trade Marty is if someone makes us a good offer, we end up with a decent replacement at the #2 goalie, AND we end up saving at least $1 million in salary.

 

This might happen if someone gets desperate, but I don't expect it. I've been saying this for a while, but I just don't think the demand for Marty as a #1 goalie is out there. He just hasn't played that well in his multiple opportunities as the #1. Yes, he played very well last year, but it was in a backup role. Everyone knew Miller was the man. Marty didn't have to deal with the pressure of being #1.

 

So, that means he most likely stays with us all year as a highly-paid #2, rides the bench throughout the playoffs, gets his victory lap with the Cup in the arena this June and his day with it next summer (yeah, baby), and then tests the market next summer as a UFA.

 

Will someone give him $2 million to be their #1 next summer? Maybe, but I wouldn't count on it. I'd guess he'll be looking at either taking $1.5 million or so for a shot to beat someone else out for the #1 job on the Panthers or someone like that (but not a guaranteed #1 job), OR taking $1.25 million or so per year for 3 years to come back and be Miller's backup.

 

Just my opinion.

[Swedesessed]

I say we dump both of these bums and bring back Darcy Wakaluk and Tom Draper. Now THATS a combo.

 

 

I was thinking John Blue myself (Blue played for the Sabres for..oh, 15 minutes) but this combo will do!! :lol:

[X. Benedict]

I say we dump both of these bums and bring back Darcy Wakaluk and Tom Draper. Now THATS a combo.

I would like to bring back Val James. But that's just me.

[hopeleslyobvious]

Why not sign Marty to a long term deal. He is a big part of the locker room and this community. Miller will be a great goalie but why not have Biron as an insurance policy?

 

Let's face facts. If Biron doesn't come in and reel off 13 in a row and play a solid goal maybe the rest of the season doesn't fall the way it did. Biron played 13 less games then Briere did and I will go on record as saying he was a more valuable part of last seasons Sabres then Briere was. ;)

 

Do you really think those 13 in a row were all Biron? He had a lot of goal support during that streak. In fact the team in front of him bailed him out quite a bit. Not to mention that 5 of the wins were against Pittsburgh and Washington. (For example, can you really credit the goaltending in an 8-5 win over Washington?)

 

That brings us to whether we keep Marty all year as a $2 million insurance policy against a Miller crackup (mental or physical). I think this is actually quite likely -- 50/50 probability.

 

And your basis for this?

[jwrak]

I say we dump both of these bums and bring back Darcy Wakaluk and Tom Draper. Now THATS a combo.

 

 

My idea is that we trade them both to Detroit for Hasek. With his history of being injury free, we don't need a backup! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[sabres703]

Let's face facts. If Biron doesn't come in and reel off 13 in a row and play a solid goal maybe the rest of the season doesn't fall the way it did. Biron played 13 less games then Briere did and I will go on record as saying he was a more valuable part of last seasons Sabres then Briere was.

 

 

I agree 100%

[nfreeman]

And your basis for this?

 

My basis:

 

1. Darcy has never shown any urgency when asked whether a deal for Marty is in the hopper. Instead, a couple of weeks ago, he said something to the effect that $4 - $4.5 million (ie Miller's and Marty's combined salaries this year) was actually not out of market for top-flight goalie costs -- ie many teams are spending that much on just their #1. So, if we spend that much in total for a strong #1 and a strong #2, we're doing OK.

 

2. contrary to what I expected at the beginning of the offseason, it seems that Tom G. has given the go-ahead to spend in the $38 million - $40 million range on payroll. Accordingly, it doesn't seem that saving the $1.25 million or so we'd get out of replacing Marty with a cheaper backup is a big driver here.

 

3. Again, I don't think there is much demand out there for Marty as a #1 -- so I don't see someone making a really compelling trade offer.

[hopeleslyobvious]

My basis:

 

1. Darcy has never shown any urgency when asked whether a deal for Marty is in the hopper. Instead, a couple of weeks ago, he said something to the effect that $4 - $4.5 million (ie Miller's and Marty's combined salaries this year) was actually not out of market for top-flight goalie costs -- ie many teams are spending that much on just their #1. So, if we spend that much in total for a strong #1 and a strong #2, we're doing OK.

 

2. contrary to what I expected at the beginning of the offseason, it seems that Tom G. has given the go-ahead to spend in the $38 million - $40 million range on payroll. Accordingly, it doesn't seem that saving the $1.25 million or so we'd get out of replacing Marty with a cheaper backup is a big driver here.

 

3. Again, I don't think there is much demand out there for Marty as a #1 -- so I don't see someone making a really compelling trade offer.

 

I don't think there has been a great offer for Marty yet. But I was actually asking for your basis that Miller is going to have a mental or physical breakdown.

[hopeleslyobvious]

Let's face facts. If Biron doesn't come in and reel off 13 in a row and play a solid goal maybe the rest of the season doesn't fall the way it did. Biron played 13 less games then Briere did and I will go on record as saying he was a more valuable part of last seasons Sabres then Briere was.

I agree 100%

 

 

He was solid? 7 games against that streak were against non-playoff teams. 5 against the worst two teams in the Conference (Washington and Pittsburgh).

 

 

 

There are a few games in the streak where the Sabres won despite him:

 

November 17 against Washington. He gave up 5 goals in an 8-5 win. Can't really credit the goaltending there.

 

How about the game against the Islanders on November 23? The Sabres had to score late in the game to take it to OT. In the shootout one shooter fanned on a shot, and another hit the post.

 

November 27 against the caps. Sure he made some great saves with the Cap's goalie pulled, but he only had to because he gave up a goal shortly before to let them back in the game.

 

December 4 against Colorado, the team built up a big lead, and he let the Avs right back in, giving up several goals, including one on a penalty shot. A late goal and an empty netter was needed to win.

 

December 8 against Anaheim. He only gave up 2 goals. However the second one was questionable, and came shortly after the team tied the game up, in a night where it was hard to get anything going offensively.

[jad1]

My basis:

 

1. Darcy has never shown any urgency when asked whether a deal for Marty is in the hopper. Instead, a couple of weeks ago, he said something to the effect that $4 - $4.5 million (ie Miller's and Marty's combined salaries this year) was actually not out of market for top-flight goalie costs -- ie many teams are spending that much on just their #1. So, if we spend that much in total for a strong #1 and a strong #2, we're doing OK.

 

This is a great point. Compared with what the Canucks are paying for Luongo (who's never played in the playoffs), the Sabres are getting a bargain. 3 of the final 4 teams last season used their backup goalies in the playoffs. So having a strong backup is beginning to become a necessity.

 

2. contrary to what I expected at the beginning of the offseason, it seems that Tom G. has given the go-ahead to spend in the $38 million - $40 million range on payroll. Accordingly, it doesn't seem that saving the $1.25 million or so we'd get out of replacing Marty with a cheaper backup is a big driver here.

 

Yep. It looks like the main driver will be if holes develop in the Sabres lineup, and they need to fill them with a trade.

 

3. Again, I don't think there is much demand out there for Marty as a #1 -- so I don't see someone making a really compelling trade offer.

 

Not right now, but as the season progresses, there will be teams who will need a goalie to make a playoff push like Edmonton did last season. For example, if Florida is getting uneven goaltending from Auld and Belfour, and are in the 9th or 10th position, they probably be in the goalie market. If Biron plays well in his starts, he'll be a sought-after commodity.