Drury

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

Reading those articles on how the Sabres are up against the cap, and literally have to nickel-and-dime the callups from Rochester.

 

That being said, is there any financial way to keep Chris Drury (UFA) after this year?

[inkman]

Yes, but we might need to sing "nananana hey hey hey goodbye" to Danny Briere.

[BetweenThePipes00]

Not necessarily ... next year Marty's salary will likely be gone, Teppo could retire ... the rest of the team will not remain the same, so raises for Briere and Drury could fit in ... but it will mean a cheaper backup goalie and probably a couple more cheap youngsters like Paille and Stafford and Paetsch in the regular lineup.

It's not PROBABLE that they can keep both Drury and Briere, but it is POSSIBLE.

[Stoner]

Just to play Devil's Advocate... everyone thought Marty would be gone this season. Who's to say he won't be back next year? Especially if he makes a significant contribution to this team's success, which he already has. The position is too important to play around with. What do you save by getting rid of Marty? A million? Less than that, assuming you sign a decent backup? It won't be enough to afford Drury and Briere, anyway...

[Bmwolf21]

I saw on another site that Marty is a UFA next year - is that correct? If so, then the ball will be firmly in his court - if he truly believes he is a starter in the NHL, he'll have the chance to go elsewhere and play 50+ games, as well as getting starter-type money.

 

If he isn't a UFA next year, then the Sabres can bring him back - the question will be whether he wants to come back to play ~20 games, be on the bench most nights and waste another prime year in his career...

[BetweenThePipes00]

Just to play Devil's Advocate... everyone thought Marty would be gone this season. Who's to say he won't be back next year? Especially if he makes a significant contribution to this team's success, which he already has. The position is too important to play around with. What do you save by getting rid of Marty? A million? Less than that, assuming you sign a decent backup? It won't be enough to afford Drury and Briere, anyway...

 

But Marty had no choice but to stay. He was still a RFA. This time he will be unrestricted and will probably want to find somewhere where he at least has a chance to be THE guy. Don't you think he and Detroit could have come to some sort of deal before they settled for Hasek if he was unrestricted?

 

Also, don't scoff at $1 million. If they offer Danny a deal that starts at $6 million next season and goes up from there, that's a $1 million raise over this season. That would leave $1.128 million of marty's money for a backup ... I guess it depends who you consider "decent," but Esche makes less than that. So does Hedberg in Atlanta, Osgood in Detroit. Mason in Nashville makes $1.25M ... Legace makes $1.4M as the starter in StL and would have to take less to be a backup ... obviously not all these guys would be available, but the point is the market for a decent back up is in the ballpark.

[Bmwolf21]

We could always bring back Noronen...I bet he'd be pretty cheap... ;)

[chileanseabass]

if connolly returns, i think they saw him as being the offensive catalyst that briere is, and much cheaper at that. if he can comeback i would imagine they'd pass on danny unless he really wants to stay. with the influx of youngsters i would imagine that teppo would be gone, even if he doesn't retire, kotalik would be out and youngsters like stafford would step in to fill that roll, which would hopefully free up cash for drury/briere.

 

one thing to remember... didn't roy accept his 1 year qualifying offer making him an rfa again after this season? i would imagine he'd be in for a hefty raise.

[BetweenThePipes00]

one thing to remember... didn't roy accept his 1 year qualifying offer making him an rfa again after this season? i would imagine he'd be in for a hefty raise.

 

Yes, Roy and Vanek are both RFAs ... depending on how things go I would hope they try to get them signed to long-term deals ... likeyou said IF Connolly is back and they can keep Drury, I think it can be argued it is more important to lock up Vanek long-term than keep Briere. Going to be interesting ......

[shrader]

one thing to remember... didn't roy accept his 1 year qualifying offer making him an rfa again after this season? i would imagine he'd be in for a hefty raise.

 

Roy doesn't put up big enough number to get a huge raise. They guy that you'll have to worry about the most is Vanek. If he keeps up his scoring pace and continues to play solid defensive hockey, he could easily triple his salary.

 

Peters is a RFA at the end of the year again. If there is still as much of a log jam as their is now, there's the easiest way to free up a roster spot.

[chileanseabass]

Roy doesn't put up big enough number to get a huge raise. They guy that you'll have to worry about the most is Vanek. If he keeps up his scoring pace and continues to play solid defensive hockey, he could easily triple his salary.

 

 

i had forgotten about vanek being an rfa, but if you keep roy with vanek and/or max for the majority of the season he's going to put up a decent number of points. he doesn't have as many thus far as i figured he would, especially centering those two, but even mair would put up good numbers centering them. actually i've always though mair has some good offensive upside but never gets the chance due to 3 very solid lines ahead of him. i've always thought he'd be a great banger on a line with some skill players.