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New York, NY • United States • 2013 Years Old • Male
Sure, Jason Pominville is no Eric Staal, but the timing of this 7-year extension for one of the NHL's brightest young stars could not have been worse for the Blue and Gold faithful.

7 years, $57.75 million is a lot of dough. That's $8.25 per season. You might say that this deal is the opposite of a hometown discount. I like Eric Staal, but I think that's a bit steep, and that the Canes had to up the anty to keep their young star in North Carolina.

Pommer and his agent have got to have noticed this deal. There's little doubt about it, Jason can sign a better deal outside of Buffalo. His market value has got to be pretty high. Does he want to stay with this young core that he grew up with in Rochester, or does he have any intrigue for playing in a big city - with his name in lights and splashed over promotion deals left and right? Say in a Montreal or Toronto. I don't know about you, but I could be torn on that.

Let's look at the two side-by-side. Yes, I realize Eric Staal is better. Yes, I realize he's so important to Carolina...perhaps in the way Ryan Miller is important to Buffalo. We're talking franchise player, and he deserves to be paid like one. But Jason is another rising star of the NHL, a young guy who has so much potential still. So here's the stats for these two:

Staal, age 23
2007-08, 38g 44a, 82p
2006-07, 30g 40a, 70p
2005-06, 45g 55a, 100p

Pominville, age 25
2007-08, 27g 53a, 80p
2006-07, 34g 34a, 68p
2005-06, 18g 12a, 30p (only 57 games played)

Yes, it's a Center compared to a Winger. But both are Team Captain material. Both are young, rising stars; leaders on their respective squads, speaking loudly by their play on the ice. And it's just scary how similar their numbers are the last two years.

$8.25 per year for Eric? At least 6 mill for Jason. Easily. I'd say 7 mill is better market value for the man.

Like most Sabres fans, I was hoping he'd take a deal more like Derek Roy's: $4 million per season for 6 years. Not gonna happen folks. I'm praying he'll settle for $5 mill. My best guess is the Sabres will get him to sign a hometown discount at $5.5 per season, but that's really gonna mess with their cap. It's worth it though. Get him signed!

Thoughts?
Filed Under:   sabres   pominville   staal   eric   jason   carolina   canes   nhl  
September 11, 2008 3:09 PM ET | Delete
Doesn't matter unless he goes to Arb. He knows he can go to the market and get whatever the highest bidder would offer, regardless of what Staal got.
September 11, 2008 3:11 PM ET | Delete
i understand your point, but the Sabres are trying to negotiate a contract extension with him right now... has been in the news around Buffalo the last few weeks. He could use this as leverage for his true market value. It probably bumped his deal up at least a little.
September 11, 2008 3:45 PM ET | Delete
Yeah this sucks for Darcy. Locking him up for 6mil per a week ago woulda looked nice now...however Pomminville's agent probably knew Carolina was working on a Stall extension and told him to wait.
September 11, 2008 4:50 PM ET | Delete
This is a bad situation for Buffalo, however, you have to commend Buffalo because everything is a team effort. Pominville did not acquire those stats by himself, you have to look at his linemates and the depth of the Buffalo system which helped Pominville put up those tremendous numbers. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Staal is a better player, but if you look at the smaller southern markets, sometimes they do have to pay more to keep their talent. I think Pominville will not slap Buffalo in the face and walk. Even so, Buffalo has been resilient and will continue to thrive with bright management, and a competitive environment for roster spots.
September 11, 2008 5:00 PM ET | Delete
Staal also has a Cup and that counts in his favour.Pommer is going to get some big money, I hope the Sabres can keep him.
September 11, 2008 5:39 PM ET | Delete
Even worse news? These days, that's not overpayment. Even as an RFA he would attract significantly more money if his contract ran out. Probably around 9.5-10- Lecavalier got 10 mil a season for many years, That's the kind of guy Staal is developing into.Staal also had a cup, an all star MVP, a world gold, a selection as an olympic reserve for team canada... Pomminville is probably looking at about 6-7 per year average.Also note that Staal's contract increases in amount as time goes on- in effect it predicts further inflation in salaries.
September 11, 2008 5:55 PM ET | Delete
good points cptjeff. i'm glad for you guys you locked him up. i think that's a brilliant move for the canes.
September 11, 2008 5:56 PM ET | Delete
i agree with you on all your points twiztedmike, thanks for the comments
September 11, 2008 7:27 PM ET | Delete
the hurricanes and rangers are ruining the nhl with these contracts
September 11, 2008 8:27 PM ET | Delete
RFA, winger, not the franchise player. Don't think they're direct comparables.
September 11, 2008 8:45 PM ET | Delete
Pommer is a RFA next season. If someone makes this type of offer, the Sabres get four 1st rounders. It was debatable Vanek was worth more than those picks but I think Vanek has more value and upside than Pommer. I would gladly take those picks and let him walk. I think the Sabres are looking around and seeing many of the big market teams locked into big salaries and have little cap space. They probably don't feel quite as threatened. I also think the cap is not going up next season which will make things tougher on many of these same Cap strapped teams.
September 11, 2008 9:40 PM ET | Delete
For '07-'08, anything under $6.5M would have resulted in compensation that was less than four 1st round picks.The season prior, that bracket was at $5.8M and it was $5.0M in '05-'06.So, going by the same approximate increase, we should see that bracket reach about $7.3M by '08-'09.Thus, a team could theoretically throw a $7M/year offer sheet at Pominville for say 8 years, and that would put Buffalo into a serious bind because that would be a ton of money and they wouldn't receive four 1st rounders should they let him walk.
September 11, 2008 10:12 PM ET | Delete
The Hip, good point abt the Sabres not being threatened, but the market says Pommer is more than the $4 mill Roy money people want him to sign for. That's ridiculous! I say $5.5 and it gets done, and that the Staal deal was part of the raise.
September 12, 2008 7:08 AM ET | Delete
I see Pommer getting between $5.5-6M per, perhaps on some kind of increasing scale payout. It's still an average for the cap hit, but well within our means given that we'll lose an easy $7M at end of year. Hopefully, we can sign him prior to the opener. If not, I see it being drawn out ala Campbell.
September 12, 2008 12:42 PM ET | Delete
I'm sorry, but i don't see any comparison between Staal and Pommer. The last 20-30 games (last season) Staal really showed his brilliance, and force! The guywill be compared w/ "ONLY" the best! He's still growing/ improving... look out!!No disrespect to Pommer, but unless he improves alot (he might) apples/ oranges. This contract was a bargain!!
September 12, 2008 5:10 PM ET | Delete
Fortunately, Pommer name is not spelled Drury. I think he will sign with the Sabres, because he wants to play for a winner and the chemistry is there. I know from personal experience money does not equate with job satisfaction or personal well being. Additionally, I think players in all sports need to realize that the fans are getting weary of their avarice and lack of loyalty to their fans.
September 13, 2008 8:44 AM ET | Delete
Pommer will settle at 5... when I met him, he looked like a down-to-earth boy to me. He's feeling well in Buffalo...***But hold on: Wasn't that a similar case with Soupy...***All we Sabres-fans can do is wait and hope, things get done easily and "cheap".
September 14, 2008 2:30 AM ET | Delete
If you go into negotiations with him with 6 million dollars times 7 years in mind, I think he signs it right then and there. That's perfect market value. And I would do it now so if he has another awesome season it's taken care of, don't draw it out just to see if you can save 1.5 million tops.He'll stay in Buffalo, everyone here sees his worth, I'm sure they'll sign the deal soon enough.
September 14, 2008 6:08 PM ET | Delete
Great article, I still don't think Pominville will demand over 6. I see at least 5 years for about 5.5 million.
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