The Sabres have options but have to make some moves....
Posted 8:49 AM ET | Comments 9
So Im a huge hockey fan and i support my hometown Buffalo Sabres. Now what will the sabes do this offseason? Thats a question ive been pondering a lot lately, I have seen many players linked to the sabres and im wondering who will Buffalo get? Whether its Gaborik, Jagr, or even Shannahan...the Sabres nees a little change. They were pretty streaky last season. Especially Miller, he was up and down like a rubber bouncy ball. He needs to get his head straight and play like he did 2 seasons ago. Take shootouts for example, he was 4-7 last season while 2 seasons ago he was 10-4(best in the league). That was my biggest gripe with him last year. Why such a huge dropoff?? Im still wondering to this day. Now back to the offseason moves. I think we need a veteran goalie to back up Miller. May Kolzig, he could be a little pricy though. Maybe Theodore. He was solid last season for the most part. Maybe even the dominator.....wellll maybe not. But i think we get rid of T-Bo and make a small but decent offer to Kolzig or Theodore. Now all the VERY interesting rumors ive seen on this site made me think alot. The 2 that stick out the most are Gaborik and Liles. They are the most recent but i think they are very do-able. If the cap goes up like they say it is...(could be 56.5 million they say) we can get them here. We may not have veteran leadership unless we resign Teppo...but i think the sabres would benefit from gaborik and liles. Liles may not be huge and a play stopper....but he is playmaker and he is young. I like that about him. Now we may not need scoring but Gaborik would bring even more fans to Buffalo. He is the "fastest player in the league." If we can find 1 other solid D-man along with Liles, Gaborik, and a Vet goalie....the Sabres would be fine next season. We would still have enough money for Miller, Pomminville, Bernier,Gaustad, Paille, Mcarthur, maybe Numminen, and Pratt. Now if we can resign those guys this season it would be great. but i doubt it will happen knowing Buffalo's management. Who will we give up for Gaborik or even "player X"? Is it Max, Kalinin, Kotalik, Lydman, SJ's number 1 draft pick, or even some of our prospects. Let me know what you guys think we should do??????????????
If i had to guess I see it going like this:Defense:The Sabres sign either Orpik, Hainsey, Liles or Finger for a 4year deal around $3.0-$4.0 depending on who it is. OR they could make an offer for Joni Pitkanen in Edmonton (which i think would be awesome). Darcy said he'd love to get even for the Vanek signing. Pitkanen is big and can score. He's only 24 and is making $2.4 in his final year. Who knows? They also will resign Teppo for cheap. He still can play and has a calmness about him that no other current dman on the team. He hardly ever makes mistakes. He will be our 7th Dman and could play 40 -50 games. He will also teach Weber and Sekera the way he showed Campbell.So I think our defense could look like this in no particular order:Lydman TallinderWeber SekeraSpacek (Enter name here)Teppo Offense:We need a #2 Veteran play making center, someone in between Hecht and Pomminville. Someone that is making around $3-$4 a year.I think the Sabres can trade to get him, make a package : Max, Paestch, Mac, Connolly (if someone will take him) Kotalik
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continued:and SJ's 1st for Cammy in LA or MacDonald in St.Loius.There really isnt a good crop of UFA centers, the only ones that come to mind is Langkow and Morrisson. Neither really sell me though. then, they should sign Auld, Abescher or Ellis. Either ones ahve proven they can play. THey'd be great backups for Miller, and cheap.
I think Ellis is top out of the 3 goalies. He's young and proved himself better than the others. If we could get Cammilleri that would be sweet. Hes a solid player and pretty consistent. Langkow has been good in Calgary but im not too sure how he would play in Buffalo. He could turn out to be great. Morrisson is more of a leader than a point producing solid center. He is pretty good though. If the cap goes up we will have roughly $20 million to use on our UFA's and RFA's and to pick up a few other players. Thats if we spend to the cap which probably wont happen.
We would trade for Cammy, he has one year left in his contract. I like Langkow out of the two mentioned. Morrision had wrist surgery recently and a torn ACL. So??? They wont spend to the cap, they've already stated they won't.
Don't believe the "rumors" that Eklund spouts out left and right. No way ever do the Sabres sign Gaborik or any other big name free agent. Shanahan? Since when do the Sabres sign 80 year old players....he helped the Rangers alot in the playoffs this year didn't he...ie NOT. You really think the management is going to add another 7mil/yr player to the roster??? NO WAY. The Sabres need to concentrate on 1 solid dman addition, and they won't break the bank on him either. I think this team can get right back to the playoffs next year and they need to sign Miller and Pommer long term....the rest of the RFA should be signable. I do appreciate your Sabres blog, as Garth has plateaued/taken the offseaon off.
Siket: agreed, I can't even daydream about Gaborik in blue and gold because it's incredibly far-fetched. Here's what I see happening: one good blue-liner will be signed in free agency by our Buffalo Sabres. I'd like to see more of a hard-nosed guy like a Brad Stuart, but I wouldn't hate getting Liles. I don't think we need to rush to replace Campbell because Sekera will fit that mold pretty quickly. Veteran forward? It might happen, but eh...we already have too many forwards, and many of them are very young. We scored 4th most in the league in 07-08, so forwards weren't the problem. If we are able to keep this core together they'll be good for a long time.