Buffalo Sabres

Back to the Sabres - if I was GM

The playoffs are over with Pittsburgh deservedly winning the Stanley Cup. But for those of us NOT living in Pittsburgh, the most entertaining part of hockey’s summer is coming up. June and July brings the draft, free agency and the RFA signing period. A team like the Sabres, who barely missed the playoffs two years in a row, has the opportunity here to make the changes they need to make the playoffs and contend for a cup in 2010.

For once, I am having a hard time figuring exactly what GM Darcy Reiger is going to do this off-season. The signing of Tim Connolly in March convinced me that he is staying the course…committing to the team that is here. If we assume the off-season will follow several others, I would guess that he will make 1 or 2 minor trades, sign 1 minor UFA, and get his RFAs locked up. But, another year of more-of-the-same seems suicidal. Honestly, I can’t imagine that his job survives another missed playoff year…and his typical do-little plan does not seem to me the best course.

So, I thought I would play GM - if I was in Darcy Reiger’s shoes, this is what I would do…so first, let’s look at what they have:
15 players signed for next season, totaling about $46 Million in Cap Space. 2 goalies, 8 forwards, 5 D-men.
LW Thomas Vanek $6,400,000
G Ryan Miller $6,250,000
C Tim Connolly $4,500,000
RW Jason Pominville $4,500,000
LW Jochen Hecht $3,800,000
C Derek Roy $3,500,000
D Craig Rivet $3,500,000
D Henrik Tallinder $3,200,000
D Toni Lydman $3,175,000
C Paul Gaustad $2,500,000
LW Daniel Paille $1,350,000
D Nathan Paescht $1,050,000
G Patrick Lalime $1,000,000
RW Adam Mair $775,000
D Chris Butler $585,000

That’s about $46 million already tied up in signed players…not leaving a hell of a lot of room to manuever. Then, there are the unsigned names:
UFAs: Jaroslav Spacek(D), Maxim Afinogenov(RW), Teppo Numminen(D), Andrew Peters (LW)
RFAs: Drew Stafford, Andrej Sekera, Clarke MacArthur, Matt Ellis, Patrick Kaleta
Prospects possibly ready for NHL: Nathan Gerbe (C), Tim Kennedy (C), Mike Weber (D), Mark Mancari (RW), Tyler Myers (D)

While their is sufficient players in the system to field a team without any further additions, I would not be satisfied with this. This is what I think we need…those that have read me for a while know I do not usually name individual players I want to aquire, but more “types”, though I will sometimes refer to a specific player as an example of that type.

Needs:
A forward that can provide on/off ice leadership (2nd line quality).
A forward who is a physical presence and can play 2nd or 3rd line minutes.
A #1 defenseman.
A defenseman that can provide some offense and quarterback the power play.

Keepers - My full list of players that are “untouchable”:
Thomas Vanek, still a potential superstar.
Ryan Miller, obvious #1 goalie
Craig Rivet, solid and rare leader on team
Chris Butler, huge potential shown last year

UFAs - NONE of these guys would be back. Of the bunch, I might consider Spacek at the right price to fill my “offensive defenseman” role, but would rather get that another way.

RFAs - I would re-sign most of these guys, depending on how my other plans go.

Trades - Prior to the draft…I would look at some other teams that need the most help. I would let it be known that I want to try and package a # of players for a single player and pick (2nd round OK). This may appear to be a dumb move, but to me it would be more about clearing away some of the current deadwood and some cap space in order to make room for my #1 D-man. For example, I would package Stafford (as RFA), Lydman, and Paescht, for that tough vetran LW to provide leadership and a second round pick. Or Roy, Paille and Tallinder for a 2nd line Center that provides leadership. Even better, trade Tim Connoly and a couple of others for another 1st line center. Regardless of the trade, at least one of my mid-price blueliners in Tallinder or Lydman have to go. I would prefer to get rid of Tallinder, but neither player has me enamoured enough to care. In this trade, I would clear about $3-5 Million in additional cap space, and also clear 3 roster spots. For the sake of argument, let’s go with a most realistic possibility Roy (his salary makes the offer tempting to someone), Lydman, Paescht and 3rd round pick for a #2 center (leader-type), a physical left winger (3rd liner) and a second round pick, reducing cap space by $3 million in the process. (Current cap at $43 million.)

Note: I wish I could cut Patrick Lalime, and eat the $1 million. His performance as back-up was sub-par most of the time, and I would gladly pay an extra $1 million to make the playoffs. Unfortunately, my payroll won’t allow it, so I am stuck with him, hoping he won’t have to sub in more than necessary.

Free agency - Darcy Regier does not like signing in free agency, but to me it has its place. It is here that I would target a guy for my #1 D-man position, a guy that can also contribute a bit on the power play. This guy would be making in the $5-$5.5 million range, putting me at $48 million on the cap. The question is can I get someone here…I’m going to assume once we get past the initial 2-3 “superstars” I can get someone at this price. (There will NOT be as much money out there in Free Agency this year, and after the initial feeding frenzy, I think their will be some bargains out there.)

I’d then sign the rest of my RFAs, including Stafford for around $2.0 and the other guys for $0.5 to $1 each. Payroll of around $53 million, about $2 million more than last year, and $4 million under the cap.

With that, I essentially have my starting line-up:
Vanek-Connolly-Pomminville
Hecht-New Center-Stafford
New Winger-Gaustad-Paille
MacArthur-Mair-Kaleta
Spare: Gerbe, Ellis, Mancari

#1 D-man - Sekera
Rivet- Butler
Tallinder - Myers
7th: Weber

Miller - Lalime

In doing this, I brought in 4 new faces to my 23 man roster, not a whole-sale change, but some freshness. I may have sacrificed a little scoring with losing Derek Roy, but I made up for that somewhat my #1 D-man and hopefully my #2 center can make up the difference. I’ve gotten more physical and brought in some leadership. I’m still relying on Tim Connolly to remain healthy, as losing him leaves me really lean at center. (Darcy ham-strung me here with this re-signing during the season.) On D-fense I only have 3 vetrans…but 4 youngsters with a lot of potential. The fact is, I am not going to create a Stanley Cup winning team in one year from what I had…but my changes should be enough to get us into the playoffs and even win at least one round.

SO, what do you think? This is your chance to play GM…what would you want to do? Please try to give realistic suggestions.