The draft, free agency, and other notes
June 30th, 2009 by PeterSOK, I say this every year, but the truth is unless you have a top 5 pick, the draft is all about the future, not about the now. That said, I am always curious about the first round, and I did watch it on Versus. No surprise, the Sabres didn’t make any moves, and signed Zach Kassian at #13. A good signing I guess, the team certainly could use some toughness…the problem is, they need that toughness now, not in 2-4 years when we would see this kid. But, they signed more size for a change.
The interesting move of the draft was of course the Pronger trade…though I hate Philly, he is a great fit for that team, and probably short term made them better. But trading 3 years worth of 1st rounders: ‘08, ‘09, and ‘10? (Four if you count Lupul, who was a 1st round pick himself.) Are the Flyers trying to become the Washington Redskins of the NHL, constantly buying over-the-hill free agents at the cost of young prospects? Especially if they don’t sign him past the year left on his contract. Plus, Philly is a team already in cap trouble, and their cap # just went up…are they going to be selling on the trade front?
Jay McKee just got bought out of his last year by St. Louis. I’m sure I’m not the only Sabres fan that would say this, but I would bring him back here in a second at the right price. (Say < $2.5 million.) He’s had some health issues the previous two year, but is not over-the-hill at 32. He would bring some additional intensity that this team sorely needs, even as a 5th D-man. Seeing as the team is unlikely to sign a true #1 or sign Spacek either, this really wouldn’t fix the Sabres biggest problems, though.
With free agency starting tonight, I expect to see a few jaw-dropping signings, but probably not as many as the last few years…the lack of trades at the draft tell me GMs are being very cautious this year. This is one place I agree with Darcy Regier…fixing your problems by overpaying for big names is not constructive. So, I don’t expect to see the Sabres sign anyone in the first 48 hours…if at all. (My fear is still a do-nothing off season - even if the claims are that it will be otherwise.)
SkierPete
Posted in Sabres Blog
2 Responses to “The draft, free agency, and other notes”
By Steve on Jun 30, 2009
Just a note regarding your use of the term “signing” when I think you mean “drafting”:
Drafting and Signing a player (to a contract) are two different things.
In fact, unsigned draftees regularly return to the draft, or eventually become free agents.
Drafting a player allocates their rights to the team that drafted them, but there is a limited opportunity for that team to sign the player prior to their re-entry to the draft.
By PeterS on Jul 1, 2009
Yup, I said signed for Kassian and meant drafted…my mistake…and I do know the difference.
Generally though…once drafted, the teams usually sign those players to entry level contracts. A first rounder like Kassian will certainly get a “rookie max” contract.