Free Agency Frenzy

[jrsarkov]

say what you want about soupy; based upon the $$ he got, Redden at 6.5 mill is a steal.

[ROC Sabres]

i hope that darcy has the manhood to say either: we were never going after the big names to improve because we don't have the $$, the owner wouldn't give up the purse strings, we don't care, etc; or, we were making offers and none of the FAs are interested because of the organization's reputation.

That'll be the day.

[carpandean]

No Orpik Link

Unfortunately, we all knew that it was possible that he would go for much more than he is worth, much less more than what they Sabres were willing to pay. I will reserve judgment until his actual price is revealed. It may very well have been the right decision, but it still sucks.

 

 

I think I may have to put this in my signature:

Free agency for Sabres fans ... its like your parents wait until Christmas morning to tell you you're Jewish.

[shrader]

i hope that darcy has the manhood to say either: we were never going after the big names to improve because we don't have the $$, the owner wouldn't give up the purse strings, we don't care, etc; or, we were making offers and none of the FAs are interested because of the organization's reputation.

 

And I want the collective intelligence of this board to increase with every post, but that doesn't mean its going to happen.

[stenbaro]

And I want the collective intelligence of this board to increase with every post, but that doesn't mean its going to happen.

Youre not getting any more than youve seen from the dancing banana..Although I shouldnt be getting dissed by you seeing as I added the O to not confuse yourself..And your talking about intelligence..LOL :thumbsup:

[jrsarkov]

my comments might be absurd. the point is that i just wish we went into a season as having done something to believe management is demanding the team; that they have done everything possible to win.

[shrader]

Youre not getting any more than youve seen from the dancing banana..Although I shouldnt be getting dissed by you seeing as I added the O to not confuse yourself..And your talking about intelligence..LOL :thumbsup:

 

Stenbaro sounds better. I was helping you out.

[Strow]

I would still be very happy with a Jason SMith signing....He should only be a 4 mil player now..LOL

Smith would be good he plays mean and has been around long enough to teach the kids a thing or two. I wouldn't take him for more than 3 years, He was the best D man Philly had this year.

[Bmwolf21]

I think I may have to put this in my signature:

Free agency for Sabres fans ... its like your parents wait until Christmas morning to tell you you're Jewish.

 

Awesome. :worthy:

[SDS]

Well it is July 1st and that is usually the start of Summer vacation for the Sabres Front Office

 

All I can say is the witty, knee-slapping slams against the FO in this thread never get old. I mean 24 hours later and they are JUST AS FUNNY as the 1st 100 times they were posted. Great stuff. Keep it coming. I'm fairly certain the point hasn't been made yet.

[james duncan]

Smith would be good he plays mean and has been around long enough to teach the kids a thing or two. I wouldn't take him for more than 3 years, He was the best D man Philly had this year.

 

Strow--I see you've been banished to hockey-hell too. How do you figure Smith was their best d-man? I'm not sure he was even their third best. I'd rank Timonen and Coburn clearly above him. I'm a big believer in some players needing a change of scenery, but Smith never looked comfortable here from the start. That orange pylon Hatcher playing on one leg actually impressed me more than Smith.

[PASabreFan]

Ah, the ridiculous rantings I had come to miss. No, wait...

 

That's fine. But let the record show you drew the short straw. You are the one who has to go tell Miller Lalime is his "daddy" now.

[SabresFanInRochester]

Awesome. :worthy:

 

Exactly... that could be the funniest thing I have ever heard.

 

:worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

[Knightrider]

All I can say is the witty, knee-slapping slams against the FO in this thread never get old. I mean 24 hours later and they are JUST AS FUNNY as the 1st 100 times they were posted. Great stuff. Keep it coming. I'm fairly certain the point hasn't been made yet.

 

They want instant gratification. This front office isn't interested in that. I give a big kudos to the FO for they way they handled Campbell. They knew he wasn't going to sign for sane money, and parleyed him into a couple prospects. They improved their backup goal, and have cap space and enough spare parts to deal for a shutdown d-man if they choose to.

 

Hopefully we see JP an RM sign soon before they price themselves right out of Buffalo. If they don't sign, I wouldn't mind seeing them booed all season. Let them know if they don't give a sh!t about Buffalo, the feeling is mutual.

[SabresFan526]

1st 9 hours are completed and there are still a lot of good free agents on the board. I don't think the Sabres will sign them, but it's interesting to see who will go where. For example, the elite guys like Sundin and Hossa are still available. The second tier guys like Bertuzzi and Naslund are still available. I think Naslund is going to Pittsburgh to play on Crosby's right wing in my opinion. Forsberg is still available if anyone wants to sign him and he wants to play. For defenseman, a lot of them have signed already, but Orpik's still on the board as is Hainsey. There are still a lot of good players available and a lot of teams who have totally thrown off their cap today. So good players available with less money available to spend.

 

In terms of what the Sabres could do, I could see them bringing back Warrener on a one year deal as an upgrade to Pratt. If the Sabres do not sign Orpik or Hainsey or any other decent UFA defenseman, then I fully expect Teppo to come back at one year $2.6 million. And, my Sabre darkhorse, Brendan Morrison is still on the board, and I think he'd make a good fit with a change of scenery play. Lot of good players still available and a lot of trades still to be had. I really don't see the Sabres making a big time splash, but I'm not sure they have to. I think a couple of solid guys to plug some holes on the blue line and at center and we're back in business. I'm still not depressed because Kalinin is no longer a Sabre as of today.

[SabreInFla]

I've got a better idea for the team this season. Instead of pissing away money on some over priced "star", how about we don't have a 10 (or was it 11) game losing streak next go around? Pretty sure we get into the playoffs if that doesn't happen, even without changes.

[darksabre]

I still want Bertuzzi.

[stenbaro]

All I can say is the witty, knee-slapping slams against the FO in this thread never get old. I mean 24 hours later and they are JUST AS FUNNY as the 1st 100 times they were posted. Great stuff. Keep it coming. I'm fairly certain the point hasn't been made yet.

ok..here goes another..

[fiftyone]

I've got a better idea for the team this season. Instead of pissing away money on some over priced "star", how about we don't have a 10 (or was it 11) game losing streak next go around? Pretty sure we get into the playoffs if that doesn't happen, even without changes.

 

That just would have lulled the fans into a false sense of security that this team was a indeed good enough to compete in the playoffs. That was not the case. We need to put a better defense in front of Miller, or we would have been embarassed in a short series in the first round.

[Buffalo Wings]

I've got a better idea for the team this season. Instead of pissing away money on some over priced "star", how about we don't have a 10 (or was it 11) game losing streak next go around? Pretty sure we get into the playoffs if that doesn't happen, even without changes.

I think it was a 14-game winless streak with a couple of OT/shootout losses mixed in there.

 

I'm going way out on a limb and saying that won't happen this year. :unsure:

 

Seriously, I think this team added a year of maturity - the core (Miller, Pominville, Vanek, Roy) have the experience without the you-know-who captains to fall back on. I have a feeling they won't allow a season-breaking losing streak like that again.

[Bmwolf21]

That's fine. But let the record show you drew the short straw. You are the one who has to go tell Miller Lalime is his "daddy" now.

:blink:

 

Um...OK?

[james duncan]

That just would have lulled the fans into a false sense of security that this team was a indeed good enough to compete in the playoffs. That was not the case. We need to put a better defense in front of Miller, or we would have been embarassed in a short series in the first round.

 

Obviously a hypothetical, but by who? Pittsburgh--yes. Montreal owned us, so probably. Ottawa? Doubt it's a blowout. Rangers probably win the series, but not a blow out. Philly? Washington? Boston? NJ? No.

I don't think we are far off. Which of these teams has really gotten better so far?

[darksabre]

I don't want to compare the Sabres to teams in the east. The east is like the NFC in the NFL. Almost guaranteed to lose to the other conference every year. I want to be like the west dammit!

[Bmwolf21]

That just would have lulled the fans into a false sense of security that this team was a indeed good enough to compete in the playoffs. That was not the case. We need to put a better defense in front of Miller, or we would have been embarassed in a short series in the first round.

Agreed. Maybe not embarrassed, but I think we would have been out in the opening round.

 

I think it was a 14-game winless streak with a couple of OT/shootout losses mixed in there.

 

I'm going way out on a limb and saying that won't happen this year. :unsure:

 

Seriously, I think this team added a year of maturity - the core (Miller, Pominville, Vanek, Roy) have the experience without the you-know-who captains to fall back on. I have a feeling they won't allow a season-breaking losing streak like that again.

I hope so, but all the maturity and experience of the guys up front won't matter much if the guys on the blueline play the way they did for much of last year. Tallinder was a disappointment, Lydman struggled when his regular d-partner was out of the lineup or off his game, Kalinin is a whole can of worms I'd rather not open. Spacek was about the only wire-to-wire consistent performer.

 

I just fear that if the blueline isn't changed and improved somewhat, that we're in for more of the same. They took a step in the right direction by declining to offer Dmitri a contract. Let's see what they do with other 4-5 spots.

[fiftyone]

Obviously a hypothetical, but by who? Pittsburgh--yes. Montreal owned us, so probably. Ottawa? Doubt it's a blowout. Rangers probably win the series, but not a blow out. Philly? Washington? Boston? NJ? No.

I don't think we are far off. Which of these teams has really gotten better so far?

 

 

Well anything besides a 7 or 8 seed probably wasn't going to happen for us last year anyway.

A couple of those teams, and others below us in the standings have gotten better, but I was talking about last year. Some help in front of Miller should go a long way this season, because I think we are set up front.