nfreeman Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Montreal -- what a debacle of a season. After a ton of hype, expectations and splashy moves, they were swept in the 1st round and booed off the ice in the last game. Their franchise goalie fell apart down the stretch for the 2nd year in a row. They had a ton of injuries, for which their fans and media aren't going to cut them any slack. Either way, they have a ton of UFAs, including their best 4 forwards (Koivu, Kovalev, Lang and Tanguay) and 4 of their top 6 on D (including Komisarek). Florida -- made strides towards respectability, but still didn't get into the playoffs and are about to lose their best player (Bouwmeester), and 2 other top-4 defensemen, as UFAs. Philly -- about to get cashed out in the first round. Spent $65MM on payroll this year (they figured out how to game the system to exceed the cap by $8MM). Already at $54MM in cap space for next year and have no goalies under contract. Washington -- all that talent and they are still going to get bounced in the first round. Their best defenseman (Green) has totally crapped the bed in this series. They haven't won a playoff series since 1998. They owe Nylander $8.5MM for the next 2 years and have been healthy-scratching him in the playoffs. Devils -- could easily lose in the 1st round again (as they did last year). Gionta and Oduya (their #2 defenseman) are both UFAs. None of this is to excuse Sabres' ownership/management for the mortal sin of screwing up the best team we've had in 30 years. My point is simply that most teams have issues, and that with a few strong offseason moves, the Sabres can be right back in the thick of things in the EC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2ForTripping Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Moves?!?!? Darcy would rather eat cat sh!t with a knitting needle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two or less Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Montreal is in trouble. This was their season. 100yr and everything went right. Until all their players began to go nuts. Price was the next great goalie, the next roy just 4 months ago. Now? He may get dealt and halak start. They had one of the biggest threats for an offense but now who cares about them? Imo habs have more work to do then buffalo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom webster Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Free, You could have included Boston which will have major issues signing Kreci and Kessel among others. However, If you were a betting man, which team do you think is least likely to do anything to improve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristian Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Montreal is in trouble. This was their season. 100yr and everything went right. Until all their players began to go nuts. Price was the next great goalie, the next roy just 4 months ago. Now? He may get dealt and halak start. They had one of the biggest threats for an offense but now who cares about them? Imo habs have more work to do then buffalo. Perhaps, but at least in Montreal you know they'll try and adress whatever problems they may have. Whether they are succesful or not is another matter. In Buffalo though, our GM will sit on his hands, perhaps sign a restricted free agent or two, and then proceed to stock up the roster with youngsters and expect things to magically turn around over night. If we're lucky, we bring in one new face, and perhaps a new backup. Given the options above I know which of the of two evils I'd choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfreeman Posted April 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Free, You could have included Boston which will have major issues signing Kreci and Kessel among others. However, If you were a betting man, which team do you think is least likely to do anything to improve? Well, those 2 are restricted, and Boston is $10MM under the cap for next year, with most of their key players locked up, so I didn't think they were in the same category as the others. I'd be pretty surprised if those 2 weren't on Boston next year. But you're certainly right that they too will have contract issues with some important guys. As for your 2nd point -- while in the back of my mind I'm afraid you are right, and in the front of my mind I don't see the Sabres signing a $7MM UFA or undertaking a Philly-style makeover, I'm not as down on Darcy, or this roster, as many here are. I also think Darcy's been given a much freer hand to run the team, within the budget, since last summer. So I think we'll see some changes. The changes won't be as splashy as most posters here will want to see, but I think they will be effective enough to improve the team by more than a little. If not, next year will be his last year here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom webster Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Well, those 2 are restricted, and Boston is $10MM under the cap for next year, with most of their key players locked up, so I didn't think they were in the same category as the others. I'd be pretty surprised if those 2 weren't on Boston next year. But you're certainly right that they too will have contract issues with some important guys. As for your 2nd point -- while in the back of my mind I'm afraid you are right, and in the front of my mind I don't see the Sabres signing a $7MM UFA or undertaking a Philly-style makeover, I'm not as down on Darcy, or this roster, as many here are. I also think Darcy's been given a much freer hand to run the team, within the budget, since last summer. So I think we'll see some changes. The changes won't be as splashy as most posters here will want to see, but I think they will be effective enough to improve the team by more than a little. If not, next year will be his last year here. Closer to $9 million with only 14 players signed. If Kessel and Kreci sign for "just" $2.5 million per, they will have around $4.5 million to sign or bring up 7 players. There posters on this board that think that Stafford going ot get a $3million offer sheet (I'm not one of them) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Closer to $9 million with only 14 players signed. If Kessel and Kreci sign for "just" $2.5 million per, they will have around $4.5 million to sign or bring up 7 players. There posters on this board that think that Stafford going ot get a $3million offer sheet (I'm not one of them) Stafford a $3 million offer sheet? Don't see that happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spndnchz Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Stafford a $3 million offer sheet? Don't see that happening. I hope so only so that we get more picks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_sauve28 Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Great thread Mr. Freeman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfreeman Posted April 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Closer to $9 million with only 14 players signed. If Kessel and Kreci sign for "just" $2.5 million per, they will have around $4.5 million to sign or bring up 7 players. There posters on this board that think that Stafford going ot get a $3million offer sheet (I'm not one of them) Maybe I'm misunderstanding the data, but this seems to indicate that they have 18 players under contract for next year for a total cap hit of $46.733MM. If the cap stays at $56.7MM, they are closer to $10MM under (we're splitting hairs at that point, but still.) I'll agree that kessel and krejci are going to cost between $4MM and $5MM between the 2 of them. But that gives them 20 players and $5MM to play with to fill up the last 4-5 slots. It doesn't seem too tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom webster Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Maybe I'm misunderstanding the data, but this seems to indicate that they have 18 players under contract for next year for a total cap hit of $46.733MM. If the cap stays at $56.7MM, they are closer to $10MM under (we're splitting hairs at that point, but still.) I'll agree that kessel and krejci are going to cost between $4MM and $5MM between the 2 of them. But that gives them 20 players and $5MM to play with to fill up the last 4-5 slots. It doesn't seem too tight. If you look under the cap it, it shows 14 players. Some of the players listed above were injury or late season call ups whose true cap hit isn't factored in. There has been a lot of talk in the Boston papers regarding the difficulty in keeping both aforementioned players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 If you were a betting man, which team do you think is least likely to do anything to improve? In the East? Atlanta or Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 while i detest what kevin lowe did re: vanek, i would totally pop a semi if darcy got either krejci or kessel to sign an offer sheet. gritty centers that know what the back of the net looks like. yes, please. pipe dream, i know. whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Stafford a $3 million offer sheet? Don't see that happening. Depends. If you're talking total over 3 years, I could definitely see that happen. If you look under the cap it, it shows 14 players. Some of the players listed above were injury or late season call ups whose true cap hit isn't factored in. There has been a lot of talk in the Boston papers regarding the difficulty in keeping both aforementioned players. But IF you do get the 2 K's added for a total hit of $5MM, that ~$4.5MM left over should be enough to get the spare parts added as D men #'s 6&7 can definitely be in the $650k mold (assuming Chara stays healthy, DC Sabres could probably be the 7th D-man and they'd still get by (sorry BuffalOhio, not picking on you, just trying to come up w/ someone from this board that plays D)), and they can add low priced guys for openings on lines 3&4 as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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