Darcy had better break his rule & sign Drury Jan 1st

[Barnabov]

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061...?tbd1060615.asp

 

 

My wife is getting me the 3rd jersey for Christmas - didn't think I wanted a player name on it but seeing Chris Drury dominate Saturday night changed my mind. Now, it had better not become "obsolete" after this season.

 

I don't know how Regier will do it nor how much money it will take but I think it is a make or break for the Sabres to sign Drury to a long-term deal and they had better not wait until FA hits then lose him to some retarded offer from an Islanders/Chicago/insert big spending loser team name here, etc.

 

As the article says, even though they can begin negotiations January 1st, Darcy's rule is to wait until the season is over - I think that would be too late. Besides, I think it would be nice security for Chris to know his future is sewed up.

 

So, what does everyone think it will take and how can we afford to keep both him & Briere?

 

According to:

 

http://www3.telus.net/public/dreyes/nhl/

 

They'll both be FAs next year and Roy & Vanek will be RFAs. There's $28.4 mil tied up in 12 players. Novotny, Petes & Paetsch are also RFAs and Biron is the only other UFA.

 

I hope we can do a 5 to 7 year deal for Drury - give him more years at less per year. If he stays on this pace, he'll easily push past the $5 mil/season and maybe even be north of $6 mil on the open market.

 

Maybe a 6 year, $25 mil contract would do it? Would be great to get Briere for the same but I feel he's going to think $5 mil is the base for the 1st year with more each year after that - guess he'll show if he's worth it or not.

 

Personally I'd prefer to keep a complete package player like Chris who no doubt brings many more intangibles (clutch goals, leadership by example, etc.) and lose pure scoring that you get with Briere but am sure plenty on the board will disagree - so let's hear it!

 

 

 

 

 

Make that "Darcy" not Dary in the topic title - it's Monday!

[Bmwolf21]

I agree, in my eyes he is the unquestioned leader of the team, plus a 25-30 goal scorer who plays solid two-way hockey. Forced to make a choice, I'd take Drury over Briere in heartbeat, but that's just me.

 

I really hope that Darcy gets it done and gets Chris locked up ASAP.

[Goodfella25]

I agree, in my eyes he is the unquestioned leader of the team, plus a 25-30 goal scorer who plays solid two-way hockey. Forced to make a choice, I'd take Drury over Briere in heartbeat, but that's just me.

 

I really hope that Darcy gets it done and gets Chris locked up ASAP.

 

I agree, the "rule," as I've stated multiple times before, is complete nonsense and probably why we no longer have Jay McKee...yea that's right I said it, bring on the flack.

 

I can't say enough about the incredible job Darcy did to get us to this season, but there are tougher roads ahead. I agree that if it comes down to Drury or Briere, it is Drury who is more important to this hockey club. Should also be interesting seeing how much $ Roy and Vanek will be demanding. Scary, scary thought given the fact that we are up agaist the salary cap already. Of course that extra $5 million could be handy

[mphs mike]

I agree, in my eyes he is the unquestioned leader of the team, plus a 25-30 goal scorer who plays solid two-way hockey. Forced to make a choice, I'd take Drury over Briere in heartbeat, but that's just me.

 

I really hope that Darcy gets it done and gets Chris locked up ASAP.

 

 

It's not just you - I'd take Drury before Briere without hesitation.

[Taro T]

I agree, the "rule," as I've stated multiple times before, is complete nonsense and probably why we no longer have Jay McKee...yea that's right I said it, bring on the flack.

 

I can't say enough about the incredible job Darcy did to get us to this season, but there are tougher roads ahead. I agree that if it comes down to Drury or Briere, it is Drury who is more important to this hockey club. Should also be interesting seeing how much $ Roy and Vanek will be demanding. Scary, scary thought given the fact that we are up agaist the salary cap already. Of course that extra $5 million could be handy

The Sabres likely will have some cap space free up next season as the league cap will probably go up slightly and I'd be surprised if Teppo and Marty are back at their present salaries (if at all).

 

Mair and the Captains are the only other UFA's on the team next season. Mair could likely be had for about what he's making this year, if the Sabres don't want to free up a spot for Stafford or Ryan or Paille or (insert name of young promising kid in organization here).

 

Because Teppo is in the last year of his deal (it's actually the only year of his deal, semantics), his 2.6MM contract $'s could be allocated to a contract extension for Chris (or Danny or anyone else in the last year of his deal). The same goes for the other players at the end of contracts.

 

 

Also, Darcy said this summer that the Sabres would be willing to extend contracts during the season when it's allowed and makes sense for the team. IMHO, because the Sabres had so many contracts due for so many key players, they really couldn't have started contract talks during the last season. I think it would definitely have messed with the team chemisty if say McKee and Tallinder and 1 or 2 others were in contract talks but Lydman and Kotalik and 8 or so others weren't.

 

Yes, the Sabres got burned by giving out so many 1 year deals at the end of the lockout, but the conventional wisdom around the league at the time was that Darcy was actually working the system very well. (Especially when you consider that people DID NOT expect the salary cap in '06-'07 to be above the cap in '05-'06.) As we (almost) saw in NJ, taking the other philosophy of locking guys into LT deals wasn't exactly a plan without its own inherent flaws.

[Goodfella25]

The Sabres likely will have some cap space free up next season as the league cap will probably go up slightly and I'd be surprised if Teppo and Marty are back at their present salaries (if at all).

 

Mair and the Captains are the only other UFA's on the team next season. Mair could likely be had for about what he's making this year, if the Sabres don't want to free up a spot for Stafford or Ryan or Paille or (insert name of young promising kid in organization here).

 

Because Teppo is in the last year of his deal (it's actually the only year of his deal, semantics), his 2.6MM contract $'s could be allocated to a contract extension for Chris (or Danny or anyone else in the last year of his deal). The same goes for the other players at the end of contracts.

Also, Darcy said this summer that the Sabres would be willing to extend contracts during the season when it's allowed and makes sense for the team. IMHO, because the Sabres had so many contracts due for so many key players, they really couldn't have started contract talks during the last season. I think it would definitely have messed with the team chemisty if say McKee and Tallinder and 1 or 2 others were in contract talks but Lydman and Kotalik and 8 or so others weren't.

 

Yes, the Sabres got burned by giving out so many 1 year deals at the end of the lockout, but the conventional wisdom around the league at the time was that Darcy was actually working the system very well. (Especially when you consider that people DID NOT expect the salary cap in '06-'07 to be above the cap in '05-'06.) As we (almost) saw in NJ, taking the other philosophy of locking guys into LT deals wasn't exactly a plan without its own inherent flaws.

 

 

Dave, glad u weighed in on this topic since u have more than a good handle on the CBA/contracts. I totally forgot about Numminen. Plus, the cap may go up again next season.

[Corp000085]

i'd take drury over briere without any hesitation too... with that said, both can be had for long term deals, if you factor out biron and numminen plus factor a potential salary cap increase. I'm worried about losing one of the two (most likely briere) but i'm not woried in the least about losing both... that just wont happen

[Barnabov]

Cap should go up - seems like NHL is on the upswing in popularity & ticket sales/league revenues are expanding which will lead to more $$ for salaries.

 

Thanks Dave for mentioning Teppo - forgot about him being a UFA - wouldn't rule it out that he's back for another year depending on how durable he is for this one. I think Lindy likes having an veterans veteran Defenseman so the younger guys can learn by osmosis. Probably why James Patrick played those extra years - albeit, Numinnen is in a much more active role.

 

Still will take some years & Dollars to keep Drury & Briere in Buffalo but I think it can be done and players need to give more than lip service to wanting to stay part of a good team that can compete for Lord Stanley and not give some lame excuse like Grier or take the money like McKee (I don't blame him for that - with his style of play he may not have 4 years of body left - hope I'm wrong but he also needed to cash in to make up for paying for the $1 mil range for so many years).

[Bmwolf21]

I think Darcy's next offseason will be just as challenging as this one was, but for different reasons. Frankly, I think that Brier's arbitration award spells the end of his time in Buffalo, if not during the season then next offseason, because I just cannot imagine that Danny would accept a LT deal worth less per year than the arbitrator awarded him. Then again, stranger things have happened. If he does want that kind of money ($5M+), I think Darcy would be content to let him walk, and that will be tough for a lot of fans to swallow. But it would give Darcy more than enough $$ to put toward keeping Drury, maybe adding a veteran scorer and backup goalie, and bring up Stafford and Paille or Ryan to fill in some of the holes.

[jerryg]

There will definitely be some departures after this season, the cap just won't allow everyone back. Hopefully we'll have a few more up and comers from Rochester ready to step in and maybe a couple free agent pickups. I don't see Briere coming abck and if he's still around at the end of this season, I can't see Biron coming back and Connolly is a mystery right now...

[apuszczalowski]

Losing Briere will hurt this team alot more then most people think

[Bmwolf21]

That is true, but if Danny or Drury has a bigger number in mind than the Sabres do when contract time comes, it might come to an either/or situation, and IMO, I would rather keep Drury.

 

I also don't want to see the Sabres turn into the Lightning North, where we have most of our cap money tied up in a handful of players. I don't want to see us have to constantly sacrifice rising stars and young role players because we can't get them under the cap.

[frisky]

I am also of the opinion that it's high time that Darcy makes an exception to his rule about negiotions during the season. I would like to think that he's seen enough examples of what could happen if he waits on contracts until the summer. I also hope that we can keep both Briere and Drury but I think this summer will be similar to last. Even with the cap going up I think we'll lose a couple of players and fill with the younger kids who are ready to move up to the big club like Paille. I have a feeling though that if anything happens we won't see it until Biron is moved but that's just from gut.

[hopeleslyobvious]

Losing Briere will hurt this team alot more then most people think

 

That depends. Is Connolly back? Is he 100%? The Sabres can win without Briere. Without Briere and Connolly...that's a different story.

 

I agree, the "rule," as I've stated multiple times before, is complete nonsense and probably why we no longer have Jay McKee...yea that's right I said it, bring on the flack.

 

I can't say enough about the incredible job Darcy did to get us to this season, but there are tougher roads ahead. I agree that if it comes down to Drury or Briere, it is Drury who is more important to this hockey club. Should also be interesting seeing how much $ Roy and Vanek will be demanding. Scary, scary thought given the fact that we are up agaist the salary cap already. Of course that extra $5 million could be handy

 

 

Still hung up on McKee? I'd take Spacek any day of the week...especially at $1 million less.

[That Aud Smell]

It's not just you - I'd take Drury before Briere without hesitation.

 

it's funny -- i enjoy danny b's game way more than any other sabre -- he's unquestionably my favorite player on the roster -- and the only other players who match or exceed him in terms of my (super manly hockey) affection would be patty and, of course, gilbert.

 

all that said, if i'm playing gm, i have to keep drury over briere. no getting around it.

[Pondslider]

it's funny -- i enjoy danny b's game way more than any other sabre -- he's unquestionably my favorite player on the roster -- and the only other players who match or exceed him in terms of my (super manly hockey) affection would be patty and, of course, gilbert.

 

all that said, if i'm playing gm, i have to keep drury over briere. no getting around it.

 

I really want to believe that they'll sign Drury. He was a player that the front office has gone on record saying that they coveted and brought in to be the face of the franchise and the leader on the ice. Losing him would be a huge failure.

[BetweenThePipes00]

Losing him would be a huge failure.

This is a choice of words that kind of frustrates me. Don't get me wrong, I agree with everything else you said, and it would be frustrating as hell, but it's not all management's fault when I guy leaves in free agency. Sometimes your best is not good enough ... I guess technically that is "failure," but when I see it like that i get the feeling you mean that they screwed up and CHOSE not to keep them. I want them to make every effort to sign these guys too, but if one of them gets it in his head that he is testing the market no matter what, and someone comes calling with a $7 million per year offer, it's hard to say the Sabres "failed." They would be pretty much handcuffed by the cap at that point. Signing a guy to an extension is a two-way street, the guy has to say yes when an offer is made. It was the same thing with Briere going to arbitration. Darcy took most of the heat, but I'm not sure there was an offer he could have made that Briere would have accepted. He was one year from hitting the open market, and even if he wasn't awarded as much as he would like, he was still one year from a bidding war.

 

Again, I agree they need to do all they can to keep them, they have to make fair offers. But there is only so much they will be able to do. I'm more concerned with Briere and Drury being reasonable in their demands and seeing the value of keeping this thing together when their agents are seeing dollar signs.

[Bmwolf21]

BTP, you are absolutely right, the extension-signing process is certainly a two-way street, but my gut feeling says that if the Sabres approach Drury early enough, are upfront about their desire to keep him here and make him a fair, legitimate offer, that he would hold up his end of the bargain and decide to stay in Buffalo. I don't think they have to sell him too much on the benefits of stability and staying with a franchise on the way up, so its a matter of making a fair offer before someone on the FA market blows him away. If signing Drury to an extension isn't job #1 for Darcy, it should be #1A or 1B.