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    <title>SB Nation User Blog:  D.O.</title>
    <link>http://www.sbnation.com/users/D.O.</link>
    <description>Posts made by D.O. on SB Nation</description>
    <item>
      <title>Buffalo Sabres Tradeability</title>
      <link>http://www.diebytheblade.com/2009/7/3/936376/buffal-sabres-tradeability</link>
      <author>D.O.</author>
      <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:57:36 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">

  &lt;div class="photo-tpl photo-tpl-big_time"&gt;

    &lt;a href="/photos/buffal-sabres-tradeability"&gt;&lt;img alt="-- FILE -- In this April 8, 2009, file photo, Toronto Maple Leafs' Pavel Kubina , left,  and Buffalo Sabres' Tim Connolly (19) battle for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game  in Toronto. The Atlanta Thrashers announced Wednesday night, July 1, 2009,they have traded defenseman Garnet Exelby and forward Colin Stuart to the Maple Leafs for Kubina and forward Tim Stapleton. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Frank Gunn,file)" class="ap_photo" src="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/53192/48160_thrashers_maple_leafs_trade_hockey.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
    &lt;div class="photo-meta"&gt;
      &lt;p class="by clearfix"&gt;
        
          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/buffal-sabres-tradeability"&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by Frank Gunn - AP
        
      &lt;/p&gt;
    
      
        &lt;p class="cap"&gt;
          
            &lt;strong&gt;4 days ago:&lt;/strong&gt; 
          
          -- FILE -- In this April 8, 2009, file photo, Toronto Maple Leafs' Pavel Kubina , left,  and Buffalo Sabres' Tim Connolly (19) battle for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game  in Toronto. The Atlanta Thrashers announced Wednesday night, July 1, 2009,they have traded defenseman Garnet Exelby and forward Colin Stuart to the Maple Leafs for Kubina and forward Tim Stapleton. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Frank Gunn,file)
        &lt;/p&gt;
      
    &lt;/div&gt;  
    
    &lt;p class="more-link"&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/buffal-sabres-tradeability"&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;/div&gt;


&lt;p&gt;It is no secret that the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/BUF" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Buffalo Sabres&lt;/a&gt; need to shed some salary in order to sign enough players to have a full roster next season.&amp;nbsp; After the signing of &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54506/Steve_Montador" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Steve Montador&lt;/a&gt; on Wednesday they have committed approximately $47.5 million towards next season and they have a budget of around $50 million.&amp;nbsp; All is good, they have $2.5 million left to burn in free agency.&amp;nbsp; The problem is that they have only eight forwards signed for next season.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;They will be able to call up players like &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55704/Nathan_Gerbe" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Nathan Gerbe&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55712/Tim_Kennedy" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Tim Kennedy&lt;/a&gt; that are still playing on their entry-level contract to help the salary situation.&amp;nbsp; They still have five restricted free agents that they need to try to sign as well.&amp;nbsp; It will be virtually impossible for Darcy Regier to sign enough players to complete the roster without trading away a roster player or two.&lt;/p&gt;


  
&lt;p&gt;Now that we have established that someone will be traded we can try to figure out who that player(s) might be.&amp;nbsp; This is a team that has missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons so you have to think that basically no player is untouchable.&amp;nbsp; If I had to name two players that would never be traded I would say &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55204/Thomas_Vanek" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Thomas Vanek&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54834/Ryan_Miller" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Ryan Miller&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;We have all heard of the word drinkability after &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LWSujLz7kw" target="_blank"&gt;Bud Light&lt;/a&gt; has made it so famous.&amp;nbsp; The full definition of &lt;a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drinkability" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span&gt;drinkability&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; from Webster's Dictionary is "suitable or safe for".&amp;nbsp; We can alter the word slightly and use the same definition to talk about tradeability.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What are the Sabres players Tradeability?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" width="524" style="border-collapse: collapse;"&gt;
&lt;col style="width: 48pt;" width="64" /&gt; &lt;col style="width: 81pt;" width="108" /&gt; &lt;col style="width: 72pt;" width="96" /&gt; &lt;col style="width: 56pt;" width="75" /&gt; &lt;col style="width: 53pt;" width="70" /&gt; &lt;col style="width: 83pt;" width="111" /&gt; 
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" width="64" style="height: 12.75pt; width: 48pt;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Pos&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" width="108" style="width: 81pt;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Player&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" width="96" style="width: 72pt;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Contract Status&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" width="75" style="width: 56pt;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Cap Hit&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" width="70" style="width: 53pt;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Tradeability&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" width="111" style="width: 83pt;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Likely to be traded&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;LW&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;Thomas Vanek&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2013-2014&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="7142857"&gt;$7,142,857&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="1"&gt;&lt;b&gt;100%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.1"&gt;10%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;C&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55207/Derek_Roy" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Derek Roy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2012-2013&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="4000000"&gt;$4,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.9"&gt;&lt;b&gt;90%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.2"&gt;20%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;RW&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55208/Jason_Pominville" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jason Pominville&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2013-2014&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="5000000"&gt;$5,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="0.5"&gt;50%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="0.5"&gt;&lt;b&gt;50%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;LW/C&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54790/Jochen_Hecht" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Jochen Hecht&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2011-2012&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="3525000"&gt;$3,525,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.3"&gt;30%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.3"&gt;30%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;C&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55202/Tim_Connolly" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Tim Connolly&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2010-2011&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="4500000"&gt;$4,500,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="0.5"&gt;50%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.1"&gt;10%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;RW&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55216/Drew_Stafford" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Drew Stafford&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;RFA&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" align="center"&gt;x&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.9"&gt;&lt;b&gt;90%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="0.5"&gt;&lt;b&gt;50%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;LW&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55211/Daniel_Paille" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Daniel Paille&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2009-2010&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="1350000"&gt;$1,350,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.6"&gt;&lt;b&gt;60%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.4"&gt;40%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;C/LW&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55215/Paul_Gaustad" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Paul Gaustad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2011-2012&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="2500000"&gt;$2,500,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.3"&gt;30%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.1"&gt;10%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;RW&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55698/Mark_Mancari" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Mark Mancari&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;RFA&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;x&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.6"&gt;&lt;b&gt;60%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="0.5"&gt;&lt;b&gt;50%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;LW&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55209/Clarke_MacArthur" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Clarke MacArthur&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;RFA&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;x&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.9"&gt;&lt;b&gt;90%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="0.5"&gt;&lt;b&gt;50%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;C/LW&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55217/Adam_Mair" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Adam Mair&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2009-2010&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="758333"&gt;$758,333&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="0.5"&gt;50%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.2"&gt;20%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;RW&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55212/Patrick_Kaleta" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Patrick Kaleta&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;RFA&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;x&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.95"&gt;&lt;b&gt;95%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.1"&gt;10%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;LW/C&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;Tim Kennedy&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2009-2010&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="635000"&gt;$635,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.9"&gt;&lt;b&gt;90%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.1"&gt;10%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;C/LW&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;Phillip Gogulla&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2009-2010&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="685000"&gt;$685,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.6"&gt;60%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.1"&gt;10%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;C/LW&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;Nathan Gerbe&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2010-2011&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="850000"&gt;$850,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.95"&gt;&lt;b&gt;95%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.2"&gt;20%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;D&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55708/Craig_Rivet" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Craig Rivet&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2010-2011&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="2333333"&gt;$2,333,333&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.7"&gt;&lt;b&gt;70%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.2"&gt;20%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;D&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55214/Henrik_Tallinder" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Henrik Tallinder&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2009-2010&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="2562500"&gt;$2,562,500&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.4"&gt;40%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.4"&gt;40%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;D&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55213/Toni_Lydman" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Toni Lydman&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2009-2010&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="2875000"&gt;$2,875,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="0.5"&gt;50%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="0.5"&gt;&lt;b&gt;50%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;D&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;Nathan Paestch&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2009-2010&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="850000"&gt;$850,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.4"&gt;40%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="0.5"&gt;&lt;b&gt;50%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;D&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55205/Andrej_Sekera" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Andrej Sekera&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;RFA&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;x&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.7"&gt;&lt;b&gt;70%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.3"&gt;30%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"&gt;D&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55702/Chris_Butler" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Chris Butler&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl22"&gt;2010-2011&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl24" x:num="576666"&gt;$576,666&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.9"&gt;&lt;b&gt;90%&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="xl23" x:num="00.1"&gt;10%&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h5&gt;Tradeability&lt;/h5&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There are plenty of players on the Sabres that other teams would covet for various reasons.&amp;nbsp; They may have offensive talent, be a physical player, a solid defender etc.&amp;nbsp; That doesn't mean the Sabres will be actively shopping a player because he is a tradeable player.&amp;nbsp; There are many factors that go into a trade and the key is to find the right deal.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;The Sabres most tradeable players would be...&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Thomas Vanek -&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; Has the offensive numbers of a superstar at a relatively low cost.&amp;nbsp; Teams would be falling all over themselves to get a player of his caliber.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Patrick Kaleta -&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; This one may sound a bit strange but every team wants a player like Kaleta that gets under the opponents skin.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Nathan Gerbe -&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; An outstanding offensive talent that could someday be a huge (no pun intended) goal scorer in the NHL.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;h5&gt;Most Likely to get traded&lt;/h5&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The players that are most likely to get traded are listed in no particular order.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Jason Pominville -&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; had one bad season that will bring down his trade value but he would be a player that other teams would want.&amp;nbsp; He had a couple of really big offensive seasons and has enjoyed some playoff success which makes him attractive to a desperate team.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Drew Stafford -&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; He is a restricted free agent that is likely to get a pretty heft raise after a 20 goal season.&amp;nbsp; The Sabres may not want to trade him away but may be forced to lie they did with &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54468/Steve_Bernier" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Steve Bernier&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Mark Mancari -&lt;/b&gt; He is also a restricted free agent and he has never been given much of a chance by Lindy Ruff.&amp;nbsp; He is a two-time AHL all-star that may be enough to get teams to give something back.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Toni Lydman -&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; He is just one of the Sabres overpaid defensive players. Tallinder has fallen so far off the map that Lydman is tradeable by default.&amp;nbsp; He does block shots and plays a slightly physical game which could entice some team to take on his salary.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55219/Nathan_Paetsch" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Nathan Paetsch&lt;/a&gt; -&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; For no other reason than him not figuring into the Sabres plans.&amp;nbsp; He may be more likely to moved at the trade deadline.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There are some notable exceptions off of each of these lists.&amp;nbsp; Just based on conversations there are people that are ready to ship off Derek Roy, Tim Connolly and Jochen Hecht in a heartbeat.&amp;nbsp; News Flash!&amp;nbsp; Those players aren't going anywhere in the near future.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Derek Roy is possibly the Sabres best all-around player and he comes at a relatively cheap price.&amp;nbsp; Unless you can get a top six forward for under $4 million per season, Derek Roy is going nowhere.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Tim Connolly signed a two-year extension at the trade deadline.&amp;nbsp; They didn't sign him to ship him off in the off-season to free up salary.&amp;nbsp; He is also a good player at a relatively cheap cap hit.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Sabres would probably love to trade away Jochen Hecht but what is the market for a 32 year-old defensive-forward that is coming off his worst season as a professional.&amp;nbsp; Throw in his $3.8 million salary this season and he becomes even less attractive.&amp;nbsp; I would be surprised if Jochen Hecht is not on this team on opening night.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The trade market has been weak so far wit only a few deals taking place in the last week or so.&amp;nbsp; As the trade market heats up, it is likely the Sabres would be a part of it.&amp;nbsp; Who do you think the Sabres will trade away?&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>Morning Links:  Ted Nolan in Rochester and Sabres announce Prospects Camp</title>
      <link>http://www.diebytheblade.com/2009/7/3/936479/morning-links-ted-nolan-in</link>
      <author>D.O.</author>
      <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:31:51 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">

  &lt;div class="photo-tpl photo-tpl-big_time"&gt;

    &lt;a href="/photos/morning-links-ted-nolan-in"&gt;&lt;img alt="Washington Capitals left wing Donald Brashear (87) winds up to punch New York Rangers right wing Colton Orr (28) during a fight in the first period of an NHL hockey game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009.  (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)" class="ap_photo" src="http://cdn2.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/53231/46050_colton_orr__donald_brashear.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
    &lt;div class="photo-meta"&gt;
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          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/morning-links-ted-nolan-in"&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by Kathy Willens - AP
        
      &lt;/p&gt;
    
      
        &lt;p class="cap"&gt;
          
            &lt;strong&gt;2 months ago:&lt;/strong&gt; 
          
          Washington Capitals left wing Donald Brashear (87) winds up to punch New York Rangers right wing Colton Orr (28) during a fight in the first period of an NHL hockey game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009.  (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
        &lt;/p&gt;
      
    &lt;/div&gt;  
    
    &lt;p class="more-link"&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/morning-links-ted-nolan-in"&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;/div&gt;


&lt;p&gt;It was a quiet day in free agency but that doesn't mean there is no news to talk about.&amp;nbsp; The Sabres still have a lot of work to do with the big club and the Pirates.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090702/SPORTS02/907020350/1007/RSS02"&gt;Amerks hire Nolan to make believers of all | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ted Nolan, former NHL coach of the year with the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/BUF" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Buffalo Sabres&lt;/a&gt;, will use his some of his philosophies behind the bench to rebuild the tradition of the Rochester Americans.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://letsgoamerks.com/2009/07/02/2011-star-game-pirates-diff-divisions-misc/"&gt;2011 All Star Game, vs Pirates, Diff Divisions, Misc | Lets Go Amerks!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Should be interesting to see the Portland Pirates play against the Rochester Amerks at the HSBC Arena.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://mainehockeyjournal.com/2009/07/02/darche-signs-with-montreal/"&gt;Darche signs with Montreal " Maine Hockey Journal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Sabres have a lot of work to do in Portland this season.  If Gerbe and Kennedy get the call to Buffalo next season that will be two more spots that need to be filled.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://sabres.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&amp;page=NewsPage&amp;articleid=433219"&gt;Buffalo Sabres - News: SABRES DEVELOPMENT CAMP - 07/02/2009&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Buffalo Sabres announced the details for their development camp next week at Niagara University.  I plan on attending on Tuesday and WEdnesday so if anyone is going let me kow and we can meet up.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Accepting-Brashear-something-Rangers-fans-not-re?urn=nhl,174390"&gt;Accepting Brashear something Rangers fans not ready to do - Puck Daddy - NHL - Yahoo! Sports&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Everyone remembers the hit that Brashear put on &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54191/Blair_Betts" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Blair Betts&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/NYR" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Rangers&lt;/a&gt; fans are not happy.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.fromtherink.com/2009/7/2/935190/july-1-roundup-46-players-signed"&gt;July 1 Roundup: 46 players signed, $406-million&amp;nbsp;spent - From The Rink&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;James Mirtle takes a look at all the players signed on July 1.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.northjersey.com/sports/Devils_say_seats_at_Prudential_Center_dont_meet_standards.html"&gt;NorthJersey.com: Devils say seats at Prudential Center don't meet standards&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The claim comes in response to the seating manufacturer&amp;rsquo;s bid to claim $1.2 million in payments.&lt;/p&gt;

  


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      <title>Buffalo Sabres Need More Offense From Defense</title>
      <link>http://www.diebytheblade.com/2009/7/2/936273/sabres-need-more-offense-from</link>
      <author>D.O.</author>
      <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:13:26 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">

  &lt;div class="photo-tpl photo-tpl-big_time"&gt;

    &lt;a href="/photos/sabres-need-more-offense-from"&gt;&lt;img alt="Columbus Blue Jackets' Raffi Torres, right, tries to steal the puck from Minnesota Wild's Marc-Andre Bergeron during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, April 11, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)" class="ap_photo" src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/53141/45211_wild_blue_jackets_hockey.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
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          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/sabres-need-more-offense-from"&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by Jay LaPrete - AP
        
      &lt;/p&gt;
    
      
        &lt;p class="cap"&gt;
          
            &lt;strong&gt;2 months ago:&lt;/strong&gt; 
          
          Columbus Blue Jackets' Raffi Torres, right, tries to steal the puck from Minnesota Wild's Marc-Andre Bergeron during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, April 11, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
        &lt;/p&gt;
      
    &lt;/div&gt;  
    
    &lt;p class="more-link"&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/sabres-need-more-offense-from"&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;/div&gt;


&lt;p&gt;Free Agency began just over 32 hours ago and the Sabres addressed one need but they may have become weaker in another area of concern.One of the Sabres biggest weaknesses during the 2008-2009 season was their lack of offensive production from their blue liners.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This was a weakness all last season and with the departure of Jaroslav Spacek it figures to get worse.&amp;nbsp; Spacek led all Sabres defensemen in every offensive category with eight goals, 37 assists and 45 points.&amp;nbsp; He also scored four power play goals&amp;nbsp; which was over half the rest of the defense.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Sabres added Steve Montador yesterday but he is more of a physical defensive defenseman.&amp;nbsp; Montador had four goals and 17 assists for 21 points last season.&amp;nbsp; Although Montador is not known as an offensive-defenseman he does have some offensive talent and he is a smooth skater.&amp;nbsp; Make no mistake about Montador, he was brought to Buffalo because he is a physical player and not an offensive player.&lt;/p&gt;


  
&lt;p&gt;The two moves that occurred yesterday could have a far reaching effect on the team that nobody anticipated.&amp;nbsp; There is no denying the Sabres needed to get tougher but they also need to get more offense from their defense.&amp;nbsp; Here is a loo at the Sabres defensive statistics both with and without Spacek.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table border="1" align="center"&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Goals&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Assists&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Points&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;+/-&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;PIM&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;PPG&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;With Spacek&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;23&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;129&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;152&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;+2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;377&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Without Spacek&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;19&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;109&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;128&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;+17&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;482&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align="center"&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For a team that has struggled to play physical and has average to weak overall defense, this looks like an outstanding move.&amp;nbsp; The team plus/minus is a plus 15 with Montador in comparison to Spacek and Montador had 105 more penalty minutes.&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;thead&gt; 
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GP&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;G&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;A&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;P&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;+/-&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PIM&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PPG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;SHG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GWG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GTG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;SOG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PCT&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt; 
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td class="td-name td-first"&gt;2008 -               &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55206/Jaroslav_Spacek"&gt;Jaroslav Spacek&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;80&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;37&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;45&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;38&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;130&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="td-last"&gt;6.2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;!-- BEGIN WIDGET --&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;thead&gt; 
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GP&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;G&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;A&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;P&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;+/-&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PIM&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PPG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;SHG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GWG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GTG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;SOG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PCT&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt; 
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td class="td-name td-first"&gt;2008 -               &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54506/Steve_Montador"&gt;Steve Montador&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;78&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;17&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;21&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;17&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;143&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;117&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="td-last"&gt;3.4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;br id="1246580996386" /&gt; There are a couple of glaring differences between Spacek and Montador.&amp;nbsp; Spacek scored four power play goals and Montador had zero.&amp;nbsp; Montador racked up a total of 143 penalty minutes and he was a plus 17.&amp;nbsp; Montador obviously fills a huge need defensively but who can run the power play?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Sabres had previously wondered if &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55205/Andrej_Sekera" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Andrej Sekera&lt;/a&gt; could be that offensive force on the blue line.&amp;nbsp; At this point in his career that looks unlikely.&amp;nbsp; He has some obvious talent and he is an outstanding skater but at the end of last season he regressed in every aspect of the game.&amp;nbsp; Sekera needs to focus on finding his game and not being the go-to guy to provide offense from the blue line.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55696/Marc_Andre_Gragnani" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Marc-Andre Gragnani&lt;/a&gt; is another in house option for the Sabres.&amp;nbsp; Gragnani had nine goals and 42 assists in 76 games for the Sabres AHL affiliate the Portland Pirates last season.&amp;nbsp; Gragnani played four games with the Sabres last season but was used sparingly.&amp;nbsp; In his short time with the Sabres he never really showed his offensive skill and had zero points.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Sabres best options appear to be outside the organization via trade or free agency.&amp;nbsp; There is no use speculating who the Sabres could get via trade but there are a couple options available through free agency.&amp;nbsp; The two players that come to mind immediately are Mathieu Schneider and Marc-Andre Bergeron.&amp;nbsp; Both players have offensive skill with Schneider being the veteran and Bergeron still young at 29 years old.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;!-- BEGIN WIDGET --&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;th&gt;&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GP&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;G&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;A&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;P&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;+/-&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PIM&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PPG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;SHG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GWG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GTG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;SOG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PCT&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt; 
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td class="td-name td-first"&gt;2008 -               &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55443/Mathieu_Schneider"&gt;Mathieu Schneider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;67&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;9&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;23&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;32&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;-12&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;64&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;128&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="td-last"&gt;7.0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;br id="1246581752017" /&gt;&amp;nbsp;  &lt;!-- BEGIN WIDGET --&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;th&gt;&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GP&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;G&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;A&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;P&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;+/-&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PIM&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PPG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;SHG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GWG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GTG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;SOG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PCT&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td class="td-name td-first"&gt;2008 -               &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54736/Marc_Andre_Bergeron"&gt;Marc-Andre Bergeron&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;72&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;14&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;18&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;32&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;30&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;140&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="td-last"&gt;10.0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;br id="1246581779549" /&gt; Bergeron seems like the better choice at this point but there is a possibility that he could be looking at a three or four year contract.&amp;nbsp; The Sabres seem reluctant to commit to anyone for that long considering what happened with some of their own players that have regressed since signing new deals.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Bergeron will not bring a physical presence to the team but he could be the quarterback of the power play.&amp;nbsp; He had seven power play goals last season which matches the total for the entire &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/BUF" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Buffalo Sabres&lt;/a&gt; defensive corps.&amp;nbsp; It's tough to gauge salaries in the market this year but if the Sabres could sign him for $2-2.5 million per season they could fit him in the budget.&amp;nbsp; They admitted to offering Spacek at least $3 million for one season so they would be in the same neighborhood.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If they can't land Bergeron than Schneider could be a possibility.&amp;nbsp; He is 39 years old which is a concern but he does bring some offensive talent.&amp;nbsp; He had nine goals last season but he is a bit of a defensive liability these days.&amp;nbsp; He has definitely seen better days and should be considered only as a one year stop gap.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It doesn't matter which route the Sabres take to upgrade their blue line but they can't go into next season without addressing this need.&amp;nbsp; There are plenty of reasons the Sabres missed the playoffs last season but the one that is most often overlooked is their lack of offense on the blue line.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you were Darcy Regier what would you do to increase the offensive production from the defensive corps?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/freeagency"&gt;&lt;img src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/images/hub/nhl/freeagency-button.png" alt="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/images/hub/nhl/freeagency-button.png" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  


 	&lt;fieldset class="poll-box"&gt;
  &lt;legend&gt;Poll&lt;/legend&gt; 
  &lt;h5 class="poll-title"&gt;How should the Sabres replace Spacek's offense?&lt;/h5&gt;
  
    
&lt;div id="poll_container_44845_675621795"&gt;
&lt;form action="/polls/vote/44845?container_id=poll_container_44845_675621795" method="post" onsubmit="new Ajax.Request('/polls/vote/44845?container_id=poll_container_44845_675621795', {asynchronous:true, evalScripts:true, parameters:Form.serialize(this)}); return false;"&gt;
&lt;ul class="poll-list clearfix"&gt;

    &lt;li class="clearfix"&gt;&lt;span class="radio"&gt;&lt;input id="poll_option_212017" name="poll_option" type="radio" value="212017" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        &lt;label for="poll_option_212017"&gt;&lt;span class="option"&gt;Make a trade...there are no good free agents&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/label&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

    &lt;li class="clearfix"&gt;&lt;span class="radio"&gt;&lt;input id="poll_option_212018" name="poll_option" type="radio" value="212018" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        &lt;label for="poll_option_212018"&gt;&lt;span class="option"&gt;Sign M.A. Bergeron&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/label&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

    &lt;li class="clearfix"&gt;&lt;span class="radio"&gt;&lt;input id="poll_option_212019" name="poll_option" type="radio" value="212019" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        &lt;label for="poll_option_212019"&gt;&lt;span class="option"&gt;Sign Mathieu Schneider&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/label&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

    &lt;li class="clearfix"&gt;&lt;span class="radio"&gt;&lt;input id="poll_option_212020" name="poll_option" type="radio" value="212020" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        &lt;label for="poll_option_212020"&gt;&lt;span class="option"&gt;Sign other (please specify in comments)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/label&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

    &lt;li class="clearfix"&gt;&lt;span class="radio"&gt;&lt;input id="poll_option_212021" name="poll_option" type="radio" value="212021" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        &lt;label for="poll_option_212021"&gt;&lt;span class="option"&gt;Somebody inside the organization&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/label&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p class="poll-vote-submit"&gt;&lt;input class="button" name="commit" type="submit" value="Vote!" /&gt; &amp;nbsp;  162 votes | &lt;a href="#" onclick="new Ajax.Request('/polls/results/44845?container_id=poll_container_44845_675621795', {asynchronous:true, evalScripts:true}); return false;"&gt;Results&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/form&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
  
&lt;/fieldset&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Hockey Canada snubs Savard again - From The Rink</title>
      <link>http://www.diebytheblade.com/2009/7/2/936144/hockey-canada-snubs-savard-again</link>
      <author>D.O.</author>
      <pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:19:04 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">
&lt;h3&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.fromtherink.com/2009/7/2/935829/hockey-canada-snubs-savard-again"&gt;Hockey Canada snubs Savard again - From The&amp;nbsp;Rink&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;div class="description"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Derek Roy was the only Buffalo Sabres player to be invited to the Team Canada Olympic Hockey camp this summer.  This is not a surprise because he was the only player that played in the World Championships.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
      </description>
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    <item>
      <title>Morning Links:  Free Agent Frenzy nets Montador for Sabres</title>
      <link>http://www.diebytheblade.com/2009/7/2/935167/morning-links-free-agent-frenzy</link>
      <author>D.O.</author>
      <pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:46:36 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">

  &lt;div class="photo-tpl photo-tpl-left_landscape"&gt;

    &lt;a href="/photos/morning-links-free-agent-frenzy"&gt;&lt;img alt="Minnesota Wild's Marian Gaborik, of Slovakia, celebrates his goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, April 11, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. The Wild beat the Blue Jackets 6-3. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)" class="ap_photo" src="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/52667/48164_marian_gaborik.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
    &lt;div class="photo-meta"&gt;
      &lt;p class="by clearfix"&gt;
        
          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/morning-links-free-agent-frenzy"&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by Jay LaPrete - ASSOCIATED PRESS
        
      &lt;/p&gt;
    
      
        &lt;p class="cap"&gt;
          
            &lt;strong&gt;4 days ago:&lt;/strong&gt; 
          
          Minnesota Wild's Marian Gaborik, of Slovakia, celebrates his goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, April 11, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. The Wild beat the Blue Jackets 6-3. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
        &lt;/p&gt;
      
    &lt;/div&gt;  
    
    &lt;p class="more-link"&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/morning-links-free-agent-frenzy"&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;/div&gt;


&lt;p&gt;The Sabres didn't make a splash but they did sign an unrestricted free agent.&amp;nbsp; There was plenty of action throughout the league and the Northeast Division was one of the busiest.&amp;nbsp; The links below should keep you busy for awhile and then it's back to free agency.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h5&gt;Sabres Links&lt;/h5&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://sabres.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&amp;page=NewsPage&amp;articleid=433027"&gt;Buffalo Sabres - News: MONTADOR AGREES TO TERMS - 07/01/2009&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54506/Steve_Montador" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Steve Montador&lt;/a&gt; has agreed to terms on a two-year contact with the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/BUF" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Buffalo Sabres&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.thegoosesroost.com/2009/07/montador-is-the-newest-sabre/"&gt;Montador: The Newest Sabre | The Goose's Roost&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By Chris Wow. GMDR actually did something productive today. The Sabres have signed defenseman Steve Montador to a two-year contract, reportedly worth $3.1&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://doubleedgedsabres.com/2009/07/01/steve-montador-buffalo-sabre/"&gt;Steve Montador: Buffalo Sabre | Double Edged Sabres&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well GMDR has surprised all of us, signing former Bruin defensemen Steve Montador to a 2 year, $3.1 million dollar contract. In a move that fits a glaring need,&lt;/p&gt;


  
&lt;h5&gt;Northeast Division&lt;/h5&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2009/7/1/934979/canadiens-sign-forward-brian-gionta"&gt;Canadiens Sign Forward Brian&amp;nbsp;Gionta - Habs Eyes On The Prize&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Habs had a big day with numerous big signings and losing &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55649/Mike_Komisarek" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Mike Komisarek&lt;/a&gt; to the Leafs.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2009/7/1/934832/quick-hit-the-leafs-day-so-far"&gt;Quick Hit: The Leafs' Day So&amp;nbsp;Far - Pension Plan Puppets&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Leafs were the second busiest team in the Northeast Division.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.silversevensens.com/2009/7/1/935009/neil-staying-in-ottawa-with-4-year"&gt;Neil staying in Ottawa with 4-year, $8M&amp;nbsp;deal - Silver Seven&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/OTT" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Senators&lt;/a&gt; were stuck in a holding pattern while waiting on &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54375/Dany_Heatley" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Dany Heatley&lt;/a&gt; but manged to sign &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54384/Chris_Neil" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Chris Neil&lt;/a&gt;.  I'm happy with this signing because I can continue to hate the Sens like I always have.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.stanleycupofchowder.com/2009/7/1/934717/bruins-re-sign-bitz-plus-an"&gt;Bruins re-sign Bitz, plus an arrival &amp; a few departures at North Station on July&amp;nbsp;1st - Stanley Cup of Chowder&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/BOS" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Bruins&lt;/a&gt; make a few moves on Day 1; Re-sign &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54895/Byron_Bitz" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Byron Bitz&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; Sign Steve Begin&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h5&gt;The Rest of the League&lt;/h5&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.secondcityhockey.com/2009/7/1/934893/breaking-down-the-marian-hossa"&gt;Breaking Down the Marian Hossa&amp;nbsp;Signing - Second City Hockey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A closer look at the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/CHI" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Chicago Blackhawks&lt;/a&gt; signing of &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55750/Marian_Hossa" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Marian Hossa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blueshirtbanter.com/2009/7/1/934887/gaborik-to-rangers"&gt;RANGERS NEWS: GABORIK SIGNS WITH RANGERS&amp;nbsp;(Update) - Blueshirt Banter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Marion Gaborik may have been the best of the free agent class and he signed with the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/NYR" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Rangers&lt;/a&gt;.  They still manage to take the spotlight from the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/NYI" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Islanders&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.hockeywilderness.com/2009/7/1/935134/havlat-signs-with-wild"&gt;Havlat Signs with&amp;nbsp;Wild - Hockey Wilderness&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/MIN" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Wild&lt;/a&gt; waited till most of the action was over but they igned a big deal with &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/56125/Martin_Havlat" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Martin Havlat&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nucksmisconduct.com/2009/7/1/934524/where-vancouver-stands-now"&gt;Where Vancouver Stands&amp;nbsp;Now - Nucks Misconduct&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A quick recap of Vancouver's day and what they need to do going forward.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/090630&amp;sportCat=nfl"&gt;Uni Watch: Which uniforms are in the most desperate need of a redesign? - ESPN&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo BIlls both make the top 10 worst sports uniforms.&lt;/p&gt;

  


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    <item>
      <title>Spacek Leaves for Montreal</title>
      <link>http://www.diebytheblade.com/2009/7/1/934876/spacek-leaves-for-montreal</link>
      <author>D.O.</author>
      <pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:14:00 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">

  &lt;div class="photo-tpl photo-tpl-big_time"&gt;

    &lt;a href="/photos/spacek-leaves-for-montreal"&gt;&lt;img alt="FILE - In this March 17, 2009 file photo, Ottawa Senators' Chris Neil, left, hits  Buffalo Sabres' Jaroslav Spacek during the third period of an NHL hockey game at the Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. The Montreal Canadiens have signed free agent defenseman Spacek to a three-year contract. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick, File)" class="ap_photo" src="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/52496/48157_habs_spacek_hockey.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
    &lt;div class="photo-meta"&gt;
      &lt;p class="by clearfix"&gt;
        
          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/spacek-leaves-for-montreal"&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by Sean Kilpatrick - AP
        
      &lt;/p&gt;
    
      
        &lt;p class="cap"&gt;
          
            &lt;strong&gt;4 days ago:&lt;/strong&gt; 
          
          FILE - In this March 17, 2009 file photo, Ottawa Senators' Chris Neil, left, hits  Buffalo Sabres' Jaroslav Spacek during the third period of an NHL hockey game at the Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. The Montreal Canadiens have signed free agent defenseman Spacek to a three-year contract. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick, File)
        &lt;/p&gt;
      
    &lt;/div&gt;  
    
    &lt;p class="more-link"&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/spacek-leaves-for-montreal"&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;/div&gt;


&lt;p&gt;After spending last weekend in Montreal I can honestly say that it is a nice city.&amp;nbsp; It is even nicer when you are earning $3.85/season for the next three years.&amp;nbsp; Jaroslav Spacek will call Montreal home for the next three years as a member of the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/MON" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Montreal Canadiens&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Darcy Regier stated that they knew they were going to be without the services of Spacek because of the term of the contract.&amp;nbsp; Spacek was looking for a longer term contract and the Sabres were not willing to go beyond two years for Spacek.&lt;/p&gt;


  
&lt;p&gt;&lt;!-- BEGIN WIDGET --&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr class="widget_boundry_marker" /&gt;
&lt;div class="pane sports_data_widget player_info clearfix"&gt;&lt;img src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/player_photos/l.nhl.com/xt.fss.l.nhl.com-p.132.gif" /&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55206/Jaroslav_Spacek"&gt;Jaroslav Spacek&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;h4 class="player-position"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/BUF"&gt;Buffalo Sabres&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;div class="player_info_body"&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;label&gt;Height:&lt;/label&gt; 5-11&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;label&gt;Weight:&lt;/label&gt; 204&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;label&gt;Born:&lt;/label&gt; Feb 11, 1974&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;hr class="widget_boundry_marker" /&gt;
&lt;!-- END WIDGET --&gt;
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&lt;th&gt;&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GP&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;G&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;A&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;P&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;+/-&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PIM&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PPG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;SHG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GWG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;GTG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;SOG&lt;/th&gt; &lt;th&gt;PCT&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/thead&gt; 
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td class="td-name td-first"&gt;2008 -               &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55206/Jaroslav_Spacek"&gt;Jaroslav Spacek&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;80&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;37&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;45&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;38&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;130&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td class="td-last"&gt;6.2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;br id="1246493765428" /&gt; The Sabres are going to miss Spacek at both ends of the ice.&amp;nbsp; He was the Sabres best defenseman last season but they were unwilling to go beyond one year.&amp;nbsp; The Sabres have a plethora of young talented defenders and they expect some of those players to contribute in the next season or two.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Sabres signed &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54506/Steve_Montador" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Steve Montador&lt;/a&gt; to replace Spacek but they are different players.&amp;nbsp; Montador is a good defensive player that plays a physical style but he doesn't have the offensive skill that Spacek has.&amp;nbsp; Buffalo will probably try to bring in another player that can fill the offensive void that was left with the Spacek departure but they may not come for a couple of days.&lt;/p&gt;
  


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    <item>
      <title>Steve Montador Signs With Buffalo Sabres</title>
      <link>http://www.diebytheblade.com/2009/7/1/933536/buffalo-sabres-sign-steve-montador</link>
      <author>D.O.</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:36:35 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">

  &lt;div class="photo-tpl photo-tpl-left_portrait"&gt;

    &lt;a href="/photos/buffalo-sabres-sign-steve-montador"&gt;&lt;img alt="Photo" class="ap_photo" src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/52244/44704_rangers_bruins_hockey.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
    &lt;div class="photo-meta"&gt;
      &lt;p class="by clearfix"&gt;
        
          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/buffalo-sabres-sign-steve-montador"&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by Winslow Townson - AP
        
      &lt;/p&gt;
    
      
    &lt;/div&gt;  
    
    &lt;p class="more-link"&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/buffalo-sabres-sign-steve-montador"&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;/div&gt;


&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/BUF" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Buffalo Sabres&lt;/a&gt; addressed a huge need by &lt;a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8468927&amp;view=stats#&amp;navid=nhl-keymatch" target="_blank"&gt;signing free agent Defenseman Steve Montador&lt;/a&gt; to a two-year contract.&amp;nbsp; The signing is being reported as a two-year $3.1 million contract which is reasonable for a player that will fill a huge need for the Sabres.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Montador is a player that is not afraid to get dirty in the corners and plays a physical style of hockey.&amp;nbsp; He will provide some toughness along with Craig Rivet on the Sabres blue line.&amp;nbsp; He is a decent skater and like Rivet he can contribute some in the offensive zone.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;He will probably play on the Sabres bottom pairing as a number five defenseman and he should flourish in that role.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Sabres and GM Darcy Regier have stated that they need to get tougher and this move proves that they are serious.&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54506/Steve_Montador"&gt;Steve Montador&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;h4 class="player-position"&gt;#23      /               Defenseman /      &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/BOS"&gt;Boston Bruins&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;div class="player_info_body"&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;label&gt;Height:&lt;/label&gt; 6-0&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;label&gt;Weight:&lt;/label&gt; 210&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;label&gt;Born:&lt;/label&gt; Dec 21, 1979&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;td class="td-name td-first"&gt;2008 -               &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54506/Steve_Montador"&gt;Steve Montador&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;78&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;17&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;21&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;17&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;143&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;0&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;br id="1246473587684" /&gt; Montador played for both Anaheim and Boston last season and plays a physical style on the blue line.&amp;nbsp; His stats are pretty impressive for a guy that will figure to be a 4-6 defenseman.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I'll have much more on this signing tonight as well as a full day one free agency recap.&amp;nbsp; Stay tuned to Die by the Blade for more Sabres news throughout the day.&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>NHL Free Agency:  Open Thread</title>
      <link>http://www.diebytheblade.com/2009/7/1/933117/nhl-free-agency-open-thread</link>
      <author>D.O.</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:19:35 -0000</pubDate>
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  &lt;div class="photo-tpl photo-tpl-left_landscape"&gt;

    &lt;a href="/photos/nhl-free-agency-open-thread"&gt;&lt;img alt="Buffalo Sabres right winger Maxim Afinogenov, of Russia, meets with the media after cleaning out his locker in Buffalo, N.Y. on Monday, April 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)" class="ap_photo" src="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/52013/45298_sabres_hockey.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
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          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/nhl-free-agency-open-thread"&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by Don Heupel - AP
        
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        &lt;p class="cap"&gt;
          
            &lt;strong&gt;2 months ago:&lt;/strong&gt; 
          
          Buffalo Sabres right winger Maxim Afinogenov, of Russia, meets with the media after cleaning out his locker in Buffalo, N.Y. on Monday, April 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)
        &lt;/p&gt;
      
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    &lt;p class="more-link"&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/nhl-free-agency-open-thread"&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;It's likely that the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/BUF" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Sabres&lt;/a&gt; will do absolutely nothing on the first day of free agency but that doesn't mean that it's not the most entertaining day in hockey.&amp;nbsp; This will be the place for Sabres fans to talk about the free agents that are signed by all the teams.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Sabres may not do anything but we may see some of the Sabres free agents snagged by other teams.&amp;nbsp; Today cold be the end of the Jaro Spacek era in Buffalo. &amp;nbsp; There are a few tings that I am interested to see as the day plays out.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Will Jaroslav Spacek get a contract from another team?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Will there be any interest in Max Afinogenov?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Where will &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55210/Ales_Kotalik" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Ales Kotalik&lt;/a&gt; be playing next season?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Will the Sabres be involved in any signings?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I had planned a what the Northeast Division looks like now post this morning but decided to scrap it after selfish &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54375/Dany_Heatley" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Dany Heatley&lt;/a&gt; decided not to waive his no-trade clause.&amp;nbsp; Is there an team that really wants Heatley now?&amp;nbsp; I would say no but I bet there is someone dumb enough to take him.&amp;nbsp; There is still the Gomez to the Habs trade to talk about.&amp;nbsp; We'll wait till tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;TSN.ca has a nifty &lt;a href="http://tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=11850" target="_blank"&gt;free agent tracker&lt;/a&gt; to follow all the players that are signed throughout the day and throughout all of free agency.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I fully expect that Twitter will be important for breaking news today as well.&amp;nbsp; If you don't already follow Die by the Blade please &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/diebytheblade" target="_blank"&gt;follow us now&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This post will be updated with any breaking news after the jump.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Here is a &lt;a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=r3n5E8g7Dp_kTx9O-NXNz3A&amp;output=html" target="_blank"&gt;link to a spreadsheet&lt;/a&gt; that I plan to update as the signings are made.&amp;nbsp; I took the information from &lt;a href="http://www.sportscity.com/nhl/2009-nhl-unrestricted-free-agents-by-position/" target="_blank"&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;


  
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;{Update 11:43 am}&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; The first signing of the day apears to be done.&amp;nbsp; TSN.ca is reporting that the &lt;a href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283415" target="_blank"&gt;Sedin's have re-signed&lt;/a&gt; with the Vancouver Canucks for five years and $30.5 million.&amp;nbsp; This signing changes the strategy of some teams as free agency begins in about 17 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;{Update 1:03 pm}&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; Mattias Ohlund signs with the Tampa Bay Lightning for 7 years and $24.5 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;{Update 1:48 pm}&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; David Booth Re-signs with the Florida Panthers 6 years and $25 million.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;{Update 2:10 pm}&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; Marian Hossa signs with the Chicago Blackhawks 12 years for $62.4 million.&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>NHL Draft:  A Blogger with a Press Pass</title>
      <link>http://www.diebytheblade.com/2009/7/1/931025/nhl-draft-a-blogger-with-a-press</link>
      <author>D.O.</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:57:08 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">

  &lt;div class="photo-tpl photo-tpl-banner"&gt;

    &lt;a href="/photos/nhl-draft-a-blogger-with-a-press"&gt;&lt;img alt="NHL teams are gathered on the floor of the Bell Centre for day two of the 2009 NHL entry draft Saturday, June 27, 2009 in Montreal.  (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)" class="ap_photo" src="http://cdn2.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/51722/48112_nhl_draft_hockey.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
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          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/nhl-draft-a-blogger-with-a-press"&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by Paul Chiasson - AP
        
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        &lt;p class="cap"&gt;
          
            &lt;strong&gt;8 days ago:&lt;/strong&gt; 
          
          NHL teams are gathered on the floor of the Bell Centre for day two of the 2009 NHL entry draft Saturday, June 27, 2009 in Montreal.  (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)
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&lt;p&gt;The discussion of the &lt;a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/1080/ap-vs-bloggers-the-mainstream-media-declares-war-on-blogs/" target="_blank"&gt;traditional media&lt;/a&gt; versus the &lt;a href="http://misterirrelevant.com/index.php/2009/02/12/blogs-vs-mainstream-media-again/" target="_blank"&gt;new media&lt;/a&gt; is not a new one and I would guess that it will not end anytime soon either.&amp;nbsp; In fact Frank from &lt;a href="http://www.pensburgh.com/2009/6/28/927650/2009-nhl-draft-the-weekend-in" target="_blank"&gt;Pensburgh.com&lt;/a&gt; can tell you just how big of a deal this discussion is.&amp;nbsp; Until this point I chose to stay out of the discussion because I felt it was impossible to be impartial as part of the new media.&amp;nbsp; I felt the discussion was better suited for people that were not directly involved.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There has been talk recently about how the lines between the traditional media and new media have become blurred and never were they more blurred than this weekend in Montreal.&amp;nbsp; As you may or may not know already, the NHL granted myself and seven other SB Nation bloggers full media credentials.&amp;nbsp; We weren't the only bloggers that were granted access there was a large mixture of people among the press.&lt;/p&gt;


  
&lt;p&gt;I wasn't sure what to expect at the NHL draft because it was my first time at an NHL event as a member of the press.&amp;nbsp; It was with uncertainty that I approached Mike Gilbert (&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/BUF" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Buffalo Sabres&lt;/a&gt; PR Director) and John Vogl (writer for The Buffalo News) to introduce myself.&amp;nbsp; After all I am a blogger and that may be threatening to the traditional media.&amp;nbsp; I can say that both gentlemen were very kind and both offered to help me with anything I needed.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The truth his that the lines between traditional media and new media should no longer be blurred.&amp;nbsp; After my experiences this weekend I can say that the lines are now more clear than ever.&amp;nbsp; There is room for both the traditional media and the new media at every event.&amp;nbsp; The traditional media should continue to do what they do best, give us the news.&amp;nbsp; The new media should continue to be more of a fan perspective and the voice of the fans.&amp;nbsp; If handled properly there is room for both the traditional media and the new media in press boxes, interview rooms and other events throughout the country.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This was a great experience for myself and all the other SB Nation bloggers who gained unprecedented access.&amp;nbsp; n a personal level it was great.&amp;nbsp; Of course when it's over there are immediately some regrets.&amp;nbsp; Why did I do that?&amp;nbsp; Why didn't I do this?&amp;nbsp; It was a great learning experience for me and opportunity to learn from my mistakes.&amp;nbsp; I fully anticipate the that this will not be the only time that bloggers are allowed access to a large event like this.&amp;nbsp; It may take some time but eventually there will be full access for the new media if handled properly.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It makes  sense for the major sports leagues to allow this access.&amp;nbsp; It allows them to be featured front and center not only in pront but on the web.&amp;nbsp; It also gives the fans a voice in the organization but it is done in a professioal manor.&amp;nbsp; Not every fan or blogger for that matter, should be granted access but there has to be a scenario that would be beneficial to both parties.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure when it will happen but it will happen mark my words.&amp;nbsp; The biggest factor is that blogs are here to stay and there is no choice but to accept it.&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>Morning Links:  Heatley Stays and Gomez Heads North</title>
      <link>http://www.diebytheblade.com/2009/7/1/931533/morning-links-heatley-stays-and</link>
      <author>D.O.</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:22:34 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">

  &lt;div class="photo-tpl photo-tpl-left_portrait"&gt;

    &lt;a href="/photos/morning-links-heatley-stays-and"&gt;&lt;img alt="In this photo taken on Friday, Jan. 9, 2009, New York Rangers' Scott Gomez looks to pass during the second period of the NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y. Gomez's brief New York tenure ended Tuesday June 30, 2009 when the star center was traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Canadiens as part of a six-player deal including Chris Higgins.  (AP Photo/David Duprey)" class="ap_photo" src="http://cdn2.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/51794/48143_canadiens_rangers_trade_hockey.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
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          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/morning-links-heatley-stays-and"&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by David Duprey - AP
        
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        &lt;p class="cap"&gt;
          
            &lt;strong&gt;5 days ago:&lt;/strong&gt; 
          
          In this photo taken on Friday, Jan. 9, 2009, New York Rangers' Scott Gomez looks to pass during the second period of the NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y. Gomez's brief New York tenure ended Tuesday June 30, 2009 when the star center was traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Canadiens as part of a six-player deal including Chris Higgins.  (AP Photo/David Duprey)
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    &lt;p class="more-link"&gt;&lt;a href="/photos/morning-links-heatley-stays-and"&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;The eve of free agency was one of the most exciting in recent memory.&amp;nbsp; I'm not sure that today could live up to what we seen today.&amp;nbsp; The &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/BUF" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Sabres&lt;/a&gt; figure to be quiet today but I have my fingers crossed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.coppernblue.com/2009/6/30/931448/dany-heatley-traded-to-edmonton"&gt;Dany Heatley Traded to Edmonton for Cogliano, Penner and&amp;nbsp;Smid - The Copper &amp; Blue&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54375/Dany_Heatley" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Dany Heatley&lt;/a&gt; is, according to Sportnset, now a member of the &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/EDM" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Edmonton Oilers&lt;/a&gt;.  Mixed feelings is the right descriptor for my mood right now.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.coppernblue.com/2009/6/30/931523/report-heatley-refuses-to-waive-no"&gt;Report: Heatley Refuses To Waive No-Trade&amp;nbsp;Clause - The Copper &amp;amp; Blue&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I guess not!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2009/6/30/931038/chris-higgins-traded-to-new-york"&gt;Chris Higgins Traded To New York Rangers For Scott&amp;nbsp;Gomez - Habs Eyes On The Prize&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robert is not happy about the Gomez trade and it seems like he shares the sentiment of most if not all Habs fans.  As a Sabres fan I like the deal...what do you think?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/michael_farber/06/30/free.agent.busts/index.html?section=si_latest"&gt;Daniel Briere, Wade Redden among NHL&amp;nbsp;cap era free agent disasters - Michael Farber - SI.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyone else find it interesting that there are four ex-Sabres on the list?  Does this list give Darcy Regier some vindication for making the moves that he made?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://redlightd.blogspot.com/2009/06/off-season-central-predictions.html"&gt;Red Light District: 'Off-Season Central': PREDICTIONS!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the Red Light District Final predictions they suggest that the Sabres will sign &lt;a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54964/Brian_Gionta" class="sbn-auto-link"&gt;Brian Gionta&lt;/a&gt;.  What do you think the chances are that Brian Gionta is in Buffalo next season?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=432211&amp;cmpid=rss-News%20in%20English"&gt;NHL.com - News: Free-agent Frenzy on NHL Network-US - 06/30/2009&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know where I will be from 2-6 tomorrow afternoon.  Where will you be?&lt;/p&gt;

  


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