For years as Sabres fans we have gone into the offseason with the expectation that we weren't going to overpay ANY UFA, that we'd resign our RFAs, and that as the first week of July came to an end we'd snag a couple UFAs that were going below market average (think Montador, Morrison, Leopold, Niedermyer, Grier, ect.).

This offseason we experienced, for the first time, an owner committed to winning more than the bottom line. Which meant that he was willing to be a big player/spender on July 1st. So that being said. I will offer up my grade for the Sabres offseason.

The good:

- Bringing in Robin Regehr. He came at a reasonable price and contract length, and we acquired a second round pick in the process. He is an upgrade in terms of toughness, experience, and skill level from the departures of Butler and Rivet.

The Bad:

- Ville Leino is NOT worth the contract he was given. I'm sorry but for a guy who hasn't gotten to the 20 goal mark in his career; he should not be making 500,000 more than Derek Roy. In my opinion his signing was Pegula flexing his muscle, and not thinking in terms of future UFAs and our own RFAs.

The Wait and See:

- Christian Ehrhoff brings a lot of offensive upside to the table. Even before he went to Vancouver I liked him on San Jose. Whenever he was on the ice he seemed to be a force on the offensive side of the puck. In Vancouver he has been pegged as a product of a great goaltender, and playing with the Sedin twins. I don't think he has Vanek like expectations (that meaning that he has the forced media pressure of preforming up to the standards of the contract he just signed) but I also think that if our powerplay underperforms while he's quarterbacking it; it could be a disasterous signing for Buffalo.

- What we do with Kotalik? I have no idea why anyone would want to bring him back. He played on the fourth line his last time around, showed no heart unless he was on the powerplay, and has not stuck on an NHL team since he departed Buffalo. If we dump his salary to the AHL I will be most please. If he stays up....then...well....what the hell Lindy/Darcy

Overall Grade: B-

We'll have about 17 mil to sign Ennis and Myers next year to long term deals. Which is enough but will mean we won't be big players in UFA market next year. Leino's contract was too impulsive thus dropping us down to a 'B'. Not addressing the need for a 1st line center puts us at a B-. If we trade for a first line center in the upcoming weeks the grade will move to a A-.

I will be brief in my analysis, and opinions on this years draft. Last year I wanted us to take Emerson Etem in the first round...and for any of you who DON'T know who he is...he's the one that said that "Buffalo was a ghost town" during the World Juniors. Guess he wouldn't have wanted to play here anyways....

But I digress. He was just recently signed to an AHL contract. I try to go to OHL games whenever I'm in town, and have seen a bunch of the prospects. It's a little obsession to try to get play Mel Kiper when it comes to the NHL draft, and I fully admit I'm not expert. I HIGHLY recommend www.sabresprospects.com if you'd like an really in depth analysis of the draft.  But here's my strategy for Buffalo's draft day in summary. Feel free to comment/ammend any of my suggestions

Plan A: Draft Mark Scheifele, Center Barrie OHL

He's a monster: both is size, and offenseive talent. He's a late bloomer in terms of stock watch, and has been flying up on scouts draft boards. In most mock drafts he's going to Calgary but he may be available. IF he is, he's a great prospect to have with the departure of Connolly this offseason.

Plan B: Trade Back

I have to imagine that if Scheifele is off the board that the next best option would be to trade back seeing as we don't have a second round pick. Phoenix, and Toronto are making the most noise about wanted to couple a second round pick to move up. If Phoenix (at 20) offers us this deal I think we take it.  I'm not overly impressed with what would be left over but, in order of who I'd pick, heres what I'd like to see: Matt Puempel (great scorer), Mark McNeill (Think Luke Adam),  Jamieson Oleksiak (6'7 defensemen...gotta love that),  Ty Rattie (love him), or Boone Jenner (no crazy projected upside, but EVERYONE raves about his work ethic and attitude)

Other names in later rounds I'd like to see on our team:

Shane McColgan

Nick Cousins

Michael St. Croix

Anyone I'm forgetting?

Anyone else that is in the 20 person league knows what happened on Sunday (draft didn't work). So at that time I set up a league at ESPN just in case people wanted to do it and switch over. The league is still created. I put it under private settings so i'd have to send email invitations. 12 person league same settings as the other league. Let me know if anyones interested! Draft is currently set to Thursday 7pm

I've been somewhat dormant lately posting on this blog. Part of it is the lull before the hockey season, the other part is that there has been nothing to comment on of substance about the Sabres in weeks. I think the goosesroast got it right, the most exciting thing the Sabres have done since Mid-August is 'leak' (c'mon now, we all know they wanted to hype up the new jerseys) the new away jerseys for the upcoming season. But it wasn't until I started devoting my free time away from the 9-5 job to NHL 11 that I've come up with this evil, disgraceful yet ingenious plan. 

Like most fans this offseason I've become somewhat disgruntled with the front office and their failure to act upon the words they spoon-fed us after the playoff loss. Our nucleus remains the same, we couldn't hold onto either of our 'shutdown' defensemen, and we invest in a 4th line center to replace Adam Mair. Leopold and Morrison have their ups, their downs, and overall do nothing but make me shrug and say "Hey, we still have Ryan Miller." But NHL 11 came out and for once, I got to play the role  of Darcy Regier. And boy...have I had fun doing it.  I feel like NHL 11 put a "Be a GM" mode just to appease fans like me who would do things differently. Much differently. Like Steve Yzerman i came out to make a splash in free agency. First season I traded Stafford and Connolly away for a pair of second round picks, then signed Kovalchuck to an 8 year, 9 million dollar a year contract. Who cares if the game doesn't put in outside factors like what city he'd want to live in or franchise he deems worthy of his talent. Suck on it Darcy. Suck on that....

So maybe it's just a game. Maybe my head got too big after pulling such deal. But here's where my evil, ingenious plan lies.  I couldn't get squat for Connolly and Stafford before the season. But near the trading deadline (after restarting the GM mode because, c'mon, I need to see what draft picks end up being the future Crosbys) I could fetch 1st round draft picks for Connolly.  And here-in lies the Benedict Arnold in me as a Sabres fan. 

The only way Connolly goes before the deadline is if the Sabres play sellers at the deadline. The only way the Sabres play sellers at the deadline is if the Sabres aren't in contention for a playoff berth. And the sad part is...I'm kinda rooting for this. A Sabres fan rooting against the Sabres?? One of the words in that sentence doesn't belong.

But the fact of the matter is I don't buy NHL Center Ice so I can watch the Sabres lose. I love this team. I miss the city. And will tell anyone at the bar (more adamantly after 5-12 beers) that the Sabres are better than any team they're rooting for. We've got Ryan Miller for Pete's sake and I don't care if all 6 of your friends say differently.

I just have this sick feeling that we'll make the playoffs, maybe win a round if we're lucky, then we'll  watch as we get spanked around by a team that, in my opinion, is better built for the playoffs (see: Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston). We'll watch Connolly walk away in free agency. Deem Ennis/Adam the new second line center. Buy some mediocre 3rd line center in free agency next year...and put him on the second line...watch Adam try to fight to make the team....and continue the process all over again. Maybe this new guy will have "heart" that connolly didn't have....but in the end we're counting on Miller to pull a Giguere a la 2003 playoff run and save this team to reach the Stanley Cup. 

So here's my toast to the upcoming season. Raise your glasses with me as I say: Here's to the 2010-11 Buffalo Sabres season. May you bless with us by playing into the Conference Finals. And if not, may you bless us with new hope and drastic change in 2011-12. And a draft pick for Connolly would be nice.

An inside source was able to provide me with the some of the  detailsthat went down within the Sabres war room....here are trades that ALMOST went down for the Sabres:

-- Tomas Kaberle for Connolly and a 3rd round

Reason it didn't happen: Burke was about to call the commish when he realized that with Connolly's medical insurance, his cap hit was over $7 million a year

--Kris Versteeg for Gerbe and a 3rd rounder

Reason it didn't: With an upcoming trip to Disneyland, Gerbe didn't fit the requirements to ride the rollercoasters. And Patrick Kane would feel guilty being blacked out stumbling around Kiddie Land.

--Patrick Kane for Ennis and 1st rounder:

Reason it didn't happen: Was conditional pending approval the Buffalo Cab Drivers Union...and despite the pull from South Buffalo was defeated 70-30 %.

--Drew Stafford and the rights to Marek Zagrapan for a future 1st round draft pick

Reason it didn't happen: When phoned in and asked who the trade was with Darcy replied "Come on Gary throw me a bone here...give us one free one next year or give us our previous ones back...I'VE CALLED ALL 32 TEAMS NO ONE WILL TAKE THEM!"

-- Alex Semin for our Derek Roy and a 3rd round

Reason it didn't happen: Kabanov was taken 3 picks prior to our third round selection. No other Russians had filed for the NHL draft.

--Chris Neil for Craig Rivet:

Reason it didn't happen: When mentioned to Lindy, he stood on his chair and started yelling across the room to Bryan Murray "HOW DARE YOU GO AFTER OUR F*^KING CAPTAIN". Chris Drury stood up and started applauding.

Alex Kotalik for a James Patrick:

Reason it didn't happen: Because even if the entire roster were to be injured...Lindy knew he had a better option to play in their own zone with James

-- Marian Hossa for Connolly:

Reason it didn't happen: When asked if he would accept the trade Hossa replied "I only go to teams that will play in the finals the following year." Then promply declined the trade.

1.) Mark Pysyk was the right man to take: as I sat, beer in hand, and watched Montreal single handley ruin 4honors Dary Regier's draft by moving up to take Tinordi I was really taken back. And when I didn't hear Etem's name called, I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed and angered in Regier. But look at this way: Pysyk was a top 10 prospect on MANY draft sites (NHL Central #7 and Hockey News #6 for example). He's a guy who goes up against the best every night, and every night manages to shut them down. Most drafts have him as a steal to the Sabres at 23. To paraphrase Devine "We looked at what was available and couldn't believe he fell to us."

2.) We finally drafted a guy to quarterback the powerplay:  Say hello to JEROME GAUTHIER-LEDUC. 20 goals in 60 some odd games, he's one of the first defensemen we've selected in awhile that is known for his offensive talents. In years past we've lost Campbell and Spacek and our powerplay has looked disasterous since. A guy who was put as a second round talent, this was  a "we almost have to" pick. (FYI: Jordan Weal went two picks later...sigh)

3.) Don't expect much in Free Agency: Sorry all you Tomas Kaberle hopefuls...I just don't see it happening. We're too talented in the back end prospect wise now to hamper ourselves with long term contracts. We'll probably sign someone like Joe Corvo to a 2-3 contract...but in the upcoming years we've got our own in-bred competition to make the top 4 dmen...and boy...those who come out will be good.

4.) As long as Devine is Regier's wingman, get to know your Canadian/American prospects: 4 years, 31 picks, no Europeans/Russians drafted.

5.) Despite the successes of this year's draft, expect to hear fans/Buffalo media wanting more: Montreal came up and took the guy most mock drafts had pegged as ours. We failed to get Kaberle or improve our immediate top 6 forwards. We drafted a position in which we are already stocked (numbers wise) with prospects. These are all criticisms we as Sabres fans should expect to see.

The good with our current system: our 1st and 2nd round draft picks since Devine took over have given us the reputation of being so good in the draft. Ennis, Myers, Kassian, Adam, Enroth, Weber, Brennan. All HIGHLY ranked prospects

The Bad??: None of our draft picks from rounds 3 and beyond have made the NHL (McNabb will be the first...bet my life on it). And our xenophobic ways have got to end sometime...and I would've liked it to have been with Kabanov

Stan Bowman might be a genius. In a blockbuster trade today Chicago sent the rights to (and naming rights) of Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, and prospect Akin Aliu (sidenote: he is now in the same division as Steve Downie...think now he'll get naked get revenge for that crosscheck??) to Atlanta for Marty Reasoner, prospect Jeremy Morin, and the 24th and 54th pick in this years draft. It's too bad Bucky Gleason didn't wait a day to play GM....because this pretty much just shot to hell the chances of us getting Patrick Sharp. What do you think??

Some quick thoughts on the trade:

Stan Bowman is a genius. He now owns 4 picks in the first two rounds. A prospect in Morin who had 47 goals in 58 games in the OHL regular season and 21 points in 20 games. And cleared cap room for Niemi.  They lose Big Buff, their playoff hero, but he was highly inconsistent in the regular season, Eager who is a productive 3rd-4th line and a prospect that is questionable to make the NHL.

If a Thrasher fan read this I'd say 'add this as the final results of the Kovalchuck trade" as both picks were the ones acquired from New Jersey. For a franchise trying to save face, bringing in the playoff hero is a step in the right direction