Back from Vacation

I just got back from 10 days of vacation. I hope someone missed me. Judging from the feedback on the Sabres' blog, most of you are content to rant and rave over in the hockey universe. I can't say I'm impressed with the Sabres' moves so far. They basically brought in a veteran defenseman, Craig Rivet. That's an upgrade -- an upgrade over the team that finished the season. I still don't see any reason to believe they'll be a serious Cup contender next season.

Meanwhile, Brian Campbell signed for more than $7 million a year. Say what you will about Campbell (it seems fashionable to emphasize players' shortcomings after they're gone). But I believe the Sabres could have had him for $4.6 million a year, or something in that range, if they had bothered to make a counter-offer last summer to Campbell's 5-year, $25 million offer. I have to think a deal in the 5-year, $23 million range could have gotten it done. Those who defend Sabres management might believe the Campbell camp never intended to sign, despite the overture. I'm more inclined to believe the Sabres didn't want to pay close to market value, same as with Drury.

Fact is, Campbell wound up with a long-term deal at a total cost that was well over twice what he might have signed for to stay in Buffalo. Go ahead and argue that Rivet (or Spacek) are better value at their salaries than Campbell would be in the $4.6 million range. The market says he's way more valuable, and even if Chicago overpaid, it's hard to dispute the reality of the marketplace. Campbell is an elite offensive defenseman, and he was getting better in his own end. I can't see how anyone could contend the defense is better than it was six months ago.

As for Max Afinogenov: The fact that he's still here tells me management isn't as concerned about the team's competitive edge than it claims in public. Sometimes, you need to move a guy to prove you mean business. And I don't mean the bottom-line business that seems to prevail at HSBC Arena.

Comments

[george]

The Sabres management has made the NHL Insider in the Sporting News magazine as losers in "Offseason wheeling & dealing"... Whats New.....

[ElmaGolf]

Hi Jerry,

It was good to finally meet you & Vogl at the Porter Cup Media Day yesterday. I was glad to hear that I didn't look "as old & crotchety" as you expected. I felt bad you were disappointed in my lack of response to your first post-vacation entry (I feel like I let you down).

Well, I haven't seen an Article yet, so I'm assuming the "break 90 at NFCC" didn't come to fruition. Things didn't go well for me. I had a number of "Birdie putts for 5" (i.e. pump first one OB, re-tee, then hit two good shots for what should have been a birdie putt in the first place).

As for your comments, I'm pretty happy with Rivet, but still up in the air over whether Bernier's trade was a "cheaping out" or simply a disappointment in his performance once they could see it up close.

Are they a Stanley Cup contender? I can't say it looks that way on paper, but I don't think they looked that way coming out of the lockout, either. I think the general intangible of chemistry and the snowballing effect of confidence can go a long way (especially with our Goalie).

Having said that, I still think they should have picked up some veteran leadership on the forward lines to help push some of the youth development (in the Peca / Barnes mold).

I have no idea what they are trying to do with Max. If he comes back on the 4th line, I'll be the first to lambaste that decision. It's really too bad he was injured at the deadline last year - that may have been our best chance to move him for any decent value.
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"Those who defend Sabres management might believe the Campbell camp never intended to sign, despite the overture. I'm more inclined to believe the Sabres didn't want to pay close to market value, same as with Drury."

I think they're two differnt situations. I think they simply didn't believe Campbell was worth what he was asking for, especially in years 4-5. We can agree to disagree - no one will know for sure until 3-4 years from now.

As for Drury, it wasn't a cheapness thing - they just blew it. I believe them when they say they would have matched his highest offer to make up for the Fall Mistake, and even that Drury led them to believe he would let them match. That's not just because of my "blind allegiance." Rather, I believe there's some truth to it because that statement was made at the infamous post Black Sunday Presser, and was never refuted by Drury's Camp or by anyone else. With all the scrutiny that was placed on the statements that day, that one was never refuted.

And the fact that Drury almost seemed "apologetic" in his "Return to Buffalo" story (i.e. the whole "I think if I were talking over beers with a fan from Buffalo, they'd understand why I wanted to play for the Rangers") - it seems to corroborate their story. He may have been right for feeling poorly treated, but I son't think he was forthright about his intentions with management entering last July 1st.

Anyway, welcome back Jerry. Hope the Golf game recuperates (for both of us).

[Hambone Johnson]

Just curious - what exactly did Montreal do last offseason to go from 9th to 1st in the division? Oh yeah, they lost their free agent defenseman (Souray) and got outbid for Briere.

Like the Sabres, they were a team built on youth. If you show patience in young players, there are rewards. Buffalo is not the hapless team people make them out to be. They had a bad year, but there is ample talent to get them back to the 4-6 seed.

[abdul]

Sully, you are so right. I don't see anything done so far this offseason that makes me believe they are a true Cup contender. Again, I feel they are overrating their talent. They did that with Kalinin, and it blew up in their faces. I don't have a problem with the Rivet acquisition, but they need to do more. They need another D-man. Max should have been moved from this roster already. I hate it when I hear so many try to underestimate Campbell's abilities in lieu of his huge contract with Chicago. The Sabres had a chance to sign him to a total contract over $30 million less than what the 'Hawks signed him for, and they didn't want to do it. It is a wonder why some call this franchise cheap, isn't it?

[Greg]

Jerry, I see 10 days of vacation haven't improved your mood. We're 10 days into free agency and the market for Max is thin. Rather than dump him for a 7th rounder, isn't more prudent to wait until someone needs himdue to injuries, etc. Perhaps Vancouver calls in Sundin doesn't sign. Have some patience.

[DR]

I completely understand and agree that management should be making intelligent financial decisions, and that it is well within their right to run the sabres as a business. It's their team and their money, and in business the bottom line is to be profitable.

That is all well and good, but when it comes to running a sports franchise, isn't the goal as an owner to win a championship along with maintaining a profitable franchise. If not, then why be in the game to begin with.

I realize that in sports it's all about the money, but sometimes it is painfully obvious that the direction of the franchise is flawed.

Can management look at us as fans and honestly sell the 2008-2009 version of the sabres as being better than last year's version?

There is no way that this team, as it stands now, is a cup contender. That alone is enough to call the direction questionable at best.

I don't endorse a wild spending spree, but fill the holes and get the intangibles that we need to move forward, not backward.

We still don't have a legit captain on this team. Overall, this just appears to be a rudderless ship once again.

[Tom]

You missed a busy 10 days in Buffalo sports.

Darcy went shopping for a new golf glove with his son at Dick's.

Marshawn had an appointment to touch up the red tips on his dreds.

Steve Bernier had to buy out the last 2 months of his 6 month lease at the Ellicot Lofts.

C.C. Sabathia won't be rehabbing with the Bisons in May after he gets a hernia at Sizzler.

Oh...Oh....and the NBA is not coming to Buffalo during the regular season.

We'll see you again in September, Sully!

[Rock]

While you were on vacation the past ten days the Sabres have tried to move Afinogenov - but no one wants him!

I am all for moving him - but now is not the time (the real opportunity was last year - before he went into his final contract year). With his lack of value the teams' best hope is that he gets something going during the year and he gets traded to someone as a rental down the stretch. Not saying it is ideal but it would a "best hope'.

It still will not be the kind of value we want but it will more than if you just gave him away right now.

[Dominic S]

Steve....I gotta say, that is some twisted logic. The Sabres are the reason salaries have climbed??! Buffalo created the market we have right now?

Your logic is that if the Sabres hadn't allowed those players to go to the free agency market, then they never would have gotten the high salaries. Therefore, by allowing this to happen, Buffalo set the salary bar so high.

That logic is so misguided I don't even know how to argue against it. I don't know....could the state of the market have anything to do with the general managers offering huge contracts? Or are you saying that they can't be blamed because the temptation of these guys being on the market was just too great to expect them to control themselves??!

[Matt]

Get Minim Afinogenov out now!!! Just cut him if no one wants to trade anything for him, which I find hard to believe -- a draft pick would suffice, wouldn't it? Of course, it'll never happen, and the fool will be in the blue and gold again next year; playing worse, and less in cohesion, with his team than an usher from the stands would. Sully's last paragraph said it all about the Sabres as an organization vis-a-vis Minim. Hey Sully, did you get any new tweed jackets when you were on vaca?

[Steve]

Everyone is going to tell you how hindsight is 20/20 Sully... as usual.

But I gotta say, don't you think the Sabres could be the absolute #1 reason salaries have climbed so much since the lockout?

If they signed Briere, Drury, Campbell to $5 mil a year would Sean Avery ever even think about getting 4 per? Or even a guy like Roy?

Darcy says they underestimated the market. Well there never would have been a "market" if you act like you want to keep your core and lock them up.

Buffalo created the market we have right now. The lockout coulda helped them, instead they sat on their cheap hands and put the best players out for auction and they set the bar for every contract since July 1 of the first season post-lockout.