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Roy Still In The Plans?

May 21, 2012, 2:08 PM ET [171 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Darcy Regier, Lindy Ruff and the Sabres scouts are presently hunting a whale of a centre ice man to fill the scoring and leadership bill for next season and beyond. Since there will be no such species on the UFA market on July 1, Regier will have to make a trade to find his cornerstone pivot. Who it will be exactly remains unclear. Suffice to say, the trade market will gel in the coming weeks as the Stanley Cup playoffs conclude.


How do you land an Eric Staal, Joe Thornton, or Ryan Getzlaf without cap space? Whats more, the Sabres already have Roy, Hodgson, and Ennis on the dot for the coming season.

I've been saying for months that Roy's $4 million salary should be traded out in order to add dollars to the kitty created by the all but automatic departures of Jochen Hecht and Brad Boyes. Subtracting Roy, Hecht, and Boyes will create a bank of $11, 525,000.


When asked to comment on the status of Derek Roy, Jochen Hecht, and Brad Boyes at today's presser, Regier played his cards close to the vest.


thanks, sabres.com

Ever since locker clean out day, I've been thinking about Roy's future with the Sabres. The pointed and revealing comments that he made about his coach on his way out the door to his cottage prompts me to conclude that Roy may have played his last game as a Sabre.




There's more to come on the Roy front.

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Paul Szczechura, who had one goal and four points in nine games with the Sabres, has signed with the new KHL team in Prague, Czech Republic.

Szczechura had an agreement to play in the KHL before the 11/12 season before a knee injury null and voided the KHL contract. The Sabres signed him in September, and the 26-year-old tallied 21 goals and 46 points in 57 games with Rochester.


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Among other topics discussed, Regier mentioned that he is working on re-signing all of his NHL and AHL RFAs. Tyler Ennis and Pat Kaleta will be re-upped shortly.


To date, no discussions have taken place with Ennis’ agent regarding a long-term deal for the 22-year-old center.

In addition, Regier stated that no firm decisions have been made on UFAs-to-be Jochen Hecht and Brad Boyes. Regier said management and coaches have been having on going dialogue about the team's direction since the season ended.

There will be more more specific player decisions as the NHL Draft and the UFA Market Open on July 1 get closer.



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The Sabres have conformed that they have in fact signed RFA to be, Alex Sulzer. Thus, the Buffalo back end is bursting at the seams with too many NHL caliber Dmen. There's no reason to believe that Sulzer will be a 7th D in Buffalo next season. He's no Nathan Paetsch. He's a bonafide NHL D who has shown impressive skill at both eend of the rink. It doesn't hurt that Sulzer has found great chemistry with fellow German country man, Christian Ehrhoff.

8, count 'em 8, defensemen under contract for next season. Add up all the money that Regier has committed to his blue line. Some one has to move out via trade.

Myers ($5.5 million), Ehrhoff ($4 million), Regehr ($4,020,000), Leopold ($3 million), Sekera ($2,750,00) , Weber ($950,000), Sulzer ($725,000), McNabb ($900,000).
TJ Brennan is RFA-to-be and he'll be re-signing shortly.

Myers, Ehrhoff, and McNabb ain't goin' nowhere. I see McNabb cracking the top six this season after his stellar play in both Rochester and Buffalo in his first pro season in 11/12.

Sekera's star is twinkling brightly moreso today than it was a month ago due in large part to his exceptional performances for the silver medal Slovaks at the recently concluded Worlds in Helsinki. Sekera scored nine points in ten games and was +4, while averaging 19:58 in ice time for Slovakia. He was sensational, and I know from speaking to a source that he turned more than a few heads of NHL observers who were live in Helsinki to watch the World Hockey Chamnpionships.

Leopold and Regehr each have a year left on their deals. I dont see Regier trading Reghr, having had Mr. and Mrs. Pegula agressively recruit the former Calgary Flame and his wife to Buffaklo last Summer. Weber is a solid #6 who has value around the league.

With the NHL draft a few weeks away, this looks to me like Regier is pooling assets in the form of bonafide NHL players that he can use in a trade package with his first and second round picks in order to land the scoreing centreman that the organization so desperately covets right now. Perhaps Regier is maneuvering to make a trade to leap into the top five in the NHL draft in order to grab one of the Russians stars-to-be in Yakupov and Grigorenko.

More on that later. For now, let the chatter begin.

Darcy Regier will meet the press at 3pm today to discuss the Sulzer signing and to answer questions regarding his crowded D corps.


Here's the run down on Sulzer:


Sulzer (6’1”, 204 lbs, 5/30/84) collected eight points (3+5) in 15 games with the Sabres last season after being acquired from the Vancouver Canucks, along with forward Cody Hodgson on February 27. Sulzer also appeared in 12 games with the Canucks last season, collecting one assist.


In 89 career NHL games, Sulzer has amassed 16 points (4+12), while playing with Vancouver, Florida and Nashville. The Kaufbeuren, Germany native was drafted in the third round (92nd overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators. Sulzer has also participated as a member of the German National team at both the Olympics (2006 and 2010) and at the World Championships (2005, 2006 ,2007 and 2010).




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More to come.......
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