As you, the Buffalo Sabres are in the process of ushering a new core group of young players. You have already heard and know their names. Grigorenko, Girgensons, Armia, Larsson, Enroth, Hackett, Ristolainen, Pysyk, Ruhwedel, McNabb, and Tropp. Sabres GM Darcy Regier began phasing out the the older players at the 2013 NHL trade deadline when he bid adieu to captain Jason Pominville, and two trusted lieutenants in Robyn Regehr and Jordan Leopold. Out with the old. In with the new.
Regier has explored the possibilities of trading his incumbent starting netminder Ryan Miller, and his most prolific scorer Thomas Vanek. Miller's $6.25 million contract, and his limited no movement clause make him a difficult player to trade away. Vanek's $7.125 contract is not a cap-friendly figure, especially in a summer when the salary cap is shrinking by $6 million to $64.3 million for the 2013-14 season.
Miller, the 2010 silver medal winning tender, spoke candidly at at Team USA's Olympic orientation camp in Virginia on Monday.
Miller had a lot to say to NHL.com about the bizarre and acrimonious situation that his fellow Team USA tender buddy, Corey Schneider, experienced in Vancouver last season when he the Canucks tried to trade incumbent starter Roberto Luongo.
"It seemed to be one of the more talked-about stories," Miller told NHL.com at the U.S. Men's National Team Orientation Camp. "It was interesting that it played out so publicly though. I thought it was an unfortunate distraction for everybody. I don't think it should ever really play out like that. I thought they both handled themselves well, and I thought it was an unfortunate situation that they were kind of cast into. It was nice to see that Cory and Roberto were able to make light of it and take it in stride, but just with the reactions and how strong they were, it was definitely much more serious than they were letting on. It was definitely something that might have affected them.
"Hopefully any of my seasons wherever I'm at don't turn into something like that. You're there to do a job, but it is a business. If you're going to get traded, hopefully it is just ... you're traded. It is not like a huge buildup or a huge debate or anything. Hopefully it is a little more cut and dried than that."
Miller has a great point. parting should be painless. Reading an all star goalie with a huge annual salary is not an easy task to accomplish. The degree of difficulty increases when the cat is let out of the bag and the starter and back up are privy to all of the dirty details. Miller would never want to be a party to that kind of circus. Jhonas Enroth and Matt Hackett are waiting in the wings for the opportunity to compete for the #1 job in Buffalo. Miller is gumming up the works right now. He's still Buffalo's starting goalie. for how long? Only Darcy Regier can answer that question.
Miller's situation in Buffalo is nowhere near as zany as Luongo's was in Vancouver last season.
Luongo has a full no trade clause and has nine years remaining on his current contract. Miller will be UFA on July 1, 2014.
Miller has a limited no movement clause which allows him the opportunity to submit a list of 8 NHL teams that he has no interest in playing for.
"You want to have a certain amount of control if you can, especially if you negotiated limitations on your movement," Miller said. "You've earned that. It is as valuable as currency when you're doing a contract. Some guys will take less money to have stability. It is definitely something you earn and you have the right to try and use it. I would like to have at least some say in where I go just because Buffalo is all I've known and I have a life outside of that. You'd like to have input, but ultimately in my situation I don't have complete control like maybe Luongo did. It is a business, and I'm an asset. I just hope it is cut and dry if that's the case. If they want me and feel like I'm the player they need, I'm just going to be there to do the job."
Miller said that he's not adverse to re-signing with the Sabres, However, his agent and the Sabres haven't had any recent conversations regarding a contract extension.
"I'm not closed off to the possibility. I understand the situation in the NHL. There's not a lot of goaltending jobs and they're getting filled up by long-term contracts. I'm not going to try and close too many avenues at this point."
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Ryan Miller is still the starting goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres. Miller knows that his GM, Darcy Regier, attempted to trade him over the summer. No deals were worthy of pulling the trigger on, so Regier opted to move on. Miller says he understands it.
“It’s the nature of sport. It’s a transitional time for Buffalo. We had a couple tough years. I mean, it goes from a situation where as the goalie its about the hope you can bring, to ya know, I’ve been there (Buffalo) a long time and we haven’t done enough with the group we had. Its not about hope anymore, its about how the next generation of players, and the next group of players. I think its still a feeling out process where I fit in to that, where maybe the other guys fit into that. I don’t know. But, I still fit into it somehow. I’m still on the team, I’ve got one more year left (will become UFA 7/1/14), and my intention is to be the best I can be as always. I feel like I still have a lot of hockey left and that I can play at a really high level. I have to do what I can do to be a good teammate right now, and help the Sabres become the team they need to be. I’m actually excited. I think we (Buffalo) have a good group of guys, a little bit younger, but I think we’re going to have pretty defined roles of what guys are expected to do. Its like this team (Team USA). We talk about roles, and doing what you need to do, and you’re going to have success. Like in Vancouver, with guys understanding they might not have the same role as they do on the with the team they play with in the NHL. You just go about your business, do the job you’re expected to do and you can win hockey games. I think Buffalo will have to do the same thing".
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The news of the New Jersey Devils signing their 23 year old RFA center Adam Henrique to a six year, $24 million deal has me face palming myself.
The Devils have deep-pocketed new owners who obviously are not afraid to sling around the cash.
Lets re-set the RFA marketplace now that Henrique has signed his deal. Gone are the illusions of the "bridge contract" or no contract forces at work in this RFA marketplace. Three NHL GMs, Glen Sather, Dave Nonis, and Darcy Regier are busy, holding the hard line with their RFAs while Devils GM Lou Lamoriello is breaking ranks to sign his RFA to a long term deal. You can include Washington's GM George McPhee in the hard-line group now too as he is attempting to sign his RFA forward Marcus Johansson to a "bridge contract".
Here's a synopsis:
On Friday night, Rangers GM Glen Sather said on Edmonton radio that he will not be signing his RFA forward Derek Stepan to a long term deal. Stepan will get a bridge deal, or will sit out.
On Saturday, there was the David Alter report that Leafs RFA center Nazem Kadri was asking for $5M-$6M per season for 6 seasons. A report that Kadri himself criticized on Twitter. Looks like Naz will be signing a bridge deal or nothing at all in Toronto.
Today, Henrique inked his new long term deal. Its the very same blue light special that the Sabres inked Derek Roy to back in the day. Its a win-win for the player as he'll get the luxury of term and dollars that he wants. The Devils benefit because the contract is a cap-friendly $4M AAV per season.
So, now my question:
Where does the Henrique signing leave Sabres RFA center Cody Hodgson?
Personally, I like a $4 million cap hit for Hodgson. I'm sure he would agree with those dollars. Will Regier? Its easy for me to spend Terry Pegula's money. Does Regier value Hodgson as being better or the same as Henrique?
Will Regier tear up the blue print for CoHo's "bridge contract" and offer him the Henrique deal instead?
Or, will the Buffalo GM play hard ball and tell CoHo's agent Ritch Winter:
"Bridge deal or no deal"?
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