Danny Briere is a very fortunate man. You knew this day was coming.
Darcy Regier, Larry Quinn, Tom Golisano and the Buffalo Sabres are now on the clock.
An NHL Arbitrator has awrded the Sabres Captain a 1 year / $5 million contract offer. The Sabres now have 48 hours to accept or reject Briere's arb ruling. If the Sabres accept, they can beging long-term contract talks in January 2007. If the Sabres reject the offer, Briere will become an immediate Unrestricted Free Agent--- free to sign with another team, and the Sabres would receive zero compensation.
Bottomline: Bittersweet news for Briere.
Briere wanted the exact same thing that veteran rearguard Jay McKee was seeking: a long-term deal with respectable dollars.
" I'm happy with the one year award", said Briere, "but all I really wanted was a long term deal. Like Jay (McKee), my wife, kids , and I love the Buffalo area. A long term deal is what we were seeking. They (the Sabres) don't do business that way. We'll see what happens", said Briere.
Sounds like the Michael Peca argument all over again, doesn't it?
Briere was seeking long term security and dollars comparable to those that Havlat had signed for last week. Ballpark numbers: $18 million over 4 years, or $20 million over 5 years.
The puck is now in the Sabres end. How they play it remains to be seen.
The Sabres spent to 75% of their 05/06 Cap, and its likely that they will spend the same way in 06/07.
They CAN afford the $5 million one-off contract that Briere was awarded.
Sabres CFO, Dan DiPofi, and, President Larry Quinn, have been quoted, on the record, saying that the Sabress have pre-sold between 12,500-13,000 season tickets for this up coming season. Cash flow will not be an issue for the Sabres moving forward. The team has banqued 9 Playoff gates from their most recent Playoff run for the Cup. The nine sellouts brought in between $7.5 and $8.5 million US dollars.
The Sabres owe it to their fans to lock up Briere and the core of their team to long-term deals that make sense for both parties. Who do I consider the Sabres"core players": Briere, Drury, Ryan Miller, Roy (already done), Dumont, Kotalik, Tallinder (already done), Pominville.
Say Goodbye to Max Afinogenov. Now that the Briere number is known, Darcy Regier can go ahead and sign the one year Briere deal, then, flip Marty Biron and Max Afinogenov to Florida or st. Louis. Moving Marty and Maxwill created the Cap space the Sabres will need to lock up Ryan Miller to his long term deal. Look for Miller to earn $4 to $4.5 million per copy when its all said and done.
If Briere was awarded $5 million, then, its likely that the arbitrator will award $5 ish-$6 ish to Max.
Nice to know you Max.
If you are one of the 13,000 Sabres season ticket holders, or, you split a twenty pack with the boys, get on the phone to Darcy and demand that he signDanny to this one year deal.
Or, tell Darcy and Larry Quinn directly here at hockeybuzz.com. Both are frequent consumers/viewers of this awesome hockey community.
GIT R DUN, DARCY !!!
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Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier announced today the Sabres have agreed to terms on a multi-year deal with restricted free agent forward Ales Kotalik.
Kotalik, the 6-1, 217-pound native of the Czech Republic set career-highs in every offensive category during the 2005-06 season. The right wing collected 62 points (25+37), while appearing in all 82 regular season games. During the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Kotalik collected 11 points (4+7), including three game-winning goals in 18 games.
As the Sabres sixth-round choice (164th overall) in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Kotalik has picked up 127 points (62+65) in 225 career regular season NHL games.
Kotalik also represented the Czech Republic during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Kotalik replaced injured forward Patrick Elias and played in three games to earn a Bronze medal.
Kotalik was scheduled for NHL arbitration on July 25 in Toronto.
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Thanks to Chris Bandura and Kevin Snow of the Sabres.
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Thats my story and I'm stickin to it.......
Garth
[email protected] 
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