Before today, I had never heard of Swedish hockey website,
"Hockey Sverige".
Today the site's writer, Uffe Bodin, ran the below interview (printed in Swedish) with Sabres RFA goaler, Jhonas Enroth.
The title of the pice:
"We Want A Little More Money".
Until now, Enroth has been quiet about his salary demands for next season.
After reading the Enroth interview, the math is a little fuzzy right now.
According to capgeek.com, in 2010/11 the Sabres paid Enroth:
$685,000 salary
$215,000 bonus
$ 85,000 signing bonus.
Not a bad hunk o'cake, eh?
His 10/11 cap hit was
$866,667. Which means that his qualifying offer this season was 10% more than the
$685,000 salary he earned last season. The bonuses cannot be included in the 10% bump, just salary.
If this is true, the Sabres offered Enroth a qualifying offer in excess of the $700,00 he is seeking.
"Vi vill ha lite mer pengar"
Men Enroth tror på lösning
Buffalo Sabres har storsatsat i sommar och har NHL:s hösta lönebudget. Det har emellertid blivit ett litet problem för Jhonas Enroth, som fortfarande står utan nytt kontrakt.
- Vi vill ha lite mer pengar än de erbjuder, säger han till hockeysverige.se.
Jhonas Enroth fick ett mindre genombrott i NHL under slutet av grundserien i våras. Den 23-årige stockholmaren, som har tillbringat den större merparten av sina fyra nordamerikanska säsonger i AHL, fick hoppa in när den ordinarie förstamålvakten Ryan Miller blev skadad och hjälpte laget till slutspel genom att storspela i några nyckelmatcher.
Inför nästa säsong är det tänkt att Enroth ska spela för Buffalo Sabres på heltid, men än så länge har han inte fått skrivit under något nytt kontrakt. På grund av Sabres tunga free agent-satsning på spelare som Christian Ehrhoff och Ville Leino har klubben ytterst lite utrymme kvar under lönetaket. Det fick till följd att Sabres första bud till Enroth stannade vid, med NHL-mått mätt, blygsamma 525 000 dollar, ett anbud som han och hans agenter snabbt nobbade.
- Vi är ute efter lite mer än så. Det finns målvakter i den här ligan som har spelat färre matcher än vad jag har gjort, men som ändå tjänar mer pengar. Runt 700 000 dollar hoppas jag på, säger Jhonas Enroth till hockeysverige.se och tillägger att det är ett envägskontrakt han suktar efter.
- Jag känner att jag fick bra erfarenhet i slutet av säsongen och att jag är värd ett envägskontrakt.
Kan skicka tre miljoner till AHL
Speciellt orolig är han emellertid inte.
- Nej, det känns ändå rätt bra, som om vi står på samma sida. Jag vet ju själv att klubben ligger nära lönetaket, men de kommer säkert att hitta en lösning på det.
Den lösningen kan vara tjecken Ales Kotalik. Buffalo plockade upp forwarden och hans lön på tre miljoner dollar i Robyn Regehr-trejden med Calgary Flames. Buffalo kan bli av med hans lönetaksträff genom att skicka honom till AHL eller låna ut honom till KHL.
Utöver Jhonas Enroth är det även backarna Andrej Sekera och Marc-André Gragnani som står utan kontrakt och är så kallade restricted free agents. Den svenske målvakten hoppas att allt ska lösa sig till det bästa så att han får möjlighet att spela för det nya, hårdsatsande Sabres.
- Det är den nye ägaren Terry Pegula som verkligen har gått in för att göra laget bättre. Han är med på alla bortaturnéer och brinner verkligen för det här till skillnad från den förra ägaren som man nästan aldrig såg till, säger Enroth.
- Troligtvis är han den bästa ägaren i NHL och det skulle vara jätteintressant att spela med det här laget om jag får vara kvar i klubben.
hockeysverige.se
Here's how Google translates the interview from Swedish to English:
* Enroth paid his dues in AHL Portland for most of last season.
* Then, he assumed the starting goaltending duties when Ryan Miller suffered a concussion during the Playoff stretch run last Spring.
* The writer cites the recent signings of Regehr, Ehrhoff, and Leino as being key reasons why the sabres have suddenly spent all of their money. Thus, leaving little to re-sign the RFA to a new contract for next season, and beyond.
* According to Enroth, the Sabres only offered $525,000 as his qualifying offer for next season, at which point he and his agent had balked.
* According to Enroth, he feels that there are backup goalies in the NHL right now who have played less games and have had less success than him, however, thet are earning more money than he presently is earning.
* Enroth knows realizes that the team is rubbing against the $64.3 million cap right now. He's confident that the team can shed payroll. The writer suggests parking Kotalik and Morrisonn in Rochester to free up Enroth's money. Gargnani and Sekera are also RFA and will eat up cap space as well. Unless the team decides to make a trade or two.
* Enroth concludes that he is a fan of the way that new owner Terry Pegula travels with the club and thet he likes the direction that the new management is taking the club. He says that he would love to stay in Buffalo.
I'm confused here, Jhonas.
How can the Sabres have offered you a qualifying offer that was less than what you earned last season? Doesn't the CBA dictate that RFAs must be qualified with offers 10% more than the last contract that the players signed for?
Doesn't compute.
It wasn't that long ago that Buffalo Boy, Timmy Kennedy, wanted more money. How'd that work out for him?
Personally, I think $700,000-$750,000 is more than fair for Buffalo to be paying Enroth. He'll only play 16-20 games next season. Why commit fat paper to a backup who will only play 1/3 of the team's games?
Buffalo just signed young AHL goaler Drew MacIntyre last week. They drafted Nathan Lieuwen from Kootenay in June. Nick Eno and Connor Knapp appear to be ready to make the next step up from university hockey.
You want my take?
Trade Enroth and Sekera now. Get full value for the tandem in the form of Zach Parise.
Enroth will fit right in in Jersey with his countrymen, Larsson, Josefsen and Tedenby, already playing there.
The Devils need a suitable starting goaltender replacement for first ballot Hall Of Famer, Marty Brodeur. Enroth could act as his under study fo rthe next season or two. Jersey also is looking for a puck mover how can get the biscuit to Kovalchuk and Elias.
There are teams in the NHL who have cap space and are in desperate need of a starting goaltender like Enroth. Lets face it, Ryan Miller is Buffalo's starter and will be for a long time. Makes sense to me to move Enroth now to secure the scorer that they so desperately covet. I'd even be willing to consider an Enroth-Leino package in order to get Parise, who will have his RFA arbitration hearing on August 3.
Lets go Swedish fishing.
Who would you trade Enroth for right now if you could?
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News from the broadcast booth:
The Buffalo Sabres today announced the reduced schedule of games that the broadcast team of Rick Jeanneret and Harry Neale will work during the 2011-12 season. In total, Jeanneret and Neale will call 57 regular season games (39 home, 18 away), with Kevin Sylvester and Danny Gare taking over the remaining 23 games.
The schedule does not include the Sabres’ first two regular season games, which will be played in Europe as part of the 2011 NHL Premiere Series.
Sylvester and Gare will begin their schedule with the Sabres’ Nov. 5 game at Ottawa. Their schedule will include one home game (Feb. 24 vs. Boston) and 22 road games. They will join the team for seven single-game road trips and three multiple-game trips, including seven games from Jan. 14 to Jan. 31 and five games from Feb. 25 to Mar. 5.
Sylvester and Gare are both familiar faces for Sabres fans. Sylvester has been a member of the Sabres’ broadcast team for six seasons, hosting the team’s broadcasts since the 2005-06 season. He has filled in for Jeanneret several times since 2008 and will continue to handle play-by-play duties for the upcoming season.
Gare will join Sylvester in the booth as a color analyst. Gare returns to the Sabres’ broadcast team after a seven-season absence. In his previous role with the Sabres, Gare worked as the team’s rinkside reporter from 1997-98 through 2002-03 before joining the Columbus Blue Jackets as a color analyst. Gare has since filled in for Mike Robitaille as a studio analyst for the Sabres.
Rob Ray, who has been part of the broadcast team since the 2003-04 season, will join Jeanneret and Neale as a second color analyst during their games.
Jeanneret, who will be entering his 40th season with the Sabres, explained that the change is an effort to extend his career. Jeanneret started with the team prior to the 1971-72 season, serving as the club’s radio voice, and held that post until 1995. He then became the team’s television play-by-play announcer beginning with the 1995-96 campaign.
It will be Neale’s fifth year in Buffalo, after joining the Sabres at the start of the 2007-08 season. He previously worked for more than 20 years as an analyst for Hockey Night in Canada, along with regional coverage of Toronto Maple Leafs games.
•10/7/2011 - ANAHEIM*
•10/8/2011 - @ Los Angeles**
•10/14/2011 - CAROLINA - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•10/15/2011 - @ Pittsburgh - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•10/18/2011 - @ Montreal - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•10/20/2011 - @ Florida - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•10/22/2011 - @ Tampa Bay - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•10/25/2011 - TAMPA BAY - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•10/27/2011 - COLUMBUS - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•10/29/2011 - FLORIDA - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•11/2/2011 - PHILADELPHIA - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•11/4/2011 - CALGARY - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•11/5/2011 - @ Ottawa - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•11/8/2011 - WINNIPEG - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•11/11/2011 - OTTAWA - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•11/12/2011 - @ Boston - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•11/14/2011 - @ Montreal - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•11/16/2011 - NEW JERSEY - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•11/18/2011 - @ Carolina - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•11/19/2011 - PHOENIX - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•11/23/2011 - BOSTON - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•11/25/2011 - @ Columbus - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•11/26/2011 - WASHINGTON - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•11/29/2011 - NY ISLANDERS - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/2/2011 - DETROIT - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/3/2011 - @ Nashville - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•12/7/2011 - PHILADELPHIA - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/9/2011 - FLORIDA - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/10/2011 - NY RANGERS - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/13/2011 - OTTAWA - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/16/2011 - TORONTO - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/17/2011 - @ Pittsburgh - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/20/2011 - @ Ottawa - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/22/2011 - @ Toronto - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/26/2011 - WASHINGTON - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/28/2011 - @ New Jersey - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/30/2011 - @ Washington - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•12/31/2011 - OTTAWA - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•1/3/2012 - EDMONTON - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•1/6/2012 - @ Carolina - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•1/7/2012 - WINNIPEG - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•1/10/2012 - @ Toronto - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•1/13/2012 - TORONTO - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•1/14/2012 - @ NY Islanders - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•1/16/2012 - @ Detroit - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•1/18/2012 - @ Chicago - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•1/19/2012 - @ Winnipeg - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•1/21/2012 - @ St. Louis - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•1/24/2012 - @ New Jersey - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•1/31/2012 - @ Montreal - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•2/1/2012 - NY RANGERS - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•2/4/2012 - @ NY Islanders - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•2/8/2012 - BOSTON - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•2/10/2012 - DALLAS - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•2/11/2012 - TAMPA BAY - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•2/14/2012 - NEW JERSEY - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•2/16/2012 - @ Philadelphia - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•2/17/2012 - MONTREAL - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•2/19/2012 - PITTSBURGH - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•2/21/2012 - NY ISLANDERS - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•2/24/2012 - BOSTON - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•2/25/2012 - @ NY Rangers - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•2/29/2012 - @ Anaheim - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•3/1/2012 - @ San Jose - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•3/3/2012 - @ Vancouver - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•3/5/2012 - @ Winnipeg - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•3/7/2012 - CAROLINA - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•3/8/2012 - @ Boston - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•3/10/2012 - @ Ottawa - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•3/12/2012 - MONTREAL - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•3/14/2012 - COLORADO - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•3/17/2012 - @ Florida - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•3/19/2012 - @ Tampa Bay - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•3/21/2012 - MONTREAL - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•3/23/2012 - @ NY Rangers - Kevin Sylvester & Danny Gare
•3/24/2012 - MINNESOTA - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•3/27/2012 - @ Washington - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•3/30/2012 - PITTSBURGH - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•3/31/2012 - @ Toronto - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•4/3/2012 - TORONTO - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•4/5/2012 - @ Philadelphia - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
•4/7/2012 - @ Boston - Rick Jeanneret & Harry Neale
Thanks, Sabres PR team.
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