Another Piece Of Last Year's Puzzle Leaves

This time, it's Pierre-Marc Bouchard. After a season-low 32 points in the full 82 games, the overriding opinion was that Bouchard was no longer worth the excessive salary he was being paid and so was actively being shipped around for potential buyers. There was interest on some fronts, but none seen to be better by the package paid by San Jose, who were allegedly most interested in Bouchard because he clicked with Calder Trophy winner Anatoli Ovsianikov and that made Cory Whitteaker wet himself - that's quoted verbatim from the trade confirmation, for your information, we did not make that up in any shape or form. The main attraction for the Sabres was slashing Bouchard's $3.5 million salary from the already over-the-cap salary budget, although the actual reduction was lessened by the $1.2 million in salary coming the other way. At the end of the season, Bouchard was seen as the third choice centre behind Mike Cammalleri and Jay McClement, and was effectively surplus to requirements.

In addition to the cap cut, the Sabres picked up two prospects and a penalty killer. Defenseman Valdis Rostoks was a second-round pick in the 2010 draft who was then noted for his defensive abilities and has developed well with the AHL's Cleveland Barons, and could easily team with Leon Fooland to provide a true top-quality pairing. Left winger Brian Barnes was another 2010 pick who has so far yet to play in the ITC, spending the past two seasons with Sault St. Marie of the OHL who projects as being a fantastic offensive talent, if a little lacking in his own end. Jordan Foote, the last part of the deal, has spent time with both San Jose and Detroit and has made his name as a hard-checking defensive forward most at home killing penalties. To go along with this, the Sabres have made an offer to the New York Rangers’ restricted free agent Martin Legault – if he accepts and the Rangers decline to match it, he’s expected to slot in the open third-line centre spot.

Along with these further changes, the annual training camp begins soon. Seven of the 2010 draftees will be attending, including nineteen-year-old goaltender Ed McCarty, as well as Charlie Harrah and Oleg Konovalov, the two 2009 draftees who spent time with the pro team last season.

Looking Within

The free agency period can be either the best or the worst time to be a hockey fan, or, indeed, a fan of any sport. On the one hand, there's the chance your team will wheel and deal and surprise everyone with their managerial acumen, snatching a prize free agent from the jaws of a rival or convincing a player who could easily be a key part of your side to sign for much less than he's worth. On the other hand, there's the chance your team could panic, be sluggish or get out of the blocks late, missing out on the prizes and paying excessive amounts to players worth a fraction of the cost. The trick, of course, is picking out which is which. So ahead of free agency, what do we have in Buffalo?

For one thing, an overpaid goaltender. It's no secret that Vesa Toskala's contract has been the worst move of Jay Byers' short tenure - while he attempted to justify it by explaining that Ryan Miller having a stable backup was vital if he wanted to keep playing 65+ games a season, there is no team that could possibly benefit from having their backup be paid almost twice as much money as their starter for less than 25% of the games. As if this weren't bad enough, the signing of Jay McClement and the resigning of Keith Ballard, among others, put Buffalo close enough to the cap anyway without Toskala's influence. If he can't find another team so desperate for a goaltender to take his cap hit, it's expected the Finn will be waived and left to play out his career in the minor leagues - an inauspicious end to his time in the ITC.

Aside from him, there are rumours of some other high earners leaving, although this time in trades. The recently-signed Jay McClement, who spent all of last season coaching the Bramption Battalion - his junior team - as an unsigned restricted free agent, has been targeted by Florida, who acquired Carl Soderberg from the Sabres not long ago; likewise, Pierre-Marc Bouchard has been the subject of inquiries from teams all across the nation. Aside from them, nobody is expected to leave except for Mathieu Dandenault, whose team option was declined; the acquisition of yet another ex-Panther, Michael Ryder, made him surplus to requirements.

Surprisingly for a team with their record, there are two positions where everything is seen as satisfactory. With the trading of Jochen Hecht, there may only be three left wingers but they ARE of great quality - Rick Nash, Sid Sorensen and Robert Nilsson, if you needed to be reminded; similarly, the defensive corps have both experience and youth on their side, and while the combination is untested, it is hard to see how it could be worse than last year.

Predraft Wrapup

When it rains, it rains hard. Or pours, I'm not sure which. It doesn't matter either, my point is when last season began to suck, it didn't stop; the team effectively tanked the season, at one point going a full 25 games without a win, but somehow didn't manage to quite be bad enough to pick first in the Entry Draft. That honour indirectly went to Vancouver, by way of their general manager fleecing New Jersey out of THEIR first-round pick, and left Buffalo with #4. There was to be no rejoicing - with the upcoming free agency period and the cap still unfairly rigid at $50 million, drafting had moved from important to "incredibly fucking important", in GM Byers' words. Hence, the frenzy of trading - first robbing Columbus of a second first-round simply for them to move up one space (where they picked Dmitry Mozgunov), then probably giving up too much to re-enter the first ten by shipping three high picks to the New York Islanders for Tampa Bay's original first, which sat at #10 and was used to select Gordie Coleman. Eventually, the five second-round picks the Sabres entered the day with were whittled down to two - one was packaged with Carl Soderberg in exchange for Robert Nilsson, one went to Pittsburgh for Maxence Veillette and one was included in the ridiculous overpayment mentioned above. So And so, to shill the individual players to the point of overhyping them and meaning they will never live up to their expectations.

Leon Fooland
[1st round, 4th overall, 17 years of age, defenseman, Kelowna Rockets]

Clocking in at 6'4 and over 22o pounds, Fooland is the archetypal physical defenseman; someone who may have trouble with penalties but will get away with more brutality than he gets called for. He will never be an offensive power on the blueline, but that was never why he was drafted - in time, he should mature into a real franchise defenseman in the mould of ex-Devil Scott Niedermayer. It's believed that the Sabres will let Fooland remain in the Western Hockey League for at least the next season, as at the moment the Buffalo defense corps is fairly solid despite the poor run of results thus far. One more thing to note about Fooland is that he will almost certainly be linked to the Blue Jackets' Mozgunov in the same way as Eli Manning and Philip Rivers are now, although the amount given up to get hold of Mozgunov isn't close to the amount the New York Giants paid up for Manning's services.

Gordie Coleman
[1st round, 10th overall, 18 years of age, centre, Val D'Or Foreurs]

When Coleman was picked, it was thought to be somewhat of a reach considering the players still available both offensively and defensively - Pelle Ottosson is believed to be less consistent but with a greater upside - but it was known GM Byers had been interested in Coleman for some time. In 77 games with the Foreurs, he had racked up a hundred and twenty-six points, a fantastic level of production for anybody, and this was thought to be the tipping point that prompted his selection. Like Fooland, he projects as being a franchise centre, a genuine playmaker not unlike Calgary's Mike Comrie.

Ben Certik
[2nd round, 43rd overall, 18 years of age, left winger, Kamloops Blazers]

The designation of "sniper" may well have been created solely for Certik's use, and if he pans out he will have been a real steal - he had eighty-nine goals last season in the WHL, and displayed a wristshot already worthy of the ITC. The comparisons to Martin St. Louis are inevitable, and we're not about to change that because he is an excellent skater and a deft stickhandler despite his small stature (5'10 and 190 pounds); additionally, Certik was the captain for the Blazers last season and will retain this position if he isn't brought to the ITC as he has already proven himself to be a leader.

William Sharlow
[2nd round, 44th overall, 18 years of age, left winger, Kootenay Ice]

If "sniper" wasn't designed for Certik, it was for Sharlow. While his point totals last year weren't as radical as Certik's were, sixty-nine goals is nothing to sniff at, particularly with Kootenay's comparative lack of support for him. Like Certik, his skills lie in his blistering shot and soft hands, but unlike Certik, Sharlow has the capability to play twenty or twenty-five minutes every night - he has the endurance to make this possible. Interestingly, he has been seen to have chemistry with new Sabre Robert Nilsson and Keith Ballard in a pre-draft training camp, something that may bode well for the future.