Buffalo Sabres fans may be looking forward to the upcoming playoffs with excitement, but they're also looking toward this summer with dread.
The Sabres dominated the Eastern Conference this season and are heavy favorites to win the Stanley Cup, thanks in large part to forwards Daniel Briere and Chris Drury, who've helped transform the Sabres from a sad-sack team into a Cup contender.
However, it's possible that one or both of them might be playing elsewhere next season.
Briere and Drury both qualify for unrestricted free agency this summer and would be among the most-pursued players in the UFA market. Briere has led the Sabres in scoring two of the past three seasons and is considered one of the dangerous offensive forwards in the league. Drury has been among the Sabres top scorers, has years of postseason experience and is considered one of the game's best two-way centers.
Sabres GM Darcy Regier would love to re-sign them but the salary cap could make that difficult to do.
Regier hoped to keep payroll under $40 million for this season, but retaining his top free-agent players last summer eventually boosted it to nearly $44 million.
He presently has less than $28 million committed for next season and if he maintains payroll at $44 million appears to have plenty of space to re-sign the two, but both are likely to seek potentially substantial raises that would cut deep into that available space.
Briere earned $5 million for 2006-07 and given his 90-plus points this year could easily command over $7 million per season on the open market. Drury earned $3 million and could possibly double his money as a free agent.
Even if the two agreed to "hometown discounts" to remain in Buffalo their combined salaries could potentially cost Regier almost $11 million per season, pushing the payroll up to almost $40 million. That would leave little room to forward Tomas Vanek, defensemen Teppo Numminen and Nathan Paetsch, and a backup goalie.
Regier could consider freeing up more cap space to re-sign Briere and Drury via trades prior to July.
Right wing Ales Kotalik and defenseman Dmitri Kalinin were both mentioned in Sabres trade rumors earlier this season. Trading them could chop over $4 million from the payroll which might make it easier to re-sign Briere and Drury.
Regier could elevate RW Drew Stafford and Paetsch, both of whom have shown promise this season, as replacements for Kotalik and Kalinin. Stafford is under contract for the next two seasons, while Paetsch, who earned $450,000 this season, should cost less than $1 million per season to retain.
Failing that, he risks losing either Briere or Drury to free agency.
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Originally Posted by JD SabreFan
