Sabres get Sacco! contract talks start with Hodgson,Girgorenko, will contact Briere

[DetDannyWilliams]

Tuesday, head coach Ron Rolston announced Joe Sacco will join the team as an
assistant coach. Sacco will start his coaching duties right away, alongside his
fellow assistant coach Teppo Numminen.
Sacco is no stranger to the NHL. He spent the past four seasons as head coach
of the Colorado Avalanche. During his time in Colorado, the Avalanche advanced
to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2010. That was Sacco's first year as an NHL head
coach and the Avalanche went 40-30-9. That season landed him among the list of
finalists for the Jack Adams Award as the league's best coach.

This past spring, Sacco guided Team USA as head coach at the 2013 IIHF World
Championship in Stockholm, Sweden. The team won the bronze medal after advancing
to the semifinal round of the tournament.
http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/218...ssistant-Coach-

Buffalo Sabres general manager Darcy Regier confirmed Tuesday that the organization has begun contract talks with impending restricted free agent center Cody Hodgson.
"We're just waiting to hear back from his agent [Ritch Winter]," Regier said during a press conference at First Niagara Center in Buffalo. The team also will be contacting former captain Danny Briere, according to Regier. Regier also said Mikhail Grigorenko, the team's first pick in the 2012 NHL Draft (No. 12) will be on the Sabres' roster for all of the 2013-14 season. Grigorenko had one goal and five points in 25 games with the Sabres in 2012-13 before being returned to his junior team, the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Because Grigorenko is 19, he is eligible to play only with the Sabres or Quebec.

"During free agency, our focus is on supporting this younger core group that we already have," Regier said. "We want good players, but players committed to being pros and examples and contributors. Those are the most important characteristics and the direction we need to go."

Regier also said free agency wasn't the only place he was looking to upgrade his roster, and said he was investigating what the trade market held for a number of his players, among them leading scorer Thomas Vanek and goaltender Ryan Miller.

"I'm actively finding out what the marketplace is like, not limited to those two players," Regier said. "There will be a number of teams we'll speak to regarding not just the goaltending position but other positions as well."

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=6...d=nhl:topheads

[SkateZilla]

Briere will be brought in to wear the C, and lead in the lockerroom, not on the scoreboard.

[elltrain22]

Briere will be brought in to wear the C, and lead in the lockerroom, not on the scoreboard.

IMHO, if, big if, we can sign Briere, I think the guy can still score 50 points.

[SkateZilla]

IMHO, if, big if, we can sign Briere, I think the guy can still score 50 points.

You'd have to baby him to keep him on the Ice.. ...

I dont think he'd beat CoHo for top line minutes.... prolly 2nd or 3rd Line with PP time.

[mightysimi]

TSN reports it's Jersey, Montreal and Nashville in the running. I don't think Buffalo is an option for Briere.

[chernobylwraiths]

TSN reports it's Jersey, Montreal and Nashville in the running. I don't think Buffalo is an option for Briere.

Of those teams, I think Nashville has the most realistic chance to win a cup and that's only because of their goalie. The others don't have enough of a combination of goaltending and talent to win it all without some sort of fluke (see Carolina). I would figure Briere would go to a place with a legitimate chance at a cup.

[SkateZilla]

NJ just threw most of their budget at Elias

[SkateZilla]

Briere went to Montreal for 2 years

[OpIv37]

Briere went to Montreal for 2 years

So what exactly are the Sabres going to do with that $13.7 million? The Sabres are currently above the cap floor.

Pegula said money was no object. He can't get away with saying that then being nearly $14 million below the cap and claiming he did everything possible to win.

[Ginger Vitis]

Briere went to Montreal for 2 years

8 Million for 2 years.. I would have like to have seen Briere in a Sabres uniform again but at this stage in his career not for $4 million a year

[Dude]

So what exactly are the Sabres going to do with that $13.7 million? The Sabres are currently above the cap floor.

Pegula said money was no object. He can't get away with saying that then being nearly $14 million below the cap and claiming he did everything possible to win.

You missed the part where Darcy said there would be suffering.

[Captain Obvious]

So what exactly are the Sabres going to do with that $13.7 million? The Sabres are currently above the cap floor.

Pegula said money was no object. He can't get away with saying that then being nearly $14 million below the cap and claiming he did everything possible to win.

You want the Sabres to trade Miller and Vanek and play the young kids and start over and rebuild and then you turn around and bith becausethe Sabres are $14 million under the capp..You're not making any sense

[SkateZilla]

You want the Sabres to trade Miller and Vanek and play the young kids and start over and rebuild and then you turn around and bith becausethe Sabres are $14 million under the capp..You're not making any sense

6 Million /year Cap hit on new contracts for both Vanek and Miller.

Get it Done now, cuz Regier has that "we dont negotiate during the season" BS... meanwhile 29 other GMs are gonna be throwing money at him.

[OpIv37]

You want the Sabres to trade Miller and Vanek and play the young kids and start over and rebuild and then you turn around and bith becausethe Sabres are $14 million under the capp..You're not making any sense

I want the Sabres to trade Vanek and Miller because we aren't going to win the Cup this year no matter what and we're going to lose them for nothing after the season anyway.

That has nothing to do with getting FA's on 4 or 5 year contracts who, unlike Vanek and Miller, will be here in a few years when we are actually good again.

- - - Updated - - -

You missed the part where Darcy said there would be suffering.

what exactly have the last 3 years been?

[Dude]

touche

[chernobylwraiths]

So what exactly are the Sabres going to do with that $13.7 million? The Sabres are currently above the cap floor.

Pegula said money was no object. He can't get away with saying that then being nearly $14 million below the cap and claiming he did everything possible to win.

The ONLY thing that would piss me off about this is the fact that they raised ticket prices this past season. Now THAT is suffering.