I had mentioned before that Bucky Gleason played GM for a day in the Buffalo News a couple of days ago, today I'll take my crack at it.  I think Bucky did a decent job but he may have under-estimated the value of a couple of the RFA's.  His only major change the team is the addition of Brooks Orpik at $4 million, that seems to be a popular consensus but I'm not sold that Orpik is a $4 million player. 

I think that Darcy Regier has already stated that the team would creep a little bit over the mid point which is $48.7 million.  The Sabres may go as high as $49.5 but they won't hit the $50 million mark.  It's funny how much differenec a day makes because just one day ago, my number one target was John Michael Liles but today he has re-signed with Colorado.

My plan would be a simple plan, I would trade away Max Afinogenov for a draft pick.  The purpose of the trade is to free up some cap space to allow room to pick up two defensive free agents.  In my plan I sign Ron Hainsey the defenseman from Columbus to the same contract Jaro Spacek signed a couple of seasons ago.  The second defenseman I sign is Mike Commodore.  He is well liked by fans and teammates throughout the league and would be a good strong guy to protect the front of the net.

The lineup would look like this...

Forwards

Vanek-Roy-Stafford

Hecht-Connolly-Pominville

Kotalik-Gaustad-Bernier

Paille-Mair-Kaleta

Extra:  Andrew Peters

Defense

Tallinder-Lydman

Hainsey-Spacek

Commodre-Sekera

Extra: Weber, Paetsch

The forwards are interchangeable at times and there is a possibility that MacArthur will be re-signed and could fit in some where.  On defense I liked the way weber played last year but I think if he could start the season in Portland the Sabres will be a better team for it down the road.  He will get some experience in the minors and he will add depth in the case of injury.  You can take a look at the Sabres salary chart as well as the updated chart based on my team by clicking the salary link.