Regier Takes Another PR Hit For The Team
by Dave Davis on Aug 9, 2010 10:43 AM EDT
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Apparently, building a team that amasses 100 points and wins a division title doesn’t get you much slack or credibility in this town.
In the midst of a hot Buffalo summer that many Sabres fans were hoping would see some changes at the top of the forward lines and a touch-up on the power play unit, GM Darcy Regier has once again had his own feet put to the fire by Sabres Nation due to his trademark calculated and methodical management style.
In case you’re not keeping score at home, that’s the same infuriating management style that under his watch has produced four conference finals appearances.
One of those campaigns was ended in the ’99 Stanley Cup Finals with Brett Hull’s toe in the crease. Another was halted in the ’06 Eastern Conference Finals with four of Buffalo’s top defensemen out of the lineup against an otherwise evenly matched opponent in Carolina.
That’s what is really comical and contradictory about the many pundits that claim that Buffalo will never win a Stanley Cup with Regier in charge. These are the same people that screamed about No Goal and a Jay McKee staph infection as being the only reasons that the Sabres haven’t won two Cups already. Can’t have it both ways, folks.
The disconnect between Regier and the Buffalo fans and media is derived from his complete disregard for the public relations effect of his decisions (and non-decisions). Or, put another way, he manages with his head and not with his heart. That’s why this club is still stocked with promising young prospects and isn’t run like a fantasy team.
But lest we forget, as Regier bashers love to remind us, the Sabres are just a team of average forwards and defensemen with a world-class elite goaltender. How brilliant. You have to wonder if folks in Washington criticize management for having just a team of average defensemen and goaltenders with a world-class elite forward.
Admittedly, this has been a tough offseason for Sabres management. In an attempt to bring in some offense and leadership, they tabled offers for some quality veteran forwards. Insiders in the know say that two of those players were Saku Koivu and Matt Cullen. Unfortunately, the best fish that could be reeled in was Rob Niedermayer.
In an ideal world, Derek Roy and Tim Connolly aren’t your top two centers. But you don’t dump them for nothing just to appease the fan base and to avoid bad press. That’s why guys like Regier still run NHL teams while guys like Mike Milbury are television analysts.
On the blueline Regier was criticized for not retaining either Henrik Tallinder, who had no intention of staying, or Toni Lydman, who would only stay for a three-year deal. For that term it was decided that Jordan Leopold, three years younger than Lydman and having potential to help out a dismal Buffalo power play, would be a better fit.
Then last week, to top it all off, Regier did the unthinkable. He made his team bigger by waiving an undersized third-line 10-goal scorer to acquire a 6’4" 220 lb. proven veteran defenseman.
Forget the petty silliness about the penny-pinching negotiations and the $1M arbitration award, which Regier and all 29 of his peers didn’t want to pay Buffalo native Tim Kennedy. This is a situation that evolved into your basic hockey move. It was about roster size, the ability to make call-ups from Portland, and the impact of one-way vs. two-way contracts.
While the net effect of this move hockey-wise is likely to be minimal, Regier decided his team would be better by shifting an asset to the blueline - and he was willing to take a big PR hit to do it.
The anger of fans stemming from Kennedy’s exile was pure overkill. You would’ve thought Regier traded the other Buffalo guy - the one who just scored a goal to win the Stanley Cup. It’s all based on emotion and pride emanating from South Buffalo. Daniel Paille was in the same position last year - but when he was traded there was barely a whimper.
In a season following being out-muscled by the physical Boston Bruins in the playoffs, we’ll now only likely have to deal with having three pint-sized players (Derek Roy, Tyler Ennis, Nathan Gerbe), instead of four, on the top three forward lines. That means one less player to get jammed off the puck by 42 year-olds like Mark Recchi.
And bringing in a boring stay at home shot-blocker like Shaone Morrisonn is one of those deals that can fly under the radar - until you desperately need to hold a lead in a Game 6 or 7 in late April. Ask folks in Montreal how bringing in Hal Gill worked out for them.
Now, despite losing 2 of their top 4 defensemen to free agency, it can be argued that the Buffalo defense, with the additions of Leopold and Morrisonn, is as good or better than it was last season.
Even with having for a boss an absentee owner who would rather burn a few extra million dollars on the losing New York State political campaigns of his friends than on the budget of his NHL hockey team, Regier has pieced together a group that is competitive enough to challenge for the division again.
That isn’t a result of listening to fans and media, or worrying about PR or his image. And that’s just fine - Milbury is much more entertaining and emotional on television than Regier could ever be.
Twitter: @DaveDavisHockey
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I actually am more excited about our d-men
Personally I think we have made a step forward with our defensemen with Leopold and Morrison. As long as we have Miller backstopping our team Darcy can really do no harm by staying neutral in free agency.
For me, I’m interested to follow the Dave Tallon experiment down in Florida. When I get into conversations about the Sabres and acquiring people via free agency I always cite the Penquins, Capitals, and Blackhawks. It is my personal belief that Roy and Connolly and Pominville are alright players capable of carrying us to the playoffs. But to get Stanley Cup level performers…we almost need to blowup the team for first/second round draft picks. We can’t replace Roy or Connolly on the free agent market, and their trade value isn’t going to get us an upgrade at center. So for the next couple years let’s just follow the Panthers progress….and see if Tallon’s experiment at building a franchise works out. But as for now, Darcy keep doing what you’re doing.
Regier
Darcy Regier is probably one of the best judges of price/value of talent in the league. He did not over pay for Briere, Drury, or Campbell. Look at the cap problems that the teams that signed them had and currently have. In addition, all three have certainly under preformed compared to what they are being paid.
by Mike from Oregon on Aug 9, 2010 11:39 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I feel that if he could just bring in one more top-6 winger (UFA Lee Stempniak or RFA James Neal would be amazing) the team would be in great shape. As it stands, any injuries or personal slumps on offense could be a problem. Some added scoring would take a little pressure off of Miller and the defensemen. If a trade needs to be worked out to meet the internal salary cap, then so be it.
This is a good post and I agree with a lot of what you say here.
I tend to fall somewhere in the middle in the Darcy debate. I certainly think he’s done alright for himself with the Sabres, but I also think his conservative nature has lead to some measurable mistakes in the last few years. Darcy’s method has proven to be basically effective over a long period of time, but he’s never won a Cup. We could do better, we could do a lot worse. Same goes for Lindy, honestly.
My one major quibble with this post is that I think it’s a real stretch to suggest that Darcy was “shifting an asset to the blueline” by signing Morissonn and waiving Kennedy. Just because they happened at the same time doesn’t mean one was a direct result of the other. The Sabres needed to replace the experience they lost in Tallinder and Lydman and without this move I think the d would have been a major question mark for next season. Certainly much worse on paper than last season’s defense.
To me (and this is certainly up for debate) it looks like Darcy swapped Kennedy for Gerbe. I think Morrisson was a result of losing Lydman, and I think Ennis was always going to make the team. The guy this move creates room for is Gerbe….and Gerbe is the pint-iest pint-sized forward this side of Pintsville.
Basically I don’t think we are ever really going to understand why Darcy really did this, and it’s waaaaay too soon to declare this a “good” or “bad” move. It’s just something to talk about in the dog days of August.
Kate,
I think it is fair to say what Dave said vis a vis Morrisonn, b/c I don’t think Regier ever thought he’d have the opportunity to buy-out Kennedy. The award had to come it at or above $1million for that option to open up. This is why it’s so frustrating to listen to the yabos at TBN prate on about how this was all a nefarious plot by Quinn and Golisano to punish Kennedy for going to arbitration. Maybe that was part of it and there was certainly a lot of frustration over this contract negotiation. Spite carries with it the vague sense of class warfare that always informs these situations.
I think it was a hockey move primarily with a personal component… not the other way around.
ta,
Really? Huh. I didn’t realize that the arbitration award had to be over a million in order to give the Sabres the option to buy Kennedy out. Interesting. But regardless, I still say, if we’re grading Darcy’s summer performance you can’t give Darcy extra credit for signing Morissonn. Leopold and Morissonn make up for the loss of Tallinder and Lydman. The forward corp is weaker without Kennedy, in my opinion. But this is a pretty silly argument at this stage. We have to wait to see how it plays out.
But I totally agree that this was Regier’s move and not the shadowy, evil doings of Larry Quinn and Golisano.
Kate, Regier implied during his presser that the Morrisonn signing was in fact related to the waiving of Kennedy. Morrisonn basically takes the place of either Butler, Sekera, or Weber.
I’d argue that Leopold/Morrisonn are an upgrade.
For one, they’re younger while still experienced. For two, they’re cheaper. Three, I’d say they better fit the system.
Leopold has good offensive upside with a two way game that fits Ruff’s demands that d-men jump into the play. Everyone seems outraged that Regier didn’t do more to address the PP. I disagree, we do have a d-man to run the PP: Tyler Myers. Look at his numbers last year, I see no reason why shouldn’t improve. Leopold is still an upgrade over our other d-men (barring Myers) and gives another option.
Morrisonn compliments Myers nicely as well. With Morrisonn playing a solid, gritty stay-at-home defense Myers can do more of those end-to-end rushes. Not to mention, Morrisonn brings general size and grit lacking from the team. Dave Davis makes a great point when bringing up Hall Gill’s performance in the playoffs. I think the Morrisonn signing was a really smart move.
I think Darcy would agree that the forward corps is most definitely weaker without Kennedy. Why else would he try to sign him? But handcuffing the team with an overpriced one-way contract makes for a weaker club. It mostly harms our depth but I don’t think it’s going to keep us out of the playoffs. Instead of a feisty, smaller checking forward, we could have a gritty enforcer in McCormick. Where the team is harmed in scoring depth we can compensate with toughness.
Regier made this move with the internal cap in mind. So it essentially this whole thing is the work of Quinn/Golisano. Unless you mean the whole vindictive thing, which is silly; it’s a business.
Maybe the forward corps is weaker, or maybe subbing Gerbe for Kennedy is a push. I’d argue that Gerbe has more offensive upside and it’s time for him to make it or be sent out. Kennedy is likely not going to get a job in the NHL this year and Regier could not trade him. He was offered up for anything and there were no takers. Not even the Isles who have to reach the salary floor, for chrissakes!
I think all arguments vis a vis Kennedy are completely overblown at this point. He was a good story and is a good player, but who took terrible advice from his agent and is now unemployed.
Here’s the really interesting part. He’s only a UFA for this season. If he’s not signed by another club he reverts back to being an RFA Sabres property. How’s that for twisted?
Ta,
The reason no one claimed Kennedy is because it was common knowledge that if no one claimed him he would become a UFA. He is not such a hot commodity that teams felt they had to claim him or lose out on a great player. They let him fall through waivers because they, like the Sabres, didn’t like him for the contract he had. Maybe there were/are teams interested in his talents, but his award and ridiculous agent have people maybe scared off at this point. I think he will find a job somewhere, but it will take time for him to realize that it won’t be a one-way $1M contract.
Fear the Grier!!!!
I agree, this didn’t really have anything to do with Morrison.
Darcy waived Kennedy because Kennedy forced himself into a one-way contract versus the two-way contract he was being offered with his qualifying offer (I state this as fact, though technically it is just my opinion). I don’t think Darcy said this outright because he doesn’t want to say TK isn’t good enough to play in the NHL since the kid is looking for a job. That is just common courtesy. He made the right move, Kennedy shouldn’t have been guaranteed a spot on the roster this year. I don’t think this is going to help Gerbe that much, instead I think the beneficial farm player is McCormick. Though really, I don’t even think they wanted Kennedy on the third line anymore, mostly due to his size. The experiment failed. (So MAYBE it does help Gerbe a little.)
I’ll be sort of surprised if Gerbe ever really makes it to the NHL to be honest. If he does it has to be on the top 2 lines and as far as I can tell those are already full (unless he outplays Ennis in camp, and even then I wouldn’t be surprised if the still went with Ennis). He’ll get some time if there are injuries perhaps. No way he ends up on the third of fourth line though.
Of course… Ruff rolls different lines all the time, so what do I know?
clownfat
1st off that is a funny name. i completely agree with you. gerbe tried really hard as a sabre but didnt produce much. i think the big question is who plays with neidemeyer and greer?does ennis take hect spot on the 2nd line and hect plays on the 3rd line? does kaleta play on the 3rd line? hey maybe mccormick plays on that line. sooo many line combos, it has my head spining. in my opinion i see many question marks at a few roster spots and most of the question marks could be answered by answereing the question of who is going to play with neidemeyer and greer.
vanek roy stafford
? (ennis/ hect) connolly pomminville
? (ennis/ hect/ mccormick/ kaleta/ gerbe) neidemeyer greer
? (mccormick/ gerbe) gaustad ? (kaleta/ gerbe)
time to ring that championship bell
I have never been overly critical of Regier, and I have approved of most of his decisions. Including the Breire – Drury fiasco. I do not envy him his job nor do I think I could do it better. He is a shrewd judge of hockey talent and he recognizes when players have lost their effectiveness and are in a downward spiral. Case in point: Lydman and Tallinder.
His signing of Morrison and Leopold will greatly inprove the defense and give Miller the help he deserves.
As for Connolly and Roy, they are both good centers who provide good balance to the offense. They may not be great, but many a team has won the Stanley Cup without great centers.
I think the media and many fans have unfairly criticized Reiger, Ruff, Quinn and Galisano for not being willing to spend money. The New York Rangers spend money and consistantly field a mediocre team. Chicago is broke because they spent too much money. Being fiscally responsible is not a crime; it is an asset. The fans need to appreciate what management has done in Buffalo. They have provided us with a highly competative team while keeping costs at a reasonable level.
Oh, and by the way, Kennedy will be forgotten before the season begins. Many fans hysterically overreacted to his release.
As a fan, I also understand the frustration of never having won a Stanley Cup in 40 years. I think, for that reason, we have a tendency to overreact to every action that is taken by management. We have been patient, but are patience is exhausted.
This is nitpicking, but I’m not sure Chicago is the best example of a team that overspends. It’s not that they’re broke, they hit the cap, and they got a Stanley Cup for their spending.
by Frank Reich Revolution on Aug 9, 2010 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Chicago
Remeber that they’d have lost in the first round if Marty Erat wasn’t a failure.
On the Mike Weber bandwagon.
Everything wrong with the Sabres is Drew Stafford's fault.
What frustrates me
isn’t Regier, it’s Golisano. If Regier’s budget were the cap we could realistically make a play for Neal or Ryan and either move would put us in a position to challenge for the cup this year and next, while still maintaining a decent team after that. I support Regier. I think this team as it stands will make the playoffs and, like any other team in the playoffs, could then get hot. Regier doesn’t always make sense, and occasionally makes mistakes (the summer of doom being really the only one I can think of recently) but his track record is better than most NHL GMs.
I’d have a hard time seeing Regier do that, even if we were allowed to spend to the cap by upper management. Going after RFA’s of that nature, especially Bobby Ryan who has already turned down a 5 year, 25 million dollar deal from Anaheim, would cost us four first round picks. If we could spend to the cap, I would see Darcy making trades or signing UFA’s to better the team.
True
but I think that there might be a way to get the high priced RFAs in a trade. Basically you tell the team that you’ll send and offersheet that they won’t like (In the Ryan case, a 4-year deal is what Anaheim desperately wants to avoid), or you can work out a trade that doesn’t cripple us long term and instead gets the other team more immediate help. If the Ducks know they stand to swallow a contract they aren’t willing to offer or lose their guy, I think they’d prefer Kassian, Stafford and a pick to 4 picks who won’t help their team before their GM has to see his job put in peril. Maybe Darcy would never do it, maybe he actually is better suited to a team that has extra constraints (there’s a part of me that truly believes this) but if he weren’t handicapped he could stand to add somebody.
The main problem with RFAs is what amounts to a general league-wide gentleman’s agreement between the GM’s to not offer toxic contracts to RFAs. Think back to the scorn heaped on Kevin Lowe for actually obtaining Dustin Penner and trying to sign Thomas Vanek.
I agree there are a number of valuable RFAs out there, and think Darcy should attempt to lock one in. But the problem is it’s difficult to put another team in a position where they can’t at least match. So now you’ve failed to obtain the player and also stirred the ire of many other GMs (such as Brian Burke, who we’re supposed to worship as a talent evaluator because he had the sense to pick Tim Kennedy for the US World Championships team…you know, the one that blew so hard they needed to win in the consolation bracket just to qualify for next year’s tournament).
Bernier
Hjalmerwhatsit, etc. it might not happen often, but it does happen. Most GMs have short memories when it comes to other GMs who piss them off; refusing to deal with a guy just means fewer opportunities to help yourself. Again, I’m not sure that Darcy would do it, but if he had the room I wouldn’t be too surprised if he did something unconventional like that.
I understand that it does happen, and I appreciated that San Jose was willing to actually grow a pair in trying to turn the screws to a conference rival. But that situation doesn’t really compare: Chicago had zero cap space, so ANY contract offer to one of their RFAs would’ve been toxic. To get a guy like Bobby Ryan or James Neal, the Sabres would have to overextend because Anaheim or Dallas would have the option to match, and would very likely match any reasonable offer sheet.
Nice article, Dave: you summed that all up quite nicely.
“But you don’t dump them for nothing just to appease the fan base and to avoid bad press. That’s why guys like Regier still run NHL teams while guys like Mike Milbury are television analysts”
Yes.
by Traver on Aug 9, 2010 2:43 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Rec'd
Very well put Dave.
Im really not too upset about this offseason. Im excited for next year, I think next years team (on paper) looks better than last years team.
Old school Bills tattoo [ √ ] Old school Sabres tattoo [ √ ] ... see the avatar.
Lets Go Buffalo!!
Barely. Other teams improve. Sabres are happy to be barely better.
by buffaloranger on Aug 12, 2010 6:44 PM EDT up reply actions
Mike Harrington had a good piece on Sabres Edge about the blunders made by both the Sabres and Tim Kennedy (in particular through his agent Allain Roy). Everybody’s got egg on their face.
It’s a PR nightmare, to be sure, but if the Sabres open up strongly (as they have in years past) people will forget about the Kennedy buy-out. Until they slump a little, in which case Bucky Gleason won’t hesitate to remind us that guys “like Tim Kennedy” prevent slumps and help you win in the playoffs and blah blah blah.
I really don’t think this move was Regier’s doing, it doesn’t make much sense hockey wise. Even if you’ve decided that Gerbe deserves a spot over Kennedy (which I don’t buy) the fact is depth counts and the Sabres have no one at Portland who is NHL ready. The best fwds on the Pirates are Adam and Tropp and they have almost zero AHL experience let alone NHL experience. Last year the Sabres used twenty different players at forward and it was a relatively healthy year. If there are two long term injuries they’ll probably resign Ellis or someone similar and they will have saved virtually no money.
Last year Gerbe was the favorite to make the roster and Kennedy beat him out. I don’t see any reason to think that Ruff had already decided that Gerbe would make the team over Kennedy this year.
In the end the move saves very little money and hurts the team’s depth and hurts them from a pr standpoint with the fans, players and, maybe most importantly, agents. There’s no way Regier does this unless he’s under extreme pressure from Quinn/Gosilano.
Good point about the depth but with Niedermayer, McCormick, and Gerbe/Ennis I don’t think it’ll be a huge deal. It just doesn’t make sense so pay a player a guaranteed million dollars when you don’t even know if he’s going to make the roster, let alone perform well. Besides, you never know what can happen in training camp or throughout the season.
It is bad PR but not nearly as much so when really examined and properly understood. If all you knew of it was what you read in Bucky Gleason’s article: yeah, it looks bad. However, when it comes to players and their agents I don’t think it’s a big deal. Agents and players are going to understand the nuances of this whole ordeal; the arbitration process etc.. Even Allain Roy when asked about how the situation was handled conceded that the Sabres organization did nothing unethical according to the CBA.
But Tsjiimoto, they weren’t going to pay Kennedy $1 million to have an on/off relationship with the pressbox. There are plenty of FA’s out there who will sign two-way deals just to have a job in the next 6 weeks. Roster depth can be achieved in that manner if it needs to be.
Plenty of guys out there without jobs. Some will play in Russia/Europe. Some will drop their asking price and some will play in the AHL.
It’s wage deflation in the face of a fictional cap number.
Ta,
by Tom Luongo on Aug 10, 2010 9:01 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Even Allain Roy when asked about how the situation was handled conceded that the Sabres organization did nothing unethical according to the CBA.
It’s not about doing anything unethical. I’d compare it to signing a RFA, which is completely legal under the CBA but rarely done because most GMs think it’s taboo or unseemly or ungentlemanly or whatever. Cutting a guy after he takes you to arbitration will be viewed by some players and agents as retribution, especially when it saves the team so little money. It just seems to further the perception that Buffalo is penny ante organization.
they weren’t going to pay Kennedy $1 million to have an on/off relationship with the pressbox
Really? What’re you basing that on? They paid Paetsch that much to do the same thing. And Ruff seemed to like Kennedy alot more than Paetsch.
Buying out Kennedy and keeping Gerbe actually costs more than keeping Kennedy and sending Gerbe back to Portland, and when injuries hit they’d still 2 NHL fwds instead of just one.
I love Dave’s posts.
"The three important elements of hockey are: forecheck, backcheck and paycheck." - Gil Perreault
by FloridaBuffalo on Aug 9, 2010 8:35 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
You know what’s really sad about the whole Kennedy episode? What’s the first play that comes to your mind when you think of him in a Sabres uniform? Me? The Recchi play. =/
It was tough situation for Darcy.
Sign him to the deal and you rick handicapping the team financially and hurting its roster flexibility. Cut him and you risk a PR storm because he’s a hometown kid. I think he made the right choice. Guys like Gerbe and McCormic can give them whatever they would’ve gotten from Kennedy on the ice (and in Gerbe’s case, with a lot of upside to boot).
Save Jenrry Mejia!
“Admittedly, this has been a tough offseason for Sabres management.”
Well how about the offseason before that? Nothing. And the one before that? Nothing. And the one before that? Nothing. See a pattern there?
Not signing team captain Peca destroyed what was left of the ‘99 team. That’s on Darcy. Hasek demanded a trade and won his cup with a real organization.
Letting team captains Drury and Briere walk destroyed the ‘07 team. That’s on Darcy.
Do you think cutting loose kennedy has changed players opinions of playing for Buffalo? Darcy and Larry are the problems.
And this team is not chuck full of talent. It is chuck full of prospective 3rd line players.
That means a team full of third line players won a division last year. Spare the “Yeah, but that’s because of Miller” rebuttal. If we’re paying Miller that much money, he had BETTER carry the team on some nights. That’s the fact of the matter. This team is built from the goalie out, which is a possibly knock on Darcy.
Save me the Drury/Briere business. Drury’s value was his “intangibles” and “clutch,” which has intangibly and clutchly helped the Rangers get progressively worse in each of his seasons there. Briere had a fantastic postseason this year, true. But would you want his salary and cap hit for the past three years? Darcy’s actual true decision was to balance Vanek, Briere, and Drury. Actual fun fact to tell your friends: number of goals Vanek has scored in the last three years- 104; number of goals Drury and Briere, combined, have scored in the last three years- 129.
The 2006-2007 was getting broken up no matter what. Maybe we keep Drury and Briere, but if we do, say goodbye to Vanek. So, we’d have $13 mil in annual cap space locked up for what amounts to eight additional goals per season. But I’m sure all eight of those goals would’ve been supremely clutch and gritty.
We’d also likely not have some combination of Pominville, Roy, and Miller. Fact is, if we had kept Drury or Briere, the team would look completely different right now. And I can honestly say I don’t think that Sabres team would be better than the actual Sabres team we have.
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