Regehr-gate Is Finally Over, Robyn Regehr Has Waived His No Trade Clause

by Zachary Zielonka on Jun 25, 2011 10:22 AM EDT

The deal that was pending, then off because Robyn Regehr wanted to find out his options, appears to be back on now according to TSN's Darren Dreger. One of Regehr's options, the San Jose Sharks, made a play for defenseman Brent Burns during the draft. The deal appears to be, as it hasn't been officially confirmed, Robyn Regehr and Ales Kotalik for the rights for Chris Butler, Paul Byron and a 2012 2nd round pick.

Robyn Regehr is a standard stay at home defenseman who has 11 years of NHL experience with the Calgary Flames. He is not a player that is going to light the lamp up much at all, he has 29 goals in 826 games, but he is going to give sound defensive play. Regehr has finished a season with a negative plus/minus rating only four times out of 11 seasons and those were in his first four seasons. He is a career +30.

Following the jump, our thoughts on the rest of the pieces of the puzzle.

The second piece to the puzzle is someone we are all too familiar with, Ales Kotalik. Kotalik was apart of the Sabres for six and a half seasons before he was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers at the trade deadline in 2009. He became a scapegoat for many things during his time in Buffalo and his production hasn't gotten much better since he left. In the 116 games he has played since leaving Buffalo, Kotalik has registered 22 goals and 44 points. Kotalik hasn't gotten better since leaving Buffalo, he's regressed.

If the rumors hold true, and at this point this is PURE SPECULATION, the Sabres will be sending back the rights to Chris Butler, Paul Byron, and a 2nd round pick. The biggest piece of the puzzle are the rights to Chris Butler, rights as he is still a restricted free agent. Butler has been bogged down in the Sabres system with the glut of young defensemen that the Sabres have. That glut got bigger with the emergence of Marc Andre Gragnani at the end of the last season. Butler is a good defenseman and will be good in the Calgary system, but he is a more offensive minded defenseman than Regehr.

Paul Byron had a quick cup of coffee with the Sabres this season with two games played in where he registered his first NHL point and his first NHL goal. Byron had 53 points in the AHL this season with 26 goals and 27 assists.

If this deal holds true in its current format, the Sabres should be viewed as the winner even though it took the San Jose Sharks trading for Brent Burns for Regehr to finally acquiesce and come to Buffalo. Our final thought on this comes from Darren Dreger from TSN who had this nugget about the deal:

Sabres owner Terry Pegula very influential in Regehr's decision to waive and accept move to Buffalo.less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet ReplyDarren Dreger
DarrenDreger

Tweet Comment 27 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

Love the Pegula Affect.

Pretty happy about this trade.

Lets Go Buff a lo!!!

by bflo on Jun 25, 2011 10:26 AM EDT reply actions

The NHL has now officially announced the trade. Buffalo gets Calgary’s 2nd rounder.

"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England

by Calvert on Jun 25, 2011 11:16 AM EDT reply actions

According to the Sabres we actually get Calgary’s 2nd round pick, they don’t get ours.

Regehr + +Kotalik + 2nd —> Buffalo
Byron + Butler —> Calgary

by JSCoope on Jun 25, 2011 11:23 AM EDT reply actions

front page of Sabres.com.

wow, the Sabres got a Second Rounder too? Is that a gift for taking Kotalik’s money?

"If we needed any more motivation to win a Cup sooner than later, we've got one now," Black said. "I really want to listen to the game that RJ calls when he finally gets to shout out, 'Buffalo wins the Stanley Cup.'"

by FloridaBuffalo on Jun 25, 2011 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Yes considering its unlikely Kotalik will be playing in the NHL.

On the Mike Weber bandwagon!
Sabres took the scenic route, but they still MADE IT TO THE PLAYOFFS!!!1

by Ubiquitous on Jun 25, 2011 5:31 PM EDT up reply actions

OK

So this is a good trade.
Butler might turn out to be good, but Regehr is proven to be good. We gave up potential for certified. I think the best part about this trade is we have a guy to show our young dmen how to play. Regehr should accelerate the growth of Myers, Grags, Weber etc. plus it gives us a guy who will crack skulls. Regehr, McCormick, Weber is a good amount of toughness to have.

by JSCoope on Jun 25, 2011 11:29 AM EDT reply actions

The only thing I’m worried about at this moment, is the number of people on the Calgary site that say that Regehr looked slow this season… Could be an injury or just getting older.

But that fact the Sabres got the 2nd rounder and didn’t give it up makes this trade even better.

by FloridaBuffalo on Jun 25, 2011 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions

I hope this is a result of them being bitter for ending up on the wrong side of a Buffalo-winning deal. I have seen lots of other places say that he is still a solid D; I still think its a win for us, especially since we moved up into the 2nd round for next year. I would like to see us get into the 2nd round this year, but overall this is a nice trade.

"We’re gonna win the Stanley Cup. Then, you know what, we’re gonna win it again,"
-Terry Pegula

by bgred105 on Jun 25, 2011 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions

probably true, I just have the thought of the second coming of Rivet. Regehr has been better than Rivet throughout his career, but I’m a Buffalo sports fan, it’s hard to be completely optimistic and positive.

by FloridaBuffalo on Jun 25, 2011 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions

Still have to sign McCormick but I agree that this is a fantastic deal as well. Even happier that the Sabres got the 2nd round pick too

Die By The Blade - Where we've even turned ourselves around since January 1st.

by Zachary Zielonka on Jun 25, 2011 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Kotaliks back !

This is all the pegula affect guys, hes lettin Darcy spend money !!

by FgallosJAGS on Jun 25, 2011 11:35 AM EDT reply actions

Regehr is a solid defensive defenceman..

by FgallosJAGS on Jun 25, 2011 11:35 AM EDT reply actions

Darcy, you devious bastard

I can’t believe that this shook out that we GOT a second round pick rather than gave one up.

by Katemc on Jun 25, 2011 11:45 AM EDT reply actions

I hope this isn't another Rivet deal

Regehr’s initial reluctance to waive his no trade clause concerns me if the reason was that he did not want to go to Buffalo. I think Rivet’s disappointing play in Buffalo was a result of his not wanting to leave San Jose. I just hope that Regehr is not similarly inclined.

by Geolover on Jun 25, 2011 11:59 AM EDT reply actions

Rivet’s disappointing play was the result of being injured on the wrong side of his career.

by FloridaBuffalo on Jun 25, 2011 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Heck

I wouldn’t be upset if all we got was the second rounder for Butler and Byron, the fact that we got a solid first pair defenseman to pair with Myers for the next few years is just some oh-so-delicious gravy on top.

Getting Kotalik back is meh. I don’t expect we keep him.

Damn my eternal optimism, will I never learn?

NOPE, LET'S GO BUFFALO!

by Over the Moon on Jun 25, 2011 12:11 PM EDT reply actions

I like to look at Kotalik as a very useful 4rth liner. When Kotalik was here the Sabres were almost automatic on 5-on-3’s but no so much since he left. He’s also one of the best shootout guys in the league which is probably worth an extra 2 or 3 points in the standings. Plus, when injuries hit I’d prefer to have him step up to the second line then someone like McCormick.

All in all I love deal. I do wish it was Sekera instead of Butler that was leaving but you can’t have everything.

by Tsujimoto on Jun 25, 2011 12:39 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Kotalik

Has anybody kept tabs on Ales since he left? I followed him in NYR and he seemed to be exactly the same as when he was a Sabre, but once he went to Calgary I didn’t follow him at all and I have no idea how he played or whether he was still killing shoot-outs and 1 timers. All I know is he got demoted to the AHL for a while and didnt get any better, but did he get worse?

by JSCoope on Jun 25, 2011 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Not sure I'd call Rehehr a solid 1st pair defenseman.

Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.

by Ogre39666 on Jun 25, 2011 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Official

http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/125713/37/Sabres-Confirm-Regehr-Trade

The trade was officially announced just before the start of the second round of the NHL draft. The Sabres send defenseman Chris Butler and forward Paul Byron to the Flames for defenseman Robyn Regehr and forward Ales Kotalik. The Sabres also get a second round draft choice in the 2012 entry draft.

When you innovate, you've got to be prepared for everyone telling you you're nuts.

by J2 on Jun 25, 2011 12:32 PM EDT reply actions

I don't know how anybody can not like this move

We get a guarenteed top 4 defenseman who should eat minutes on the PK. Not only is he a top 4 defenseman but he’s a Defensive Defenseman, something which we greatly need.
Even if he’s in the decline of his career (and I really don’t think he is, it seems he has another 2-3 years in his prime), right now he’s a proven top 4 and we don’t have a proven top 4 in our system, we have maybe a concrete 2 guys, and the bottom 4 rotate so this gives us another option. Also, he’s a scrapper but not a thug. He’s a veteran with 11 years in the league. If people are expecting him to come in and score 40 points and play 25mins a game then you’ll be disappointed because that’s not what this move is about.
We get a guy who will show the younger Dmen the ropes, will play top 4 minutes, be among the team leaders in hits, blocked shots and +/- and probably minutes. Considering what we gave up and the fact we got a 2nd rounder with it we have a steal, even more so when you consider he only has 2 years left on his deal anyway. I’d give this trade a 8/10

by JSCoope on Jun 25, 2011 12:36 PM EDT reply actions

The new Darcy!

Nice job Darcy! Look what can happen when he is not handcuffed! I know this is only one trade but it is a very good start.
If you asked anyone what we need during the off-season it was a #1 center and a good defenseman. Well, one of the two is now not needed.
I am not worried about Regehr taking some time to make his decision, he has been with his team for his whole career, who knows what really happened. All I know is our new owner called him and he now is drinking the Pegula kool-aid. This is what happens when your owner is passionate about his team but lets his employee’s do there jobs.
Now lets see who that # 1 center is going to be!!

by LasVegasBillsFan on Jun 25, 2011 12:58 PM EDT reply actions

Great trade

Way to go Darcy!! I still have hopes for Butler, and won’t mind seeing him succeed in Calgary, but to get a 2nd and Regher (and Kotalik) for Butler and Byron? What?! That’s a great deal for us folks. I’m stoked.

by buffaloparks on Jun 25, 2011 1:29 PM EDT reply actions

Butler was the weakest of the RFA defensemen and Darcy got a great deal.

Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.

by Ogre39666 on Jun 25, 2011 2:04 PM EDT reply actions

I heard that pegula, black, and ruff are flying to Calgary to personally meet with regehr

by FloridaBuffalo on Jun 25, 2011 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions

They're like the Mod Squad.

Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.

by Ogre39666 on Jun 25, 2011 2:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Or at least the A-Team

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by UZ on Jun 26, 2011 8:50 AM EDT up reply actions