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.