It's only Wednesday, but I all I can think about is Friday. Friday is the truly the beginning of it all -- the return of the NHL, the draft lottery, and Sidney Crosby's career as a Buffalo Sabre. Okay, the last part was wishful thinking, but hey, it could happen!
People like Toronto Sun columnist Bill Lankhof are jealous of Buffalo's three-ball chance at scoring Crosby:
"The New York Rangers, Columbus, Pittsburgh or Buffalo have the best chance of winning the draft lottery for Sidney Crosby.
So , he's either going to The City That Never Sleeps or some place where he'll be the biggest thing next to:
a) the intramural college flag football championship;
b) a controversy over who'll be the Steelers' third-string quarterback, or;
c) the arrival of a new fire truck in Lackawanna."
A fire truck? Honestly?
After the players ratify the CBA tomorrow, the spotlight turns on Friday's board of governors meeting. The meeting will include a vote on the CBA and new rule changes, and yes, the much anticipated "who's-the-luckiest-team-in-the-NHL" show, broadcast live on NHL.com.
And if you live in Canada, you get to enjoy five hours of SportsCentre Special: Game On, airing Friday on TSN from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT! Me, the poor American fan? I'll be sitting near my computer, awaiting the 4 p.m. lottery and praying a lot.
So while Friday gets the whole thing rolling, Saturday is truly when the craziness begins. GMs, agents and players will be scrambling: a six-day window for player buyouts (that don't count against the cap) and a nine-day period for teams to negotiate exclusively with their unrestricted free agents. And then -- boom -- free agency starts Aug. 1, promising to be one of the most explosive free agent seasons ever.
If you're crying because your team is one of those grossly overpaid franchises (see Philadelphia, Detroit) and you know some fan favorites will be hitting the road for -- gasp! -- Atlanta or Calgary, be comforted to know that my favorite team, the Buffalo Sabres, is in fine shape. Well, besides a certain goaltender merry-go-round and Alexei Zhitnik's unrestricted free agency status. Tim Graham (The Buffalo News):
"The Sabres, unlike some other NHL clubs, have an abundance of players. A few changes aside, they will look much like the team that finished the 2003-04 season with only 16 regulation losses in their last 47 games.
...
Buffalo has as many as nine players under contract for the upcoming season and holds the rights to at least 15 restricted free agents. Defensemen Alexei Zhitnik and James Patrick are the only two unrestricted free agents."
That means Buffalo only has $9,149,000 of the cap taken up, plenty left to sign important restricted free agents such as Daniel Briere and JP Dumont. But just because Sabres fans won't see a huge shake-up in the roster, is that really a good thing? Jay McKee thinks so (Buffalo News):
"I think our team is in one of the best situations possible. We have a group of young, talented players ready to step up," said defenseman Jay McKee, the Sabres' NHL Players' Association representative, who will be in Toronto for Thursday's union ratification meeting. ...
"Now, in a cap world, the playing field is on an even level. We won't be going into Colorado or Toronto against teams spending so much more money." '
Hmm... will it be enough? I'm not convinced that Sabres GM Darcy Regier is ready to shell out the bucks for streaky/moody forward Miro Satan. And what if Alexei Zhitnik goes elsewhere? That puts a lot of pressure on Dmitri Kalinin and the young defense core to protect either Marty Biron, Mika Noronen, or Ryan Miller. Yea, that terrific threesome -- again.
Regier is faced with the same challenge he has been faced with the past couple of years -- is it worth protecting his "promising and growing" group of young Sabres rather than adding some proven veterans to the mix? And I'm not talking about James Patrick. What about bringing in some free agents from the outside? I don't think I can take another year of "Biron is maturing" or "superstar-in-the-making Connolly" will return from his concussion to what, lead the fourth line in scoring?
I just hope Regier keeps reminding himself that this is the same team that has missed the playoffs three consecutive seasons -- last season by six points. To ensure that it's really a level playing field next season, Regier must bring in a few new faces to solidify Buffalo's chance at a playoff spot. See you Saturday, Darcy!
Comments