If you goal is to win a cup...you have to figure out what to do with a 7.14M hit on the wing who puts up Clarke MacArthur numbers while contributing nothing in his own end. I mean...really, we pay 7.14M for Ray Whitney guys.
The only way you are moving him is with some serious loot. Yes, you have to give him away and then some to get anyone to eat his contract through 2014. Before you jump on it, realize that keeping him means almost without a doubt either Miller or Myers have to go in 2012 or you are going to win nothing with those 3 and a bunch of McCormicks (like 8 of them...and a couple of Butlers thrown in). You can be basically a 5 player team like Pittsburgh if Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Fleury and Martin are those 5. (Notice those three guys are centers who make others better and play better in their own end then most of ours). Say what you want, Pominville's deal stinks, but he plays in his own end and isn't raping our payroll like Vanek.
So how do you get rid of him? You package him with Enroth and Gerbe for Rob Schremp, Blake Kessel and Mikko Koskinen (Isles). Enroth becomes their starter and Vanek plays next to Tavares now. We replace the 'prospect goalie' position and essentially push 'REBOOT' on this whole mess. Where does it leave usagainst cap?
-7.14 Vanek -4.5 Connolly (If they resign him...ugh) +1 Stafford ( I think he'll get about 3.3 as an RFA) -1.4 Grier -1.25 Neidermayer -850K Gerbe +300K McCormick -3.5 Rivet +1M Montador (More then that, F it, fill in with someone else) +250K Sekera (Weber in for Butler, even swap salary wise or close) -600K Lalime +1.4 M Schremp
So that is...drumroll, 15.6M off the cap. You team looks like:
C: Roy, Schremp, Gaustad <??????> LW: Ennis, Hecht RW: Stafford, Pominville, McCormick, Kaleta (Adam/Mancari/Ellis) D: Myers, Montador, Weber, Sekera, Morrisonn, Leopold (Grags or Schiestel)
Then add Erik Cole, Alex Tanguay and Marty Turco as a one year fill in until Biron is UFA and can come back to be the real Marty on the bench. These three are about half our cap savings. So what about the rest? Well, we have to keep Myers looming contract in the future in mind, but that said...JASON ARNOTT is the big bodied warrior we've all wanted in the middle for years. He gets 2yrs 10M to come be my anchor.
So before you cry at the loss of Vanek and all his 'potential' and Enroth who may or may not someday be Hasek II, ladies and gentlemen, my 2011 Sabres:
Cole-Arnott-Pominville Tanguay-Roy-Stafford Ennis-Schremp-McCormick Hecht-Gaustad-Kaleta (Adam/Mancari/Ellis)
D: Myers, Montador (Or 3.5M fill), Weber, Sekera, Morrisonn, Leopold (Grags or Schiestel) G: Miller, Turco
I could roll like this.
|