how do you feel darcy has done thus far this offseason?

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i gave him a B. why? the ONLY issues i have with these signings are the contract lengths. i think 10 years for ehrhoff was a little bit nuts, as was 6 for leino.

outside that, im absolutely nuts about what hes done to help this team. i even feel like kotalik could be an asset (im thinking extra forward, if they have the cap space.)

i love ehrhoff. he was my main want this offseason. leino was up there too, and now that i think about it, the more i like it. regehr.. solid solid dman. is he worth 4 mil? i dont know. but i know hes worth a roster spot over montador, and ill take it. and of course, darcy didnt sign him.

overall, im very happy with darcy this offseason. i have questions about the contract lengths, but outside that... i couldnt be more happy.

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I gave Darcy an A.

-Both our needs have been addressed.
-Darcy brought in Rehghr, Ehrhoff, Leino, and a 2nd round pick and only gave up Butler, Byron, and a 4th round pick.
-We're not in cap jail, because we can easily dump ShaMo and Kotalik, and Boyes if need be freeing up 9 million, so keeping Myers and Ennis is not a problem.
-We didn't get involved in the Richards shit show (really, presentations??) and weren't for the next best guy.
-The contract lengths are long, but the cap hits are quite low.
-Gerbe & McCormick re-signed to multi-year deals (locking up our bottom 6)
-No more Conolly = CULTURE CHANGE!!!!

This is what I've always thought Darcy was capable of doing. Finally we have an owner that will let him do it...

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"Let's just trap Sekera in the caverns underneath HSBC arena." -BlueandYellow

Reporter: "Steve, you guys now lead the league in defensive scoring."
Montador: "It's probably because of how good-looking we are."

I agree with the contract lengths being a tad long. The way they are structured though makes them easily moveable, or easy to buyout down the line. Figure the cap and average salaries are going to increase every year. They might even end up being bargains in 3 or 4 years who knows haha.

But yeah, either way this team has more talent than its had in a while, and they were playing decent with what they already had. I'm pretty excited.

i forgot, while a 7th rounder isnt much, he did get a 7th for the rights of montador.

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Darcy gets an A for recognizing that Richards wouldn't come to Buffalo, and snatching up Leino before other teams turned to their plan B.

He also gets an A for making our defense tougher, bringing in solid playoff experience, and all in all sending a statement to the current Sabres that this team is going to be one that goes for it.

Even if Darcy doesn't trade for a center, I think this team is going to be really good.

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Wheelhouse

I'm not voting yet because free agency is only 23 hours, 27 minutes old and he still has to trade or demote dead weight, re-sign all the RFAs, and has a chance to trade with someone still.

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mechaphil

He meant so far. Grade the moves Darcy has done so far.

I give his moves a "B".

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

I gave him an A but really should be getting an A- . If he sign/trades for a center that's half descent like Stastny he might be getting an A+ from me and that's rare because I never thought he was a good gm.

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just call me Brad

Twitter @BUrbanowicz13

I give him an A, and he really can't do anything the rest of the summer to bring that down. TSN has a poll that has Buffalo getting the most votes over NYR, FLA, and Philly. I agree, nobody did as much as Darcy did so quickly. Florida has done well also, but how hard is it to improve on a massive pile of shit? They acquired nine players that are mediocre to above average, so at best they should now be a legit playoff contender instead of a joke.

Buffalo was tearing it up in the 2nd half, and now have three top notch additions to improve on it. Still have to play the games, but on paper Darcy kicked tail (courtesy of Pegula).

gave him a B so far.

darcy did a great job of upgrading our defense. i feel like our d was a much bigger issue than the lack of great centers. putting a better defense in front of miller instantly makes this team look much better. we've had too many goals scored on us in the past because of sloppy play by the defense in front of miller.


and while i'm ok the leino pick up, and think it was the option available for us, i don't know if ville deserves the contract he got, or if he'll really be able to play 2nd line center. but i guess we'll see, and hopefully i'll be proven wrong.

And the contracts are front loaded, take Ehrhoff's contract, if it doesn't work out, $15 of the $40M will be paid out in the first 2 years of the contract, so if we wanted to trade him or walk away from the contract its not a team killer like Loubrongo's.

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If your having goal problems, I feel bad for ya son....we got 99 problems but Vanek ain't one!

After Brad Richards, I'd say that we got the 2nd or 3rd best center in FA.

If I going to say anything about Darcy's recent signings its that there are still 3 years left on the Pominville deal.

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If your having goal problems, I feel bad for ya son....we got 99 problems but Vanek ain't one!

I gave Darcy a B

He stole Regher and a second rounder off of Calgary for Butler and Byron. And then he overspends on Ehrhoff and Leino. Don't get me wrong I like Leino but not at what we are paying him. Ehrhoff I have seen alot of because of watching western conference games here out west and he's decent defenseman but come on who wouldn't be when playing with the Sedin's, Kesler, Burrows on the powerplay. I would have rather spent that money somewhere else. This team has alot of defensman coming and I thought Regher and maybe another solid stay at home defenseman would have been fine. My only issue is they are above the cap now and still have Weber, Grag's, Enroth, and Sekera to re-sign. I know Morrisson and Kotalik will open up that space but my only concern is we have the two Tyler's to re-sign this year as well. Plus we still lack that number 1 center that this team desperately needs.

SabresBillsFan

They are NOT over the cap right now...they will be after they re-sign the RFAs. One simple move can clear the cap overage. As for salary, don't get caught up in what you think these guys are worth...none of them are worth the money. It's about market, and if the NHL is making enough money to raise the cap then the new UFAs get paid more every season.

Instead, focus on who the better players were that were available. Out of the group Darcy had to choose from, he got the 2nd best UFA D-man, one of the top ten stay-at-home d-men league wide, and the 2nd or 3rd best UFA forward. How much better could he have done?

As for re-signing the Tylers, there is plenty of cap room available next season. It's been posted ad nauseum that Hecht, Boyes, Gaustad are off the books. Sure we'll probably want to keep Gaustad, but Hecht is not worth 3.5, Boyes may or may not be but either way he's not a necessity. Then of course Kotalik and Morrisonn are gone also if not before the season starts. After all that the cap will be raised again anyway, and we don't have any other RFAs beside Kaleta. We're fine for next season.

I'd give him a solid B+

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"...they came down into the stands and asked if I knew how to do play by play. I said...No. But. I'll take a shot at it if you want".- Rick Jeanneret

i think its telling he was graded by us all As and some Bs.

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I gave it a B, filled a bunch of needs, and while I don't love the Leino signing, I am optimistically curious.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

I gave him an E.

for Excellent!

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This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
--Emerson

Most of us have criticized Darcy Regier for not doing enough in the offseason to improve the team. That criticism falls on then-owners Golisano and Quinn. This offseason is different, and likely the best in Regier's tenure in acquiring talent.

We acquired two defensemen, Robyn Regehr and Christian Ehrhoff, who strengthens the blueline and makes Miller's job easier. We signed Ville Leino to be a top forward who can produce. We reacquired Ales Kotalik with hope he can revive his career where it was good.

Grade: A

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Let's go Buffalo!