Not a bad list. I figured we'd be in on Stemps, he is a Buffalo boy after all, and what kid doesn't want to play for his hometown team?

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Rest in Peace Nani. 10/3/10

Gerbacity



"Grier coming in over the line. He leaves it to Gaustad. The shot. THEY SCOOOREE!! RING UP ANOTHER ONE FOR THE GOOSE!!! HONK IF YA HEAR THE GOOSE!! 3-0 BUFFALO!"

Stemps also is streakier than Drew Stafford and has delusion of grandeur about his value.

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mechaphil

According to NHL numbers the Sabres have over 12 million in cap space.

The need a back-up goalie.
Another defense man, maybe.
And 2 or 3 forwards.

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger

Never trust NHL.com for cap information. ALWAYS trust http://capgeek.com

$10M available to re-sign Kaleta, Kennedy, and bring in a back-up.

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mechaphil

He wasn't using NHL.com, but NHLnumbers.com...which is a good site too for cap information, although the players ages are always a year or two off for some reason.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

Aha. Well, I still use Cap Geek for everything now. They even tie in with Hockey DB for stats.

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mechaphil

This can't be all we do though...

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

Well, if they sign both Kaleta and Kennedy, that's 12 forwards. Signing Leopold puts them at 6 defensemen. There's still that empty spot behind Miller.

Unless some trades happen, free agents are brought in, and RFAs allowed to walk, all that's left to happen is re-sign Kaleta and Kennedy, promote Enroth, and have Weber and Gragnani duke it out to earn the last open spot once the season starts and Rivet is on IR.

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mechaphil

It won't be. Expect another forward. And, if the Bieksa rumor is true, I wouldn't be surprised if Stafford and/or Connolly is involved in the offer.

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Rest in Peace Nani. 10/3/10

Gerbacity



"Grier coming in over the line. He leaves it to Gaustad. The shot. THEY SCOOOREE!! RING UP ANOTHER ONE FOR THE GOOSE!!! HONK IF YA HEAR THE GOOSE!! 3-0 BUFFALO!"

What I fully expect to see is Darcy re-sign both Kaleta and Kennedy, sign a RW to play with Vanek and Roy OR promote Ennis to the top line and sign a LW to play on the third line, deal Stafford, re-sign Ellis or bring in someone like Arron Asham, and either promote Enroth or sign a UFA back-up (Turco, Theodore, or Legace).

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mechaphil

How about Steven Valliquet (wrong spelling)? He is a decent backup, a step up from Lalime.

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

He used to be a good back-up, but his GAA was upwards of 3.7 last season. His play started to go to shit in 08/09 and has just gotten worse since.

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mechaphil

TSN.ca says Johan Hedburg is still up but wasn't he signed by NJ or something?

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

He was signed by NJD, that's right. Only Turco, Nabokov, and Theodore are left of the high-profile goaltenders.

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mechaphil

Two of them are too pricey, and the one... Is.... Ehhhhhh....

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

Well, in terms of sheer talent, I'd definitely rank them Nabby, Turco, Jose. But in terms of affordability, it's Jose, then Turco, then Nabby. However, in terms of desperation, it seems it's back to Nabby, Turco, Jose.

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mechaphil

NHLnumbers has the easiest to read listing of team/player cap hits. Capgeek allows you to calculate cap hits with any roster you choose to put together, which is pretty cool.

This is my cliffsnotes version of Buffalo's situation...

16 players under contract at 48 million (9 forwards, 6 d-men, 1 goalie), leaving 7 roster spots to fill.

Re-signing RFAs Kaleta and Kennedy will add 1.7 mil (give or take 100k), 5 roster spots open. The cheapest way to fill the last three forward spots is any combination of Ellis, Ennis, Gerbe, and Mancari...at a total cap hit of right about 3 mil. That's a full 14 forwards, and a total of 21 players for a cap hit of 52.7 mil.

Bringing up Weber will fill the last d-man spot at a cap hit of 850k, 53.5 mil total.

Bringing up Enroth or signing a UFA goalie will cost about the same - another 850k-1mil. That makes a full roster at about 54.5 mil total cap hit.

That leaves about 5 million under the 59.4 cap limit. If any player above gets traded away for a bigger contract player, that provides at least 850k to the cap room (whatever that player's cap hit was). That means there is almost 6 million in cap room to bring in any combination of proven vets as long as one of the above listed players is traded away in the deal (or left in the AHL if possible).

That's plenty of room to sign a UFA or to trade for a big contract player.

Yeah he got a lot too, like 1.5! I wanted Roycroft, but isn't Irish Ty "The Conk-Blocker" Conklin still available?

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger

Well, his stay here didn't work out so well last time. I don't even think he played a single game, or if he did it was a loss. Still he grows a sweet moustache!

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mechaphil

Yeah Conklin only played a few games with us.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo