acrossthelines wrote:
I wanted a defenseman and a center signed this offseason, and Regier got both. No complaints here.
I don't ever expect any GM here to acquire an acknowledged superstar in the league; nobody wants to play here, much less the best players in the NHL. We're second only to Edmonton in that regard. The Sabres will always have to rely on their own draft picks to carry the team. As long as the players acquired are decent, I can't complain.
I can't agree that we're not an attractive franchise to play for simply because of the city area. Buffalo is a nice place and you can find plenty of players who will continue to tell you that. Our franchise can't be unattractive to players as we continue to make the playoffs for the most part and are pretty competitive
Has anyone attributed the high NY taxes as a reason why some players don't come here? It actually makes the most sense. This was brought up by Howard Simon yesterday as a reason why many players don't come here. Sure, the first argument that may come up is that well the Rangers sign everybody. The Rangers also overpay everyone, also. Look at the Boogard signing. The guy is getting $1.65 million a year to match his career high point total of SIX in 2005-06, and since then, he hasn't scored a goal, nor gotten close to six points. The Islanders rarely get players to sign with them, just second-or-third-tier guys.
To think about it outside of New York's perspective, the Californian teams rarely sign anyone prolific, either. Name one player that the Sharks have signed outside of their organization this year, or last year even. The Ducks haven't really signed anybody either. The Kings signed Rob Scuderi, but grossly overpaid him last year to make sure he came.
Californian taxes are sky high, so it would make sense that players don't want to play there, either.
The way I see it it, there's players who don't want to sign with teams simply because they have no direction, or there's players who don't want to sign with a team due to cost of living, unless that team is willing to overpay the player for compensation (Jordan Leopold, anyone?). The Sabres, in my opinion, fall into the ones with the living expense issue, that being taxes. They draft well and consistently are competitive.
Hmm, never thought of the tax issue.
I don't believe that the aversion to Buffalo has anything to do with management anymore, not after Grier came back. It undoubtedly did for several seasons, but I do think they have learned from the mistakes that were made, whatever they happened to be, exactly. I do think it has quite a bit to do with the amount of snow the area gets (I think the winters are a part of the reason the players don't like Edmonton, either), the view that players have of the area formulated purely by the drive from the airport to downtown, and simply the negative perception that the public has of Buffalo in general. At best, there is neutrality in considering WNY. Taxes probably do add quite a bit to how players view living in the area.
When the Sabres do acquire new players via free agency, they have a tendency to be veterans, with families and children that are school age. Most of them do mention at some point WNY's good schools and its reputation around the league as a decent place to raise as a family as a factor in their decision to sign with the Sabres. I like WNY, but there isn't much it has to offer younger players compared to other NHL cities when it comes to stereotypically desirable traits.
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