Well any worries about Jack Eichel not signing with the Sabres and going back to BU are officially done. Today, he signed his 3-year entry level contract and hopefully three years from now, we will have him signed to a really long-term deal. July 1st for Sabres fans usually meant disappointment and heartbreak. Eight years ago today, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere left via free agency after winning the President's Trophy. July 1st also seen the Sabres be snubbed by high profile free agents Brad Richards, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, and Shane Doan after Terry Pegula bought the team and wanted to spend top dollar. It also meant we got Ville Leino as well.
July 1st now means the official signing and berth of the Jack Eichel era in Buffalo, NY. We'll never have to think of that ever again. We are still waiting for the announcement of the extension of Ryan O'Reilly for seven to eight years for around $7-8 million a year. To help further keep him here, his brother Cal O'Reilly signed earlier for a two-year, one-way deal which means if he plays in the NHL or AHL he's still getting the same salary.
Some former Sabres were involved in trades or signings. Cody Hodgson, waived and bought out one day ago, was signed by Nashville to a one-year deal, not 12 years. I thought Arizona and Darcy Regier would sign him. Goalies Jhonas Enroth signed with the Los Angeles Kings while Michal Neuvirth signed with the Philadelphia Flyes and Anders Lindback with Arizona. So it means currently the Sabres are going with Robin Lehner and Chad Johnson as their goalies so far as they did not bring back any of their former goalies. Drew Stafford signed a two-year deal worth around $4.35 million a season yesterday to remain in Winnipeg.
Speaking of not bringing back any former Sabres, Andrej Sekera signed with Edmonton for six years which is a great move for the Oilers. I liked Sekera and wished he came back here but he moved on. He was very good in Carolina and was used very well unlike his time here with Lindy Ruff. Vancouver did not win the Hodgson trade either as they traded Zack Kassian, who was a disappointment, to Montreal for Brandon Prust and a fifth round pick.
The biggest move of the day was the Pittsburgh Penguins trading for Phil Kessel. The Penguins didn't give up much to get Kessel out of Toronto. Kessel is a very productive scorer (a point a game player) who doesn't always play hard or try hard (as evidenced by last season) and doesn't play great defense. Maybe getting him out of a horrible situation in Toronto and playing with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will help him. Hopefully Crosby can keep him in line but he's the type of player they need badly. I think it's a great move for Pittsburgh unless they continue to go belly-up in the playoffs and he doesn't perform.
The St. Louis Blues are trying to move on from their core that's failed them in the playoffs the last few years. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk is reportedly on the trade market and I would love for the Sabres to get him. The Blues let star forward Vladimir Tarasenko hit restricted free agency but they said they'll match any offer and rightfully so. They can't let him go and need to build around him. Dallas reportedly signed him to an offer sheet for 6 years, $45 million. I bet they'll match it and eventually part ways with players like David Backes and TJ Oshie.
The Chicago Blackhawks made a big move yesterday trading restricted free agent Brandon Saad to the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was a shock because many thought the Blackhawks would have kept him as there were talks of them negotiating a long term deal. They dealt his rights to the Blue Jackets for Artem Anisimov and Marko Dano. GM Stan Bowman was worried that with the Hawks' cap trouble that teams would load up on an offer sheet for Saad.
One defenseman the Sabres would have liked, Paul Martin, signed a four-year deal with the San Jose Sharks. They also traded for and signed goalie Martin Jones. They did not resign Antii Niemi, who signed with Dallas. The Sharks sent a 2016 First Round pick and prospect Sean Kuraly to the Bruins for Jones as the Sharks immediately signed him to a 3-year deal.
Barrett Jackman's 13-year career with the Blues came to an end when he signed with Nashville. Detroit surprisingly signed Mike Green to a three-year deal while also signing Brad Richards to a one-year deal. Richards won a Cup with Chicago after signing a one-year deal one year after being bought out by the New York Rangers.
The buyouts from a day ago were very interesting. The Kings terminated Mike Richards' gigantic contract after he was stopped at the border with possession of Oxycontin. Others bought out not named Cody Hodgson were Alexander Semin and former Sabre Brad Boyes. I have no interest in any of them. I liked Semin a couple years ago when he signed with Carolina for one year and was very good. He was given a ridiculous longterm contract and never lived up close to it. And to think Jim Rutherford was fired from Carolina but hired in Pittsburgh. Go figure.
This was a very interesting first day of free agency with so much going on. More deals will be made in the coming days hopefully for Buffalo as well to get a defenseman and sign O'Reilly.
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