A confident Darcy Regier told the Howard Simon Show in Buffalo this morning that he is confident that he will be adding a difference-making centreman to his organization in the near future. The UFA pool is slim pickins, and Regier said that he and his front office have discussed the advent of offer sheets. Don't expect the Buffalo GM to offer sheet his centre, or any other player for that matter. Regier will upgrade his team via the trade route.

Regier said: "You weigh the ability to acquire a centreman against what you presently have".

Regier says that he will look elsewhere to upgrade the pivot in Buffalo.

Roy, Connolly, Gaustad, and McCormick are your present candidates. Luke Adam will come to training camp looking for an NHL job. He'll likely get one, either at the pivot, or on the wall. Hecht and Boyes can play the pivot, but they are not upgrades.

Regier says that a trade market will open up the week after the UFA market opens.


Regier also said on the record that he is looking to upgrade his D with another experienced Dman.

Let the speculation begin!


Here are my centres of choice:

Paul Stastny
Joe Pavelski


I spoke with a Western friend this weekend who told me that the Avs have always liked Paul Gaustad and they are looking for a defensive stalwart at centre. Matt Duchene has proven in a short period of time that he is a bonafide #1, with O'Reilly impressing and the uber talented Joey Hishon on the come. The Avs would sacrifice Stastny's offensive output in order find their checking centreman.

TJ Brennan is a very respectable comparable player to the recently departed John Michael Liles. Drew Schistel is also a player that has attracted the attention of many teams in the NHL.

At the Trade Deadline last winter, I told you that the Sabres were interested in acquiring Stastny, who has three years remaining on his present deal at $6.6 million per copy.

The San Jose Sharks were harpooned by the Vancouver Canucks in the Playoffs. Their GM, Doug Wilson, promised change when his team was eliminated. They are a talented group, however, they continue to under achieve in the Western Playoffs. Therefore, its time to make changes. Wilson shocked his fan base when he traded Devin Setoguchi and prospects for Brent Burns at the draft on Friday night. There will be another skate or two to drop in San Jose. Pavelski is a full value centreman who does everything well. He scores, he creates, he forechecks like a pit bull in heat, and he's a winner. He scored 20 goals(11 on the PP) last season, after he had scored 25 in each of the 08/09 and 09/10 seasons. Pavelski thrives to get himself on the score sheet in the Playoffs.

Pavelski is a full in that he is a $4 million cap hit for the next three seasons.

The Sabres would have to move a top starting D and a prospect to land Pavelski.


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Today is the deadline for NHL GMs to tender their RFAs.

Sabres GM, Darcy Regier, told the Howard Simon Show in Buffalo this morning that he has tendered Jhonas Enroth, Nathan Gerbe, Mike Weber, Reggie Sekera, and Marc Andre Gragnani.

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Regier mentioned that he has had converstaions with UFAs Cody McCormick and Tim Connolly. He plans to continue the dialogue with each player's agent tomorrow.

Curiously, Regier said that due to the shortage of experienced centres in this present crop of UFAs, he would be interested in keeping Connolly in Buffalo. Regier says that organizationally, Lindy Ruff has been relying on heavily on Connolly to perform more on the defensive side of the puck. Connolly also has thrived on the PK and on the 5 on 3 PK.

I'm not a huge fan of Connolly, however, I like the idea of signing him to a deep hometown discount, then re-purposing him as a Dominic Moore type or Gregory Campbellesque, D-first centreman.

Offensively, Connolly has been a mess the past couple of seasons. His defense has been his calling card the past three seasons.

I like Connolly in a checking role.