X. Benedict Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 Considering he was only the third or fourth best defensemen on the team last year, that is DAMN good money. I'd put Tallinder and Lydman ahead of him. Kalinin could be ahead of him if he can stay healthy (a problem McKee himself had until last season) and maybe Campbell for what he brings in the new NHL. We can lose all our UFAs and still have a very successful off-season if we get 3 and 4 year deals done with our core players (Tallinder, Briere, Roy, Connolly, etc.) 717414[/snapback] A lot of time that McKee was on the ice in this past year at regular strength he benefited from being paired with good skating defenseman and great forecheck. He's a good player, but he isn't the complete package you would expect to get for 4 mil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerme1 Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 I will miss him he is a solid guy. 4 per for 4 years is insane though. Good luck Jay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oneonta Buffalo Fan Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsGuyInMalta Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 Blues apparently just brought back Doug Weight as well for 3.5 million per year. Looks like they are throwing money around. Gotta wonder if ANY NHL teams paid attention last season...overpaying for big FAs gives you one great line...and a sideline seat for the playoffs (or a very quick exit). But hey...when you are the Blues, you got nowhere to go but up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dib Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 And as for Jay McKee, clearly it was about the money. it's always about the money. we root for the laundry now. mercenaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 And as for Jay McKee, clearly it was about the money. it's always about the money. we root for the laundry now. mercenaries. 717515[/snapback] Why wouldn't it be? Jay McKee doesn't owe Buffalo anything. He played his ass off when he was here and he got a chance to get paid because of it. Buffalo couldn't pony up anywhere near that money and I don't blame him for taking it - most people would do exactly the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerme1 Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 For as long as he's been here and after what happened last off season, I would too. My gut says if Darcy were to have offered 2.75 for 5 or 3 for 4 he would have stayed. Good for him though, he's not doing anything wrong by taking that deal. Oh well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHOUTBOX MONSTER! Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 The Blues also signed forward Dallas Drake to a $2.1-million, two-year deal. Drake had 26 points in 2 games last season. Holy crap! Now there's a guy worth the money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted July 3, 2006 Author Share Posted July 3, 2006 mercenaries. 717515[/snapback] Yeah, right....none of us would take a job with the Fins' or Pats if we were offered $16 million guaranteed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheRocks Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 I am sad to see him leave. He has been my favorite defensive Sabre for a long time. Good Luck to him...and I hope when his 4 years are up, and the Sabres need an old vet defenseman in 4 years they can sign him for a minimum to close out his career. I am also sad to see Grier won't be back. He was avg during the regular season, but he was tremendous in the post season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 I guess it's a generational thing, but 2 posters mentioned McKee getting disrespected by the Sabres. What is disrespectful about the team making a business decision? Disrespect is not holding the door for the person (male or female) behind you. McKee is going to make some nice change over the next 4 years and he's happy about that. Those of you who think he was disrespected need to get a clue (no disrespect intended). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Davidson is the Blues GM now? Sad to see him go but no need to overpay w/ they have i guess. Also, the Bruins payed Chara a lot, which is bizzare; don't they need lots of help? 717318[/snapback] Close, he's the team president. It makes sense that it was the Blues to make the IMO very overly generous offer to him, because Davidson clearly was a fan of McKee's and had stated that he expected McKee to be courted by several teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Thanks Jay McKee for all of your outstanding efforts over the past 10 years. you'll definitely be missed here in buffalo. i remember watching him coming up playing for the ontario thunder of the OHL. that being said, the blues overpaid. 4 mil per season for a 3/4 d-man is waay over paying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Hate to see him go, but for those $$ there was no other option. Good luck Jay; at least you won't have to wear the Barney Rubble hairpiece unis next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spun Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 I can't see the Sabres doing as well as they did without losing a few. Although I will miss McKee, the Sabres already know how to play without him. Resign Grier. He forces the action especially with his forechecking. Good luck McKee! Invest well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasper13 Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 It doesn't bother me that McKee wasn't signed considering how much St. Louis ended up giving him and anyone who thought the Sabres were going to trade for Pronger is smoking the proverbial crack pipe. What really bugs me is that the Sabres aren't doing anything to improve the team. As of this afternoon, Buffalo and San Jose are the only two teams who have not made one single move since the draft. What do the Sabres need? A defensemen to replace McKee and also depth at defense. Since Saturday, something like 25 defensemen have signed or been traded. The Sabres are just sitting there watching all the 2nd-3rd tier defensemen signing elsewhere. Here's a perfect example of what I am talking about- Pittsburgh Penguins signed defensemen Mark Eaton to a 2 year contract today. Eaton is 29 years old, 6'2, 212lbs. He spent the last 5 seasons in Nashville. Eaton is a prototypical stay-at-home defensemen. He led the Predators in blocked shots, kills penalties and always played against the other teams top line. 2005/06 salary- $700,000. Even if Pittsburgh doubled his salary, he still would make less than McKee made last season. He would have been a perfect fit for the Sabres. What the hell is Regier doing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDS Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Even if Pittsburgh doubled his salary, he still would make less than McKee made last season. He would have been a perfect fit for the Sabres. What the hell is Regier doing? 717782[/snapback] there is a post at TSR that says the Sabres may not have a TV contract next season, per Jim Kelley, and this could have a big impact on their finances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsGuyInMalta Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 It doesn't bother me that McKee wasn't signed considering how much St. Louis ended up giving him and anyone who thought the Sabres were going to trade for Pronger is smoking the proverbial crack pipe. What really bugs me is that the Sabres aren't doing anything to improve the team. As of this afternoon, Buffalo and San Jose are the only two teams who have not made one single move since the draft. What do the Sabres need? A defensemen to replace McKee and also depth at defense. Since Saturday, something like 25 defensemen have signed or been traded. The Sabres are just sitting there watching all the 2nd-3rd tier defensemen signing elsewhere. Here's a perfect example of what I am talking about- Pittsburgh Penguins signed defensemen Mark Eaton to a 2 year contract today. Eaton is 29 years old, 6'2, 212lbs. He spent the last 5 seasons in Nashville. Eaton is a prototypical stay-at-home defensemen. He led the Predators in blocked shots, kills penalties and always played against the other teams top line. 2005/06 salary- $700,000. Even if Pittsburgh doubled his salary, he still would make less than McKee made last season. He would have been a perfect fit for the Sabres. What the hell is Regier doing? 717782[/snapback] San Jose made their first move, signing Mike Grier of all people. So it looks like we're #1 at inactivity! Whoooo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasper13 Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 If they don't get a TV contract, they may as well move the team. That would be suicidal. If Golisano was smart, he would revive the Empire Sports Network. Teams that own their own TV channel rake in the bucks as they keep all the ad revenue and producing the games themselves also saves money. Look at the Sabres playoff TV ratings and it's obvious there is a big demand for it. They could have a longer pregame, longer postgame, add Sabres Classic Games and whatever else they could think of. It wouldn't lose money, that is for sure. Empire was around for a decade and it made money until the Rigases stole it all. It's truly amazing to me that after all the good the team did and all the fans they brought back, how badly this off-season is going so far. It seems to me that all they wanted to do was increase season ticket sales and count their profits and in turn, once-again, crap all over Sabres fans in the process. Let's tally up the bad since the Game 7 loss to Carolina. Came out with a horrible logo. May not have a TV contract. Couldn't resign Jay McKee. Haven't signed any of their other unrestricted free agents. Haven't signed any of their restricted free agents. Haven't signed anyone else's unrestricted free agents. Have yet to trade Martin Biron while the goalie needs of other teams keeps shrinking. The owner is a multi-billionaire. Instead of taking a bunch of steps back, spend a few million (like the $5 million profit he made) and improve the team. Standing still while everyone else gets better (or at least tries to get better) is just undoing all the good they did. If nothing is done to improve the on-ice product, they could very well miss the playoffs in 2006/07. They aren't going to catch any teams by surprise next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Close, he's the team president. It makes sense that it was the Blues to make the IMO very overly generous offer to him, because Davidson clearly was a fan of McKee's and had stated that he expected McKee to be courted by several teams. 717674[/snapback] They were generous because they had to be. No way a player signs with a team in such disarray for the same dollars they could get on a contender. The Blues new ownership understands that they are going to have to overpay for a season or two until they get the ship righted and the team again becomes a destination players look at for more than dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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