7-8 yr deal worh 7-8 million a year

Posted by FlyersFan on 07/01/07 at 02:46 PM ET

WOW.

That is several tons of $$$$$.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/01/07 at 02:49 PM ET

8 Years!?!? GM’s have officially lost their minds. Heaven help them if the cap drops in the next few years.

Posted by moocat on 07/01/07 at 02:54 PM ET

He is so not worth that.

Posted by K24 from NYC on 07/01/07 at 02:54 PM ET

First season is for 10 million.

Posted by Yzerman19 from Nashville on 07/01/07 at 02:57 PM ET

$10M in the first year, but only a $6.5M cap hit. My guess is years 2 through 5 are huge money as well.

Posted by FlyersFan on 07/01/07 at 02:57 PM ET

He’s not worth 6.5 for 8, not at 30 years of age when the season begins. And what happens when he scores 65 or 70 points instead of his gaudy totals on a juiced-up Sabres team?

I have to say—I’m glad the Sabres didn’t bite on this. I loved watching him play, but Regier is playing the market the right way.

Posted by Fabio Escobar from Buffalo, NY on 07/01/07 at 02:59 PM ET

Of course the GMs have lost their minds.  It is completely impossible to protect them from their own stupid spending instincts because you can’t design a fool-proof CBA since fools are so ingenious.

Does this mean that next year Philly expects Briere to provide 20% of their offense, since he is taking up that much of their payroll?

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/01/07 at 03:00 PM ET

ahamdulillah!

as a habs fan, i am so so so relieved by this news.

Posted by E on 07/01/07 at 03:04 PM ET

I think the thing that Flyers fans should worry about is this whole no-movement clause, meaning that if his production declines drastically towards the end (or middle?) of the deal, they cannot buy him out or stash him in the AHL.

Posted by Kevin C from Portland, OR on 07/01/07 at 03:14 PM ET

You’re of course completely right Baroque.

What gets me isn’t so much money but the term sometimes. Talk about betting your future on some of these contracts.

Posted by Moocat on 07/01/07 at 03:16 PM ET

You’re of course completely right Baroque.

Can I quote you to my coworkers? 

Three or four years, I can see, even six for a young player.  But eight?  There are way too many things that can happen beyond the team’s or player’s control, and a longer term like that leaves so little wiggle room.

I wonder if the cap hit is the same throughout the term of the contract, and just the buyout amount is based on the slary remaining?  That could hurt if the cap goes down, even though the salary for that year isn’t bad.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/01/07 at 03:30 PM ET

The thing that drives me crazy about this is that the Sabres haven’t learned.  I agree that an 8 year deal is just crazy, but they could have had him for 5 year and $25 million after he went to arbitration.  They didn’t deal then, and it cost them.  Briere’s comment is so reminiscent of Grier’s when he left town I wonder if it wasn’t intentional; at any rate, it was true then, and it’s true now.  The Sabres are excellent at alienating their star players, and it has come back to bite them.  How long before the fans start turning away from this debacle of a front office?

Posted by Dan from Buffalo on 07/01/07 at 05:32 PM ET

Dan: Briere’s comment is so reminiscent of Grier’s when he left town I wonder if it wasn’t intentional; at any rate,

Of course Briere’s comments were a dig at Buffalo, but the truth is that they didn’t want him back at that price, not with Connolly signed and Zagrapan in the pipeline.  That’s their model.

Grier was wrong for leaving.  The front office was committed to winning just not with Jay McKee.  He made a decision that cost him a championship shot.  Had Grier been on this year’s squad we’d’ve beaten Ottawa. 

Drury hasn’t been signed yet, and with Briere out of the picture, it’s very possible that we’re still in the hunt for him now that most of the major players have made their moves.

Ta,

Posted by Tom L on 07/01/07 at 06:26 PM ET