I’m a fan of Mike Robitaille, the MSG and former Empire Sports Network studio analyst. He’s knowledgeable about the game of hockey, understands the Sabres organization perhaps better than anyone else in the media, and additionally, always adds some great analogies to the softballs that lifeless Sylvester lobs to him. He also comes on the WGR morning show and I occasionally catch the conversation through the audio-vault, on WGR’s website. He said something interesting the other day about how the market has changed the way general managers evaluate players based on their contracts.
Here’s what I have to add. In the previous summer, Craig Rivet was desirable because of his contract and relative low cap number for a veteran player that is defensively reliable. Along those same lines, Derek Roy’s contract lasts for an additional 4-years with a cap hit of 4.0 million. Is it safe to say that Derek Roy is a huge bargain in terms of talent and production in comparison to his cap number and contract length. He is tied for 24th in the league in points scored this year. There are more than 100 players with cap numbers higher than Roy.
So what about Jason Pominville? Does he have value on the trade market? I love the guy just as much as everybody else, but let me expand on this point.
If the value of stars with low salary cap numbers has become inflated, Buffalo has to be considered a strong market for that commodity. For years, the National Hockey League has been preying on the talent the Sabres develop. But it also has to be acknowledged that players that were formerly stars with the Sabres have signed contracts that are impossible to live up to. Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, and Brian Cambpell have salary cap hits of 7.05, 6.50, and 7.14 million. Those numbers are huge for veteran players that have already peaked.
So, I ask again, what’s the market for Jason Pominville? His career highs in goals and assists are 34 and 53, respectively, and it’s only his third full season in the league. Is it unreasonable to assume he has the potential to have 40 goals and 60 assist years and he’s signed at a cheaper price than any other player with that production possibility. Pominville’s contract, that doesn’t go into effect until next year, calls for 5-years with a cap hit of 5.3 million. The Sabres have a deep supply of young forwards that are just on the cusp of taking it to the next level. I truly believe that.
I think Pominville has value. I also realize that he has value on this team and it would be wise to hold onto Pominville because a player of his magnitude doesn’t come around every once in awhile. But some other team might consider Pominville’s value to be higher than Buffalo does and might be willing to dangle some considerable returns. Like, maybe, Florida who was fielding offers for Jay Bouwmeester. A player like Bouwmeester doesn’t come around every once in awhile either. It might cost the Sabres, but there are some out there that consider him the best defenseman in the league.
Anyway, something to think about after a day in which people were clamoring for all sorts of trades because some players have supposedly grown stale being with the same organization for so many years. Well Pominville turned professional with the Sabres in 2002, he’s a terrific talent, who’s having a down year, and might be better served playing for another team and another coach.