Roy Agrees Early

Of course, as soon as I publish the post that Derek Roy is going to arbitration, he settles just before his hearing. And instead of getting fair market value, the Sabres pony up some serious cash over the long haul. Roy will earn $24 million over the next 6 years, which is what the Panthers' Nathan Horton will earn over his next 6 year tenure. With the departure of Briere and Drury, Roy will take on a bigger role, much like Horton, and his numbers should then increase.

Maxim Afinogenov	Tim Connolly	Thomas Vanek
Derek Roy	Jason Pominville	Jochen Hecht
Drew Stafford	Nathan Paetsch *	Ales Kotalik
Paul Gaustad	Dan Paille	Adam Mair

Brian Campbell	Teppo Numminen
Dimitri Kalinin	Jaroslav Spacek
Toni Lydman	Henrik Tallinder

Ryan Miller

Jocelyn Thibault

Now the Sabres only have Nathan Paetsch left to negotiate with before his August 2nd arbitration hearing. This roster for the Sabres, thanks to the big deals from Vanek and Roy, now sits at about $47 million, which doesn't leave a boat load of room to move in the season. If Paetsch is to get fair market value, then he would be looking at the $1 million mark or maybe a touch less. This line-up should skate into the season at around $48 million.


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