Miro Satan

There's been a lot of talk over the past 24-36 hours about which teams are going to protect whom and who's going to be bought out and all that stuff. So far, nothing really shocking.

Red Wings having to buy out Hatcher and McCarty? Yeah. We figured that much.

Flyers buy out LeClair and Amonte ? Yep. These guys are both beginning to wind down their great careers, and don't have as much to offer.

Kings re-sign Luc Robitaille? They'd have to be on crack not to. Even at 39, that dude can still flat out play.

Avs vowing to honor the contracts of Joe Sakic and Rob Blake ? Again, you'd have to be on crack not to retain these guys. They're the core of that team.

We're waiting to see more buyouts by the Redwings and to see how many players (presumably Holik and Kasparaitis at the very least) will be bought out by the Rangers. There's still some question as to how the Rangers and Caps are going to handle the Jagr 8 million dollar question. Will the Caps follow their tradition and trade 2004 top pick Alexander Ovechkin for an inferior player? We'll see.

Here's the thing that came out of the clear blue sky, and I'm surprised people aren't talking about it all that much. The Sabres are now saying that it isn't likely that they'll make a qualifying offer to Miroslav Satan . He's presently an RFA, and they're pretty much saying they won't put up a fight when other teams bid on him. That's just sheer insanity if you ask me. He'd be a very solid first liner on anyone's squad and, frankly, would be a steal at $4 million. In the new offense-friendly NHL, a 50+ goal season would not be out of the question. He's got speed, size, an amazing shot, and is among the best on the powerplay. I can't wait to see where he ends up. He's one of my favorite non-Canes players, so it would be fantastic to see him wearing a different shade of red and black. The Canes are actually in a situation where they'll be in terrific shape vis-a-vis the cap, so they should make a serious offer on him. We could really use a guy like that. We're seriously lacking at the LW position, and adding another RW wouldn't solve that, but we currently don't have anyone who could come close to scoring 50 goals. It's only 4 million dollars. Of course they may (and probably will) re-sign him for the express purpose of trading him. I'm not real up-to-date on the needs of the Sabres, but they should get lots of offers.
The Buffalo Sabres have got to be on crack.

Scott Niedermayer? I don't even know where to begin with this guy. He won a salary arbitration in 2004, making him a 7 million dollar man. In the new NHL, that's an incredible burden for a team to bear, so the Devils are doing the right thing by not re-signing him. He'll find himself in the free agent market, but he probably won't find a lot of offers.

It looks as if Adrian Aucoin is going to stay in Long Island after all, which saddens me, but that's okay. If we can get Jason Allison , that would be fantastic, but I'm actually daydreaming a little more about Miro Satan now. A first line like Vasicek/Brind'Amour/Satan would be good to have.


If you happen to not be an avid hockey fan, the name Satan is pronounced Shuh-tan, by the way.