Buffalo Sabres 15 Worst Contracts (2005-2022)

This was originally published in my 2020 book The Definitive Guide to Salary Mismanagement, and has now been updated with new contracts. I will continue to update each team’s list every summer going forward. The rule is that only active contracts can move up or down. Expired deals cannot pass each other. Next summer it may even be expanded to top 20. The book is still available on Amazon, though some of the stats on active contracts are now out of date. You may yet find it interesting because there were detailed stat graphics that you won't find here.
 
My latest book The Hockey Economist’s Betting Prospectus is now available. It's a comprehensive commentary on the last 3 years of hockey betting, broken down by team, by category, by strategy, by season. There is plenty of useful information for bettors of all skill levels. It covers pre-pandemic, peak-pandemic, post-pandemic. What worked, what failed. Lessons learned, market trends, team-by-team analysis. What impact did the pandemic have on hockey betting? The market differences between these 3 seasons are discussed at length, and there's a lot to talk about. To read more, visit the Amazon store.
 
Enjoy! Please note: The formatting on the graphics got scrambled being copied from Excel into Google Blogger. It's among the reasons my blog is looking for a new home.

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The Buffalo Sabres emerged from the 2005 lockout as a legit Stanley Cup contender, making back-to-back trips to the Conference finals. A majority of their best contracts list were signed in the early years of the salary cap, before Terry Pegula bought the team in February 2011, pledging a budgetary increase that was intended to return the team to contending status.
 
Terry was cash rich as an oil and gas tycoon, giving a pile of that money to his General Managers with the goal of buying wins. If you are curious about why the Sabres have had a revolving door of General Managers since Pegula bought the team, you’ve come to the right place. This is where you’ll learn why the family is so frustrated, and laid off a chunk of their front office in 2020. The oil tanker hit an iceberg, spewing toxic ooze all over the Buffalo roster.
 
The Sabres made the playoffs in 2011 a few months after the team was sold, but have not been back to the post-season since, a streak of 9 consecutive campaigns. The team kicked off Terry’s first summer as owner by landing two of the most prized free agents on the market, Ville Leino and Christian Ehrhoff. The rest is history.
 
 
1. Ville Leino
 

Signed By:	Darcy Regier		Position:	F
Date:	2011-07-01		Age July 1st:	27
Term:	6 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$27M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$4.5M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	33.0	137	46	127
Per 82 GP	5.5	82	28	76	15.3

“Actually, if you studied a little bit of Philly’s system, a lot of times he was the guy playing down low in the end on the Hartnell-Briere line. I talked to him about all three positions and he’s comfortable with all three, but the position he likes the most is playing center, which is really a bonus and an ideal fit for us. We feel initially that’s exactly where we want to utilize him.”

- Lindy Ruff

 
“We felt it was important that we didn’t allow a quality player like him slip by us”

– Darcy Regier

Ville Leino had accumulated exactly one good season in the NHL before reaching the unrestricted free agent market, scoring 53 PTS in 81 GP for the Philadelphia Flyers while playing mostly on a line with Scott Hartnell and Danny Briere. Buffalo rewarded him with a 6-year deal at a very generous salary given Ville’s limited accomplishments at that stage of his career.
 
When Ville arrived in Buffalo and was placed on a line with Derek Roy and Drew Stafford, Leino’s production immediately plummeted. In 3 seasons for the Sabres the Finn scored just 46 PTS in 137 GP (28 PTS per 82 GP) before being bought out. This proved to be a cautionary tale about taking an enormous leap for a player with a thin resume.
 
 
2. Jeff Skinner
 

Signed By:	Jason Botterill		Position:	F
Date:	2019-06-07		Age July 1st:	27
Term:	8 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$72M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$9M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	72.3	192	100	556
Per 82 GP	9.0	82	43	237	16.2

“I like it here, I love it here. I like the guys. I like the city and I had a great time.”

– Jeff Skinner

The Buffalo Sabres traded a promising prospect and a pile of draft picks to acquire Jeff Skinner from the Carolina Hurricanes with 1 year remaining on his previous contract (5 years later that futures package only produced a back-up goalie for Carolina). Upon arrival in Buffalo he was placed on a line with Jack Eichel and thrived, scoring 40 goals, a career best (he also scored 37 goals in 2017). The red flag from Skinner’s Carolina career was a lack of consistency. Good seasons would often be followed by bad ones, like 31 PTS in 77 GP in 2015. Jason Botterill didn’t want his prized acquisition to be merely a rental, and if he wanted to retain the winger, the GM had to make the offer sufficiently large to dissuade him from testing the open market.
 
Botterill did not even get a honeymoon period before this investment turned sour, as year one was a disaster. Skinner struggled with consistency and was moved off the Eichel line, which predictably had a devastating effect on his output. Botterill was fired before Jeff had a chance to redeem himself. Skinner did improve his play when he started finding chemistry with Tage Thompson, but still wasn’t anywhere near a $9M player.
 
 
3. Kyle Okposo
 

Signed By:	Tim Murray		Position:	F
Date:	2016-07-01		Age July 1st:	28
Term:	7 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$42M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$6M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	43.8	380	195	765
Per 82 GP	6.3	82	42	165	15.8

“What sold me first and foremost, and I’ve been saying it all day, is the chance to win the Stanley Cup, and I think we have a lot of pieces in place that can help us achieve that goal”

– Kyle Okposo

While Kyle Okposo did score an impressive 64 PTS in 79 GP before reaching the UFA Market at age 28, his scoring rate and average ice time had been in decline for 2 years. That production depreciation continued upon arrival in Buffalo, who landed him with this monstrous offer. Kyle was lured to the Sabres because he believed they had a Stanley Cup roster. The first 4 years has produced zero playoff games for the Sabres.
 
Kyle was on his way to having a decent first year with the Sabres before a concussion and a bad reaction to medication prematurely ended his season. It was mostly a downhill journey from there, with Okposo scoring just 19 PTS in 52 GP in 2020 (he did have a slight revival up to 45 PTS in 2022).
 
 
4. Cody Hodgson
 

Signed By:	Darcy Regier		Position:	F
Date:	2013-09-11		Age July 1st:	23
Term:	6 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$25.5M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$4.25M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	29.3	150	57	309
Per 82 GP	4.9	82	31	169	15.4

“I spent more time on Cody’s issues than every other player combined on our team the last three years.”

– Mike Gillis

Cody Hodgson was traded from the Vancouver Canucks for Zack Kassian, and as Cody departed, Canucks GM Mike Gillis fired a few parting shots about how difficult Cody and his father were to deal with. The young center had a solid first year in Buffalo, scoring 34 PTS in 48 GP (58-point pace) to earn himself an almost identical contract to Adam Henrique a few weeks earlier (a key difference being Henrique only scored 16 PTS in 42 GP, so Cody received an extra $250K).
 
Hodgson was productive in year one when he scored 20 goals and 44 PTS, but it all came crashing down in year two, collapsing to 13 PTS in 78 GP before being bought out. He retired a year later at age 26.
 
 
5. Matt Moulson
 

Signed By:	Tim Murray		Position:	F
Date:	2014-07-01		Age July 1st:	30
Term:	5 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$25M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$5M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	28.1	253	94	414
Per 82 GP	5.6	82	30	134	13.5

“This was the only decision to make. There’s a bright future for this team, and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

– Matt Moulson

Darcy Regier traded Thomas Vanek and a 2^nd round to add Matt Moulson and a first round pick with one season remaining on his previous deal. Regier was relieved of his command 2 weeks later and his predecessor Tim Murray decided to ship Moulson to Minnesota as a rental at the deadline.
 
The veteran winger had established himself as a consistent scorer in this league, potting 51 PTS in 75 GP before going UFA on July 1st 2014, when he chose Buffalo as his preferred destination.  It might have been better for Tim Murray’s career if he didn’t, as Moulson’s production slipped in year one and tanked by year two, with 21 PTS in 81 GP. Tim Murray was fired after year three, and his replacement demoted Matt to the AHL where he finished his pro career.
 
 
6. Christian Ehrhoff
 

Signed By:	Darcy Regier		Position:	D
Date:	2011-06-30		Age July 1st:	28
Term:	10 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$40M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$4M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	46.0	192	87	399
Per 82 GP	4.6	82	37	170	23.9

“My goal is to win the Stanley Cup, and after the offer I received from Buffalo, I believe this is the best place to make it happen.”

– Christian Ehrhoff

Christian Ehrhoff had a very successful final season in Vancouver, scoring 50 PTS and helping them advance to the Stanley Cup final. The German defenseman was in high demand on July 1st, and surely there were suitors offering higher salary for a shorter term. To make the Sabres offer the most enticing, Darcy Regier decided to add extra term and front load the salary to lower the cap hit.
 
Ehrhoff actually returned good value over the first 3 seasons relative to his cap hit, but when the new CBA was unveiled in 2013, it included a new “cap recapture penalty” that would strongly punish the Sabres when/if Christian retired early. Tim Murray was fired in year three of this deal, and his successor used a compliance buyout to terminate the remaining 7 years the following summer.
 
 
7. Tyler Ennis
 

Signed By:	Tim Murray		Position:	F
Date:	2014-07-17		Age July 1st:	24
Term:	5 years		Playoff GP:	1
Total Money:	$23M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$4.6M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	25.8	225	92	446
Per 82 GP	5.2	82	34	163	15.3

“I like his approach to the game. I like his compete level. I like his speed. There’s a lot of things I like about him, and if we can do a long-term deal with him, then obviously the decision we’ve made is we’d go forward with him.”

– Tim Murray

Tyler Ennis had accumulated respectable statistics over the first 4 years of his NHL career where he scored 50 PTS per 82 GP before needing a new deal at age 24. Tim Murray signed his RFA to a 5-year pact that produced decent returns in the beginning. It wasn’t until year two when multiple concussions cut his season short that fortunes took a turn for the worse.
 
The following season Ennis was just a shell of his former self, with average ice time dropping from 18.1 to 12.8 and posting a paltry 13 PTS in 51 GP. Then Tim Murray was fired and his predecessor traded Ennis and Foligno to the Minnesota Wild for Marco Scandella and Jason Pominville. The Wild bought out Ennis after one season.
 
 
8. Thomas Vanek
 

Signed By:	Darcy Regier		Position:	F
Date:	2007-07-06		Age July 1st:	23
Term:	7 years		Playoff GP:	27
Total Money:	$50M		Playoff PTS:	18
Cap Hit:	$7.14M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	69.9	500	424	1442
Per 82 GP	10.0	82	70	236	17.5

“My dream was to play in the NHL and be one of the best players and win a Stanley Cup and that’s still the main goal. Money’s not going to buy you a Stanley Cup”

– Thomas Vanek

 
“I suppose you have to assume they thought we were bluffing. What this amounted to was an exercise in futility.”

– Darcy Regier

Kevin Lowe shook the hockey world when he signed Thomas Vanek to an offer sheet in 2007 after the young sniper had just scored 43 goals and 84 PTS. Prevailing opinion agreed that the offer was far above Vanek’s actual worth, which the Oilers GM had to do if he wanted Regier to decline to match. The Sabres were under pressure to retain Vanek after losing Briere and Drury via free agency, as their contending team from 2007 was being decimated.
 
Oilers fans can thank God that Darcy decided to match, because the team would have had to send 4 first round picks as compensation (their next 4 first round picks were Eberle, Paajarvi, Hall, and Nugent-Hopkins). Vanek wasn’t exactly terrible over these 7 years, scoring 34 goals and 70 PTS per 82 GP, but the compensation was ludicrous at an average adjusted cap hit of $10M. If that was $3M less, this might have appeared on the Sabres best contracts list.
 
 
9. Jochen Hecht
 

Signed By:	Darcy Regier		Position:	F
Date:	2007-10-16		Age July 1st:	31
Term:	4 years		Playoff GP:	1
Total Money:	$14.1M		Playoff PTS:	1
Cap Hit:	$3.5M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	19.7	238	106	609
Per 82 GP	4.9	82	37	210	17.2

“Hecht is another player who has proven to be dependable, and we’ll count on him as well”

– Darcy Regier

Jochen Hecht scored a career high 56 PTS in 2007 at age 29, when Tim Murray decided to extend him on a 4-year term. The German had not yet experienced any age-related decline as he celebrated his 30th birthday, but that’s when Father Time started running a little obstruction on Hecht’s production, as he fell down to 27 PTS in 70 GP in year one of the deal.
 
While is scoring rate took a major hit, his ice time never significantly decreased, as they continued playing him close to 17 minutes per game right until this expired. Hecht would return to Buffalo for one more season before permanently returning to Germany.
 
 
10. Maxim Afinogenov
 

Signed By:	Darcy Regier		Position:	F
Date:	2006-08-01		Age July 1st:	26
Term:	3 years		Playoff GP:	15
Total Money:	$10M		Playoff PTS:	9
Cap Hit:	$3.3M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	16.6	160	109	358
Per 82 GP	5.5	82	56	183	15.4

“The last two years have been going nowhere for me and for the team also. I think something new should be next year.”

- Maxim Afinogenov

After registering a career best season coming out of the lockout, Afinogenov probably should have secured himself a longer/better extension. The salary was high but the term was disappointing for a 26-year-old free agent coming off a 70+ point season. Daniel Sedin agreed to a similar treaty 2 months earlier, but for more money. That set the market for Maxim, who would have been better off to take a 1-year bridge to unrestricted free agency.
 
Year one of this contract was a mild success, then it took a turn for the worse after that. By year two his scoring right was cut in half and by year three he scored at just a 34-point pace. The winger would sign on more contract for under $1M to play for the Atlanta Thrashers Winnipeg Jets, where he had a decent season before returning permanently to Russia.
 
 
11. Brian Gionta
 

Signed By:	Tim Murray		Position:	F
Date:	2014-07-01		Age July 1st:	35
Term:	3 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$12.75M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$4.25M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	14.8	230	103	471
Per 82 GP	4.9	82	37	168	17.4

“We like the direction that Mr. Murray is going with the team and obviously Mr. Pegula. We’re confident that we can come here and be a part of something big and that our expectation is to come here and field a winning team. I think we’re putting the pieces in place and we’re excited to be a part of that.”

– Brian Gionta

For the preceding few seasons, Brian Gionta had been scoring at close to a 40-point pace in his early 30s, and was nowhere near the level he sustained years earlier in New Jersey. The veteran winger became an unrestricted free agent at age 35, and Tim Murray locked him into a 3-year deal with a no-trade clause (he could submit a 5-team trade list in the final year) and named Brian team captain.
 
Over these 3 seasons, Gionta scored 37 PTS per 82 GP ($3.5M worth of average value) at an average adjusted cap hit of $4.9M. He did sign one more contract with the Bruins at close to the league minimum when this was over, but only played 21 more games before retiring.
 
 
12. Shaone Morrisonn
 

Signed By:	Darcy Regier		Position:	D
Date:	2010-08-02		Age July 1st:	27
Term:	2 years		Playoff GP:	1
Total Money:	$4.15M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$2.1M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	5.5	62	5	44
Per 82 GP	2.8	82	7	58	16.2

“The only thing I can do to try to help them is say to them is, ‘We’ll work and try to get you in any way to get back in the National Hockey League, whether it’s with us … or another team’”

– Darcy Regier

Shaone Morrisonn, who I’m assuming comes from a family that’s terrible at spelling, arrived in Buffalo as an unrestricted free agent at age 27 to help fill the void left by departing D-men Toni Lydman and Henrik Tallinder. The 6’4 defenseman was mostly a hits and blocks specialist who has never been falsely branded as an offensive talent.
 
Unfortunately, Morrisonn’s numbers dropped significantly in nearly every category (except healthy scratches), including a miniscule 5 PTS in 62 GP. After year one when the Sabres acquired Christian Ehrhoff, the team needed to shed salary and Morrisonn became expendable. He cleared waivers as nobody wanted this contract, so Regier buried him in the minors for the final season.
 
 
13. Patrick Kaleta
 

Signed By:	Darcy Regier		Position:	F
Date:	2012-07-31		Age July 1st:	26
Term:	3 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$3.75M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$1.25M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	4.7	81	4	59
Per 82 GP	1.6	82	4	60	9.6

“We believe in Pat as a person and we hope he will continue his career in our organization and, if the circumstances are right, with the Buffalo Sabres.”

- Darcy Regier

I’m not opposed to the idea of carrying some toughness on the bottom of your roster, as it can come in especially handy over a 7-game playoff series (spoiler alert, the Sabres played zero post-season games over this stretch). In this case, the salary was double what Patrick Kaleta deserved, as he made no contribution whatsoever to anything other than hits and agitating.
 
Kaleta only played 82 games over these 3 years, plus 7 more in the AHL, spending most of his time playing for the “Black Aces” watching NHL games from the press box. The total accrued loses are relatively small, but it still never feels good to flush $2.5M down the drain (adjusted for cap inflation of course).
 
 
14. Nathan Gerbe
 

Signed By:	Darcy Regier		Position:	F
Date:	2011-06-29		Age July 1st:	23
Term:	3 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$4.35M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$1.45M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	5.6	104	35	201
Per 82 GP	1.9	82	28	158	13.5

“I think Nathan has a tremendous amount of potential that we began to see in the second half of the season. He’s always been a goal scorer; I think he’ll continue to be a goal scorer and I think the sky is the limit for him.”

– Darcy Regier

Nathan Gerbe had only produced one “full” season in the NHL on his ELC, scoring 31 PTS in 64 GP while averaging 13.3 minutes per game. The 5’5 winger was signed to an extension days before his previous pact expired, at a very fair price for what he had accomplished in 2011. His scoring output dropped in year one, but was still within range of his pay grade.
 
Where the wheels came off the bus was year two in the lockout shortened 2013 season when Gerbe scored 10 PTS in 42 GP, prompting the team to buy out the final year of the contract. The Carolina Hurricanes picked him up off the scrap heap, and Gerbe had a brief resurgence with his new team.
 
 
15. Cody McCormick
 

Signed By:	Darcy Regier		Position:	F
Date:	2011-07-01		Age July 1st:	28
Term:	3 years		Playoff GP:	13
Total Money:	$3.6M		Playoff PTS:	1
Cap Hit:	$1.2M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	4.6	101	11	75
Per 82 GP	1.5	82	9	61	8.2

“We had a conversation. He was happy with how the playoffs went in Rochester. Going forward, what I like to think is I’m here to try out for a spot on the Sabres, and that’s as much as I know right now.”

– Cody McCormick

Cody McCormick saw regular duty for the Sabres in 2011 before he was set to become an unrestricted free agent, playing 81 games with 8 goals, 20 PTS, averaging 11 minutes of ice time per night. Cody made it all the way to July 1st, listened to all the incoming offers, and decided Buffalo was the best option (on the same day they landed Ville Leino).
 

Very similar to the Kaleta deal in size, term, and incurred losses. McCormick spent all 3 of these years on the 5th line, averaging just over 8 minutes of ice time. Played 25 games in the AHL. The Sabres did sign him to another even richer ticket when this expired, but he spent most of that on injured reserve, so it received an injury exemption from this list. In the final year McCormick was shipped off to Minnesota in the Matt Moulson trade, where Cody even played some playoff games.