It was official at 11:27, Tuesday morning. Brian Campbell was no longer a Buffalo Sabre. The defenseman was traded with a seventh round pick to San Jose for right winger Steve Bernier and a first round pick in this year's National Hockey League Entry Draft.
With the Tampa Bay Lightning re-signing defenseman Dan Boyle to a six-year, $40 million contract, the market was quickly set for puck-moving defensemen. The Sabres have been trying to sign Campbell to a contract extension and General Manager Darcy Regier made the decision that it was best for the franchise to move him.
Over the weekend, the Campbell camp rejected a three-year contract. The financial terms of the deal weren't the issue. The two-time All-Star would earn around $6 million a year - a very competitive salary.
Three-year deals just don't cut it anymore though. The game's premier players are signing contracts at least six years in length. Winger Alexander Ovechkin, arguably hockey's best player, signed a massive 13-year deal worth $124 million with Washington.
Even up-and-comers like Philadelphia's Mike Richards are getting 12-year deals. Everyone laughed when the Islanders signed goaltender Rick DiPietro to a 15-year deal worth $67.5 million in 2006. Little did the critics know that a contract of that magnitude would become the norm for great players, right or wrong. So, for the Sabres front office to even offer Campbell a three-year deal is puzzling to say the least.
On one hand, the Sabres could have offered the short deal because they sincerely did want to keep Campbell but were afraid to commit for any longer than three years. They would be tying up a lot of money now when they have a handful of expiring contracts to worry about next year, including those of Ryan Miller, Jason Pominville, Tim Connolly, and Jaroslav Spacek to name a few.
On the other hand, the Sabres may have had no intention of signing him at all, offering the All-Star a deal they knew Campbell and his agent would reject. The Sabres did the same thing to Daniel Briere in June, except at that point the Sabres couldn't agree on much of anything. Briere went on to sign an eight-year, $52 million deal with the Flyers.
By just offering Campbell a contract, the front office can uphold the fact that it wasn't about the money, that the Sabres weren't being cheap. Technically, however, they are being cheap, relatively speaking. Instead of tying up about $36 million over six years, they're only paying Campbell something in the ballpark of $19 million over three years.
But this is Campbell's time to cash in. He's 28 years old now and no team is going to want to sign him to a long-term deal in three years when his new potential deal with the Sabres would run out. Campbell is in the prime of his career now and has earned the right to seek out the best deal for himself.
Either way, an agreement couldn't be reached and Campbell is gone. So, the question now is, who exactly is Steve Bernier? He was the 16th overall pick in the 2003 draft, the same draft that has produced talents such as Richards, Eric Staal, Thomas Vanek, Dion Phaneuf and Ryan Getzlaf.
The 22-year-old from Quebec is sixth in scoring for the Sharks with 13 goals and 10 assists, while playing on San Jose's third line. He has played 22 playoff games for the Sharks over the last two years, tallying just seven points.
But the Sabres did add some size up front. Bernier's listed at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds and is another right handed shot in Buffalo's arsenal. And having an extra first round pick is never a bad thing.
Buffalo knew they couldn't work out a deal with Campbell and decided to get something for him now rather than lose him for nothing later. The trade means that Nathan Paetsch and Dmitri Kalinin, who have both been nothing short of inconsistent this season (although Kalinin has been playing better since being paired with Nolan Pratt), will be forced to play larger roles on the back end, not only in even strength play, but on special teams as well.
Buffalo should be in the playoffs at the end of the season, and this trade is already a critical piece of that playoff push. With Boyle off the market, maybe Regier could have gotten more for Campbell, maybe not. That's something we'll never know. On paper though, the Sabres got the worse of this deal in the short term. But that's why they lace up and play the games.
The Sabres have at least 19 games left in the 2007-08 season. I hope.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
