Over the last 24 to 36 hours, Tim Kennedy signed a $550,000 deal with the Rangers, Clarke MacArthur signed a $1.1 million deal with Toronto, and Matt Ellis re-signed with the Sabres on a two way deal that will pay him $625,000 if he's in Buffalo and not Portland.
Some fans will wonder about the Ellis signing since the Sabres said that they were over budget when they announced the Kennedy buy out. The big difference here is that Ellis signed a two way deal so the Sabres can afford to send Matt to Portland if he doesn't beat out the likes of Nathan Gerbe, Mark Mancari, and Colin Stuart for an NHL job.
Tim Kennedy and his agent badly misplayed their hand, IMO. WGR 550's Paul Hamilton said on the air this week that the Sabres offered Kennedy a one year, one way deal at $800,000. And reportedly that offer came with a warning that the Sabres didn't have any more room in their budget for Kennedy than that should the arbitration award come in over $800,000.
Kennedy and his agent obviously didn't think the Sabres would buy out the home town boy. Especially given Regier's anti-buyout public statements in the past when fans and media wondered why the Sabres weren't buying out certain players that were underperforming based on their contracts.
But, they mis-calculated. And now Kennedy is making less money from the Rangers and living in a city with a much higher cost of living.
Oops.
MacArthur getting $1.1 million on the open market after Atlanta walked away from a $2 million arbitration award makes me wonder what MacArthur's agent was thinking. Why they didn't ask for an award just south of the level that the Thrashers wouldn't have been able to walk away from is beyond me.
Oops.
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