These aren't Tom Golisano's Sabres any more

If there were any lingering questions about whether Darcy Regier could bring himself to be aggressive with a new ownership group in place that wants to win a Stanley Cup and will spare no expense, I think we have our answer less than a week into free agency.

Regier has made a big trade where the Sabres took on salary and moved two promising young players away. Not the type of deal that people saw from Regier under the previous ownership.

Then Regier traded for the negotiating rights to a UFA-to-be and inks him to the longest contract in franchise history.

And then Regier signs a UFA forward to help plug a hole to a 6 year deal.

People talk about how players need to "play out of character" in the playoffs. Well, Regier has played out of character so far this off season.

Here is my take on the moves:

Chris Butler & Paul Byron for Robyn Regehr, Ales Kotalik, and a 2012 2nd round pick

Jim Bob's Grade: A

Regier and Ruff talked about how they needed to improve the defense corps and wanted to create a "shutdown pair". Well, Robyn Regehr might be the best defensive defenseman to move all off season and the Sabres landed him.

And even more than adding Regehr, the fact that the team was able to convince him to waive his No Movement Clause to come to Buffalo was the first test of the whole "Buffalo is Hockey Heaven" declaration that Sabres President Ted Black made on Pegula Day 2/22/2011.

Sure, Ales Kotalik's $3 million contract needs to be moved or sent to Rochester. But, Pegula has given Regier a blank checkbook to make moves this off season, so that isn't a big deal.

The Sabres depth of prospect defensemen made moving Butler not that big of a deal. And while moving Paul Byron weakens the team's center depth for this season, getting a 2nd rounder back in the deal gives the Sabres more trade ammo for the deadline, or a pick that can be used to add another center to the prospect pipeline.

Trading away a 4th round pick to the Islanders for the rights to Christian Ehrhoff and then signing him to a 10 year $40 million contract prior to UFA opening up

Jim Bob's Grade: B

This was the second test of the "Hockey Heaven" idea as the Sabres were able to convince Christian Ehrhoff to sign with the team less than 24 hours prior to UFA opening up.

And while many outside of Sabres Nation have been scoffing at giving Ehrhoff a 10 year deal and how much cash he gets in the first two years, I have defended the contract on Twitter.

The front loaded nature of the deal doesn't matter to me. If Terry Pegula wants to give Darcy Regier that kind of money to draw players to Buffalo, that is his call. And as a fan, I love that Regier is truly being given the tools to finish the job for the first time in his Sabres GM career.

The only reason I'm not giving this deal an A is because of the length of the contract. A lot can happen in 10 years and few UFA deals of this length have worked out.

But, if the future CBA(s) that this deal will play out under stay close to what we have today and cash poor teams covet deals with bigger cap numbers than salary remaining as they try and make it to the cap floor as cheaply as possible, then this contract will be moveable even if Ehrhoff's play declines. Especially the last 3 years where Ehrhoff will be making only $1 million in salary and will carry a $4 million cap hit.

On the ice, Ehrhoff is a LH shot that likes to play on the right side and he brings a big point shot to the PP. Just what the Sabres need to spark the PP, if you ask me. And I'm sure Thomas Vanek can't wait to line up in front of the net looking for tips and rebounds with Ehrhoff pulling the trigger from the blueline.

Ville Leino signed to a 6 year $27 million UFA contract

Jim Bob's Grade: C

I've taken a lot of heat over at HFBoards.com for not being in love with this deal.

On the Ville Leino front, I am worried that they are committing a lot of money and a lot of years to a guy that has one good NHL season on his resume. I am also worried that they are converting the guy from the wing to center despite his never playing center in North America.

Leino's talk of wanting to play center and having played it growing up in Finland and during the early part of his pro career in Finland is nice. But, I could see Leino being a Jochen Hecht type center on the Sabres and I want more than that for the money he was given.

The other piece to this deal that bothered me was that the Sabres backed out of the Brad Richards derby without even extending Richards a contract offer because they didn't want to miss out on Leino. And after all the talk that Ted Black made about doing everything possible to make this team a Cup contender, that decision didn't sit that well with me as Richards is far and away the best center in the 2011 UFA class. Plus, he's waaaaaaaaay better than any center that has a chance of being a UFA in 2012.

I will bump the grade of this contract up to a B if the Sabres use their depth on the wings to swing a deal for a top 2 line center. There was talk that they were close to landing Jason Spezza at the trade deadline. If they are able to land Spezza this off season, I'll like the Leino signing a lot better. Especially if they retain Derek Roy and have a center depth chart that looks like this: Spezza (or equivalent)-Roy-Leino-Gaustad.

That looks like the center depth chart of a legit contender. Roy-Leino-(Hecht or Adam)-Gaustad or Roy-Leino-Gaustad-McCormick, not so much.

Quick takes on other moves:

Re-signing Gerbe, McCormick, and Weber - I like retaining all three of these guys. McCormick got a healthy raise, but I can live with it.

Tim Connolly leaving to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs - WooooooooooooooooooHooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nuff said.

Signing Drew MacIntyre to be the 3rd goalie on their pro depth chart - Amerks fans wanted a veteran goalie to pair with my Clarkson boy David Leggio and they got it in MacIntyre who has a nice AHL resume. Can't hate on that deal at all.