Buffalo Sabres suspend F Patrik Berglund indefinitely

[SabreFan1]

7 minutes ago, Nancouver said:

Ya whatever the cheapest option is all I’d care about if I’m botteril. Let him rot somewhere.

At this point, I just think they're going to play a game of chicken with each other.  He won't be making a dime while he's suspended.  He wants to get waived I'm sure for the long term free money coupled with becoming a UFA which would let him sign with another team or go back to Sweden. 

 

It's a very selfish move on his part.  Any cap money that he could potentially tie up for years to come is less money for future players to potentially earn.  I'm hoping that the Sabres will take this all the way to contract termination and just come to a settlement with him afterwards so he can just go silently away.

[SabreFan1]

 

 

[Alflives]

29 minutes ago, SabreFan1 said:

At this point, I just think they're going to play a game of chicken with each other.  He won't be making a dime while he's suspended.  He wants to get waived I'm sure for the long term free money coupled with becoming a UFA which would let him sign with another team or go back to Sweden. 

 

It's a very selfish move on his part.  Any cap money that he could potentially tie up for years to come is less money for future players to potentially earn.  I'm hoping that the Sabres will take this all the way to contract termination and just come to a settlement with him afterwards so he can just go silently away.

Totally agree.  He must be nuts not to want to play on that very young and very good team.  He could very easily (I believe you guys are this good) win a Cup in the next four years.  Just a stupid, and very selfish guy.  He’s no good for any team with that me me attitude.  

[theo5789]

1 hour ago, Dazzle said:

Sutter's not irreplaceable, but as you can see, not everyone can do what he can do so well.

 

He wins faceoffs, is an effective penalty killer (in fact, an established shutdown center), and can score as well.

 

I've been pretty sour about Granlund recently, because he's not that effective as a third line center and isn't as good as Sutter on the penalty kill, but he still has some playmaking skills.

 

Sutter rightfully should be called a foundational player. You want to build a team around this kind of player.

Fair enough and I'm not suggesting that Berglund replaces Sutter outright. I'm just simply suggesting that if we are to look to bring value back whether it's an upgrade in a certain position or a good valued draft pick/prospect, then Sutter will help with that. In the meantime, Berglund while not as exceptional defensively as Sutter still provides physicality, has PKed a bit with both teams he's been on and has a pretty good FO%, plus I'd argue that Berglund would provide a bit more offense and can fill in a top 6 role/2nd PP unit if needed. At 50% retained, he would cost less than half of what Sutter would cost in cap which could also help when it comes down to time to renew our top end young players. So I would suggest that the drop off from Sutter to Berglund would be justified, but only if we can get him back to where he was prior and I wouldn't move Sutter until we know he can bring it for us of course as well.

 

My suggestion that if we were to make this trade as well is for Gagner which means we move on from a guy that we aren't even playing anyway, so if Berglund busts for us then we could simply buy him out or waive him and it wouldn't have cost us much.

[JM_]

1 hour ago, Nancouver said:

 

Ya whatever the cheapest option is all I’d care about if I’m botteril. Let him rot somewhere.

its just sort of a funny coincidence that the buyout or demotion is nearly the same. I'd go for the burying option if I were the GM, since the impact of that is over fewer years. 

[Hairy Kneel]

6 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

As bad as Eriksson might be when you look at his salary. At least he plays, and has 14 points. 

 

He might have mentally checked out. But is still here. 

No, we're not going to use Berglund to make 21 look any better.

[JM_]

1 hour ago, SabreFan1 said:

You don't go as far as suspending a player until he actually tells you "no" when you tell him to see the team doctor or when they flat out refuse to report to the locker room.  Even then, you try to trade him away first before you go public with anything.

 

Like I said above, I wouldn't be surprised if he got angry after getting his latest healthy scratch then refused, then both he and the team used illness as an excuse then didn't make it public until no trade partners could be found and they had no other choice but to suspend him.

unless he has a doctors note saying he had migraines 

[SabreFan1]

1 hour ago, Jimmy McGill said:

unless he has a doctors note saying he had migraines 

Doesn't matter if you have a doctor's note saying that you have come down with a sudden case of zombie.  If a team tells you to report to the team doctor for a physical, you have to go.

 

I'm betting it's academic at this point now.  The "illness" was just an excuse.  It's starting to get a little ugly.  The Sabres have already removed Berglund from their stats page on the website.

[JM_]

2 minutes ago, SabreFan1 said:

Doesn't matter if you have a doctor's note saying that you have come down with a sudden case of zombie.  If a team tells you to report to the team doctor for a physical, you have to go.

 

I'm betting it's academic at this point now.  The "illness" was just an excuse.  It's starting to get a little ugly.  The Sabres have already removed Berglund from their stats page on the website.

wow. I wonder why they just didn't "Gagner" him a litter earlier, and avoid the $&!# show? 

[Attila Umbrus]

Just watching hockey night in Canada, they explained the situation a bit more. It sounds like the Blues took advantage of a mistake in his trade protection and flipped him to the Sabres. Apparently they were not on his list of teams to be traded. But a hiccup in his contract between moving from full no trade to modified no trade which happened between June/July this year left him exposed with no protection. Very weird event. If I was that player i’d be upset as well. You play your whole career for one team then they stab you in the back.

 

Now, I don’t condone his actions but it could explain his play this season. We don’t know what his family situation is like, it’s not just a shock to the player after all.

 

Berglund is a good defensive 35 point center who can win face offs. I’d actually be all for bringing him in and trying to pry a pick or two for taking his cap on. Then flipping Sutter to a contender, as the market for Sutter is very solid. We could get a good player and some picks back out of that trade as well. It’s an avenue worth exploring in my opinion. His contract doesn’t end till after the expansion season, but if I’ve read it correctly he would not require trade protection. (Please let me know if i’m wrong!)

[Attila Umbrus]

Also I know this is a Berglund thread but HNIC guys were saying Burakovsky in Washington may be getting traded and the Canucks were the only ones they mentioned as being interested...interesting!

 

Sutter to Washington for Burakovski and some picks if we pick Berglund up?...

[SabreFan1]

34 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said:

wow. I wonder why they just didn't "Gagner" him a litter earlier, and avoid the $&!# show? 

My bet is that once Berglund failed to report and they couldn't trade him, Botterill began looking to terminate his contract rather than bury it.  Smart if he can manage to pull it off. 

[JM_]

53 minutes ago, SabreFan1 said:

My bet is that once Berglund failed to report and they couldn't trade him, Botterill began looking to terminate his contract rather than bury it.  Smart if he can manage to pull it off. 

smart, and a little savage. That fat bugger from Tampa really opened things up this year. 

[D-Money]

This whole thing reeks of player entitlement, and may be a window into why the Blues are such a mess right now.

 

[SingleThorn]

This will bite the Blues too ! They used the smallest print, after the regular small print to make a weasel move. Other players will be well aware of this. Agents will be well aware of this. Some greasy slime ball in St. Louis has a smirk on his face ! Karma gonna get ya, buddy !

[Attila Umbrus]

25 minutes ago, SingleThorn said:

This will bite the Blues too ! They used the smallest print, after the regular small print to make a weasel move. Other players will be well aware of this. Agents will be well aware of this. Some greasy slime ball in St. Louis has a smirk on his face ! Karma gonna get ya, buddy !

It seems to me karma is already getting them back for doing this to him haha. What a wreck they are this year!

[theo5789]

13 hours ago, Attila Umbrus said:

Also I know this is a Berglund thread but HNIC guys were saying Burakovsky in Washington may be getting traded and the Canucks were the only ones they mentioned as being interested...interesting!

 

Sutter to Washington for Burakovski and some picks if we pick Berglund up?...

Where would Burakovsky fit right now? He's run into some injury issues the last couple of years. I haven't looked up what type of injuries, but he's missed chunks of games and he looks to have had surgery on an upper body injury most recently. He's also been a healthy scratch quite often and his numbers this year are some of his worst to date, so have to wonder why there is a drop off. It'll depend on what they'll be adding as well with him, but I'm not sure if I would take him back as a main piece for Sutter. Burakovsky alone won't fetch much for me at this point, so it would have to be significant adds.

[coastal.view]

17 hours ago, Alflives said:

Totally agree.  He must be nuts not to want to play on that very young and very good team.  He could very easily (I believe you guys are this good) win a Cup in the next four years.  Just a stupid, and very selfish guy.  He’s no good for any team with that me me attitude.  

i don't mean to be trite

but i'm reading all the posts

and it does strike me that the man does not seem well

 

we all view professional athletes to be competitive and driven

and hence when things go off the rails we think they are being calculating

 

but maybe the colloquial comment by alf (nuts)

is more on point then the negative comments on berglund's character

 

we seem to pay lip service mostly to this issue

and mostly view player conduct as being immune to this somehow

he clearly has a very strong defence to any termination issues

if he is dealing with mental health challenges

 

the canucks support mindcheck

but we almost never hear anything about any player having these personal needs

this issue is still stigmatized too much in the sporting world

and is viewed as a dark weakness

 

[Alflives]

18 minutes ago, coastal.view said:

i don't mean to be trite

but i'm reading all the posts

and it does strike me that the man does not seem well

 

we all view professional athletes to be competitive and driven

and hence when things go off the rails we think they are being calculating

 

but maybe the colloquial comment by alf (nuts)

is more on point then the negative comments on berglund's character

 

we seem to pay lip service mostly to this issue

and mostly view player conduct as being immune to this somehow

he clearly has a very strong defence to any termination issues

if he is dealing with mental health challenges

 

the canucks support mindcheck

but we almost never hear anything about any player having these personal needs

this issue is still stigmatized too much in the sporting world

and is viewed as a dark weakness

 

Yes, he’s nuts.  Hockey, like football, is very much a team game.  Berglund has a really good paying contract in place for the next four years, and he’s on a team with a ligit Cup chance over that time.  It’s not a contract dispute; it’s about his icetime.  That’s totally selfish, and terrible for a team.  Oh ... and nuts. 

[Attila Umbrus]

4 hours ago, theo5789 said:

Where would Burakovsky fit right now? He's run into some injury issues the last couple of years. I haven't looked up what type of injuries, but he's missed chunks of games and he looks to have had surgery on an upper body injury most recently. He's also been a healthy scratch quite often and his numbers this year are some of his worst to date, so have to wonder why there is a drop off. It'll depend on what they'll be adding as well with him, but I'm not sure if I would take him back as a main piece for Sutter. Burakovsky alone won't fetch much for me at this point, so it would have to be significant adds.

Agreed, it would have to be worth it. But with Washington contending i'm thinking 1st round pick and go from there. Sutter has way more value that him. I wouldn't even really want to trade Sutter unless he could be replaced. But if you could grab an extra 1st in this years draft it would be worth at least entertaining the idea, maybe? ...Injury riddled player for injury riddled player. Who knows how this all shakes down, but will be interesting to see. I do know Wash is at a position of weakness with him, his injury history, and his cap hit. So it makes sense to capitilize on that.