By Brandon J. Koch
Happy July 1st, everyone.
Free agency begins at noon and there are already rumblings concerning the Buffalo Sabres.
Reports say the team will sign Carter Hutton to a 3-year contract, $2.75 average per season.
That’s what cap expert Jason Botterill is looking for.
Value investments.
Many thought it would be about $4 million per season for Hutton. Instead, Buffalo has a veteran goaltender for a significantly cheaper price.
Botterill knows July 1st is stupid season, teams dish out their money to then regret it just a couple years later. The second year GM knows to play it smart.
He has said countless times that free agency is not how you build a team. You build through the draft, making trades and signing college and European free agents.
Unless those free agents are value signings, which Hutton certainly is, you’re just making a bad investment. There were rumblings that the Sabres were one of the teams in on JVR, who seems to be signing with Philly for $35 million over 5 years.
No thank you.
Botterill knows when to stop during negotiations, he knows when enough is enough.
This week’s trade with Pittsburgh is Botterill taking advantage of a team in salary cap trouble. Connor Sheary comes in at a $3 million cap hit with still two seasons left for only a 4th round pick.
That’s value.
Look for that today in anything the Sabres do.
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