The Campbell Trade: Two very different opinions on where the Sabres are headed.

Andrew’s View: Sabres managing the economics of today’s NHL

Brian Campbell choked back tears as he cleared out his locker and spoke to the media for one last time. “Please don’t boo me!” he pleaded to the Buffalo fans who have paid for tickets to watch him play, bought his jersey to wear and have financially enriched this young man beyond most people’s wildest dreams.

Excuse me if I don’t feel Campbell’s pain after his receiving, and rejecting, the “insulting” offer of “only” $17 million for three years of service.

NHL salaries are out of control and it’s just getting worse. General managers around the league can’t get out of the way of themselves, players are bitch-slapping the teams for ridiculous long-term deals and getting them. Dan Boyle gets $40 million for six years? Explain to me again why we gave up a year of hockey for a lockout.

The Buffalo Sabres are struggling to keep their top players under contract and in uniform, yet management gets castigated by fans and media when players like Chris Drury and Daniel Briere go elsewhere.

Sabres fans better get used to it, because this pattern will continue under the terms of the current collective bargaining agreement. We will see young players mature and prosper here, then demand outrageous amounts of money when they are able to become free agents. Either Buffalo overpays or some other idiot franchise (like Kevin Lowe in Edmonton) will.

Don’t you wish we still had Jay McKee, Mike Grier, J.P. Dumont, Briere and Drury in a Buffalo uniform? Sure you do, but add up what they’re making today and that would amount to a $71-million payroll, well in excess of the salary cap.

What’s the answer? Probably capping the length of contracts and tweaking free agency rules, something to be dealt with in future negotiations. But the players won’t give that up easily. Why should they?

Campbell took his veiled shots at management, but don’t think for a second that his agent wasn’t counseling him every step of the way, telling him to turn Buffalo down. Surely the NHLPA was chirping in his ear as well, suggesting that scorn and rage would come down on him if he took the hometown discount, and how his decision could affect arbitration results for years to come.

It’s easy to demonize the Sabres front office, but I still put my faith in Tom Golisano, in Darcy Regier and even in Larry Quinn. In today’s NHL, there are no guarantees, not even in overpaying for big-name players.

PETER’S VIEW: Sabres should focus on the Stanley Cup first and foremost

So it’s all about economics? Really?

I thought that the primary objective of an NHL club was to win the Stanley Cup. Forgive me if I’m wrong about that.

Player salaries are going up? Indeed, water is wet, the sky is blue and grass is green. This has been a fact of life for professional sports going back generations that franchises have had to deal with. Accept reality or get out of the business.

Let’s remember that the lockout of 2004-05 resulted in a resounding win for the owners. A hard salary cap based on league revenues was instituted along with a revenue-sharing plan to help keep all teams in a competitive balance on the ice. The argument that small-market teams such as Buffalo had in years past not to spend wildly on player salaries is no longer as valid as it once was.

So what happens in the post-lockout era? The Sabres were very successful on the ice the first two seasons. But off the ice we’re seeing the same old story. As usual, some players re-sign with the organization for solid contracts. But when it’s time to sign that must-have player, that big-money player that the Sabres couldn’t afford pre-lockout, he ends up packing his bags and heading elsewhere for a franchise willing to spend the money to improve their team.

So why can’t that team be the Sabres? Isn’t this what a salary cap and revenue sharing was instituted for? What’s the excuse not to sign the big-name players now?

Yes, managing the salary cap is a big issue and keeping all of the players that left wouldn’t have been possible. Yet it’s well known that many of the players that have left Buffalo for greener pastures were willing to stay here for less money than what was (and in Campbell’s case will be) offered to them eventually. And still others left despite being offered similar terms to what they left for.

Which leads us back to the organization. To demonize them may be harsh, yet their inability/unwillingness to spend the cash necessary to retain key players that made them Stanley Cup contenders in an era of league-wide financial stability speaks volumes to many about the club’s motives.

Ryan Miller’s the next big name up for contract talks…“Hmmm, I’m going to hit paydirt no matter where I sign. Where’s my best chance to win a Stanley Cup?”

And at the end of the day the Stanley Cup is what matters most, right?

So who do you agree with, Andrew or Peter? Send your opinion to editorial@artvoice.com.