Derek Roy

Derek Roy will be here for 6 more years after he signed a 6 year $24 million dollar deal. This deal to me tells me that the Sabres now believe that Derek Roy will continue to progress, but even further than that is that the Sabres believe that the NHL salary cap will continue to rise. I like Roy a lot, an even though he is small and complains alot, I think that is good for his game. He will be able to play with his linemate Thomas Vanek for that that time and I feel those two will have success. This deal is much different than any 2 and 3 year deal that the Sabres were giving out last year. If you look at what Derek Roy did last summer, he decided to accept his qualifying offer of only around $650,000. He played well and was rewarded with a huge contract. This is different than what Jason Pomminville did, taking a 3 year, $3.5 million deal. This was quite a difference in salary. This is the same thing that Paille did this year and while I love Paille, I would have liked the Sabres to have locked him up long-term as well. This contract probably means that the Sabres are going to start the season with either Mike Ryan, Clarke McArthur, Andrew Peters, or Marek Zagrapan.