Sabres Add Ehrhoff To Defense For Next 10 Seasons

Under the reign of new owner Terry Pegula, the Buffalo Sabres have become extraordinarily active this offseason with little mind paid to financial restrictions that previously hindered the organization's ability to make high-valued additions. The Sabres recently pulled off a deal with the Calgary Flames that enabled them to acquire veteran defenseman and Tyler Myers soon-to-be mentor Robyn Regehr, as well as return Ales Kotalik to the city where he was once a consistent 20-goal scorer.

One day ahead of the opening of the unrestricted free agent market, the Sabres plunked a whole lot of money down for another defensive addition. TSN's Bob McKenzie broke the news that Buffalo signed defenseman Christian Ehrhoff to a whopping 10-year deal worth $40 million. The Sabres acquired Ehrhoff's negotiation rights from the New York Islanders for a fourth round pick Wednesday after the Islanders failed to reach an agreement following the acquisition of his rights from the Vancouver Canucks for their own fourth rounder.

This contract will count as a $4 million annual cap hit and, according to McKenzie, includes a modified no-trade clause and breaks down year-by-year as follows:

2011-12: $2 million in salary with an $8 million signing bonus
2012-13: $3 million in salary with a $5 million signing bonus
***note, Ehrhoff will see $18 million in his first two years with the Sabres***
2013-14: $4 million in salary
2014-15: $4 million in salary
2015-16: $4 million in salary
2016-17: $4 million in salary
2017-18: $3 million in salary
2018-19: $1 million in salary
2019-20: $1 million in salary
2020-21: $1 million in salary

So, two things seem certain from this deal - the Ilya Kovalchuk situation from last year taught general managers absolutely nothing and that it's a good bet we can plan Ehrhoff's retirement party for June 2018, which would be a bit early at right around 36 years of age.

At a $4 million cap hit, Ehrhoff certainly does provide the Sabres a good deal of value. He has proven over the past two seasons with the Canucks that he is a real offensive threat from the blue line and is especially effective on the man advantage. He posted 14 goals in each of the past two seasons and scored a career-high 29 points on the power play last year.

But a 10-year deal is a heavy committment, especially for a player that is not even remotely a superstar talent in the NHL. And while they will hope to reap the benefits from his scoring potential, they will need to deal with a defensive liability for the next decade, as well, as witnessed by a minus-13 effort in the recent postseason.

Buffalo may be happy that they now have an owner willing to spend, but it's rough to applaud an addition that could at least partially doom the future financial flexibility of the franchise. Not only are there players the team won't be able to get because of his cap hit, but also imagine just how much Tyler Myers' asking price just went up when he's ready to start hitting the bargaining table for a new deal!