Buffalo Sabres: Tim Murray Confirms Contact With Steven Stamkos
By Paul Taylor
Tim Murray officially admits the Buffalo Sabres will be making a play for Steven Stamkos in free agency, and confirms they have reached out to his agent.
As if the last few days weren’t compelling enough for Buffalo Sabres fans, things have just gotten even more interesting. Tim Murray has confirmed he has made preliminary contact with Steven Stamkos‘ agent.
The Sabres general manager admitted reaching out, when talking to Paul Hamilton of WGR550 and the rest of the local media: “The next conversation I have with them is to ask if he’d have an interest in Buffalo.
“I have to ask that question and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t. I assume that the teams that have cap space will all be involved in this, so it’s going to be a stiff competition for sure.”
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Cap space is vitally important, with Stamkos likely to receive offers between $10-$13 million per year. In that respect, the Sabres are well-placed to compete, with anywhere from $19.5-$21.5 million (depending on your source) currently available for the coming season.
As far as Murray is concerned, he has no issue with paying top money for the former first overall draft pick and says they can making it work: “Yes I believe you can.
“Somebody else on your roster has to either pay the price or you have to walk away from other really good free agents because you have to allocate your money and if you draft well, that negated having to find those $4 million guys that don’t allow you pay $12 million. We’ve got a few guys now that are good entry level players that makes it attractive to go out and get a free agent that makes some money.”
Other teams expecting to be in the running for Stamkos, include the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. As such, the Sabres know it will take a lot of hard work to persuade him to come to Western New York.
Murray said: “You’ve got to show them your blueprint, he’s certainly going to look at your roster and I think there’s going to be a lot of equals as far as money, but not geography. But the one thing that can put a team over the top is teammates, who he gets to play with, so we’re confident that we have good players that other good players would want to play with.”
Certainly, the Sabres have the nucleus of an excellent roster, designed to compete for the long term. Look no further than the likes of Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Ryan O’Reilly and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Ultimately though, there are no guarantees regarding what will happen, with questions surrounding what position Stamkos would play for Buffalo and if he really is worth risking so much money for? Regardless, just the fact the Sabres are in the running for his signature, shows how far the franchise has come in the last few years.
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There have been and will continue to be a lot of speculation regarding where Steven Stamkos will end up. From your point of view, how confident are you that he will sign for the Sabres? Let us know in the comments section below.