Will Max stay a Sabre or hold out?

[starfirestar]

Max may be the odd man out. With the resigning of Connolly we may not have enough money to get all our other RFA's signed. What I mean by that is that they should concentrate on resigning Cambell, Warrener, and Biron first. They are more valuble to the team at this point than Max. Max is a great player. I hope the Sabres do resign him. He might be the fastest player in the league in a couple years. With quick hands like Max has he should work on his wrist shot and stay away from the slapshot. His slapshot is hard, but not accurate. I would like to see him concentrate on his wrist shot. He could easily get 50 if he uses his wrist shot more efficiently. He might be in the molds of a Sakic? Great speed, great stickhandeling, quick wristshot? Sounds like Joe Sakic to me minus the natural Center ability. On Fan TV they said that Max rejected the Sabres qualifying offer. Hopefully they'll get him signed!!!!!!!!! I hope Lindy Ruff knows how to coach this guy. He could very well be one of the great ones. Same with Dmitri Kalinin. That kid is going to be great. Once he conditions himself and works on not getting over-fatigued, he could be in the molds of Rob Blake?

[Jim Bob]

With Connolly, Gratton, Warrener, and Campbell signing their qualifying offers, Noronen likely not getting much more than what he got last year, and the Sabres shaving off around $3.5 million in salary by losing Smehlik, Kozlov, and Rasmussen while adding Mair and Hecht, and I think there will be plenty of money left for Max.

If Max asks for more than around $1 million per year (that's what Dumont got over 3 years last summer), then he is on crack. And that would only be $200,000 more than he got last year if you figure in bonuses.

[sabres081]

hes better then dumont i give him 1.3 try to lock him up 4 to5 yrs

[Jim Bob]

Originally posted by sabres081
hes better then dumont i give him 1.3 try to lock him up 4 to5 yrs

Max is more exciting than JP and he may be more talented than JP, but the most important thing when it comes to contract talks is production. And JP has been more productive over the last two years than Max has:

JP: 155 games 46 goals 49 assists 95 points -9 96 PIM 16 PPG 11 PPA

Max: 159 games 35 goals 41 assists 76 points -8 109 PIM 6 PPG 12 PPA 1 SHG

11 fewer goals and 19 fewer points over the last two years does not equal a better paycheck, IMO.

And if you think Max would be stupid enough to sign a 4 or 5 year contract this early in his career, then you need to be educated by Darcy. Besides, the Sabres don't want to lock anyone up beyong 2003-04 with the CBA war coming up.

[Forum21]

You'll see a two year contract for Max loaded with incentives, then after that he'll be too rich for our blood and they'll ship him off to a bigger market.