Sabres thinking proactive
Early this summer, the Sabres said they were going to work toward signing next year's class of unrestricted free agents -- defensemen Brian Campbell and Dmitri Kalinin and forward Jochen Hecht -- to contract extensions before the season began.
With training camp opening next week, none of them appear close to new deals.
Fear not, Sabres faithful. While the club has rebuffed in-season negotiation attempts in the past, GM Darcy Regier indicated the team would reconsider the policy that contributed the loss of key players the past two years, infuriating so many fans.
"I don't have any hard-and-fixed rules with respect to that," Regier said Thursday. "That's something we'll look at and work through as we proceed here."
Regier added there has been no timetable for signing any or all of those players entering the final years of multi-year contracts. But it doesn't seem to be an afterthought.
""I don't want to put a deadline on it, but the preference would be to do them sooner rather than later," he said.
---Tim Graham
