Mair clears waivers, staying in Buffalo

Sabres forward Adam Mair was hoping to stay in Buffalo, and he got his wish. No teams claimed the 30-year-old off waivers, and coach Lindy Ruff said the Sabres will maintain the status quo with Mair serving as the 13th forward. The Sabres had the option of sending Mair to Portland of the American Hockey League, but they have decided to keep Mair in the NHL for now.

Below are the audio links from today's interviews in Amherst Pepsi Center. Mair said he feels he can still contribute to the team, while Ruff acknowledges the tough situation Mair is in. Ruff also talks about facing the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday in HSBC Arena.

---John Vogl

AdamMair

LindyRuff

Comments

[Jeff]

Hecht was a bad player last year. This year, he's been very good. I'm shocked at the turn around. You don't expect a player his age to look faster after a summer off. Last year, Mair might have been the better player. This year, especially with Mair coming off a significant injury, Hecht is much better. He's still grossly overpaid and unmoveable though, he'd easily clear waivers.

[Mike]

five4fighting is right. I can't believe anyone with even the slightest amount of hockey knowledge can believe it was a clean hit. Drury never touched the puck.

[HBirdman]

"It would have made a whole lot more sense to waive Hecht or Pallie"

Maybe they should try to trade Paille instead. he's probably worth a 3rd round draft pick or something...

[Taro Moto]

It would have made a whole lot more sense to waive Hecht or Pallie. Mair has always been a bigger contributor, on/off ice leader and more talented than these two space wasters combined.

Hecht is not an NHL player and I do not understand why Lindy gives him a uniform and ice time that would be better used by any player in Portland.

[scott]

They moved Paille and have the option to send Mair down. They still have to pay Mair if they send him to Portland, but it doesn't count against the cap. Send Lalime down, trade a prospect, sign Biron. They now have one of the best backup goalies and the cap space to make a decent move. Reiger has been trying to make moves for while now, but has not found a partner. It's coming sooner than you think. If they spend another ~4-5 million and make it deep in the playoffs they come out ahead. Besides, Portland needs some help.

[TJ]

Aside from giving Mair the chance to play regularly with another team and saving cap space in the process, I'm sure the Sabres are OK with keeping Mair as insurance. Even if they sent him to Portland, they'd still be paying him the same salary. One has to think that Gaustad, Ellis and/or Kaleta will suffer some injuries during the season because of the style they play - that's when Mair will come in handy.

[Eric]

If we waived Mair because he was an extra forward, and everyone wants to bring up Cody McCormack, wouldnt Cody McCormack just sit on the bench anyways? They waived Mair because he was the 13th forward. McCormack would be the 13th forward too. And McCormack is younger than Mair bringing up McCormack makes no sense if he just rides the pine...basically the Sabres held a Mair sale and no one liked the price so hes back...non story

[jan]

interesting -- do they keep Mair on the roster and not play him? or do they send him to Portland where he'll probably get to play more often and take the chance that, if they call him up, and he's picked up by another team on re-entry waivers, they will be stuck with paying him 1/2 his salary while he plays for another team.
But it looks like the Sabres will keep him and not play him for now. (that doesn't open up a spot for McCormick, does it?)

[Eric]

5 straight blog posts about Adam Mair on Sabres Edge...must be a slow news week for the hockey dept.

[five4fighting]

Roetzer, you're entitled to your opinion, no doubt. However, I don't know of any athlete who has 360 degree vision...unless the have 2 sets of eyes or a spider-sense. :P

[lounotinafghanistananymore]

eh, i don't think it was a dirty hit. not like the neil hit he took. looks like his teammate lead him right into it, but he wasn't even passing to drury. looked like he mighta gotten an elbow up but reverse angle shows he didn't.

more importantly, why is that idiot Avery back on the Rangers? i can't stand the rangers so i guess it makes sense.

[Roetzer]

5 4 fighting: head down, looking the other way, same thing. you must be aware 360 degrees in hockey so he had it coming to him. Plus hes an ex Sabre who didnt like it here so it makes it even better that he was KO'd

[five4fighting]

Drury's head wasn't down at all if you actually watch it. He was watching the play along the boards because thats where the puck was...the puck was passed by him and he was hit, with his head up, from his right-backside. It was a hit from behind on a guy who never touched the puck once in the entire play, hence the suspension. It's painfully obvious.

[LaDouche]

No doubt Adam is a great guy and everyone wants to see him do well. However, in light of the NHL salary cap it becomes very difficult to keep good guys like Mair and Pallie on with their salaries and still have a winning team. The NHL cap is $56,800,000 the Sabres were at $56,400,000 before Pallie was dealt. Mair is on the cap for $775,000 Pallie was on for $1,500,000. If you free up some cap space it could create an opportunity to pick up a quality player down the road that could help you make the playoffs.

[roy]

i'm pretty sure most any team would do some very minor cap juggling if they thought it would improve them. in fact, i'm certain they have set up their rosters so that can occur. the sabres are completely devoid of any veterans down on the farm. perhaps there will be similar moves to come to that end.

[Roetzer]

Glad to see Mair still around. the Sabres need his toughness but fairy boy Reiger is pulling all that away from the team.
Druruy deserved that hit with his head down.
Flames are my #2 team also...phaneuf is the man!

[Sully's Brother]

Matt: Sorry to burst your "intellectual" bubble...but the reason he (Mair) cleared waivers is the same reason he and any number of 3rd/4th line players are being put on waivers on other teams....CAP SPACE. There are an incredibly high number of "middle of the road" players that are making "average" salaries floating around the league. And there aren't many teams in a financial situation where they can afford to drop one of their own players off the roster in order to pick up another player of the same caliber. Everyone BARKS about management moving players around but they forget that this is not only a sport but a business as well.

[PDHSki]

@CalgarySabre2 - right on about Torts and the non-issue hit. Drury got caught with his head down on a hard check. Sorry it happened, but if you don't play heads-up hockey, you end up like R.J. Umberger.

[Greg B.]

CalgarySabre- Buffalo is still on the line for all of Mair's cap hit. If they did assign him and later call him back up, he would have to go through re-entry waivers. If he was claimed on re-entry waivers, Buffalo would be on the line for 1/2 of his remaining cap hit.

Matt- Welcome to Sabres Edge, the place where winning is met with silence and losing is met with cries for everyone's head. It's the Buffalo way.

[CalgarySabre2]

1) How does the cap hit work? Are the Sabres still stuck with his whole salary even though he cleared waivers? 2) Unrelated to Mair: Curtis Glencross of Flames will be suspended when Flames visit on Friday. He was suspended for 3 games for a hit on Drury on Saturday that did not even draw a penalty at the time - Tortorella's whining paid off - less of a hit than Richards delivered, and Richards did not get suspended.

[Matt]

Its funny how everyone in the comments section seemed to think they were so wise in putting down Sabres ownership when it was announced that Mair would be put on waivers.

Now there isn't a single comment about the fact that he wasn't picked up off of waivers.

Chirp...chirp...