The Sabres have lost their second free-agent defenseman, as Henrik Tallinder is following Toni Lydman out of town.
The New Jersey Devils have signed Tallinder to a four-year, $13.5 million deal (an average of $3.375). The longtime Buffalo blue-liner, who started his career with the Sabres in 2001-02, just ended a four-year deal that paid him $3.25 million last season and averaged $2.5625 over the term.
Tallinder is credited with helping groom Tyler Myers into this year's Rookie of the Year, as the duo was paired together from Game One of the regular season to Game Six of the playoffs.
Update: Just got off the phone with Hank, who is sad to be leaving. He said the Sabres failed to offer good enough dollars or term.
"It’s mixed feelings," he said. "It’s a great feeling to get a contract, and I’m happy to be joining the Devils. At the same time, it’s kind of sad, you know? It’s been eight years in Buffalo – eight great years in Buffalo – and it’s kind of sad to leave that behind me now.
"I talked to my agent for the first time today, and my agent had talked to Darcy a couple days ago, I think, but it wasn’t really a fair kind of a proposal to me, so I kind of knew then they weren’t ready to pay the amount of money that maybe other clubs would do. ... I think my agent also called and asked if they were interested in matching, but they weren’t ready to pay that amount."
---John Vogl
