Buffalo Sabres Sign Christian Ehrhoff to Long-Term Contract

[HordiBrusk29]

Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced today the Sabres have signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Christian Ehrhoff to a long-term contract. Buffalo acquired the exclusive rights to negotiate with Ehrhoff from the New York Islanders in a trade on Wednesday night.

“I was originally going to wait and see what was available on the free agent market,” said Christian Ehrhoff. “After the Sabres acquired my rights and I spoke with Terry Pegula and Darcy Regier, I did my due diligence on the team and I was very impressed. I called some former teammates and others in the NHL who also had great things to say and I was aware that Robyn Regehr had waived his no-trade clause in his contract this week to join the Sabres. My goal is to win the Stanley Cup, and after the offer I received from Buffalo, I believe this is the best place to make it happen.”

Ehrhoff (7/6/1982, 6’2”, 203 lbs., shoots left) played with Vancouver this season and was seventh among all NHL defensemen in scoring. He posted career highs in points (50) and assists (36) in 79 games, and matched his career best with his second straight 14-goal season. Ehrhoff collected 28 (6+22) of his 50 points on the power play, good for fourth among NHL blueliners. He was also second on the team in blocked shots (108) and time on ice (23:59).

Ehrhoff played in all 23 of Vancouver’s Stanley Cup playoff games, and was second only to San Jose’s Dan Boyle in defenseman scoring with 12 points (2+10).

In 500 career games with Vancouver and San Jose, Ehrhoff has 226 points (53+173), 338 PIMs and is a plus-74. Ehrhoff, who turns 29 next Wednesday, has only missed 15 games in the past five seasons. He also has 34 points (7+27) in 73 career playoff games.

Ehrhoff is a veteran of international play, having represented Germany at the Winter Olympics in 2002, 2006 and 2010. At just 19 years of age, Ehrhoff was the second youngest player in the 2002 Games.

A native of Moers, Germany, Ehrhoff was originally drafted in the fourth round (106th overall) by San Jose in the 2001 Entry Draft. After playing five seasons with San Jose, he was traded to Vancouver in August 2009.

[smashem]

10 Years, Yikes. Worth the 4 million sure but 10 years nah.

[GIANTSFAN]

Another ridiclous contract handed out. Ehrhoff is a good defenseman but hardly worth $40 million.

[swhite]

Man the terms of some of these contracts are absolutely ridiculous. 10 years? Really?

[NJDevils17]

Yeah, the length seems a little long, but $4 million a year seems like a pretty good price though (especially with what teams like Florida are doing).

Pegula seems really serious about wanting to put together a Cup caliber team, and he's showing it by letting Regier spend as much as he wants.

[BrianTheAdsFan]

Hope he likes Buffalo.

10 years?

[papas1175]

nhl is screwing themselves by allowing contracts like this.. they should have a max of 7 years

[thepolishkid88]

Ehrhoff's deal is unreal. Gets 45% of his money in the first two years, and to be truthful, I dont think he is worth that much.

Regardless, the Sabres will enjoy him for the next decade and their D is looking pretty good.

[BGC99]

4 million a year cap hit is not bad, I'm starting to like this spending game and Buffalo can still go after a top centerman.

At first I thought Pegula wasn't going to be that serious at a cup run, but now I'm starting to believe he's for real. Tomorrow is another day and I cant wait for the Sabres next move.

I say our D is in the top five in the league right now.

[djaye]

Originally Posted by BGC99

4 million a year cap hit is not bad, I'm starting to like this spending game and Buffalo can still go after a top centerman.

At first I thought Pegula wasn't going to be that serious at a cup run, but now I'm starting to believe he's for real.

Serious and Real.

I say our D is in the top five in the league right now.

If not, it will be by tomorrows end. Plenty of cap space to still go after anyone thats out there.

[McDonald19]

The next CBA is going to set a maximum years for contracts. Something in the 5 to 8 year range.

This contract isn't too much different from what New Jersey did to get in trouble with the league.

[Mike Tython]

Yeah, what was the issue with Kovalchuk's contract that was any different from other long-ass contracts being handed out?

Nothing?

[Isles4life]

10 years?!? Yikes!

Ehrhoff is a good player, and a $4 mill cap hit seems like reasonable value (the Islanders were obviously going to overpay by a ton with their offer), but these long contracts are getting insane. This guy is just not the caliber of player I would expect teams to be interested in locking down for this long-term, which means the underlying plan almost definitely is to get rid of the remaining years on his contract when his play drops off down the road. I don't like the contract, but this is still a good move for the Sabres in the short-term.

[gdameo]

fck yeah! I don't care if it's 10 years but think about this

regehr >>>> Butler
ehrhoff >>>> monty

sabres are doing so well now with the ****ing new owner

[Gunslinger]

When did Garth Snow become the Sabres GM?