No need for overpriced "Soup"

For those who didn't see Bucky Gleason's column in Sunday's Buffalo News, feel lucky.

Gleason, who I personally fail to agree with on a regular basis, seems to have a vendetta against the team's current management. This past Sunday, he put out a column which struck a chord with me, in the exact wrong way. A post about Brian Campbell's contract situation was long overdue, but now I feel compelled. I'm going to submit a portion of it, or a reworked version, to the editor of the News in response to his column in hopes it gets into Sunday's paper, because it needs to be said.

Here goes...

Mr. Gleason makes the inference that Brian Campbell is deserving of a big contract extension from Sabres management. Judging on play this season, it is hard to say that Brian Campbell is the best defenseman on the Sabres roster. If he is, then it's not by much. So why does he deserve to make over $5.5 million per year?

I don't want to hear that Andrei Markov got the same thing from Montreal. The Sabres can afford to give Campbell a contract like that (4 years, $23 million) when he isn't blowing away his teammates on the ice. While Campbell leads all Sabres defenseman in points, his points per game (.68) is marginally better than Jaroslav Spacek's (.67). His plus-minus is best among defenseman (+4), but he shares the lead with Spacek and Henrik Tallinder, and only one ahead of Toni Lydman (+3).

Spacek makes $3.485 million. Lydman makes $2.9 million. Tallinder makes $2.5 million. Why does Campbell deserve almost twice as much for similiar production? He's not the best defensively (scoring all those points help him hide all those minuses), so he's not exactly the team's stud defenseman.

Campbell was tied for seventh among NHL defensemen in scoring with 25 points going into Thursday night’s games. Add a few bucks there. Campbell could play in his second straight All-Star Game this season. Add a few more bucks. He’s eligible to become an unrestricted free agent. Add a few more.

That's all on paper. Campbell was voted in to the All-Star game thanks to his role as the highlight reel guy on the league's best team. While he had a great start to last year, there's no question that his play tailed off over the course of the season. Campbell became a big name. That doesn't justify throwing money at him. This franchise can't afford to do that.

Yes, losing Campbell would hurt, but it would hurt the team just as much to overpay him. It's bad enough that the team got stuck overpaying Thomas Vanek for the first two years of his contract (but there's no realistic way that he could actually live up to that to begin with). The Sabres can't do that again. And when Jaroslav Spacek's contract is up next year, if he's pulling similiar numbers to Campbell, won't he look for the same? Spacek's arguably been better than Campbell this year. Does he deserve $5.5-6 million a year? Of course not.

I would hate to lose Campbell. He's a valuable member of the team, and is viewed as a leader in the room... but to give him anything over $4 million a year is hurting the organization.

If that means trading him, trade him. Get draft picks to replenish the prospect pool that has been raided by the NHL over the past few years. Pick up some depth.

Don't lose him for nothing.

But most of all, don't give him a contract he isn't worth.