To be fair, most other teams probably don't have a quarter of their contracts expiring all at once on players they want to retain. I said it earlier today and I don't think anyone noticed, if the Sabres signed all FAs today to multi-year deals and filled up the cap space, there would be no relief next year to resign Quinn, Peterka, Levi, Byram, and whatever they decide on Greenway. They really do need some money for futures unless you don't want those players on your team anymore.
We're 2 years removed from being the 3rd highest scoring team in the league and we missed the playoffs. Last year the Panthers scored 20 goals more than the Sabres and won the Cup. IMHO I think the idea that we need to play run-and-gun and outscore teams 5-4 in order to win games should be shot dead and buried. I'm just as happy winning games 2-1 like Florida if Ruff can get the team simply to buy in to being responsible and harder to play against.