Arbitrator awards Briere $5million

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TORONTO (AP) -- An independent arbitrator awarded Buffalo Sabres center Daniel Briere a one-year, $5 million contract on Sunday, a substantial raise over the $1.9 million he earned last season.
If the Sabres accept the arbitrator's ruling, the co-captain will become the team's highest paid player, surpassing fellow co-captain Chris Drury's $3.15 million.


According to the collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and players' union, a team has 48 hours to make a decision on the awarded contract if it has no other players that will head to arbitration. However, if the club has more players eligible, it has 48 hours from the time of the arbitrator's ruling on the final player.
The Sabres, therefore, may catch a break with making a decision on Briere, since Adam Mair is scheduled to have his case heard on Aug. 4.
Briere's award continues a trend that has seen the Sabres payroll increase significantly since the end of this past season. A small-market team, Buffalo reached the Eastern Conference finals with a payroll of around $29 million, which was about $10 million under the salary cap.
Buffalo has already given big raises to two top defensemen, Brian Campbell and Henrik Tallinder, and signed free-agent defenseman Jaroslav Spacek to a $10 million, three-year deal. Campbell inked a two-year, $3 million contract last week, while Tallinder signed a four-year, $10.25 million contract on Friday.
The Sabres avoided arbitration on Sunday with Ales Kotalik, giving the winger a multi-year deal. Though terms were not immediately available, Kotalik most likely got a raise from the $837,900 he made last season when he collected career-highs in goals (25) and points (62). Kotalik was scheduled to have his arbitration case heard on Tuesday.
Sabres general manager Darcy Regier was unavailable for comment on Sunday, but will address the team's financial picture on Monday.
In an injury-riddled campaign that saw him miss 32 games because of a sports hernia, Briere registered 58 points in 48 games. He added 19 points in 18 postseason games, and scored the game-winner in double-overtime against Philadelphia in Game 1 of Buffalo's first-round series against the Flyers.
The 28-year-old Briere will become an unrestricted free agent next season unless the Sabres can lock him up with a long-term deal.
Briere told Buffalo TV station WGRZ on Sunday that he would enjoy continuing to play in Buffalo rather than go elsewhere.
"I've always said it, and I'm going to say it again...I'd love to stay in Buffalo for a long time," he said.
For now, Briere and the Sabres will have to live with the one-year contract. The two sides can't begin negotiating for a long-term deal until January, unless Regier rejects the arbitrator's decision and lets Briere go free. That scenario would be risky in that the Sabres would not hold exclusive negotiating rights with Briere.