Around The League ... Sabres Get Ready To Dump More Salary? ... Nobody Seems To Want Jacques Martin Around Anymore

Henrik Zetterberg was ridiculously good last night against Nashville. If you get a chance to catch this series, Zetterberg is going to take that thing over. He might be the quietest superstar in the NHL.

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The Sabres have officially put up the "For Sale" sign out on Maxim Afinogenov, who had a brutal season. There's more bad news from Buffalo in the same article as managing partner Larry Quinn is already complaining that the Sabres are spending too much of their revenue on player salaries. Those comments come in light of Ryan Miller needing a big contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer. After seeing Daniel Briere, Chris Drury and Brian Campbell leave town due to money issues, why would Miller even contemplate signing a deal one year before free-agency? He will most certainly have a look around, especially with those ominous quotes from Quinn possibly indicating a drop in payroll in the coming years.

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Jacques Martin is no longer the coach of the Panthers but has been given the option to stay on as General Manager. Nobody knows if he'll stay in Florida or not, but there are still misgivings about Mr.Personality staying on as GM, according to Steve Gorten of the Sun-Sentinel.

"Should Martin choose to stay, it's uncertain how the hiring of his replacement would be handled. Cohen said briefly Friday that Martin would help decide his successor.

However, it's likely Martin would select someone similar to his own personality and coaching style, something which fans and Cohen alike don't feel has worked the previous three seasons. Several players in the Panthers' dressing room were also displeased with how Martin related to them as coach."

David J. Neal of the Miami Herald thinks the whole Martin era in Florida has been a disaster, starting with the firing of Rick Dudley and John Torchetti to be replaced with Mike Keenan and Jacques:

"Captain Olli Jokinen, right wing Nathan Horton and defenseman Jay Bouwmeester .... were said to be most unhappy with their coach and the atmosphere. Too much negativity."

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Even though Islanders GM Garth Snow and head coach Ted Nolan are having a not so secretive struggle with each other, particularly over the case of Jeff Tambellini, Nolan will return next year.

Tambellini is lighting it up in the AHL but Nolan doesn't seem to give him a chance and that's irking Snow enough to talk publicly about it.

If there is one player on which the GM and coach clearly disagree, it's Jeff Tambellini. He scored one goal in 31 games with the Islanders while averaging only 10:25 ice time per game. But he resumed scoring when he returned to Bridgeport, where he is tied for the AHL lead with 36 goals in only 53 games.

"We don't know what we have in Jeff Tambellini until he gets an opportunity to play significant minutes and play on one of the two power-play units," Snow said. "He's a proven goal scorer at every level when he's gotten the opportunity. He's got speed, he's got a rocket of a shot, and he's high-character. We'll see if he can do it at this level."