Sabres buy out Ehrhoff: 'He quite frankly doesn't want to be here'

The Buffalo Sabres have yet to confirm the buyout of defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, though general manager Tim Murray spoke to John Vogl of The Buffalo News Sunday.

If he wants to go on waivers, obviously he won’t be bought out. We’re not going to put him on waivers for another team to select. When he tells us that, ‘No, I don’t want to go on waivers. I just want to be bought out,’ then we will probably buy him out. That’s in their court now.

Ehrhoff will be 38 years old at the end of his deal, meaning the Sabres could be subject to a cap penalty due to his front-loaded contract if he were to retire before playing out his deal.

Murray didn't have any reservations about buying out Ehrhoff.

"The fact that he quite frankly doesn't want to be here makes it easy," Murray said. "He’s made I believe $22 million in three years and feels that we’re not going in the right direction, but he really hasn't had much part in the direction the team has gone. So time to move on."

The subject of buying out Ehrhoff came up around the trade deadline as the Sabres could not move such a large contract (seven years, $40 million remaining) to another team. Murray knew this was a possibility when he took the job last season.

"Since I got here we've talked about this... We've talked about the repercussions of the contract with the penalties that the league has put on it."