Sabres Get $15-Million Credit Line

The bankrupt Buffalo Sabres received an additional $15-million line of credit and approval to pay four players their deferred salaries Friday. There were no objections to the request made by Sabre attorney William Thomas in Buffalo bankruptcy court.

The request for an additional line of credit was expected. Judge Michael J. Kaplan had granted the Sabres as much as $25 million in debtors-in-possession financing when he approved an initial $10-million line of credit after the team filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month.

The Sabres are now expected to pay forward Curtis Brown, goaltender Ryan Miller, and defensemen Jay McKee and Brian Campbell a combined $541,666 in deferred bonus money they were due last month. Without that payment the four could become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season.

Miller is owed $250,000, Brown and McKee $133,333 each, and Campbell $25,000.

The Sabres, in jeopardy of folding or moving after the end of this season, owe their 40 largest creditors more than $206 million.

The Sabres’ future has been in limbo since the NHL took control of the team in June. The team’s sale hit a major setback this week when prospective owner Mark Hamister suspended his bid after his majority partner Todd Berman withdrew his $27 million share.

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The Carolina Hurricanes traded two-time All-Star Sami Kapanen to the Philadelphia Flyers for former first-round draft pick Pavel Brendl.

Kapanen, 29, had 27 goals and 42 assists last season, but slumped badly in last year’s postseason, scoring only once in 23 games. His low scoring continued this season with only six goals and one since Nov. 29.