Zack Kassian's run-in with the law has — at least temporarily — derailed his

chances of getting a contract with the Buffalo Sabres.

General Manager Darcy Regier said Tuesday he has stopped negotiations with the 2009 first-

round draft pick, who was charged with assault last week following an early morning bar fight

in Windsor, Ont.

"We were in negotiations," Regier said in HSBC Arena. "We felt it was appropriate to stop

negotiations at that time."

Regier has talked about the incident with Kassian and hockey legend Bobby Orr, whose agency

is representing the 13th overall selection. Police arrested the 19-year-old May 30 after

observing a man with a bloody mouth and chipped tooth at 1:50 a.m.

"It's obviously not something we condone," Regier said. "It's unfortunate. I happen to

believe Zack's a good kid. He just put himself in a position that going forward you can't put

yourself in those types of positions. It's a learning process.

"It obviously, by his own admission, wasn't a smart thing for him to do. It caught a wave.

They won the Memorial Cup. He was out with some of his [Windsor] teammates, and he's the big

guy there, getting challenged and egged on, and those are things you have to learn to walk

away from. You're not on the ice. You can't take that position.

"We're going to continue to work with him. I told him that on one hand there's no way we're

going to abandon him, we're going to help him, but he's got some work to do on the other

hand."

Regier said the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Kassian was remorseful about getting caught in a

negative story for the third time. He was suspended by the Peterborough Petes for one game in

December after missing curfew when his girlfriend came to visit. In January, shortly after

being traded to Windsor, he earned a 20-game suspension for hitting an opponent in a

vulnerable position.

Kassian has another season of junior hockey eligibility should contract talks with the

Sabres not restart.

"He's had three things over the course of the year that have all been opportunities to

learn, and he really needs to," Regier said. "The critical issue is that he learns from them

and that we help him learn from them."

Regier, who was frank in his Kassian comments, was not as eager to talk about a trade rumor

involving the Sabres. Toronto General Manager Brian Burke mentioned at the recent general

managers' meetings that Tomas Kaberle's no-trade clause was set to expire and two teams have

inquired about the defenseman.

Kaberle is a power-play specialist, and the Sabres are admittedly in need of a blue-line

quarterback. Toronto is searching for forwards, and the Sabres were disappointed by center Tim

Connolly and winger Drew Stafford during the playoffs.

"I have talked to everyone in the league, and that would include Brian, but I'm not going

to get into the details of it," Regier said.

The general manager said he has had talks with representatives for the Sabres' top free

agents, defensemen Toni Lydman and Henrik Tallinder. They will talk again over the next week.

"You're balancing ways to make the team better in conjunction with trying to sign them,"

Regier said. "Certainly, they're both quality people, quality players. It'll come down to

decisions and costs."

Regier was happy with a decision by the Columbus Blue Jackets, who hired former Sabres

forward and assistant coach Scott Arniel as their new coach. Arniel was a finalist along with

Portland's Kevin Dineen.

"I think it's awesome," Regier said. "Scott Arniel did a terrific job with us. He was a

tireless worker. I can't say enough good things about the job he did with us. Obviously, he

continued it. I'm very happy for him. It's kind of bittersweet in that you have two quality

people and only one of them is going to get the job."

It's possible Dineen could return to the Sabres' minor-league club next season if he fails

to get an NHL position.

"He loves doing the work he's doing," Regier said. "At this time to say no one else is going

to come forward and ask permission to either talk to him for a head job or for an assistant

job, it's probably too early to know that."