BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Billionaire B. Thomas Golisano has reached what the team's former president termed a "conceptual agreement'' to buy the bankrupt Buffalo Sabres.

"Where the thing is is ... 'OK, now let's put it in writing.' And everybody's trying to put it in writing,'' Larry Quinn said Thursday. "There's a lot of details where things sit, and if they don't go the right way could derail it.

"But everybody's obviously optimistic we can work through it.''

Quinn, spearheading Golisano's bid, declined to predict when a formal purchase of the team could be completed.

Among the details still to be determined is for Golisano to find the best terms to financially reconfigure a $22.4 million loan taken out to help build HSBC Arena, the Sabres' home.

Golisano, a Rochester businessman, did not return several messages left for him by The Associated Press. He is considered the front-runner to purchase the Sabres and prevent the debt-ridden team from relocating or folding after the end of this season.

The NHL has repeatedly declined to comment on the status of negotiations with Golisano. A previous bid unraveled when Buffalo businessman Mark Hamister pulled out earlier this month.

But the NHL appears confident about Golisano's offer, and directed Sabres general manager Darcy Regier to consult the prospective owner before a trade earlier this week of forward Vaclav Varada to Ottawa.

At the request of commissioner Gary Bettman, Regier said he spoke to Quinn before making the deal.

"I did have a conversation regarding this and some other things, and certainly on the Varada trade,'' Regier said. "Effectively, the commissioner's still the boss with respect to the sale of the team, and that's where I get the direction from.''

The Sabres have been in limbo since the NHL took over operating control of the team last June.

This is Golisano's second attempt to buy the team. His initial offer was rejected by the league last November.

Golisano's initial bid of about $33 million failed to satisfy conditions set by Adelphia Communications, one of the nation's largest cable television companies and the Sabres' largest creditor.

Golisano's new offer would have to be at least $50 million, taking into account the construction loan and the $20 million to $23 million the team projects to lose this season.

The Sabres also owe a reported $7 million to several unsecured creditors.

Adelphia, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last summer, has considerable say in determining the Sabres' next owner. The company is owed about $130 million that former Sabres owner and former Adelphia CEO John Rigas used to buy and run the team in the 1990s.