Shutdown Pair

Category: NHL

  • Schedule Day

    The NHL schedules come out at noon today, which is great, since they normally make us wait a few more weeks to plan potential road trips.  The home openers were announced yesterday, so we know that Buffalo opens on the road at Ottawa Friday, October 8, and comes home for the Rangers on October 9.  Not sure if getting back on the horse against the Sens is good or not but there it is.

    Every year I keep looking for a good road trip to take my son on, hopefully there’s a good game somewhere cheap during a convenient time.  A Carolina trip, maybe meeting up with my Dad and brothers, may work.

  • Backing Up Miller

    The backup goalie spot for the Buffalo Sabres is an interesting question for next season.  Barring injury, you can probably pencil Miller in for 65-70 starts again in the regular season, leaving 10-15 for whoever the backup is.  There are a few trains of thought out there as to who that should be.

    1. See if Jhonas Enroth is ready.  He’s progressed well at the AHL level (2.37 GAA, .919 SP last season), and could be a solid, inexpensive option for next year.  A bit more of a wild-card than an established vet, but more upside.
    2. Trade Enroth for a top-6 forward (center?) or D-man (if neither Hank nor Toni re-sign I imagine) and sign a vet backup.  I call this the Marty Biron, as that’s who most folks want back as the backup.  Probably costs a bit more than Enroth, but wouldn’t be a huge cap hit.
    3. Keep Enroth in the AHL and sign a vet backup.  Could still be Marty, Enroth would play more, but with Miller here long-term, it may be better to try and get something for Jhonas, especially with the number of teams that have goalie questions.

    Stick-tap to TheFinnishLine on Twitter for the idea of trading Enroth, as I hadn’t thought of it.  The more I think about it, the more I like the idea.  Miller is our guy, and Enroth could net us (with a pick or a prospect or two) a new center to drop next to Vanek, or a top-4 defender to fill in for Hank or Toni if neither comes back.  I’d lean toward the forward myself, and give some of the Portland guys a try on the back line, but either way it wouldn’t bother me.  If they can’t make a trade, I think I’d want him here as the backup, and not with the Pirates.  I don’t think he’s going to get too much better there, and having a mentor like Ryan Miller could be good for him.

  • Sabres and Respect

    As usually happens, as soon as the cup was awarded, you started seeing odds for who was going to win next season getting thrown around.  So I took a look to see where Buffalo ranks, and they (as of this morning) sat at 18/1.  Not in the top tier, with teams like Chicago, Pittsburgh, or San Jose (ha), but solidly in the second tier.  Where they should be, most likely, based on the talent we think will return.

    What I want to know is, will the Sabres be considered a true threat next season?  Buffalo was a division leader, had a respectable if not spectacular scoring differential, and has Ryan Miller.  But you KNOW that the top ‘Cup Contenders’ everyone will mention in the East are Pittsburgh and Washington, with yet more obsessive coverage of Crosby and Ovechkin.  Olympian Miller might get Buffalo some more pub and national notice, but I think our guys will have to seriously outperform WAS/PIT for a long stretch to get put in their category.  And, you know, get back on NBC.

    Whatever else happens this offseason, I am expecting this team to be the division winner again.  Let’s see if anyone outside of Western New York has any opinions, or if the extent of it will be “oh hey, yeah, the Sabres, they’ll be OK, I guess…”.

  • Congratulations to the Blackhawks!

    Congratulations are in order to you 2009-2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks!  The OT winner was a Buffalo connection, with former Sabre Brian Campbell assisting on Buffalo native Patrick Kane’s goal, which slipped underneath Leighton somehow.  It was a great series, pretty darn good playoffs all around, save for the Sabres’ first round exit.  Now the retooling can begin in earnest.  Next season can’t begin soon enough.

  • Kassian, Tallinder, Lydman and You

    John Vogl over at the Buffalo News has a wide ranging interview up with Darcy Regier, that’s a great readif you haven’t gotten there already.  The biggest update is on Zack Kassian, where Darcy is temporarily putting contract negotiations on hold.  I don’t think this is that huge, as it sounds like Zack was getting the business from some drunk assholes, and gave it back to them.  He shouldn’t have done it, not at all, but it happens.  He needs to learn from it, and hopefully this delay in signing will remind him that he needs to be more responsible, as shenanigans like that could affect his livelihood.

    Darcy also mentioned that he’s had talks with the agents for Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman, and expects them to continue next week.  Doesn’t necessarily mean either one comes back, but he’s putting the work in.

    For other work Regier is putting in, he also apparently has talked to ‘all’ the other GMs, including Brian Burke, but wouldn’t comment about getting Kaberle.  I imagine some (maybe most) of those conversations have been of the “hey, do you want anybody we have?  No?  Okay, see you at the draft” variety.  Could be wrong, though.

    And finally, I just want to thank everyone that’s been reading and commenting.  It’s well beyond what I was expecting, you guys are the best.

  • Well-deserved Honors for Miller

    First off, USA Hockey is going to give Ryan Miller their Bob Johnson Award for excellence in international competition.  Here’s the scoop from the Buffalo News:

    Miller was named the top goaltender and most valuable player of February’s Games in Vancouver. He posted a tournament-best .946 save percentage in six games, and his 1.35 goals-against average was the lowest in U.S. Olympic history.

    The award, named after the legendary coach, will be presented during USA Hockey’s annual congress to be held Thursday through June 13 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

    Miller is also a finalist for the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award, up against Sidney Crosby and Shane Doan.  When you throw in his Silver Medal, and Vezina trophy candidacy (should’ve had Hart nom too), Ryan might just need to expand the trophy case.

  • Something for Nothing?

    Bit of a warning:  I plan to ramble a bit here, as I may end up convincing myself I’m wrong.  It’s a work in progress.

    One of the recurring themes you hear when talking about guys in their walk years (especially on bad teams, or small market teams that ‘can’t afford them’) is that the GMs have to get something back for them.  The Sabres recently had that with Brian Campbell, and most likely will hear about Tim Connolly in regards to this for this season regardless of what he does.

    But the salary cap changes this, to my mind.  You always ‘get something back’ for a UFA, cap space.  When (if?) Timmy is not re-signed at the end of this season, you are getting back $4.5M in cap space, a tidy sum.  I’m not arguing that $4.5M in cap space is better than $4.5M and a 2nd round pick, but it IS something.  And it IS better than $2m in cap space and someone on the level of Drew Stafford or Clarke MacArthur (or Raffi Torres).  This makes sense to me, but I *am* sleep deprived, so feel free to poke some holes.

  • On Zack Kassian

    As you all have heard by now, Zack Kassian was arrested after a bar fight the other day.  The linked article at the Windsor Star has what few details there are, along with an epic picture of BZK that more than anything makes him look like a jerk.  One of the commenters at this article says the other guy ‘got what he deserved’.  Put as much stock in that as you would any random, anonymous internet comment.

    You have to wonder what this will do to Zack and his ELC.  Just a few weeks ago, it looked like Darcy was leaning towards signing him up and giving him a shot, now, who knows?  Would another year in juniors fix maturity issues?  Will being in Portland?  For that one, it might depend on whether or not Kevin Dineen jumps on one of the NHL coaching jobs.  The Sabres NEED his size and physicality, so it’ll be interesting to keep an eye on this situation over the next few weeks.

    edit:  Well this post was timely.  The Buffalo News reports Kassian was formally charged in this matter.

  • Interesting Target: Bobby Ryan

    Bobby Ryan is a restricted free agent, and a tweet from Jeff Marek of CBC got me thinking about him.

    Burke wants a forward who can score w/size. Bobby Ryan remains unsigned in ANA. Ducks may lose Nieds. Kaberle on the mrkt. Just sayin’…

    Obviously this is in reference to wheeler-dealer Brian Burke up the QEW, but this is a move the Sabres could make.  Ryan would be a solid pickup, adding size and scoring that the Sabres sure could use (back to back 30 goal seasons).  Now, the Sabres don’t have a Kaberle to dangle in trade talks, but may be able to work something with picks/prospects.  I would love to see Bobby Ryan opposite Thomas Vanek.

    Not directly related, but Kaberle has an interesting NTC:

    can name 10 teams that he will accept a trade to; if the Leafs miss the playoffs in 2008-09 or 2009-10, he can be traded without restriction from that Entry Draft until August 15

    Interesting that you can specify a window when you can be traded, to avoid deadline day, or early season trades., based on playoff performance (or non-performance, in the case of the Leafs).

  • Sabres Special Teams

    As promised, a rambling exploration of the Sabres’ performance in special teams situations.

    PP:  Ranked 17th, 17.6%.  The Sabres scored 55 total goals in man advantage situations (49 5 on 4, 3 at 5 on 3, 3 at 4 on 3).  It’s interesting to note that at home, they were quite good (21.2%, 34G), but horrific on the road (13.7%, wow).

    It was no secret throughout the year that the power play was struggling, which carried over into their dismal performance in the playoffs.  When you consider that Vanek (10 PPG) and Hecht (3 PPG) missed most or all of the Boston series, it was that much worse.  At various points, they had issues getting pucks in deep and getting established positions, which is why the elusive ‘puck moving/power play quarterback type defenseman’ was a deadline target, and probably remains one this offseason.  On the positive side, Tyler Myers was a solid addition on the power play, with his willingness to shoot early and often helping things quite a bit.  Several of his goals were just ‘screw it, I’m shooting’ plays that found their way through.

    PK:  Ranked 2nd, 86.6%.  For the record, Buffalo took 333 minors (less than 20 other teams), 28 majors, 6 misconducts, 3 game misconducts.  There were 8 bench minors.  They were tops in the league at home, killing 89.8% there, while clicking along at 84% on the road (still a solid 6th place).  Total allowed power play goals was 38, one more than Boston, the best team in that regard.

    Night and day difference, eh?  Tyler Myers and Henrik Tallinder lead from the rear here, average just over 3 minutes of short-handed time per game, with Jochen Hecht (that name again) and Mike Grier taking charge from a forward perspective.  I have no complaints here, the team was great at keeping opponents around the edges and clearing the puck, for the most part.