Shutdown Pair

Category: Sabres

  • Sabres, Tyler Myers Agree to Terms on a 7 Year Deal

    From a Sabres.com tweet.  No financial data out there yet.  WOO!

    edit:  7 years, $38.5million.  $12mil in first year (10 in bonus, 2 in salary).

  • You Gotta Wear Shades

    As in, the future is bright, man.  I watched a good portion of the Traverse City Tournament championship game that the Sabres prospects played in last night, which they won 5-2.  The most amazing thing to me, despite the Rangers-centric broadcast, is how much praise the Sabres were getting.  Our boys were being treated like the class of the tournament, the team the others were benchmarking themselves by.  It might even be right to do that, as they won several games in fairly resounding fashion (6-3, 6-3, 5-2).  There was one loss sandwiched in there but overall they were the class of the tourney.  Fun to watch.

    The other fun story from yesterday was the Season Ticket delivery.  Buffalo invited several of my fellow bloggers along for the ride, and you can read about Kate and Heather’s takes on it at their sites.  I need to ensure my email address ends up in Ted Black’s hands.  I want in next time!  I have very cute kids who could accompany me!  Seriously though, what an amazing adventure they had, and it’s great publicity for the Sabres to boot.  Good job, guys!

  • The Importance of Tyler Myers

    Ryan Lambert went trolling again, and I’m biting.  Tyler Myers is reportedly close to signing a contract (now variously reported as 6 or 7 years) for $5.5 million a year.  Most people seem to think this number fits in with the new NHL landscape, but not Lambert!  He thinks we should be storming HSBC Ar-uh, FN Center because of the money committed to Myers (possibly), Leino and Ehrhoff.  Never mind that the core of the team also includes Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek.  Is it risky to give a contract like that to a player so young?  Sure.  Buffalo is playing a different game now, and the risk is worth the reward.  Myers plays the toughest minutes of any Buffalo D, he plays PP and PK, he’s getting tougher with each passing year, and he’s got better teammates on the backend.  He’s important, and they are paying him like he’s important.

    I debated about whether to even post this, as it’s not like Lambert is going to be convinced of anything.  The only thing that will convince him that Regier is right to do this is to have Myers dominate the league this year (and hey, maybe for the next 6 or 7 too).  With Myers and Regehr (most likely to me) taking the toughest assignments, that will leave Ehrhoff to think offense.  Leino is a wild card, but he has some dynamic players to work with on the top two lines.  We don’t know what will happen, but it’s going to be an exhilarating ride.

  • Myers Close to an Extension

    Hey, more awesome Sabres news!  According to the venerable Bob McKenzie over at TSN, Tyler Myers (along with the Islanders’ John Tavares) is very close to signing a 6 yr contract extension, worth around $5.5mil per year.  If true (and if there’s anyone out there I’d trust for this, It’s Bob McKenzie) that’s a great number for Myers and the Sabres, and it clears out one potential bit of drama for next offseason.  I for one certainly don’t want to have any Stamkos-esque “hey what if we sign Myers to a huge offersheet?  I’ll hang up and listen” garbage from other fanbases.  Tyler has quickly become one of the faces of the team along with Ryan Miller, and is a key component in making and keeping this team a Cup contender.  I may seem like a broken record saying this, but I can’t wait for the season to start!

  • Now, I love Jarome Iginla…

    …but as Scott points out a BSN, this is “Iginla for Pominville!” rumor is a big pile of nothing.  This all comes from a HockeyBuzz blog post by Garth, who says things like (not linking those guys, it’s the Stafford post if you must see it):

    I’ve been told that Pommer ($5.3 million cap hit, next three seasons) and Reggie ($2.75 million cap hit, next four seasons) would be a likely trade package to Calgary for Iginla.

    I would not be surprised at all if Buffalo were to trade Ville Leino to Calgary as part of an Iginla trade. Leino’s six year, $4.5 million UFA contract came as a shocker to all observers. Perhaps Regier grabbed Leino as a pre-emptive strike, at a value price, when he knew that he Buffalo was not a consideration to land Brad Richards on July 1. Leino is the proverbial “ghost man on first” right now. Regehr and Ehrhoff were introduced at pressers in Buffalo. Why hasn’t Leino been introduced to the people of Pegulaville?

    Now.  I probably owe my renewed love for hockey to Calgary and Jarome Iginla, as I had fallen away from the sport for a few years before the lockout (save going to the games a few times due to my buddy’s free Adelphia tix).  I loved watching the cup run the Flames made, and Jarome Iginla’s style of play is exactly what I love.  But that was years ago now.  Iggy isn’t a spring chicken, and I’m not sure trading two young, talented players for one older, more talented player with a rapidly approaching expiry date, is a good idea.  I wouldn’t kill them for it, but it would be a mark against ’em.

    What kills me is the Leino part of this, well, wouldn’t call it a rumor, more of a hope or speculation.  This isn’t the NBA, where sign-and-trade deals are a thing, and I think those are a thing because of the really odd salary structure they use (or did use, before they locked out).  Seems like a HUGE risk to sign a guy as trade bait, so I’m inclined to believe Darcy figured Richards was pretty set on NYR, and went after the next best guy he could get.  Also, who said Leino’s contract was ‘a value price’?  Anyone?  It may end up being one, the way Roy’s is now, but I can’t recall seeing ANYONE who thinks it is now.  Then there’s also the whole “Sabres need centers” thing.  Would be odd to trade him because of that, too.  The “Why hasn’t he been introduced?  HMM?” aspect might be the silliest.  Maybe the guy wasn’t available…he might be in Finland.  He might be lounging on a beach in Aruba.  It seems odd to immediately jump to ‘OMG he will be TRADED for IGGY asdfasdf;lksadjf’, but then again, I don’t write for HockeyBuzz.

  • First Niagara Center? Ok.

    I still think a ‘Center’ sounds like a place to shop, whereas an Arena is for battle, but hey, you could see the writing on the wall with HSBC pulling away from the regular person banking business.  Not sure how long it’s going to take for me to break out of the ‘heading down to the Arena’ habit.

    Anyone else kind of hoping there’s a Derek Roy bachelor pad hidden in the renovation plans?  Years after he retires, they find a door that no one is sure where it leads.  They open it to find a room filled with mattresses, empty wine coolers and an all-glass shower in the middle.

  • Poll: How do you handle the Versus games?

    Yet again, Buffalo is a popular choice to appear on Versus (soon to be renamed), the NHL’s main television partner in the United States.  For Sabres fans who love Rick Jeanneret, that leaves us a bit put out.  The solution is to (as the radio partner of the Buffalo Sabres, WGR550 will tell you) is to turn down the TV and turn on the radio…but do you actually do that?  I am curious as to how many of you do, so answer in the poll below:

    [poll id=”3″]

  • Good Luck, Patrick Lalime

    Patrick Lalime has retired, and will work 15 Montreal games for RDS, as well as contribute to other shows for the network.  He was a great person, if not the best backup goalie fit for Buffalo, and I wish him well.  If you’ve ever heard him speak (in English or French) you know he should be a solid TV guy.

    There were some startling numbers (pre-lockout) put on Twitter last night about Lalime, whose careers numbers (other than Cups) are very similar to Chris Osgood.

  • One Possible Roster

    Playing with the Cap Calculator at Capgeek (too much fun), I’ve worked out this roster possibility.  I’ll post new ones as the Sabres make more moves, or the real cost of an RFA contract becomes known.  I gave everyone that I brought on a bit of an upgrade in salary, seems like what usually happens to most RFAs.

    CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR

    FORWARDS
    Thomas Vanek ($7.142m) / Derek Roy ($4.000m) / Jason Pominville ($5.300m)
    Brad Boyes ($4.000m) / Ville Leino ($4.500m) / Drew Stafford ($4.000m)
    Tyler Ennis ($0.875m) / Jochen Hecht ($3.525m) / Patrick Kaleta ($0.907m)
    Nathan Gerbe ($1.433m) / Paul Gaustad ($2.300m) / Cody McCormick ($1.200m)
    / Luke Adam ($0.875m)

    DEFENSEMEN
    Tyler Myers ($1.300m) / Robyn Regehr ($4.020m)
    Jordan Leopold ($3.000m) / Christian Ehrhoff ($4.000m)
    Andrej Sekera ($1.200m) / Mike Weber ($0.850m)
    / Marc-Andre Gragnani ($0.600m)

    GOALTENDERS
    Ryan Miller ($6.250m) / Jhonas Enroth ($1.200m)

    BUYOUTS: Tim Kennedy ($0.166m)

    CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
    (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
    SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $62,645,357; BONUSES: $562,500
    CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $1,654,643

    This is a fairly typical Lindy Ruff 22-man roster, I didn’t work too hard on lines and pairings as Lindy changes them as often as Bruce Boudreau changes his bib at lunch.  This setup demotes or trades Kotalik and Morrisonn, but really it could be done by moving Hecht or Boyes (or both) instead.  Basically, Buffalo has a ton of guys in that $3mil – $5.5mil price range, it makes sense that they’d get some of these guys out to make room not just for the space to sign the RFAs they have, but to also make room for some of the Amerks that are ready to make the jump.  The team is remade, and will be remade again next year.

  • Leino, Richards and You

    In the end, the Sabres went higher-risk/high reward by picking Ville Leino over Brad Richards.  Can Leino be a center again?  He was very good in limited faceoff duty last year.  He played the position until he was 23, so we have to hope it’s like riding a bike.  Ville has to be happy about potentially being with some solid young talent, whether it’s Gerbe or Ennis or Stafford or Pominville.  I’m willing to give this a try and get behind Leino.  Add in Ehrhoff and Regehr, hope for solid full seasons from Gerbe and Ennis, and this year should be a solid step up from the last.

    Or, Darcy Regier could trade several of the players currently on the roster away, and completely up-end my thoughts here.  Isn’t it fun?