Shutdown Pair

Tag: Jhonas Enroth

  • Should the Sabres play for next year?

    No, this is not a panic button post, but more the other team in town getting me thinking:  Should Buffalo target next year as the year to make a cup run?  There are some good reasons why they should:

    • Connolly, Niedermayer, Grier, and McCormick off the books – should open some top 6 minutes for Gerbe and Ennis, and possibly an FA center who is more consistent.
    • Next year could mean Luke Adam or Zack Kassian (or both) making the team, upping the size and tenacity of the team.
    • Seriously, read this about Kassian (h/t to Sabres Prospects):

    At the Memorial Cup (in Brandon), neither one of the western teams wanted any part of him. They wouldn’t look him in the eyes.

    • I can’t imagine Jhonas Enroth not being the backup here next year.  Either that or trade the guy.  Tomorrow’s game might be a big factor in that.  If he starts again, I’m seeing the writing on the wall for Lalime, no matter how much Miller and the rest of the guys love him.
    • The biggest question for me is what to do with the defense.  Hopefully a partner for Myers is settled by the end of the year, so whoever that is has to be kept (if it’s not Morrisonn).  Montador and Rivet are UFAs, while Weber, Sekera and Butler are all RFAs.  Someone (or preferably two of them) need to take the next step this year.

    So there you have it.  What does that change about this year?  I’d be hesitant to trade for a ‘rental’ player at the deadline, especially if there is a prospect moving out.  I like our prospects a lot more than I do most of the guys Darcy has brought in at the deadline recently (though a lot of that is hindsight).  I might change my view on that as the season wears on, though.  I do think this team can still make the playoffs, but I can’t imagine a true cup run.

  • Some Random Thoughts

    I have a few rare minutes to sit and write, but of course, I didn’t get to see the win against the Leafs.  I am a big fan of Enroth, saw some of his World Jr. work, so I was glad to see him do well.  Watching the highlights and reading random stuff:

    • Love that even the Leafs’ arena crew were fooled by Jhonas’s stop on MacArthur.
    • Love Enroth’s mask even more.
    • Hey, Komisarek, I know fights after clean hits are stupid, but man up and actually fight.  Montador never wins, anyway.  Don’t wrestle him down and then punch.
    • Nice chipshot, Roy.
    • JOCHEN.
    • Enroth had to make some tough, tough saves on breakaways and 2 on 1’s.  Is Lalime making those?
    • Really need to work on that ‘The Two Tylers’ shirt concept.  Ennis!

    Should hopefully get to see most of the games this week.

  • Gameday 2010-2011 – Bruins at Sabres

    Buffalo gets another crack at getting their first home win tonight when the Bruins visit, but it’s not going to be easy.  Boston is 6-2, having only allowed 11 goals on the year.  Tim Thomas is back in the saddle, with a ridiculous .50 GAA.  Ryan Miller is questionable tonight with a ‘lower body but not groin’ injury, so Enroth has already been recalled in case he can’t go today.  The assumption is Lalime would get another start but nothing is set in stone.

    On the plus side, Jason Pominville is set to return tonight, having finally mastered the neuro-psych test.  Craig Rivet is also back from being a healthy scratch.  The biggest improvement needs to come from special teams, where they have a middling power play and a bottom five PK.  When you are taking a ton of penalties (especially when already on your own power play), a horrible PK will end your chances of winning pretty quick.

    I tweeted this yesterday, but it’s worth mentioning this article about Tyler Myers by Kent Wilson of The Score again.  He shows that Myers has been pretty unlucky so far this year, unsustainably so, which bodes well for his production here on out.

    When we look at Myers’ PDO (on-ice SV% + on-ice SH% at even strength), that’s exactly what we find: the kid has suffered from horrendous fortune thus far. The team has shot at just 3.64% with him on the ice and Ryan Miller has a .880 SV% behind the kid. That’s a PDO of 91.3 and so unsustainably low that it can’t possibly continue indefinitely. To extend the poker allusion, he’s not going to be dealt sevens and twos all night.

    Steve Montador, as a comparison, sees an 11.85% shooting percentage and a .929 save percentage when he is out there, against weaker competition, which is boosting his numbers.

    Edit:  Miller is OUT tonight, no word on Lalime/Enroth, according to multiple reports on Twitter.

  • Buffalo Sabres: A Look At The Depth Chart

    With training camp less than a month away, and the Buffalo Sabres roster looking pretty much set, I thought now would be a good time to investigate the lines and defense pairings for the coming season.  Starting up front:

    Ennis – Connolly – Pominville
    Vanek – Roy – Stafford/McCormick?
    Gerbe – Gaustad – Kaleta
    Hecht – Niedermayer – Grier

    It’s an odd mix of diminutive players and size/grit, to be sure.  Zack Kassian could make things interesting when he’s off his time-out from GMDR and gets to sign.  I’m not sure what happens if McCormick gets one of the RW spots, Stafford really is the only one that can come out.  I don’t think you play anybody out of position to try and keep him in the lineup.  Gerbe, I suppose, could end up on the fourth line if Lindy wants to keep Hecht up on the third, though my hope is with cagey vets like Grier and Niedermayer taking over the fourth line will get more than 6 minutes a night.  It’s a lineup that has some scoring potential, but should help out the revamped defense core quite a bit as well.  Speaking of:

    Myers (RH) – Morrisonn (LH)
    Montador (RH) – Leopold (LH)
    Rivet (RH) – Sekera (LH)

    Butler (LH)

    Obviously Myers is the top dog, and I slotted Morrisonn next to him as he’s another more stay at home type as Tallinder was for Tyler last year.  You get a similar Off/Def pair with Montador/Leopold, leaving Rivet and his bad shoulder to mentor Sekera and Butler in the third pair.  This keeps the left hand/right hand balance, and keeps Rivet healthier so he can bulldoze some guys in front of Miller.  If Leopold can chip in points to balance the Myers pairing, the offense from the backend will be right where it needs to be.  Now, Morrisonn may not fit in as a first pair guy which blows all this up but I think this works the best.

    I don’t HAVE to go over the goalies, do I?  Miller gets more work than we like (without the Olympics thankfully), especially considering the TWENTY TWO back to back game situations.  Does Lalime get 15 games?  Lalime and Enroth combined for 14 starts last year, I’d like to see that at 20 with all the back to backs but I can’t predict it.

    Look, it’s not the wholesale changes in the top 6 we were looking for, but as we’ve investigated before, there aren’t a lot of guys available who are a for-sure improvement.  Stempniak might be a one-hit wonder, and there’s that self-imposed cap…

  • 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.