Shutdown Pair

Tag: NHL

  • Can You Feel It?

    It’s hockey, and it’s here.  You can watch the first ‘classic game’ from last year tonight on MSG (the Tyler Myers shootout winner game), and Puck Drop is ten days away.  I’ll actually be able to attend it with my son now that plans have changed, so I hope to see all of you there.

  • Matt Ellis? Yeah, Sure, Why Not…

    The Sabres re-signed Matt Ellis yesterday, and according to Capgeek.com it’s a two-way deal.  It’s a one-year deal, $625,000 while in the NHL and just over 100k while in the AHL.  Not a bad example for the kids in Portland, as he works hard every night despite not being the most skilled guy in the league.  The move gives Buffalo a trusted forward to call up in case of injury.  They shouldn’t ask much more than that of him.

  • 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…

  • MacArthur, Kennedy and Arbitration: Validation for Darcy?

    The inestimable James Mirtle wrote an article about the arbitration process, and specifically Clarke MacArthur’s ridiculous award.  We now know how C-Mac got it:

    When it came time to meet with an arbitrator, the Thrashers simply asked for the award to be presented immediately, based on the player’s demands, so they could then walk away from the contract.

    <snip>

    “We said, you know what, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing if he gets this silly award,” Thrashers general manager Rick Dudley said. “We kind of encouraged it.”

    This was actually crazy like a fox, as it turned out.  With Clarke getting such a high award, the Thrashers could walk away.  If they had wrestled it down to $1.6mil or below, they would’ve been stuck with it the way Buffalo was with Tim Kennedy’s.  Could you imagine how much grief GMDR could’ve saved himself if he had gamed the system like that?  “Yes, please award him $2 million bucks.  WE DARE YOU.”

    Regier’s reasoning behind the arbitration problems:

    Sabres GM Darcy Regier said part of the problem stems from depth players being paid less under the salary cap as stars get a larger share of the pie.

    “The arbitration system has largely been built over the years on a pricing system for these players that, if it’s not obsolete, it’s going to be obsolete,” Regier said. “[Free agents] are available on the market for a price determined by the market and not by an arbitration system that’s running a little behind.”

    The Niemi/Turco situation is the prime example…why pay $2.75 million when there’s a guy who had similar numbers willing to take half (one reason:  if the guy is 10 years younger, but with the cap situation in Chicago…).  Rick Dudley, Thrashers GM says it best here:

    “My theory is very simple,” Dudley said. “If I put the player on waivers tomorrow, would he be claimed? If the answer’s no, then in all likelihood, that’s a contract I wouldn’t want.”

    Tim Kennedy passed through waivers.  Bottom line, his award (even if not crazy) is a contract no one wants.  Teams may regret it in a year or two, but I doubt it.

  • Goodbye, Max

    According to George James Malik on Twitter (via Sovetsky Sport and Sport-Express), Maxim Afinogenov has signed a 5 year contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, with an option for a 6th year.  Kind of expected this after he didn’t re-sign right away with Atlanta.  He’s the sort of player who would get quite a bit more money there (though I don’t know the terms yet).

    I wish him the best of luck.  Max could bring a crowd to their feet like few others the Sabres have had recently, even when, more often then not, we ended up groaning and throwing up our hands in frustration when his dangle fizzled.

    Could’ve met Max at Puck Drop a few years back, but my son was restless so I gave my spot in line to a young lady that was wearing Max’s Dynamo Moscow jersey.

  • Tim Kennedy: WAIT I GOT IT

    You know what this is to me?  It’s like TK and the Sabres are dating in high school.  Tim is head over heels in ‘love’ with Buffalo, like OMG, I never want to go anywhere else!  The Sabres, on the other hand, were never really committed at all.  Nice guy, treats them well, will even watch Sabretooth while his beau is out of town.  Lately, though, the Sabres seem distracted.  They aren’t texting Tim back right away, and when they do, it’s a short reply.  She, sorry, Tim confronts the Sabres (at the arbitration hearing) and gives an ultimatum.  Buffalo shrugs and moves on, deciding the open time in the afternoon can be used to get back in WoW, whereas Kennedy goes home, cries into his pillow and plays Morrissey records for the next month.

    I have too much time on my hands.

  • Get to know Shaone Morrisonn

    I only had to check the spelling once for the title, but as stated, Shaone (pronounced like Shawn) Morrisonn was signed by Buffalo to a 2 year deal.  Financials not confirmed, rumored to be around $1.75mil/year but huge grains of salt there.  He’s 27, having played the last several years with Washington, at times paired with Mike Green.  1G, 11A last year, he is more of a stay-at-home guy that clears out the front of the net (6’4″, 210 lbs).  He had 163 hits last year, which would’ve put him first on the Sabres ahead of Kaleta.  His 104 blocked shots last season would put him second to Tyler Myers.

    Other notes on Morrisonn:

    Really, with all of this, he reminds of Jay McKee.  Big, similar numbers, shot blocker, hard hitter, all around tough guy.  Not a big splashy move, but definitely a guy that can play a role on this team now.

  • Reserving Judgement

    Look, the Tim Kennedy thing is just as baffling to me as it is to you.  I want to hear what Darcy says (and doesn’t say) before I go off the deep end.  I may not do that no matter what, though, as at the end of the day he’s just one $1mil/year player that would be gone. *shrug*

  • What to Expect: Tyler Ennis

    The wheels for this one started turning when someone mentioned that an HFBoards post had Tyler Ennis on a list of guys to watch for the upcoming season’s Calder Trophy.  I honestly hadn’t even considered him a candidate, if only for the fact that I didn’t want to be greedy and win it two years in a row (video scouting FTW).  Looking at his numbers, though, you can’t discount the possibility.

    The shorter tower in the ‘Two Tylers’ (© Mike Grier) has ten NHL games under his belt, with 9 points (3G, 6A).  He was one of the best players in the playoffs as well, though unfortunately that was a small sample size also (1G, 3A in 6GP).  Ennis had 65 points in 69 games with the Sabres AHL affiliate Portland Pirates, including 9 PPG.  He could be an intriguing option to improve Buffalo’s mediocre powerplay.  Ennis has played C and LW, but barring a move of Timmy or Roy, will mostly likely stick with the Sabres as a winger.

    What are his downsides?  Well, Tyler is yet another smallish forward in the mold of Roy or Kennedy.  It remains to be seen if he can be healthy for a full NHL season, what with the rigors of getting elbowed ‘accidently’ by Chara.  Can he get around the bigger stronger faster NHL forwards and d-men?  If he can do it, I could see him picking up 20 goals and 35 assists, continuing to get the 15min a night he was getting against the Bruins in the playoffs.

  • What to Expect: Derek Roy

    Derek Roy led the team in points last year, had 26 goals with 10 on the powerplay, and managed only 2 assists in the playoffs.  He logs a lot of minutes (as a number one/two center should)).  So what will happen this year?  We’ll get more Cellino and Barnes, that’s for sure.

    Derek Roy is nothing if not consistently productive.  25-30 goals, 45 or so assists, solid power play contributor.  I’d have no problem predicting him to be right in that range again.  He’s been healthy, another plus as compared to Timmy.  Roy is the more tradeable of these two, with a $4mil cap hit to boot, but like I said for TC there really aren’t too many better options on the market so I wouldn’t hold my breath.

    A bit of a confession – I don’t hate Derek.  Since he’s cut down on the yapping and the diving, I’m perfectly fine with him being on the team.  It wouldn’t break my heart to see him and his fauxhawk somewhere else, but there darn well better be a 30 goal scorer returning.