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Sabres having a rough go of it without Tyler Myers |
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Make no mistake, the loss of defenseman Tyler Myers has been a significant one for the Buffalo Sabres. Without him in the lineup the past seven games the Sabres have gone 1-5-1 and have surrendered 31 goals. Ten of those 31 goals have come while the Sabres were shorthanded as the penalty kill without Myers is an abysmal 47%. Before succumbing to a "lower body" injury, Myers was leading the team in average ice time (25:21) and shorthanded ice time (3:13.)
Most everyone will agree that the 6'8" Myers is no Zdeno Chara, save for the height. Nor is he a Niklas Lidstrom, Paul Coffey, Raymond Borque, Larry Robinson, Denis Potvin, Bobby Orr, etc., etc. etc.
What he is, though, is the last vestige of former GM Darcy Regier's army of puck-movers that flooded the Sabres' blue line for eight seasons and he has emerged from that group as Buffalo's only homegrown NHL d-man that predates the 2011-12 season.
At 24 yrs. old, with 350 games played, Myers has gone through a lot of growing pains that include the high of a Calder Trophy (2009-10) and the low of seeing his play fall off a cliff (2012-13.) What he's been able to do, most notably under the guidance of head coach Ted Nolan, is climb out of the valley he was in to take his spot as the team's #1 defenseman.
Defense-pairing darlings Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov are young, talented and hungry, but in no way are ready to take the reigns as the team's top-pairing. In fact they became darlings because the opportunity was afforded them by the top-pairing of Myers and Josh Gorges. We got a glimpse of what the future might look like as that group anchored the top-four and helped lead the team to a 10-4-0 streak starting in mid-November.
But with Myers out of the lineup, the pressure placed upon the shoulders of youngins like Ristolainen and Zadorov was too much and they buckled. No matter how well they've played as a paring or individually prior to Myers' injury, neither has the experience to handle an opposition's top players on a consistent basis.
It looks as if someday they will, but not right now.
So as the perception of Myers grows fractured and the debate rages as to the good and bad he brings to the ice, perhaps how the team has performed with and without him in the lineup begs a closer look. Overall this season, the team is 13-17-2 with Myers in the lineup. Without him they're 1-6-1.
In April, 2012, at the end of the Sabres ill-fated 2011-12 season, WGR's Paul Hamilton did a piece on the injuries that hit Buffalo's top-pairing of Myers and Christian Ehrhoff. It piqued my interest at the time and it's of use right now.
Both Ehrhoff and Myers were out for extended periods that season and Hamilton rightfully concluded that having them out of the lineup significantly contributed to the team's demise. With Myers in the lineup the Sabres were 30-21-4. Without him they went 9-11-7.
For posterity's sake we'll include the two seasons in between.
In the lockout shortened 2012-13 season, the Sabres were 15-18-6 with Myers in the lineup, 6-3-0 without him.
Last season they were 18-37-7 with him, 3-14-3 without him.
Add it all up and over the course of the last four seasons Buffalo has gone 76-93-19 with Myers in the lineup, 19-34-11 without him. The overall win percentage with Myers in the lineup is 40.4% and it dips to 29.6% without him. Over the course of an 82-game season it's the difference between winning 33 games with him as opposed to winning 24 games without him.
Those numbers are over the course of four mostly turbulent seasons with two general managers and three coaches. Under Nolan, and with a stable organization now underneath them, there's a dramatic difference in the Sabres' record with and without Myers anchoring the blueline.
Since Nolan took over as head coach on November 13, 2013 the Buffalo Sabres are 27-39-8 (36.4% win percentage) with Myers in the lineup, 4-20-4 (14.3% win percentage) without him.
Maybe that's why there's a ton of interest in Myers from Edmonton and Detroit, among other teams.
It would seem as if he makes a team better.
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