As of tomorrow there will be only 21 shopping days left until trade deadline day.
Word on the street is that the press box at First Niagara Center was overflowing last night with scouts from various teams doing a little window shopping. The Sabres have a number of unrestricted free agents and some guy named Tyler Myers, whom a lot of teams seem to covet, that may be of interest. Although Myers isn't a pending UFA, GM Tim Murray has stated that anyone can be moved on a last place team.
Before we get to that, the Sabres are coming off of three strong performances that have resulted in them grabbing four of a possible six points. No worries, y'all. The Sabres are still in last place and still have yet to make any deals.
On Tuesday in Montreal the Sabres beat the Canadiens to end a franchise-worst 14-game losing streak. On Thursday they stood toe-to-toe with a hot St. Louis Blues club before allowing two third period goals (one an empty netter) en route to a 3-0 defeat.
Last night they pulled out a 3-2 victory over former head coach Lindy Ruff and the Dallas Stars. It was second game of a five-game homestand.
Today they take on the visiting NY Islanders at 5:00pm and I hope they win it in regulation. The Isles were in Boston last night and dropped a 2-1 decision to the Bruins. They've now lost four of their last five contests, four of six since winger Kyle Okposo was lost for an extended length of time due to an eye injury.
I'm willing to put dreams of McEichel on hold one more game. As far-fetched as it may seem, Sabres fans should still be rooting for the Isles to miss the playoffs this season and a regulation loss against the last place Buffalo Sabres would further the cause.
In saying all of this, rumors about some of Buffalo's many soon to be unrestricted free agents have been swirling for a long time. With only three weeks to go those rumors should intensify.
It's also worth noting that the best teams with the deepest pool of prospects and a focused eye on what they need and want usually beat everyone else to the punch and do so knowing that they'll pay a price above perceived "market value."
Here's three trade scenario's to get things rolling.
Tyler Myers to the Anaheim Ducks:
First off, Myers is signed to a reasonable $5.5m cap-hit through 2019 and although he does have a no-movement clause, it doesn't kick in until after next season. Also of supreme note is that Sabres GM Tim Murray has said on numerous occasions that he has not put Myers on the block. He's listening to offers for his d-man, like all good GM's should, but he has not made any calls seeking to move him.
Those watching last night saw Myers pot a goal (albeit on a deflection off of a Stars player) and play one of his best games of the season. He logged just under 25 minutes of ice-time and finished with an even rating. Although he was credited with only one hit, it should've been two as he steamrolled Stars' forward Jamie Benn and his own d-partner Josh Gorges with a single hit from behind the Buffalo net. (Gorges got the worst of the sandwich and would not be seen again until the third period. Sabres head coach Ted Nolan said the team wanted to make sure "everything was working properly.")
Myers still has kinks to his game yet he still has upside at the age of 25. Even though he may look awkward at times on the ice, he skates very well and can cover a lot of ground in a few strides. Like one of the Dallas announcers said last night (as have many others,) you can't teach size. And he's got the reach of a condor.
Renaud Lavoie of TVA sports was on hockey hotline Friday and he said talks are really heating up between the Ducks and the Sabres concerning Myers. It makes a lot of sense as Anaheim's ready to go all-in for a Stanley Cup push.
This is nothing new as Anaheim's been mentioned before, and as the old adage goes where there's smoke, there's fire.
I could live with Myers going to the Ducks, but I'm not so sure defenseman Cam Fowler coming back, per Lavoie, would be the type of player the Sabres should want. It's not that Fowler's a bad player, he's not, but the Sabres have quite a few smart, mobile, puck-moving defensemen with top-four potential in players like Mark Pysyk, Chad Ruhwedel and Jake McCabe.
In fact, having talked with Kevin Oklobzija and Don Stevens both of whom cover the Rochester Americans, all are in agreement that the organization has too many Fowler-type defensemen in the system and not enough snarl.
The Ducks are said to be in the running for Myers along with the Detroit Red Wings (who've been rumored to be after Myers for nearly a year) and Los Angeles Kings. Recently it's been said that the Ducks are interested in keeping the Wings from getting him. In a supply and demand world, that means a hefty price.
To Anaheim: Tyler Myers, Matt Hackett, NYI 2nd round pick
To Buffalo: Ben Lovejoy, John Gibson, Nick Sorensen, 2016 1st round pick
Chris Stewart to the Boston Bruins:
After a heated discussion with Nolan over his benching, Stewart has really picked up his game and last night he showed he can be a pretty good set-up man as he registered three assists, two of them primary. Speaking of heat, Stewart's been bringing it as he has nine points (4+5) in his last eight games.
There's been a long-standing rumor that the Boston Bruins would be his destination and there's no reason to believe he'd be heading anywhere else (although I'd like to see him moved to Winnipeg as part of a deal to land Evander Kane before the deadline.)
If the Bruins thought they'd be getting Stewart on the cheap because of a poor start to the season, they're somewhat mistaken. There are plenty of teams that want a big, gritty powerforward who can score, set-up and drop the mitts, Vancouver being one of them. And the more Stewart ramps up his game towards his 28-goal, 64-point 2009 season, the more interest there will be.
To Boston: RW, Chris Stewart
To Buffalo: D, Joe Morrow and a 2015 2nd round pick (Philadelphia's)
Jhonas Enroth to the Dallas Stars:
Even coming into this game, Stars coach Lindy Ruff had reservations about his goaltending. He called out starter Kari Lehtonen for allowing some soft goals. "We need him to be better," said Ruff before the Stars lost to the Sabres with Anders Lindback in net. "There is no masquerading that point. [I] met with him again this morning. We’ll just take it one game at a time here. It seems like every night the other goalie is outdueling us.”
The good part about Ruff being the former coach of the Buffalo Sabres is that he knows these players very well. He watched Enroth develop as both a back-up to Ryan Miller and in a starter's role when Miller was lost for extended length's of time.
Last night he saw just what the goalie had to offer as Enroth put on a grand showing in a 38-save performance that garnered him the game's first star.
To Dallas: G, Jhonas Enroth,
To Buffalo: D, Cameron Gaunce
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