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With Tyler Myers gone, Zach Bogosian changes the complexion of the d-corps |
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Before we get into this, R.I.P former Sabres defenseman Steve Montador who was found dead in his home at the age of 35. Condolences to his family and friends.
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Former Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers did something last night that Sabres fans rarely saw him do after his rookie season. While playing his second game for the Winnipeg Jets he determinedly grabbed the puck in the neutral zone and barreled in on Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard (thx, goosie) using every inch of his 6'8" frame and condor reach to force Howard into a toe save. Jets teammate Blake Wheeler followed the play and buried the rebound into a wide open net.
Make no mistake, Myers is in a better place right now playing on a Jets team that's in a wild card spot in the western conference looking to crack the top-three in the division. I wish him and Drew Stafford the best on their journeys. Except when they play the Sabres at any point in time down the road.
With Myers gone the defense is in flux as the Darcy Regier-era of an overabundance of puck-moving defenseman with offensive upside gives way to more snarl.
The exchange of defensemen that occurred with the blockbuster trade changes the complexion of the blue line. Myers was at the top of a long list of "puck-movers" on the back end that stretched deep into Rochester and it was to the point where the system was out of balance. It was something pointed out by long-time Amerks reporter Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. At a game in December he told me that without Drew Bagnall and Nick Petrecki (both injured) the defensemen at the AHL-level were pretty much all the same.
Twenty-three yr. old Mark Pysyk (2010, 23rd-overall) leads that AHL group. He's followed by 2012 free-agent acquisition Chad Ruhwedel who's older than Pysyk at the age of 24 but has far less professional games under his belt due to his time playing college hockey. Both were of the Regier-preferred style of defensemen.
Jake McCabe is another of those types although he packs more of a punch and has a bit of a snarl to his game. McCabe was a 2012 second-round pick of Buffalo (44th) who also went the college route and at the age of 21 is in his first season of pro hockey.
Also of that ilk is defenseman Jerome Leduc who at one time was touted as an offensive defenseman, but has since settled into that "puck-mover" classification. Free agent signees Bagnall and Petrecki are two tough defensemen who counter the above group while 6'4" 225 lb. Brady Austin is still learning the game. The 2012 7th-rounder has been shuffling between the Amerks and the ECHL's Elmira Jackals.
To get an idea of the type of transition that the defense is undergoing, Regier had this on the back-end during Myers' rookie season: Toni Lydman, puck-mover; Hank Tallinder, puck-mover, Andrej Sekera, puck-mover; Montador stocky defender with mobility; Craig Rivet, stout defensive-defenseman/protector of "the core," Nathan Paetsch, puck-mover; Chris Butler, puck-mover.
The movement away from Regier's d-corps of puck-movers began with the 2012 draft--"bigger, tougher, faster." In the first round the Sabres picked the Twin Towers of Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov. Both players come in at 6'4" and 6'5", respectively, are in the 220 lb. area and both are very strong. They both skate very well and both can shoot. Ristolainen has a definitive edge to his game while some of the first words out of Zadorov's mouth were, "Yeah, I like to hit."
The addition of 6'3" 225 lb. Zach Bogosian in the Evander Kane/Myers trade fits right into that mold of size, strength, mobility and edginess.
Bogosian's draft profile featured strong skating and a heavy shot in an NHL-ready frame who's tough to play against. Although things haven't gone as planned on offense, Bogosian is still fairly young at the age of 24 and there's still room for more offensive output. Should he remain on his present course his ceiling could be that of a #2/3 defensive-defenseman who could pot 5-10 goals and 25 or so points while clearing the front of the net and laying out some hard hits on a regular basis.
Ristolainen, Zadorov and Bogosian now form the nucleus of the Sabres defense-corps moving forward. Their style of play fits what Sabres GM Tim Murray wants from his players and team--hard to play against. During the next couple of years, players like Pysyk, Ruhwedel and McCabe will have the opportunity to integrate into the lineup with said defense-core road-grading the way for them.
The only thing lacking from the Sabres depth chart on defense right now is an end-to-end offensive threat. That type of defenseman is a rare find anymore and we haven't seen that in Buffalo since Brian Campbell was traded to San Jose' in 2008. There was a point in time where Myers was thought to be that guy, and he still may become that, but in Buffalo his style peaked out as a tall, mobile puck-mover.
By himself, Bogosian is not "the answer," or at least he hasn't shown that he's capable of being the franchise defenseman some projected him to be. But as part of a trio of big, edgy mobile defenseman, he may end up playing a big role as the elder statesman of a strong defense corps a few years down the road.
Tonight we get the opportunity to see him in action wearing the blue and gold for the first time.
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Other notes: Michal Neuvirth gets the start in net, Andre Benoit and Andrej Meszaros are in while Josh Gorges is out with an injury and Tyson Strachan is the healthy scratch. Johan Larsson gets the call from Rochester.
As of the morning skate via sabres.com:
PROJECTED LINEUP
80 Chris Stewart – 28 Zemgus Girgensons – 63 Tyler Ennis
26 Matt Moulson – 17 Torrey Mitchell – 12 Brian Gionta
82 Marcus Foligno – 65 Brian Flynn – 44 Nicolas Deslauriers
22 Johan Larsson – 37 Matt Ellis – 19 Cody Hodgson
61 Andre Benoit – 47 Zach Bogosian
51 Nikita Zadorov – 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
6 Mike Weber – 41 Andrej Meszaros
34 Michal Neuvirth
35 Anders Lindback
Scratched: 4 Josh Gorges (lower-body injury), 24 Tyson Strachan, 36 Patrick Kaleta (lower-body injury)
Injured Reserve: 8 Cody McCormick (blood clots)
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