Tim Kennedy and his agent played poker with Darcy Regier and the Sabres. The agent and the player lost. Kennedy wanted a one-way deal. Buffalo offered a two way deal. The arbitrator ruled in favour of Kennedy to the tune of $1 million US. Buffalo skated away from the deal. Such is life in the post-lockout NHL.
C'est la vie.
Back to life. Back to reality.
Kennedy was made expendable by Tyler Ennis' emergence. Ennis scored 9 points in 10 games last spring, and created more value for himself by ominating the Boston playoff series. Were it not for his rookie mistake on the cross-ice pass that ended up behind Miller in Game 2, I'd have graded Ennis out as an A+ in the Boston series. Instead, he gets a solid A- for his efforts. The kid has "it". He makes things happen every time he's on the ice. He's a gamer and he wants the puck on his stick in the key moments of the game. He does not hide. He attacks the danger areas looking for loose change. He has the speed to make big, slow Dmen look like, pylons.
Darcy Regier, Lindy Ruff, and the Buffalo scouts saw enough of Tyler Ennis in the Spring of 2010 to know that they have a raw diamond in their possession. Ennis is a whirling dervish. He's like Bary Sanders-- on ice. Slippery and fast. He's a keeper. He's the kind of kid you can count on to play 20 minutes and to manufacture offense with his soft hands and his fast feet. He plays 5 on 5, PP, and PK. He'll play left wing and he can play centre. He's a complete player, whereas, Kennedy is more of a role player.
Kennedy's a nice player. He's solid in all three zones. He's young, can skate, pisses off opponents with his forecheck pressure, and can kill penalties. He's a third line player that brings full value every shift. He'll find work in the NHL for the next ten plus seasons. I'm hearing that Steve Yzerman and Pat Verbeek in Tampa are interested in Kennedy as they got to watch him play while they were on the Detroit Red Wings' staff when TK was member of the MSU Spartans. The Wings are also interested as they would like to reunite Kennedy with his former linemate Justin Abdelkader. Like Verbeek, Kennedy will play a long time in the NHL because of his dogged determination to deny opponents time and space. Buffalo have enough jam and sandpaper in their lineup. Cody McCormick and rob Niedermayer will add size and strength to the third and fourth lines this Fall. Buffalo need scorers like Western New York needs a drencching rain storm. The offense and special teams screwed the Sabres in the Boston series. Their team D did a great job of limiting the Bruins' scoring chances. The Sabres were all Swedish in the Playoffs. No Finish!
This is a classic example of addition by subtraction. Move Kennedy off the LW to open a full time roster spot for a dynamic playmaker/scorer.
Ennis is the menance that made Kennedy the odd man out in Buffalo.
Truth be told, I'll take Ennis over Kennedy any day of the week!
Don't hate. Congratulate Ennis.
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