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Nikita Zadorov has been patiently waiting for his opportunity to prove to Ted Nolan and Tim Murray that he belongs on the Buffalo Sabres roster.
Zadorov has been practicing with the Buffalo Sabres ever since training camp ended earlier this month. The Sabres are currently 1-5 and Zadorov hasn't played in one of the games.
I've been pounding the drum for the Sabres to do one of three things with their former first rounder:
Play him, trade him, or send him back to London.
I've learned that its not that simple.
On Sunday night, Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat spoke with the agent for Zadorov. The reason why Zadorov is still in Buffalo and not back in junior is that he cannot be sent back to the London Knights due to his European heritage.
The 6'5" 240 lb. Russian banger cannot be returned to the Hunter Brothers because he doesn’t have a release form from the Russian club that owns his player rights.
Zadorov's player rights are owned by KHL club St. Petersburg.
The Sabres have to make a decision as to what they want to do with the aggressive D-man in the next couple of days.
Rolland Hedges, Zadorov’s agent, told Hoppe that the Buffalo Sabres wish to see how their injured defensemen recover before they render a final verdict on Zadorov’s future.
Youngsters Jake McCabe and Mark Pysyk were both injured in training camp. They were sent to AHL Rochester on 10/16. Pysyk played for the Amerks in theuir 4-1 win at Toronto on Saturday afternoon. McCabe has yet to play for the Amerks, however, may be cleared to play early this week.
Zadorov will sit until Nolan and Murray get a chance to evaluate Pysyk and McCabe.
The Sabres will stab westward for an aggressive three game roadie against Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose. Zadorov's aggressive, heavy style would serve the Sabres well on this road trip.
His agent said Sunday that he is “hoping to hear something” from the Sabres by Tuesday.
“He obviously wants to play,” Hedges said. “He would like to show management what he can do. He just wants to play hockey, whether it’s for the Buffalo Sabres or whoever owns his rights. He knows who owns his rights. He knows he has to go back to Russia. He has no control in that.”
St. Petersburg green lighted a one-year release for Zadorov to play in OHL London in 2013 where the Knights hosted the Memorial Cup tournament.
That was then, this is now.
“This year,” Hedges said, “we don’t have the release.”
Zadorov and his agent have to abide by the international rules.
“Buffalo doesn’t want to lose control, in fairness,” Hedges said.
“But the rules are the rules. If he was a North American, he would have to go back to junior. Then everybody knows what the rules are.
“When you’re European, it depends on how the release is structured. So if he’s good enough to stay in the NHL, he can stay here.”
Zadorov cannot play in AHL Rochester. He'll either stay and play in Buffalo, or, he'll be heading home to Russia to put on his gear and play meaningful hockey games for the first time in three weeks.
“Even if he did go back to London, is he going to develop better in London or Russia, (in the) KHL playing with men?” Hedges said. “From a development point of view, the issue is what’s best for Nikita Zadorov, London, Russia? Everybody has a different answer for that one.”
Zadorov wasn't great at the Sabres' rookie development camp in July. He played okay. He was benched by Chadd Cassidy for his uninspired play in a blowout loss to the Dallas Stars at the Traverse City Tourney in September. He played a more aggressive, consistent game for the Sabres in preseason.
The Sabres could decide to keep eight D including Zadorov and Tyson Strachan for when they want to bench the inconsistent vets Andrej Meszaros (-8) and Andre Benoit (-5).
More to come....
***
The NHL season is just three weeks old and the Buffalo Sabres are already starting to attract outside attention from contending teams who wish to upgrade their talent base. At 1-5, the rest of the month of October does not look promising at all from a potential wins standpoint. The Sabres lost three games on home ice this week. They scored only one goal and allowed ten goals against in nine periods of hockey in front of their loyal fans. They suffered two consecutive shutouts at the hands of the lowly Panthers and struggling Bruins. Roberto Luongo blanked the Sabres on Friday night while a rookie, playing in just his fourth NHL game, named Svedberg nabbed them on Saturday night. The forecast calls for more pain and suffering as Ted Nolan and his coaches try to salvage their sanity with a potentially torturous trip to the left coast where the Sabres will be test physically, emotionally and spiritually by three NHL powers in the Anaheim Ducks, LA Kings, and San Jose Sharks. They will also stop in Toronto for a barn dance before heading home to host the Boston Bruins again on October 30th.
It is not outside the realm of possibility that the Sabres might finish the month of Shocktober with a 1-10 record.
If the Sabres can’t beat Luongo and Svedberg, how are they going to beat premiere goaltenders in the form of Frederik Andersen, Jon Quick, Antii Niemi, Jonathon Bernier and Tuuka Rask?
Seriously.
Now is as good a time as any to re-group and to re-evaluate the plan going forward.
The Sabres goaltending has been outstanding. Don't let the win/loss record fool you. Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth have been stiffed by their teammates. Exceptional goaltending. No goal support. Negative results.
The overall team defense has been negligible. The forwards are learning to come back to their end of the rink as hard as they go down to the o-zone. Four of the six D have been productive. The other two have been a veritable Nexus lane on the Peace Bridge.
Four or five forwards have been productive. The others? Ugh.
This Sabres team cannot score. They rank 29th in the NHL with a pathetic seven goals scored in six games played. Only Florida is worse with five goals scored in their five games played. Marcus Foligno, Tyler Ennis, and Zemgus Girgensons have lit the lamp twice apiece, while Torrey Mitchell has scored Buffalo’s seventh goal of the season.
We are six frightening games into the season and Matt Moulson, Brian Gionta, Cody Hodgson Drew Stafford, Chris Stewart, Nic Deslauriers, Tyler Myers have yet to light the lamp to give Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth some needed goal support. Its as if Buffalo’s supposed goal scorers have been abducted by an invasion of body snatchers.
Shame on the vets for their repeated failures. Moulson (13 shots), Hodgson (7 shots), Gionta (13 shots), Stafford (12 shots), Stewart (15 shots) and Myers (15 shots) have taken 75 shots as a group. You mean to tell me that one or two of those shots could not have been buried behind an enemy goal?! Goal scoring comes easy to Stamkos, Crosby, Perry, Benn, Seguin, and the like because they compete inside shifts to fight to get to the scoring areas. Goal scoring in the NHL is not easy with all the hacks, whacks, slashes, and cross checks to the lumbar and facial regions. To score goals at any level of hockey, one must pay a price. Frankly, I don’t see any Buffalo scorers paying a physical price to get their shots off. Nor do I see dogged determination to win rebounds in the crease and slot areas. Matt Moulson’s bread and butter is his 30+ goal seasons is the 10-11 foot are adjacent to the net. Where has Moulson disappeared to? What about Hodgson, Stafford, Stewart and Gionta? Myers ?
All have had high quality scoring chances that they haven’t been able to bury. Where are the weak side forwards at on this team? They aren’t screening opposing goalie, that’s for sure. Jhonas Enroth didn’t even see three of the four goals that he allowed on Saturday night. Don’t hate on him that the Bruins jammed bodies in his crease, bumped him repeatedly, and took away his vision. If it worked for a struggling Bruins team, don’t you think that tactic and strategy could work for the struggling Sabres?
Forget about 5 on 5 scoring. I can talk about it until I’m blue in the face. The Sabres have become a joke in that department. They can’t seem to bury a chance or two while playing at even strength. So, what about their sickly power play? You talk about inept. This may be the worst Buffalo PP in forty years. Their entries and recoveries boggle the mind. The passing is atrocious. The shot selections are inconsistent. The effort is ho-hum. The PP is killing the team. The Boston Bruins were begging for an ass kicking on Saturday night. They served Buffalo SEVEN power play opportunities and Buffalo squandered each and every one of them. In six games, the Sabres are 0 for 22 on the power play. They are dead last in the NHL in the PP statistical category.
Rather than drone on and one and be all Captain Obvious about the woeful offense, I’d like to offer a solution to the problem.
What would I do to fix this team’s offensive woes were I Tim Murray?
Shock. Therapy.
Were I the GM, I’m trading a respected veteran. By doing so, I’m setting precedent that the losing and the offensive ineptitude is not acceptable. Gone are the days that an NHL GM would take until U.S. Thanksgiving to summarize what his roster is made of. In other words, waiting will not fix this issue. Real time results are needed to cure what’s ailing the Sabres right now. I’m all for trading away Drew Stafford or Tyler Myers, or both because each has trade value. They are exactly the types of veteran players that 20-22 other GMs are looking to add to their rosters .I’m willing to pull the trigger right now. I’ve seen enough.
Trading UFA to be Stafford to Pittsburgh or Ottawa might not be a bad idea right now. I think a change of scenery will do the 29 year old some good. Stafford has played eight seasons in Buffalo and it may be time to see if the ice is whiter on the other side. I’d gladly take a 2015 second rounder for Stafford. Sidney Crosby and Stafford have a winning history together. Their Shattuck-St. Mary’s squad that won the 2003 USA Hockey Tier I 17 & Under National Championship
As for Myers, I stated my wish list for him in this space last week. Were I Tim Murray, I’d phone Ken Holland in Daytwa and tell him its time to do an Anthony Mantha for Tyler Myers swap. Holland’s blue line is lacking depth and structure right now. The Wings need Myers. The Sabres will benefit for years to come having the 6’5” 220 lb. super skilled and speedy Mantha (see Jeff Carter) teeing up bombs off the wings and using his wheels to drive the blue for multiple chances per game. Myers has five years remaining at an AAV of $5.5 million per season.
Last October 27, Darcy Regier traded pending UFA to be Thomas Vanek to the NY Islanders for pending UFA to be Matt Moulson. Deals are being front-loaded these days. Waiting increases the odds of not being able to land the player you really want to acquire. The Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, and Edmonton Oilers are in the same boat as Buffalo right now. Losing sucks. The only thing good about it is that rivals GMs call frequently to test for echo. At this point, just six games into the new season, Murray’s phone must be blowing up. Ron Francis, Carolina’s GM is getting calls on Eric Staal and Reggie Sekera. Briam Campbell and Tomas Fleischmann are sought after players in Sunrise, while Craig MacTavish will have to trade one of Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, or Ryan Nugent Hopkins in order to get the defenseman that the Oilers so desperately need in order to save their season. Perhaps if Holland balked at a Myers for Mantha asking price, then Murray and MacTavish could structure an RNH for Myers swap. Adding center ice depth is never a bad thing for Buffalo to consider. Eberle’s skill set has always intrigued me. Buffalo could benefit greatly by adding RNH or Eberle..
Tim Murray and Ted Nolan have to find offense in any way, shape or form that they can get it. If that means trading Stafford and or Myers then so be it. There are young kids waiting in the wings to fill the vacant roster spot(s). Mikhail Grigorenko and Mark Pysyk come to mind.
If you are going to lose, why not do it with kids? Once and for all, I’ve seen a season’s worth of gaffes and blunders from vets Andrej Meszaros and Andre Benoit. The season is three weeks old, however, Meszaros (-8, 3 penalties) and Benoit (-5, 4 penalties) have been awful at times. Their combined mediocrity and passive play makes me yearn to see more of the organization’s top prospects get valuable playing time and needed experience in this building-up period.
Connor McDavid and his Erie Otters will be playing the Niagara Ice Dogs inside First Niagara Center on Wednesday night. Sneak preview night for the 2015 Entry Draft. You know that the kid is going to bring the 12,000+ Sabres fans to their feet every time he touches the puck. One gets the sense that McDavid will capture the hearts and minds of the Buffalo faithful with another virtuoso performance inside Hockey Heaven.
Sabres fans have been good sports for enduring the suffering because they are hopeful that McDavid will be the answer to their problems. Finishing last overall in the NHL standings will put the Sabres one step closer to their equilibrium in the form of selecting McDavid or Jack Eichel first overall in the June entry draft.
**
So, Ted Nolan needs offense in a big, bad way, eh?
Look no further than Mikhail Grigorenko’s silky mitts. Grigo was the game’s first star on Saturday afternoon as the Amerks spanked the Marlies 4-1.
Grigo has 2 goals in 3 games played in Rochester. He also has 15PIMs and 8 shots on goal.
Just sayin.
Repeat after me:
Send Samson Reinhart back to Kootenay.
Recall Mikhail Grigorenko from Rochester.
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