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Buffalo Sabres pending UFA Drew Stafford may a solution to the injury woes that have befallen the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sidney Crosby’s right winger Patric Hornqvist will now be sidelined for the next three weeks with a lower body issue.
Its ridiculous to read over the Pens' injury list. Jim Rutherford's roster have been a veritable who's who since the beginning of December. Every time a player comes back in good health, another gets injured or contracts the mumps.
They have lost forwards Craig Adams, Beau Bennett, Blake Comeau, Steve Downie, Pascal Dupuis, Scott Wilson, and Zach Sill. D-men Christian Ehrhoff, Olli Maatta, Paul Martin, goalie Thomas Greiss, on are all nursing some sort of ailment.
Now, Hornqvist has been injured.
The news isn't all bad as Sidney Crosby (mumps), Chris Kunitz (foot), Brandon Sutter (sick), and Robert Bortuzzo (upper body injury) have all returned to the lineup.
The pressing need right now is that Crosby needs a right winger in the worst way possible right now that Hornqvist is dinged up. Pascal Dupuis is out long term. Steve Downie is dealing with the mumps infection.
The Pens need to make a move now before they fall down the Eastern conference standings. The Pens are 22-8-5 right now which is good for third overall in the NHL standings. However, they are 5-2-3 in their last ten games. The Pens have lost several key offensive and defensive players to injuries and the mumps outbreak in recent days. They should make a move sooner than later before a long term losing streak begins.
Hornqvist was acquired from Nashville along with Nick Spaling in the James Neal trade.
He has scored 13 goals and has added 16 assists in 33 games played this season.
Stafford would add instant credibility and experience to the Penguins lineup. Stafford would add size, strength and scoring to the beat up Penguins offense. Stafford played alongside Crosby at the “Hogwarts of Hockey” at Shattuck St. Mary’s prep school in Minnesota. Stafford, Crosby and their team mates won the 2003 USA Hockey Tier I 17 & Under National Championship.
Stafford, Buffalo’s second leader scorer with 5G, 14A, will become UFA on July and it’s not likely that Tim Murray will be signing the veteran 30 goal scorer to a new long term contract. The Penguins have long term injury cap space to work with. Tim Murray would also have to take back a Pittsburgh contract in order to facilitate a deal.
At what price Stafford?
The Pens would have to trade away one of two highly touted D prospects Simon Despres or Scott Harrington, plus a draft pick.
What other choice does Pens GM Jim Rutherford have at this point?
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Is this the end of the road for Derek Roy?
Is he headed to the NHL equivalent of the Siberian gulags in Edmonton?
He’s been waived by the fourth best team in the NHL in the Smashville Predators.
The Preds are 23-9-2 (7-3 in last 10 games) and are absolutely loaded at center right now and there simply is no place for Roy to play. Peter Laviolette has 10 centers in the lineup and he has the ultimate faith in his top four centers: Filip Forsberg (34 points, +24) Mike Ribiero (29 points, +14), Craig Smith (10 goals, +6), Colin Wilson (10 goals, +11).
Lavy has to mix and match to find ice time for his other six pivots Mike Fisher, Matt Cullen, Paul Gaustad, Calle Jarnkrok, and Olli Jokinen.
Roy’s been a suitcase ever since he was traded from Buffalo for Steve Ott in July 2012.
His speed game is virtually non-existent now which is why he has been relegated to third and fourth line duties. His hands are still amazing but what good are fast hands when they are attached to slow feet?
He failed to stick and stay in Dallas, St. Louis, Vancouver, and now is on his way out of Nashville.
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It appears as though Matt Moulson's sickness is the gift that keeps on giving inside the Buffalo dressing room.
Rasmus Ristolainen fell prey to the cruddy infection during the second period of Saturday night's 4-4 come from behind win. The young Finn D did not finish the game, Afterwards, Ted Nolan saild that Ristolainen was suffering from illness. The Sabres lost Matt Moulson, Pat Kaleta a few other players before Christmas due to the sickness that is sweeping through the team.
The team has recalled D-man Mark Pysyk from Rochester to take Risto's place in the lineup.
Pysyk is joining the Sabres for his second recall this season. The Sherwood Park, Alberta native is currently tied for second among Amerks defensemen with 11 points (1+10) in 30 games. Buffalo’s first-round pick (23rd overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft, Pysyk has tallied 12 points (2+10) in 65 games for the Sabres since making his NHL debut in 2012.
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Sabres winger Chris Stewart appears has found his groove. Frankly, its been a while since Stewart has been dominant inside shifts and in games.
Its good to see the skilled big man skating, hitting, scoring and being a terror to play against. There have been times this season when Stewart has disappeared from the spotlight and it has been a major cause for concern.
Stewart played a leadership role in inspiring his mates to keep fighting and working their way out of the 3-0 hole that they found themselves in after 40 minutes of play against the NY Islanders. Stewart answered the bell when Pat Kaleta and Drew Stafford found him for the game tying goal.
Against the Islanders, Stewart skated 14:15 TOI (22 shifts) and was +1. He skated as good as I've seen him skate in weeks, which helped him to win loose pucks on walls and to blow by stationary defenders in all three zones.
Stewart now has 5 goals and 4 assists in 35 games played this season.
Stewart, likewise Stafford, is capable of making such dramatic, game changing plays inside games on a nightly basis. So, then why does he struggle so mightily to maintain his consistency? The St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche and now the Sabres are all left wanting more out of the skilled big man. Ted Nolan went so far as to bench Stewart for the Los Angeles game earlier this month. Stewart was infuriated by the banishment to the press box. He wasn't, and likely still isn't happy about it. Nolan wanted to get Stewart's attention and he certainly did by parking him 150 feet above the ice. Stewart has played in eight games since his benching. In those games, he has scored two goals and added three assists. His two goals have come in back to back games vs. Detroit and NY Islanders. Nolan certainly knew what buttons to push on Stewart. Nolan wanted to see more physicality and tenacity out of Stewart at the time of his benching. Stewart has sort of responded to the challenge to finish his checks and to be a bigger pain in the ass to play against. Remarkably, Stewart is ranked 8th on the Sabres in hits. Team leader Nic Deslauriers has landed 113. Marcus Foligno has 92 hits; Zemgus Girgensons and Mike Weber have 75 hits each; Cody McCormick has 58 hits, Rasmus Ristolainen has 56 hits, and Nikita Zadorov 54 hits.
So, how many body shots does Stewart have on his stat sheet this season?
42.
That's not a typo. Stewart has delivered only 42 hits in his 35 games played.
For was well as he is playing offensively the past three weeks, Nolan still wants more physicality out of Stewart. The head coach and player are bound to butt heads once again in the weeks to come. Nolan will get what he wants out of Stewart, or else his ice time will disappear.
It appears to ne that Stewart and the Sabres both know that the end is near. Now that the NHL holiday trade freeze has thawed, there still a half dozen teams interested in trading for the pending UFA right and Sabres GM Tim Murray is in the process of listening to offers for his power forward. Among the teams clamoring to get their hands on Stewart are: Minnesota, Ottawa, Boston, Calgary, Columbus, Los Angeles and Anaheim.
What will it take for Tim Murray to trade Stewart?
A top prospect and a pick in the Connor McDavid Draft.
Will Chuck Fletcher be willing to trade Charlie Coyle or Erik Haulafor Chris Stewart?
Will Bryan Murray be willing to trade Curtis Lazar, Matt Puempel, Robin Lehner, or Mark Stone for Chris
Stewart?
Will Peter Chiarelli be willing to trade David Pastrnak or Alex Khokhlachev for Chris Stewart?
Will Brad Trevling be willing to move Max Reinhart or Tyler Wotherspoon in exchange for Stewart?
Will Jarmo Keklainen be willing to trade Oliver Bjorkstrand or Marko Dano for Chris Stewart?
Will Dean Lombardi be willing to part with Nick Shore?
Will Bob Murray be inclined to trade Nick Ritchie or Nic Cordiles for Chris Stewart?
You may say no to any or all of these trade proposals. That's fine. You are not an NHL GM who is tasked with having to make a deep playoff run into the month of June. NHL owners love the smell of playoff game gate receipts. The average haul for hosting an NHL playoff home game is now $1.3 million. Most NHL owners and their bean counters budget for 2-4 home playoff games. That's a lotta bread.
Tim Murray has been steadfast in his resolve that he is not going to be giving players away just for the sake of doing so. He is going to get maximum return in any trade that he make for Stewart, Drew Stafford, Michal Neuvirth, or Tyler Myers.
Murray's peers know where he stands right now. All is takes is one of them to say yes to his trade demands for his pending UFA power forward. The market is bare right now for 6'3 235 lb. wingers who love to fight and create chaos on the ice. Former Sabres hammer Zack Kassian's name has been buzzing in trade chatter for weeks. He is recovering from surgery on his finger right now. Therefore, demand is at an all time high, supply is at an all time low and the price for Stewart is going to be high. Murray will be the winner of the bidding war that results from a Stewart deal.
The great thing for Murray is that he has added value for those teams that lose out on the Stewart sweepstakes. Drew Stafford is also a pending UFA will likely be on the move before the NHL trade deadline. If teams don't get Stewart they can make a deal for Stafford, who has been playing exceptionally well the past couple of months.
Stafford is now Buffalo's second leading scorer (5G, 14 A) behind Tyler Ennis.
Let the trade games begin.
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Try as they might, Germany could not keep Connor McDavid off the score sheet in Montreal on Saturday night.
He was held scoreless in Game of the 2015 WJCs vs. Slovakia. McDavid scored a greasy goal and added two assists.
They don't ask "how". They ask "how many"?.
Nic Petan also collected three points.
Buffalo Sabres wunderkind Sam Reinhart collected his third assist in two games with a gorgeous pass to his line mate Max Domi.
In the end, Canada beat Germany 4-0.
McDavid, the projected #1 overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, looked more like his dominant, sensational self in the shutout win. Heading into the WJCs, McDavid had scored 51 points in just 18 games with the Erie Otters. In November, he broke a bone in his right hand in a fight. He was cleared for contact and to resume play last week.
He hasn't shown any signs of rust in Canada's first two games of the WJCs in Montreal.
McDavid opened the scoring and set up Curtis Lazar’s 2-0 goal. Both goals were on first-period PPs. He added an assist on Madison Bowey's third-period PPG.
Nic Petan helped out on all those goals as well, and currently leads the tournament with six points overall. Max Domi potted Canada's other goal.
"I’m rooming with [McDavid] and I’m always trying to get him relaxed," said Lazar, the Canadian captain told the IIHF.
"I know last night there wasn’t much said. We got back to the room, and we really didn’t say a word: we just went to bed. That’s just how we are. We’re great, determined and dedicated athletes. He really did [step up] tonight."
Canada has won two straight games with a goal differential of 12-0.
Canadian goalie Eric Comrie earned a shutout in his World Junior debut. Zach Fucale shutout the Slovaks 8-0 on Friday night. Team Canada outshot the Germans 31-17.
Team Canada will play the pesky Finns on Monday night.
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