- Team Outlook from McKeen’s Hockey Guide
Long-time head coach Lindy Ruff is gone. So are Jordan Leopold, Robyn Regehr, and Jason Pominville. Within the next year, Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek could be the next to leave Buffalo.
The Sabres have quickly moved from a team trying to make a deep playoff run to a rebuilding club. In other words, things might be bad in Buffalo for quite some time before they get better. Exactly how long that will be is dependent on a number of factors.
One particularly noteworthy variable is Tyler Myers. The Sabres signed the former Calder Trophy winner to a seven-year, $38.5 million contract under the assumption that he would be the cornerstone of their defense for years to come. Instead, he has since regressed significantly – and that commitment is now starting to look like a major blunder.
Unless the Sabres decide to re-sign the 33-year-old Miller, Jhonas Enroth’s ability to transition from being a capable backup into a reliable starter will also play a big role in determining the length of the team’s rebuilding effort. For that reason, this will be a critical season in Enroth’s career as he tries to prove as definitively as possible that he’s worthy of Buffalo’s trust.
Although the Sabres won’t be anything special offensively, fans should at least get a glimpse of the future with Cody Hodgson, Mikhail Grigorenko, and Marcus Foligno all projected to play significant roles. They should be able to take incremental steps forward and at least provide fans with an indication that good times are coming.
In the end, that’s where the bar has been set in Buffalo. The odds of them squeaking into the playoffs are minimal, but hope is something they should be able to provide.
- Team Fantasy Outlook from Dobber Hockey’s 2013-14 Fantasy Guide – Over a 150 pages of fantasy goodness.
Dobber’s lowdown on: Steve Ott -He had a career season with Dallas back in 2008-09 when the team suffered lengthy injuries to Brad Richards, Brenden Morrow, Jere Lehtinen. These were three very key power-play guys, so removing them put Ott on the top unit and he flourished with 46 points in 64 games. Since then, his Dallas teammates were relatively healthy and Ott settled back into a checking role. Upon joining Buffalo last season, Coach Lindy Ruff kept him in a similar role. Ott managed seven points in 17 games (0.41). When Ruff was fired on February 20 and Ron Rolston took over, Ott’s role changed. Under the new coach he logged a lot more PP time and he picked up 17 points in his last 28 games (0.61). The arrival of Grigorenko will eat into that, but if Grigorenko doesn’t make the team, or he struggles, then look for Ott to have a big offensive season.
Under Ruff, Hodgson had 15 points in 17 games. Under Rolston he had 19 points in 31 games. Under Ruff, Ennis has 13 in 17 and 18 in 30 under Rolston. Doesn’t tell us anything, other than reinforcing the fact that these two are neck-and-neck for that No.1 center job. The slowdown for each of them is attributed to entering the season having played hockey during the lockout – and then the rest of the league caught up.
Check out these nutty early-season Vanek stats: in 2011-12 he had 24 points in his first 19 games. In 2012-13 he had 23 points in his first 11 games. After the first quarter pole, Vanek comes back to reality. In the end, he’s a 70-point player, but in October and into November, he’ll be a 100-point guy who should be traded while he’s hot.
Eyeballing several stats for Ehrhoff – before and after the coaching change – it looks as though he was given tougher duties at even strength under Rolston. He had seven ES points and three PP points in 16 games under Ruff… but six ES points and six PP points in 31 games under Rolston. You could see his overall production take a hit if he’s only getting points with the man advantage.
Ennis had eight points in the eight games that Leino was in the lineup. Yes, they were linemates and seemed to work really well together.
Follow link for more info and stats
Additions: D Drew Bagnall, D Jamie McBain, D Chad Ruhwedel, F Tim Schaller, D Henrik Tallinder, F Jamie Tardif
Subtractions: D Alex Biega, F Riley Boychuk, F Nathan Gerbe, F Jochen Hecht, F Jacob Lagace, G David Leggio, F Mark Mancari, D Adam Pardy, D Drew Schiestel, D Andrej Sekera, F Paul Szczechura, F Nick Tarnasky
Promotion candidates: C Mikhail Grigorenko, D Rasmus Ristolainen, RW Joel Armia, G Matt Hackett, D Mark Pysyk, D Brayden McNabb, D Chad Ruhwedel, C Zemgus Girgensons
Player salaries: $57,745,833 (22)
Cap Number: $58,895,357 (22)
Cap Space: $6,254,643
Forwards: $31,505,357 (12)
Defensemen: $18,911,667 (8)
Goalies: $7,500,000 (2)
Source: CapGeek – Sept. 16th
Forwards
Thomas Vanek – Cody Hodgson – Tyler Ennis
Marcus Foligno – Mikhail Grigorenko – Drew Stafford
Johan Larsson – Steve Ott – Ville Leino
Brian Flynn – Kevin Porter – Patrick Kaleta
John Scott
Defensemen
Christian Ehrhoff – Jamie McBain
Henrik Tallinder – Tyler Myers
Mike Weber – Mark Pysyk
Alexander Sulzer
Goalies
Ryan Miller
Jhonas Enroth
2013 Buffalo Sabres Draft Results
| Rd. | Draft # | Player | Team | Pos. |
|
1
|
8
|
Rasmus Ristolainen | TPS (FIN) | D |
|
1
|
16
|
Nikita Zadorov | London (OHL) | D |
|
2
|
35
|
JT Compher | US-NTDP | C |
|
2
|
38
|
Connor Hurley | Edina HS (MN) | F |
|
2
|
52
|
Justin Bailey | Kitchener (OHL) | C |
|
3
|
69
|
Nicholas Baptiste | Sudbury (OHL) | RW |
|
5
|
129
|
Calvin Petersen | Waterloo (USHL) | G |
|
5
|
130
|
Gustav Possler | MODO (SWE) | LW/RW |
|
5
|
143
|
Anthony Florentino | South Kent School (HS CT ) | D |
|
6
|
159
|
Sean Malone | Nichols HS (NY) | C |
|
7
|
189
|
Eric Locke | Saginaw (OHL) | LW |
Buffalo Sabres Top Prospects
| NHL.com | Hockey Prospectus | Dobber Prospects | Hockeys Future | The Hockey News | |
|
1
|
Mikhail Grigorenko | Mikhail Grigorenko | Mikhail Grigorenko | Mikhail Grigorenko | Mikhail Grigorenko |
|
2
|
Rasmus Ristolainen | Rasmus Ristolainen | Zemgus Girgensons | Rasmus Ristolainen | Rasmus Ristolainen |
|
3
|
Zemgus Girgensons | Nikita Zadorov | Joel Armia | Brayden McNabb | Joel Armia |
|
4
|
Chad Ruhwedel | Joel Armia | Rasmus Ristolainen | Mark Pysyk | Zemgus Girgensons |
|
5
|
Brayden McNabb | Zemgus Girgensons | Mark Pysyk | Matt Hackett | Nikita Zadorov |
|
6
|
Joel Armia | J.T. Compher | Nikita Zadorov | Jake McCabe | Johan Larsson |
|
7
|
Mark Pysyk | Mark Pysyk | Jake McCabe | Nikita Zadorov | Mark Pysyk |
|
8
|
Johan Larsson | Johan Larsson | Matt Hackett | Joel Armia | Matt Hackett |
|
9
|
Matt Hackett | Jake McCabe | Johan Larsson | Daniel Catenacci | Brayden McNabb |
|
10
|
Nikita Zadorov | Brayden McNabb | Brayden McNabb | Andrey Makarov | Jake McCabe |
2012-13 Buffalo Sabres Player Stats
| Player |
Pos
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
P
|
+/-
|
PIM
|
PP
|
SH
|
GW
|
OT
|
S
|
S%
|
| Thomas Vanek |
L
|
38
|
20
|
21
|
41
|
-1
|
20
|
9
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
119
|
16.8
|
| Cody Hodgson |
C
|
48
|
15
|
19
|
34
|
-4
|
20
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
114
|
13.2
|
| Tyler Ennis |
C
|
47
|
10
|
21
|
31
|
-14
|
16
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
108
|
9.3
|
| Jason Pominville |
R
|
37
|
10
|
15
|
25
|
1
|
8
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
94
|
10.6
|
| Steve Ott |
C
|
48
|
9
|
15
|
24
|
3
|
93
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
73
|
12.3
|
| Christian Ehrhoff |
D
|
47
|
5
|
17
|
22
|
6
|
34
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
102
|
4.9
|
| Drew Stafford |
R
|
46
|
6
|
12
|
18
|
-16
|
21
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
121
|
5
|
| Marcus Foligno |
L
|
47
|
5
|
13
|
18
|
-4
|
41
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
55
|
9.1
|
| Jochen Hecht |
C
|
47
|
5
|
9
|
14
|
6
|
18
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
69
|
7.2
|
| Andrej Sekera |
D
|
37
|
2
|
10
|
12
|
-2
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
33
|
6.1
|
| Brian Flynn |
C
|
26
|
6
|
5
|
11
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
49
|
12.2
|
| Nathan Gerbe |
C
|
42
|
5
|
5
|
10
|
-3
|
14
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
64
|
7.8
|
| Kevin Porter |
C
|
31
|
4
|
5
|
9
|
-1
|
10
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
37
|
10.8
|
| Tyler Myers |
D
|
39
|
3
|
5
|
8
|
-8
|
32
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
48
|
6.3
|
| Jordan Leopold |
D
|
24
|
2
|
6
|
8
|
-6
|
14
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
38
|
5.3
|
| Mike Weber |
D
|
42
|
1
|
6
|
7
|
3
|
70
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
25
|
4
|
| Ville Leino |
L
|
8
|
2
|
4
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
11
|
18.2
|
| Mark Pysyk |
D
|
19
|
1
|
4
|
5
|
-7
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
21
|
4.8
|
| Mikhail Grigorenko |
C
|
25
|
1
|
4
|
5
|
-1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
31
|
3.2
|
| Alexander Sulzer |
D
|
17
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
3
|
10
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
15
|
20
|
| Adam Pardy |
D
|
17
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
14
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
| Robyn Regehr |
D
|
29
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
-4
|
21
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
15
|
0
|
| Patrick Kaleta |
R
|
34
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
-4
|
67
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
34
|
2.9
|
| TJ Brennan |
D
|
10
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
-1
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
18
|
5.6
|
| Luke Adam |
C
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
50
|
| John Scott |
L
|
34
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-1
|
69
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
15
|
0
|
| Chad Ruhwedel |
D
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
0
|
| Cody McCormick |
C
|
8
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-2
|
10
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
| Matt Ellis |
L
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
0
|
| Player |
GP
|
GS
|
W
|
L
|
OT
|
SA
|
GA
|
GAA
|
Sv
|
Sv%
|
SO
|
G
|
A
|
| Ryan Miller |
40
|
39
|
17
|
17
|
5
|
1270
|
108
|
2.81
|
1162
|
0.915
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| Jhonas Enroth |
12
|
9
|
4
|
4
|
1
|
332
|
27
|
2.6
|
305
|
0.919
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
Some info, stats and video taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30 series.