Additions:
C Steve Ott, D Adam Pardy, C Kevin Porter, D John
Scott
Subtractions: C Derek Roy, RW Brad Boyes
UFAs:
C Jochen Hecht, RW Ales Kotalik
Promotion candidates:
LW Marcus Foligno, D TJ Brennan, RW Joel Armia, D Brayden McNabb
The
Sabres are deep on defense, though only 2010 Calder Trophy winner
Tyler Myers is a right-handed shot. Myers, who missed time last
season with a broken wrist and a fractured foot, has dropped from 48
points as a rookie to 37 then to 23 last season. Ehrhoff, who signed
a 10-year deal before last season, fell from 50 points to 32, though
that was tops among Buffalo defensemen. Roy's departure leaves a hole
in the middle the Sabres might fill with one of their two first-round
picks: Mikhail Grigorenko and Zemgus Girgensons. Either or both could
start the season in Buffalo, although the Sabres haven't had an
18-year-old make the team since Pierre Turgeon did it 25 years ago.
The Sabres' offensive strength is on the wing with Pominville, Vanek
and Stafford. Late-season call-up Marcus Foligno averaged nearly a
point per game, and Hodgson showed promise after a slow start
following his acquisition from the Vancouver Canucks at the trade
deadline. Leino, who struggled at center, will go back to the wing,
where the Sabres hope his scoring touch will return. With Roy gone,
Hodgson and diminutive Tyler Ennis (5-foot-9, 157 pounds) figure to
be the first two centers, unless Grigorenko or Girgensons can
dislodge one of them. "We have a number of young players that he
will be competing with, but he will have every opportunity [to make
the team]," Regier said of Grigorenko. "With younger
players," Regier added, "the biggest challenge revolves
around the maturity level of that individual on the ice — your
ability to think the game. You're playing against men." The
Sabres also added depth forward Kevin Porter and enforcer John Scott.
But barring a major move between now and the start of the season, the
core of the team is the same as the club that came up short last
spring.
In
back-to-back seasons, the Buffalo
Sabres have gotten off to a bad start. They were able to overcome
it in 2010-11 and make the playoffs but came up three points short
last season. Buffalo has made the playoffs twice in the past five
seasons and hasn't gotten past the first round since 2007, when the
Sabres lost in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a
row.
Miller
was the MVP at the 2010 Winter Olympics and won the Vezina Trophy
four months later. But he hasn't been nearly as good in the past two
seasons, though his play improved down the stretch last season after
he recovered from an injury, and he nearly carried the Sabres into
the playoffs.The Sabres need Miller to play at an elite level for a
full season (as he did in 2009-10) to return to the postseason. A
good season from their most important player isn't good enough.
The
Sabres are desperate for a big center and likely would love for
either Mikhail
Grigorenko or Zemgus
Girgensons to make the roster and fill that hole. Both players
looked good at development camp, and both have enough size to cope
with the increased physicality they'll face in the NHL. Grigorenko is
a little bigger and has played at a higher level, so he figures to
have a better shot than Girgensons, who is eligible to play in the
American Hockey League because he hasn't played in the Canadian
Hockey League. Center is the weak link on the roster, so both players
figure to get a chance to show they belong. Bounceback seasons from
Hodgson and Leino could help the Sabres return to the Stanley Cup
Playoffs in 2012-13.
Cody
Hodgson was buried behind Henrik
Sedin and Ryan
Kesler with the Vancouver
Canucks before coming to the Sabres at the trade deadline in
exchange for Zack
Kassian. Hodgson got off to a slow start with Buffalo, no points
in nine games, then had six points in his next four, enough to
demonstrate his skills. The trade that sent Derek
Roy to the Dallas
Stars leaves the Sabres without a top-line center, and Hodgson,
chosen No. 10 in the 2008 NHL Draft, figures to get first crack at
the job. If he isn’t up to the task, the Sabres will have a big
hole in their offense.
Ville
Leino had 21 points helping the Philadelphia
Flyers get within two wins of the 2010 Stanley Cup and had the
winning goal in Game 7 of their opening-round win against the Sabres
in 2011, inspiring Buffalo to sign him to a six-year contract last
summer. They tried him at center, an experiment that didn't work. His
25 points were less than half of what he produced in his final season
with the Flyers. The Sabres need Leino to rebound to his 2010-11 form
and provide the offense they'll miss after trading Roy for forward
Steve Ott
and defenseman Adam
Pardy. But assuming Leino is moved back to wing, it may be hard
for him to get top-six ice time on a team that's top-heavy there.
The
roster lists nine players capable of being competent (or better) NHL
defensemen. Five were regulars in Buffalo last season, and
minor-leaguers Brayden
McNabb and TJ
Brennan showed promise when they were called up during the spate
of injuries that decimated the blue line. The depth on defense opens
up trade possibilities for general manager Darcy
Regier if he wants to bring in a big-time forward. He could make
a deal to change some of the cast on the blue line because Myers is
the lone right-hand shot.
The
addition of Ott and enforcer John
Scott bring the kind of physicality that hasn't been seen in
Western New York for years. Regier wants a change in philosophy, but
will that turn the Sabres into a playoff team? Scott will have to
work hard for fourth-line time – he barely played for the Rangers
after being acquired from the Chicago
Blackhawks at the deadline. But Ott is a legit top-nine forward
and the type of superpest the Sabres haven't had in years. "We
want to be a harder team to play against," coach Lindy
Ruff said. "(Steve) brings a great work ethic to the game,
plays with a certain amount of intensity. He walks the line every
night. He's an agitating guy, and irritating guy to play against."
Every
NHL team wants to be known as one that's tough to play against.
With the acquisition of Steve
Ott from the Dallas
Stars during the summer, the previously pleasant Buffalo
Sabres may have achieved that goal. The Sabres have been known
for years as a team that had plenty of skill but was a little
short in the grit department. Ott, in contrast, is about as much
fun to play against as an angry porcupine; he seems to take great
pride in being hated around the League. He'll do anything
necessary to win, and he'll step in if he thinks opponents are
taking liberties with a teammate, the Milan
Lucic-Ryan Miller incident last season likely would have had a
different outcome if Ott had been with the Sabres at the time.
Ott's drive to win made him a fan favorite in Dallas, and one of
the least popular players around the rest of the NHL. Ott,
acquired with defenseman Adam
Pardy in exchange for Derek
Roy, has no intention of changing his style with his new team.
"I hope I can bring that attitude," Ott said after the
July 2 trade was completed. "I want to bring my consistency
of being hard to play against every single night. I feel I've done
that since the start of my career, and I feel I have a ton of game
left. I haven't even reached part of my peak yet." The
29-year-old was fourth in the NHL last season with 278 hits in 74
games. He said Sabres fans can expect more of the same. "It's
something I pride myself in, being at the top of leading the
League in hits every single year playing a physical, hard,
complete style of game," he said. "That's what I want to
bring, I'm not changing my style. That's something I want to do, I
want to be as consistent as possible, playing a mix of hard hockey
with some skill set along with it." Ott is more than just
player who makes a pest out of himself. He had 11 goals and a
career-high 28 assists for 39 points last season and has averaged
15 goals and almost 35 points in the past five seasons to go along
with an average of 155 penalty minutes in that span, including 156
in 2011-12. He also won more than 52 percent of his faceoffs and
has enough offensive chops to play a top-six role in a pinch.
Regier said the trade marked a change in philosophy for a
franchise that has missed the playoffs in three of the past five
seasons (including 2011-12) and was one-and-done in the other two.
"I think more than anything else we needed to move the
balance of skill versus the physical nature of our game and become
a tougher team to play against," he said. "You need a
blend of skill and grit and we were heavy on the skill side. The
adjustment we wanted to make was to add to the grit side."
Judging by Ott's first Twitter message after the deal, Regier will
get just what he was looking for. "Now to my new Team
Buffalo, I can't wait to Rock the East," Ott wrote.
The
first full season for the Buffalo
Sabres with owner Terry Pegula began with high expectations after
a busy offseason. A concussion for goaltender Ryan
Miller didn't help, but several players had subpar offensive
seasons and a team that was supposed to be among the elite in the
Eastern Conference struggled for much of the campaign.There was a
late surge, and the Sabres nearly squeaked into the Stanley Cup
Playoffs (they finished in ninth place, three points from eighth).
But Buffalo was one of the biggest disappointments in 2011-12, and
general manager Darcy
Regier made some alterations this offseason. When Boston
Bruins forward Milan
Lucic bowled over Miller in open ice, the team's lack of a
sufficient reaction became the linchpin for a narrative about its
lack of toughness. The additions could help in that regard, as would
better health for Miller and Tyler
Ennis. It's possible the Sabres take a big step forward a season
later than many pundits
expected.
Here's
what the Sabres' lineup could look like on opening night:
Forwards
Thomas
Vanek - Cody
Hodgson - Jason
Pominville
Marcus
Foligno - Tyler
Ennis - Drew
Stafford
Nathan
Gerbe - Steve
Ott - Ville
Leino
Corey
Tropp - Matt
Ellis - Patrick
Kaleta
Cody
McCormick - John
Scott
Defensemen
Jordan
Leopold - Tyler
Myers
Christian
Ehrhoff - Robyn
Regehr
Andrej
Sekera - Mike
Weber
Adam
Pardy
Goaltenders
Ryan
Miller
Jhonas
Enroth
NOTES:
The Sabres struck gold with the Foligno-Ennis-Stafford line near the
end of last season, and leaving them together could give Hodgson a
chance for a big role, though Ott could slide into a top-two spot at
center if needed. Gerbe needs a strong start or he could get shuffled
out of the mix after a bad 2011-12. Luke
Adam was centering the "top" line early last season
before being demoted; he could work his way back into a top-nine role
with a strong camp. Much was made of the Scott addition, but it is
hard to see him playing regularly without some injuries given the
depth both up front and on the blue line. Buffalo has eight
defensemen on one-way contracts plus promising Brayden
McNabb and T.J. Brennan. Alexander
Sulzer could end up in a battle with Pardy for a roster spot,
especially if the team keeps a traditional 13th forward. Miller could
have a big year if he's intent on reclaiming his status as the top
American goaltender from Jonathan
Quick of the Los
Angeles Kings. If Miller does, Enroth could be back among that
group of young backup goalies who might need a change of scenery to
earn No. 1 playing time.
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