Author: Chris Ostrander

Pre draft buzz – Robyn Regehr asked to waive his NMC

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News broke on Thursday that Calgary defenseman Robyn Regehr was asked to waive his no movement clause to accept a trade to Buffalo.

This would be a fantastic trade for Buffalo, Regehr would certainly fill one of the major voids on the blue line and would likely provide a good veteran partner for Tyler Myers.

There are about 500 different reports floating around regarding who the Sabres will be sending. The big name appears to be Luke Adam in a deal that would likely include a draft pick – my guess is Buffalo’s third round selection. Other names floated around are Nik Hagman, Ales Kotalik and Matt Stajan. Personally, I don’t see a world where Buffalo would bring back Kotalik, nor would I want to accept Hagman and his $3m salary. Stajan is an interesting option and easily the most attractive in a trade scenario. He can play center and would certainly add depth at a position where the Sabres are weak.

I am hopeful that this trade comes through. I would be OK with seeing Adam and a pick go to Calgary for a package of Regehr and Stajan. Is that an acceptable trade? Who knows. What can be said is both teams have reached an agreement and are simply waiting on Regehr to approve the deal.

The Pegula Puzzle: Potential UFAs and trade targets

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Compared to the previous three entries in my Pegula Puzzle series, this will be a bit more out of left field. I’m certain that I will echo the sentiments of most Sabres fans with my views, but I do warn you that this may come across as a little radical.

When I look at the current Sabres roster I see glaring deficiencies on defense and at center. Those are the two spots that need to be addressed over the next few months.

Tyler Myers is certainly a cornerstone for the future and Brayden McNabb and Mark Pysyk seem awfully appealing at this point in their development. Jamie Oleksiak would be another monster to pair with Myers if the Sabres are able to trade up to draft him tomorrow. Still, the Sabres don’t have any top four defensemen after Tyler Myers and Jordan Leopold. With Marc Andre Gragnani and Mike Weber looking like a soild pair to lock down the five and six roles, the Sabres will need to look outside the organization for two solid defensmen. I should point out that I peg MAG and Weber as five and six in a strict depth chart evaluation, the real pairings will certainly be different. Continue reading →

The Pegula Puzzle: Black aces

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I am onto part three of my offseason look at the Sabres and how the roster may look when the season begins. I took a look at who Darcy Regier should resign in the first part and I broke down how the current players will fall into the 2011-12 roster in part two. The third piece of the Pegula Puzzle will focus on where the Sabres prospects will land for the upcoming season.

The 2011-12 season will be the first year that the prospect cupboard begins to truly stock up. The Sabres are well removed from their last European draft pick and the ease of moving picks into the minors is starting to pay dividends. In addition, Marcus Foligno, Zack Kassian, Brayden McNabb and Mark Pysyk all received entry-level deals as last season wound down. Those four players represent some of the most promising talent in the Sabres’ pipeline, three of them will be playing professionally next year. Pysyk will be the only one to return to his junior team. Continue reading →

2ITB 2011 NHL Awards predictions

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When the NHL decided to move their annual awards show to Las Vegas the idea was to create more buzz and publicity for the event.

I completely forgot that he show is tonight. Mission accomplished.

Still, it is a big day and there are few awards that aren’t going to be decided by a runaway vote. The three awards that are determined at the end of the season are the Richard (Corey Perry), Art Ross (Daniel Sedin) and the Jennings (Roberto Luongo). Here are my picks for the remaining awards. Continue reading →

The Pegula Puzzle: How does the roster shake out?

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The first piece of the Pegula Puzzle I focused on who among the Sabres 24 free agents should be resigned or let go. The second piece of the puzzle will address how I see the 2011-12 roster shaping up.

Starting from the net out is pretty much how every team is built. Luckily the Sabres have a superstar goaltender in Ryan Miller and a sparkly new prospect in Jhonas Enroth, this makes things quite easy. Expect to see a healthy dose of Miller again (at least 60 games) while catching Enroth about 25 times in hopes of keeping Ryan Miller fresh for the playoffs.

Things start to get hairy along the blueline, however. Tyler Myers blossomed at the end of the year after struggling through a sophomore slump to start the season. Jordan Leopold was an offensive blessing and Mike Weber and Marc-Andre Gragnani both showed they have NHL chops. Continue reading →

The Pegula Puzzle: Who to keep?

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It is the first offseason under the Pegula Era and just about everyone is expecting to see significant moves made. This is the first part of a series aimed to focus on some of those changes. It is entitled “The Pegula Puzzle”. I will look at what will be taking place down at the corner of Washington and Perry during the summer months. The first portion will focus on which players are to be resigned before the July 1 free agency period begins.

The Sabres enter the offseason with 24 total free agents to resign. Many of these players (nine to be exact) played exclusively in Portland this past season. Of those nine, Dennis McCauley, Tim Conboy, Mark Parrish and Colin Stuart are unlikely to return. In addition, Tim Connolly, Patrick Lalime and Rob Niedermayer are unlikely to receive a contract from the Sabres as well.

Of the ten UFAs the Sabres have, I would only think Cody McCormick, Steve Montador, Mike Grier and Matt Ellis could return in 2011-12. Of those four, I would only extend offers to McCormick and Ellis. I would entertain the thought of bringing back Mike Grier for the veteran minimum in a limited fourth line role, but that wouldn’t be my first choice.

As for the RFAs, Darcy Regier has a little work cut out for him. He got off to a quick start by locking up Drew Stafford for $16 million before July was even within sight. There are also a couple names – Felix Schutz and McCauley – who he won’t need to worry about tendering with a qualifying offer. McCauely is a fighter and can be easily replaced, Schutz went back to Germany and will not receive a tender. I would also let Dennis Persson go. He has been passed by TJ Brennan and Drew Schiestel on the development track and Brayden McNabb isn’t far behind. Let Persson go back to Europe, outside of depth, he doesn’t offer much upside. Continue reading →

Chatting about franchise goaltenders once again

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Probably about a year and a half ago I did a post on the great goaltending debate. After a the debate was sparked last fall, I re-posted this piece. Bucky’s recent GM for a day column sparked my interest in this again, along with the big money goalies who played deep into the playoffs this season.
The post below is made up, mostly, of facts and thoughts I penned shortly after the Chicago/Philadelphia Stanley Cup Final. I am going to leave as much of the original work intact as I can, with some additions about this season and some other thoughts on Ryan Miller and where he fits with the Buffalo Sabres.

Bruins capture Stanley Cup

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The Boston Bruins went into Vancouver and skated all over the Canucks on their way to a 4-0 victory in game seven of the Stanley Cup Final.

After three dominating performances in Boston, the Bruins found a way to bottle their home game and bring it west. Aside from a few players, the Canucks came out flat and got average goaltending, yet again. The Bruins were good from top to bottom and received great goaltending from the slam-dunk Conn Smythe winner.

A lot of credit needs to be given to the Bruins for not only finding a way to steal a win on the road but roll up two stellar games in a row to flip the series in their favor. After Vancouver’s 1-0 win in game five the Canucks had all of the momentum. Unfortunately Roberto Luongo was bad in game six and bad again in game seven. The Bruins first goal was rather fluky but goals two and three needed to be saved. In fact, it looked to me like he gave up on Patrice Bergeron’s shorthanded goal. Continue reading →

Game seven, who has the edge?

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You have probably heard t at least twice today. “It is the game every young boy dreams of. Scoring the winning goal in overtime of game seven to win the Stanley Cup.”

If that isn’t said by Doc Emrick is some form tonight I would be happy to buy a Carolina Hurricanes championship hat. But I have faith that some facsimile of that statement will be utter by an NBC staffer on live TV this evening.

What I’m curious to see is how short of a leash is given to Roberto Luongo (LeBrongo if you wish). If the Bruins pot one or two in the first you have to think Corey Schneider will get tossed between the pipes quite quickly.

However, I don’t see t getting to that point. The Canucks rebounded for two horrible games in Boston for a big win in game five that was ripe with sound defensive hockey. The Nucks came out hitting that game and didn’t allow the Bruins to establish themselves. Expect to see that again tonight.

The Canucks will had the benefit of the last change and he ability to keep the Sedin’s away from Chara and Siedenberg while keeping Beiksa and Edler locked down on the Krejci line. They will also have their home fans behind them.

What will work against the Canucks is the ever tightening noose around their collective necks. They took hold of the series in game five but took too much rope as they headed to Boston for game six. They have just about hung themselves. Luongo is also not a safe bet, no matter how good he has been at home.

Meanwhile the Bruins have Tim Thomas and an angry attitude as they carry another blowout win into Vancouver. The one guarantee I can make you is that Thomas will win the Conn Smythe. Outside of Ryan Kesler blowing up for like 8 points, the trophy is going to belong to Thomas. The Bruins also have more healthy players and the sense that scoring the first goal will do the Canucks in.

I picked the Canucks to win this series and I felt really good about my pick after the first two games. However, I’m taking the Bruins to win tonight. They have imposed their will on the Canucks at TD Garden and, truthfully, they were two bounces away from winning games one and two. The fourth game is always the toughest to win, especially after the team on the brink is given new life. That is what has happened here. the Canucks let the Bruins back into the series and they will pay for it tonight. Just like in 1994, the Canucks fall in a seventh game.

Game six, will the ‘Nucks close it out?

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If the first two games in Boston were any indication, it will be a chore for Vancouver to close out the Stanley Cup Final on the road. In fact, the first two games may make this an impossible game to win for the Canucks.

Looking at the situation there isn’t much of a difference. Vancouver recaptured the momentum in game five, their goalie found his swagger and the penalty kill regained form. Not to mention, the team stopped acting like a bunch of hormonal teenagers and just played hockey in game five. Boston returns home on their heels and in a must-win situation. Add to that their power play continues to be a bugaboo.

The only difference that lies in the weeds for game six is the mental factor. The Bruins have to play a flawless game in order to force a game seven. The Canucks also know they are one win away and 60 good minutes will grant them Lord Stanley’s Cup. All the players will say “we just have to forget about it and play our game” or “this is just another game, we just need to go out and win it.” That is all fine and dandy, but they are certainly thinking of what lies at the end of 60 minutes. How will it affect the game? I can’t say. I just know they are huffing grass if they haven’t started sweating a little about the prospect of this game. Continue reading →