this is the second of a four-part look at the 40th edition of the buffalo sabres
the sabres d took a bit of a hit this off-season with the departures of their #'s 2 and (arguably) #3 d-men, hank tallinder and toni lydman...they were replaced by the signings of free agents jordan leopold (pit) and shaone morrisonn (wsh,) two top-four d-men expected to fill the roles of the departed...how this will pan out is yet to be determined, but it's safe to say, imo, that it'll be a lateral move at least...
the stats: the buffalo sabres ranked #4 in league with a 2.45 gaa, a significant improvement over the previous season where they were #17 with a 2.79 gaa...much can be attributed to vezina winner ryan miller, but, just as important was the play of rookie tyler myers anchoring the d-corps in his rookie season...
the pk went from #14 at 81.9% in 08/9 to #2 at 86.6% in 09/10...those numbers pretty much speak for themselves...
one very interesting note: the buffalo sabres never lost a lead in the regular season when leading after two periods, a tribute not only to their vezina winner and their calder winner (myers) but to their forwards and coaching as well...
the down-side for the sabres back-end last season was the pp, and much of the blame for their #17 overall placement (17.6%) was their lack of a pp-quarterback...it was a precipitous drop from the previous season when they finished #7 overall at a 21% clip...worse yet, the sabres failed to score a pp-goal in the playoffs going 0-19 in a six-game ousting at the hands of the boston bruins...although i don't buy into the lack of a pp-qb as the sole reason for the demise, i do believe that it contributed a good portion to it and that myers and leopold will be looked to for an increase in productivity in that area...
all-in-all, i tend to look at the off-season defensive moves as lateral, with leopold and morrisonn bringing much the same as tallinder and lydman, only in different slots on the back-end, complimenting the qualities that #1 myers and #3 craig rivet bring to the table...those are the top-four on the back-end with steve montador, andrej sekera, chris butler expected to round out the d-corps, but they will get a strong push from mike weber and possibly tj brennan...marc-andre gragnani would've been in the mix as well, but he's sidelined because of injury and will be spending time in the "a" upon his return
it's not surprising that the sabres are "loaded" on the back-end with plenty of "capable" nhl-quality d-men ready to step in...darcy regier and co. will never forget the 05/6 playoffs when the likes of rory fitzpatrick, doug janik, jeff jillson and nathan paetsch were called into extended service because of injuries...
the top-four:
tyler myers--as a rookie, myers posted 11 goals (three on the pp,) 37 assists, was plus-13 (tied for second on the team with tallinder behind jochen hecht,) and logged 23:44 avg. toi (team-high,) on a team with the second-best gaa in the league, which translated into a calder trophy win for him...those were just the stats...he could seemingly cover half the ice in just a few strides, had the reach of a condor, adapted to the speed of the game almost effortlessly, jumped into the rush like a vet, and pinched from the point with aplomb...all his teammates implicitly trusted him on the ice, especially tallinder who enjoyed a "comeback season" as his d-partner...he was a revelation, and instantly helped stabilize a defense that was average at best...and he still has room to grow...his big obstacles this season will be overcoming the dreaded "sophomore slump," anchoring the pp, continued growth and further conditioning which will help him overcome wearing down in late spring...none of these, either individually or taken as a whole, seem too daunting a task for this phenom...as shown with the resurgence of hank, he can take his d-partner to the next level, turning a solid #3 or even #4 into a solid #2...
shaone morrisonn--morrisonn will never be confused with larry robinson, ray bourque or mike green; scoring is not his forte'...he is a defensive-defenseman very capable of handling his own zone while his partner joins the rush or pinches in...that's what he did in washington beside the likes of green and joe corvo...nor should he be labeled an intimdator along the lines of chris pronger or anton volchenkov, although it has been said that he can, and does, clear the net and will let his "edge" come out...these are the qualities which lead me to believe that he will be on the top-pairing with, and as a compliment to, myers...some will say that he's a second-pairing d-man at best, even though he did play a good amount of time with green on the top-pairing in washington...and it's a point well taken...here's where the "myers-factor" comes into play...there's no reason why myers shouldn't be able to elevate morrisonn's game, just like he did with tallinder...
craig rivet--the captain...let's get this out of the way right now...he had a terrible year last season...plain and simple...but....he was playing injured all season...his is a simple game on the back-end, he uses his upper-body for positioning and his strength to clear the crease and/or subtly abuse opponents...one of the reasons he was brought in was to add toughness to a very soft back-end...and he did early on in his sabres career...then injuries hit him and he's not been able to do any of the things he's noted for...anyone whose had a shoulder injury knows the pain and limited movement involved...try out-muscling a big forward or taking on a "tough-guy" when you don't have full, uninhibited upper-body movement...that's my take and i'm sticking to it...he will remain on the second-pairing with the sabres...if the surgery went as well as all claim it did, not only can we look forward to him jostling with the big-boys and dropping the gloves, but i also look for him to contribute on the second pp-unit from the point...
jordan leopold--i did a lengthy blog entitled, who is jordan leopold? where i delved into the recently acquired sabres d-man...basically he's in a position where he feels as if he can concentrate soley on his goals, unlike his "wander-years" after leaving calgary...he did very well in cgy, but because he was considered a "moveable commodity," spent the next five seasons going from colorado, back to cgy, to florida, then on to pit finally landing in buffalo this off-season, signed for the next three seasons...because of rivet being a pretty solid anchor, i see no problem pairing leopold, a "puck-mover" with him...those two on the second-pairing should represent a mild offensive threat that opposing teams will need to contend with on a nightly basis...leopold also brings some pp-acumen with him and will be looked at to produce with significant pp-time...
steve montador--he has the inside track at holding on to that #5 spot and many look at the sabres having the "top-five" set..."monty" is in as the #5 based upon his solid performance last season vs. the bruins in the playoffs...when brought in, it was expected that he would add more grit to the bottom-pairing on d...and he did provide that...what i, and probably most others, didn't realize is that he can really move the puck up-ice as well as provide some production in very limited third-pairing minutes...but nothing's etched in stone with him...a mid-season slump caught the ire of lindy ruff and sent him to the press box for a stint...although he did come back and play pretty solid, question marks concerning consistency still linger here...all-in-all, though, it's safe to say that "monty" will be anchoring the third-pairing and will be able to jump up, on a limited basis, the second-pairing
the battle will be on for the sixth spot...
andrej sekera--"rej," the "veteran" of the group, is in the mold of former sabres alexi zhitnik and dmitri kalinin in that he could log tons of ice-time, can move the puck up-ice, and has enough offensive saavy to be considered for pp-time...but, like the aforementioned former sabres, sekera has some severe mental lapses and his "soft-but-skilled" game can be especially tiresome if his offensive production wanes...his inconsistency has been the only constant in his short career...one positive thing i did notice last season was that, in quite a few games against team like philly who have a tremendous forecheck, rej was the only sabre d-man who seemed to be able to move the puck out of the zone regularly...
chris butler--he had a very poor season last year...the previous season was one in which he showed a cool head under pressure, and played so well that the sabres had no choice but to keep him with the big club...expectations were high coming into 09/10 with he and rivet playing solid second-pairing minutes...who knows what happened...the poor play of his partner, rivet, could have brought him down...coulda been the dreaded "sophomre slump"...maybe he couldn't handle the increased expectations and/or the increased responsibility of pp time...maybe it was a combination of these things that lead him to a team-worst minus-15...whatever the case may have been, his confidence plummeted and his game deteriorated and he now finds himself having to earn a spot on in the top-six...
mike weber--when he was called up late in the 07/8 season, as the sabres made a ill-fated, late-season run for a playoff spot, he and sekera, his d-partner, had a stellar stretch of 12 games...their play made the future of the sabres d-corps look extremely bright...that season weber finished a +12...the 08/9 season was a disaster for weber, though...he played 7 lousy games in buffalo with a minus-three to show for it...in portland, he was limited to only 42 games...the whole season was marred by injuries...kudos to the sabres brass who kept him in the minors all of last season (he was the sabres last cut) so that he could work himself back into game-shape physically and mentally...weber is a big, tough defensive-defenseman, who is coming off a banner ahl campaign...which should bode well for both him and the sabres
marc-andre gragnani--"grags" is an offensive d-man/pp-specialist who'll continue his steady improvement in the ahl as he rehabs from a training camp injury...the 6'2, 200-pounder is a very good skater with some great offensive-instincts...his pp-acumen hardly went unnoticed by the organization, one which saw it's pp provide lackluster results in the regular season as well as an epic fail in the playoffs...he can, and will be sent down for another season with the pirates and the sabres will not be exposing him to waivers...offensive d-men take a lot of time to develop and having him continue his progression in the ahl should make him even more ready to make the jump next season...
the sabres d looks to be real strong down the road with the likes of tj brenan, brayden mcnabb and nick crawford paying their dues at their respective levels within the sabres organization...as for this season, we know the top-four (maybe five) are set...we know that sekera, butler and weber cannot clear waivers and will be with the team, but will need to overcome their deficiencies in order to land in that #6 slot...not only that, but they will need to become consistent in order to secure it...we know alot of things, but what we don't know is how this new d-corps will gel, nor do we know just how much production the sabres will get out of them, especially on the pp...and that could be the difference between a long run or a short run in the post season...
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