Right now the wings have plenty of skill and depth, but that pesky center position has been a thorn in the side of GM Darcy Regier ever since the debacle that was the 2007 off-season.
No, Darcy, you never had "two of the top-20 centers in the National Hockey League." Stats, which was the basis for that statement after the 2009/10 season, are for use by fans playing fantasy hockey.
The Buffalo Sabres have one legitimate top-six center on their team right now--Derek Roy.
He's not a #1 center, although if you went purely by stats, you'd have a case.
Derek Roy is a nearly a point-per-game player for the past four seasons and there were moments where he and his wingers looked like a legitimate top-line. At $4M/year, Roy is underpaid, relatively speaking, for his statistical production.
Using Terry Pegula's quote that he "wants to keep not only statistically good players, but winners, gritty players," Roy seems to be a less than complete player when looking through that lens.
 |
| Derek Roy (L) lead the 2003 Kitchener Rangers to the Memorial Cup. Not sure how much leading he'll do (if any) for next season's Sabres team. |
His NHL career, however, has not lead to anything along those lines. After the departures of Daniel Briere and Chris Drury in 2007, Roy was designated as one of "the core" that would take over the reigns as leaders on the team.
Since then, the Sabres missed the playoffs twice and were bounced in the first round in 2010 by Boston--a series where he failed to score a goal.
This past season saw the team in the bottom-third of the Eastern Conference when Roy was felled by an injury. The team proceeded to come together "as a team" and work their way into the playoffs as the 7th-seed.
Did the Sabres come together as a team because Derek Roy was not there?
I'd say a case could be made.
His demeanor throughout the majority of the past four seasons can be encapsulated in an observation by WGR beat-reporter Paul Hamilton. The Sabres first home game of the 2010/11season was a 6-3 blowout loss at the hands of the NY Rangers. Hamilton noted this about the Sabres' "#1 center": "[Tyler] Ennis was streaking down the near side boards waiting for a trailer to break to the net but no one arrived. [Derek] Roy was too busy trying to draw a penalty and let the referees know there should have been an infraction called."
Although he did rebound to the point where he was showing some leadership in a primary assist role, the team was trudging along at a .500-clip. After a 3-9-2 start to the season, .500-hockey would not get the Sabres to the playoffs.
Interesting to note that Roy was given an "A" on his sweater for the past four seasons, but when he came back for game seven of this seasons playoff loss to the Flyers, he wasn't wearing one.
As for the "gritty" aspect of Pegula's quote, at one point early in his career Roy had spunk. Not any more. Grit seems like a foreign concept to him.
Derek Roy will probably be on the team this season for a number of reasons including, lack of centers on the team, Regier's affinity for his "core,' and his production-to-cost ratio. The latter, though, makes him a very tradeable commodity, especially if the Sabres have a chance to up-grade to a legitimate #1 center.
But, for now, dependent upon what they do between now and July 1st, it's safe to assume that Roy will be a top-six center on the team and, if the Sabres do nothing to address the #1-center position, he will be up-top by default.
On the second line, if Roy does take over the #1 center position, there's a possibility, barring the acquisition of another center, that rookie Luke Adam will be the starting #2 center.
 |
| Can Luke Adam Whoop it up as the Sabres #2 center for the 2011/12 season? |
Ruff had the opportunity to watch their Sabres prospects in action in the playoffs and said that Adam "is going to be a good two-way centerman that could possibly push up into a one-two role."
Will that role be for the up-coming 2011/12 season, or was he projecting further up the road? Don't know.
What we do know is that the 6'2", 215lb center had a good taste of the NHL this past season putting up pedestrian numbers (3goals, 1assists) in 19 games. The jump to the big club was an eye-opener for both him and Sabreland.
He never really adjusted to the speed of the game and, as shown by his minus-6 rating, had difficulty grasping the defensive aspects of the NHL game.
But, considering he was a rookie and a second-round pick, it was to be somewhat expected.
There could be other options within the next few weeks as it will be much easier to get a #2 center than it is a #1, but for now, it looks as if the #1 center position is a big question mark with the #2 spot being filled by
Derek Roy, although the position will be dictated by what does or does not occur at the top.
Rounding out the top-six on the wings:
- LW/RW Thomas Vanek who's shown very strong signs of becoming a complete player and leader who could, quite possibly, wear the "C" next season. Vanek seems to have passed through a multitude of thresh-holds since he signed that $50M offer sheet in 2007 and his play really picked up this season after Derek Roy went down for the year. Coincidence?
- RW Jason Pomminville, a somewhat overpaid two-way forward who does all the little things that go unnoticed by casual fans and who's ripped for lack of statistical production. Yet, this team plays a really solid two-way game when he's in the line up. Don't expect him to come out smokin' on the score sheet to start the year. He seems to really pick things up in the new year and onward into the stretch-drive.
- Forward Tyler Ennis--the "greazy" (Ruff's word) forward looks to improve upon a very solid rookie campaign which saw him hit the 20 goal mark and tack on 29 assists. In 13 playoff games over two seasons he's managed 3 goals and 5 assists and is a plus-5. At 5'9", 165lbs. Ennis will need to rely on skill and creativity to maximize his potential, but he will also need to curb some bad tendencies--namely, holding on to the puck too long and staying on the perimeter--that have some looking at him as the second-coming of Maxim Afinogenov.
- RW Drew Stafford--Recently inked to a 4 year/ $16M contract by the Sabres. Was this, finally, his breakout year? (shrugs) For more on him, click here.
the buffalosabresnow 2011/12 roster foundation:
Goalie:
- Ryan Miller
- Jhonas Enroth
- 1st-pairing: Tyler Myers, ?
- 2nd-pairing: Jordan Leopold, Chris Butler
- 3rd-pairing: Mike Weber, Marc-Andre Gragnani
- reserve: ?
- Thomas Vanek, ?, Jason Pomminville
- Tyler Ennis, Derek Roy, Drew Stafford
No comments:
Post a Comment