Tyler Myers Anchors Top-Four On Sabres D

Call him what you will, "The Big Easy," "Big-Tex," "Oil Rig," it doesn't matter.

Tyler Myers will be, once again anchoring the Sabres blue-line in front of Ryan Miller and Jhonas Enroth this season. After making the jump from junior to the Sabres top-pairing in his Calder-winning rookie season, Myers was hit hard by the dreaded "sophomore slump." It lasted half of last season before he regained his composure and became a force for the Sabres once again.

Tyler Myers puts pen to picture.
Let's hope he puts pen
 to (very) long-term contract
this season.

All of the attributes--like smooth skating, a condor's wing span, puck-movement out of the zone, good shot from the point, good pass out of the zone, patience--are there and, as shown in Game Six vs. the Flyers when he decked Chris Pronger for messing around in front of his net, he's bringing a physical aspect to his game.

Only one question remains with him:  Can the Sabres get him to commit to a (very) long-term contract?

Get 'er done, Darcy.

Myers' partner on the top-pairing has been a question mark since Hank Tallinder was allowed to walk last off-season.

The team started with Shaone Morrisonn and that worked well until Morrisonn went down with injury.

Andrej Sekera worked pretty well with the big guy until that pairing fell apart.

Just after new owner Terry Pegula took over, Chris Butler took over as Myers' d-partner and those two were a fixture on the back-end for the lions-share of the regular season and all of the playoff series vs. the Flyers.

Will Myers (L) and Chris Butler be paired
for the 2011/12 season?

Butler has big-minute, top-pairing potential and has shown the capacity to rebound from below-average performances in the past. But word on the street has the Sabres looking for a true shut-down d-man for the top-pairing which would relegate Butler--assuming the RFA re-signs--to the second-pairing along side:

Jordan Leopold.

Leopold along with d-partner Steve Montador were Buffalo's top-pairing after Morrisonn went down and with Myers mired in his slump.



Jordan Leopold was getting props early in the
2010/11 season as he was piling up points.
Can he return to that form this season?

 And they played real well. And then they didn't.


Then they dropped down to second-pairing which is pretty much where Leopold was the second half of the season and into the playoffs.

Leopold brings a good veteran, puck-moving presence to the Sabres, and will have a new d-partner for the 2011/12 season. Who will it be?

It could be Butler, with Leopold moving to the right side, which shouldn't be too much of a problem.

It's all dependent upon what they do in regards to a shutdown d-man. Something that we'll take a look at soon.


For now:

the buffalosabresnow 2011/12 roster foundation:

Goalie--Ryan Miller, Jhonas Enroth

Defense--1st-pairing:  Tyler Myers, ?
               2nd-pairing:  Jordan Leopold, Chris Butler