Quick hits as the dog-days of summer commence

It's July.

With the prospect camp finished, Sabres-related news will be relegated to the Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek trade watch (see watched-pot and boiling) and a depth signing or two.

As of right now, the off-season has consisted of a widely considered strong draft and the homecoming of defenseman Henrik Tallinder.

Some quick hits on the past couple of weeks.


Most 2013 Draft mocks had the Sabres going after a forward and a defensemen with their two 1st-round picks. A couple had them picking two defensemen. Almost invariably, all of them had the Sabres landing a "puck-mover" type defensemen, a hallmark of GM Darcy Regier's team-building for years, with one of their two 1st-rounders.

Lo and behold, the Sabres, with Assistant GM/Head Scout Kevin Devine leading the charge, chose two big, strong defensemen with an edge:  Rasmus Ristolainen (#8) and Nikita Zadorov (#16.) Both should not be confused with a pylon like Derian Hatcher, but they shouldn't be confused with Tallinder either.

A couple of names the Sabres passed up at No.8 were highly skilled winger Valeri Nichushkin and highly skilled center Alexander Wennberg. At No.16 they had "puck-mover" Mirco Mueller and a high-scoring winger Anthony Mantha available, but passed.

Devine said at last year's draft the Sabres wanted to get "bigger, stronger, faster." Regier said that the team needs to get bigger and needs to have players with "compete."

Sabres Owner Terry Pegula stated at his first presser that he wants "not only statistically good players, but winners, gritty players" and said that he wants "hard workers."

Most draft reviews have the Sabres scoring big in the draft, in no small part to selecting Ristolainen and Zadorov.

In Sabreland, the team scored big just for the fact that the team finally seems to be moving fully away from the "core" years.


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Speaking of "the core."

A big part of Regier's "puck-moving" back end was the aforementioned Tallinder.

The defenseman was the second player selected (#48 overall) by the Sabres in 1997, Regier's first draft as GM of the Buffalo Sabres.

Tallinder is a pretty big d-man at 6'3" 216 lbs., but he's as soft as the day is long. He was on the ice, looking directly at Scott Gomez when the NYR center tripped up, and injured, Ryan Miller. And he did nothing.



Tallinder does have some positives.

He has a long reach and when he was paired with rookie Tyler Myers good things happened. Myer's won the Calder Trophy and Miller won the Vezina.

Most importantly, though, Tallinder has a big fan in Sabres owner Terry Pegula.

Pegula was quoted as saying that he couldn't comprehend the former regime letting the defenseman walk over contract length, and he also, according to the Buffalo News' Bucky Gleason, said that losing Tallinder and Toni Lydman in 2010 was worse than losing Drury and Briere.

First thought when I caught wind of the trade with New Jersey (for Riley Boychuk) was that Pegula had an influence on bringing Tallinder back.

*shrugs*


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The addition of Tallinder really crowded the blueline and the Sabres now (again) have a number of NHL d-men headed into camp.

That number just increased by one as 2013 1st-round draft pick Ristolainen signed his entry-level contract last week.

Said Regier of the big Finnish defenseman, "We felt that it was important to get Rasmus under contract quickly so that we could start the development process right away. He's a very mature defenseman for his age and will have every chance to compete for a roster spot in training camp."

There was a bit of a "ta-do" with Ristolainen concerning his intentions for the upcoming season. He'd been in the Finnish Elite League and came into the prospects camp saying he had a contract with his hometown team while implying that it would be Finland or Buffalo. No Rochester.

The "ta-do" was comparisons to Russian Valeri Nichushkin who came out and said that he would either play in the NHL or the KHL. No AHL.

Buffalo passed on Nichushkin, a highly skilled winger, because of doubts about his intentions.

Regardless, the Sabres have Ristolainen under contract and according to Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, playing on the Amerks is an option:

"Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is eligible to play for the Rochester Americans, should he not earn a roster spot with the parent Buffalo Sabres during training camp.

The clarification comes this morning from Sabres assistant general manager Kevin Devine, and is presumably due to the NHL contract that the 18-year-old Ristolainen signed on Friday night."

Many, though, think that Ristolainen has a good shot of making the team out of camp.

Which makes for an even more crowded blueline.


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As of right now, Myers, Christian Ehrhoff and Mike Weber are pretty much locks for the defense corps.

Tallinder and Alexander Sulzer, as vets, would probably have the inside track for two of the remaining three spots.

Mark Pysyk had a strong showing in a short stint last season while leapfrogging Brayden McNabb, who was solid in 2011-12.

Jamie McBain came over from Carolina in the Andrej Sekera deal and is expected to be a 7th d-man or in the minors.

And Chad Ruhwedel played a pretty solid game for the team last season, but could be headed to the AHL as well.

That's nine NHL'ers heading into camp. Throw in Ristolainen and there are 10 defensemen battling it out for seven spots.

Pysyk, McNabb, Ruhwedel and Ristolainen all can be sent to Rochester without clearing waivers.

McBain is another option. Although he would need to clear waivers it's possible he may clear. He had a horrendous season last year.


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A quick look at the top remaining free agents this year and whether they should end up in Buffalo:

• Jaromir Jagr--would be joining Tallinder in the "mentor" role. Why not? But don't get too comfy. After 50 or so games get them bags ready for a trade to a contender.
• Mikhail Grabovski--Meh. The Sabres already have a Mikhail and a multitude of second-line centers. Love his grasp of the English language, though.
• Damien Brunner--Anyone after him is obviously suffering short-term memory loss. Does Ville Leino ring a bell?
• Dustin Penner--Even if the Sabres traded his twin, Drew Stafford, do they really need a lesser version of that type of player?
• Brendan Morrow--He's 34 yrs. old, but his rambunctious style of play makes him seem older. There's a youth movement in Buffalo (minus the Tallinder trade.) Adding a vet wouldn't really be a good fit. And besides, it would seem as if he'd rather go to a contender in the twilight of his career.
• Daniel Cleary--First option would be to stay in Detroit. But that might not be feasible. As an excellent two-way winger, there could be a fit in Buffalo. Pretty sure he'll have other options.