Yahoo's Puck Daddy, aka Greg Wyshynski, is doing his 2013-14 NHL previews using an Olympic theme and yesterday he covered the Buffalo Sabres in his Gold Medal Preview.
After rehashing a 2013 season that saw Thomas Vanek carry the team early on and Lindy Ruff getting fired, Puck Daddy puts the puck where it belongs with the Sabres clearly in rebuild-mode.
As he goes through the progression from Ruff's exit to Ron Rolston's promotion to the departure of Jason Pominville, the lingering questions concerning veterans Vanek and Ryan Miller remain as both were on the block but remain with the team.
The Sabres had a relatively quiet off season considering they're rebuilding. Andrej Sekera was traded, Jamie McBain was brought in. Some moves for Rochester. And there's the return of Hank Tallinder to the Sabres blueline.
Tallinder is and always will be tied in to the performance of defenseman Tyler Myers, who's play has been declining since his Calder-winning debut, a debut that featured Tallinder as his defense partner. "Tallinder coming back to Buffalo," writes Puck Daddy, "means Myers should be reunited with a veteran that brought out his best. The Sabres hope so."
Christian Ehrhoff is pointed out as having played the most minutes in his career at 25:11 per game. Ehrhoff was clearly the team's best d-man last season and the question heading into the season is who will be his partner on the top pairing. McBain is mentioned but clearly, in this bloggers eyes, Myers needs to be the one to step fully into that role and begin his ascension to the top-pairing talent that lies within his grasp.
Barring a trade, the defense will be relying on Miller in net, with back-up Jhonas Enroth probably taking on a bigger role.
Puck Daddy pulls the Olympic card with Miller saying, "The best news for the Sabres isn’t that Miller is back, it’s that he’s back in a year where he’s trying to make the Olympic team. The last time that happened, Miller played like a Vezina winner for the first three months of 2009, earning the starting job."
Fact is, Miller had a serious chip on his shoulder that season because he was snubbed for the 2006 Olympics. This season will be different.
As per usual with these team overviews, there's the mention of forward Drew Stafford and his six goals in 46 games for $4M/season as well as the token shot at Ville Leino's contract, "[Stafford's deal] which compared to Leino’s $4.5 million through 2017 boondoggle looks like a steal."
Puck Daddy takes it a step further by taking a shot at enforcer John Scott who was re-signed for another year, "Scott will beat up someone smaller than him and then get beat up by Shawn Thornton."
Someone needs to remind "the daddy" that not many players are Scott's size and that he so thoroughly whooped Thorton that he was genuinely worried about the health of the Bruins tough-guy. It should also be noted that the Sabres toppled the Bruins in that game 7-4, as Scott's role on the team was clearly defined, and went on to post a 3-2 record vs. their long-time nemesis.
The bottom line is that Puck Daddy rightfully predicts the Sabres out of the playoffs this season and more of a youth movement with the probable departures of Miller and Vanek.
Maybe he should have added, with the departures of those two vets as well as a rookie coach heading into his first full season, the Sabres are more than likely headed towards their highest first-round pick since nabbing Thomas Vanek #5 in the 2003 draft. Possibly even top-three.
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