...for The Hockey News' Rumor Roundup.
Richardson of spectorshockey.net was taking on a rumor that had been getting a lot of attention lately. In an off season with little movement and no major surprises, news is pretty hard to come by. The Miller for Stastny rumor seemed to work on the surface, but one shouldn't get their hopes up.
The similarities between Sabres goalie Miller and Avalanche center Stastny are uncanny.
Both carry a $6M+ cap hit (Miller-$6.25, Stastny-$6.6) and will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the 2013-14 season.
Both at one time were highly regarded at their positions--Miller won the Vezina in 2010, Stastny scored at nearly a point/game pace in his rookie season and was second for the Calder Trophy behind the Penguins Evgeni Malkin.
Yet both have seen their numbers decline in the last few years of their contract. They're on teams that are in various stages of a rebuild and both it could be said play at a position of strength in the organization.
Even though it might seemingly make sense, Adrian Dater of The Denver Post came right out and shot down the idea writing, "There were a couple of reports the last two days that a Paul Stastny-Ryan Miller trade could be happening. But it won’t. I’m told by reputable types that there is nothing to the rumors, that the deal won’t happen."
The Miller/Stastny rumor is packaged real nice. Packaged so nicely that any hockey fan, blogger, wanna-be blogger, rumor monger or rumor site could make a strong case for it to happen.
And it really could happen. But both the Sabres and the Avalanche have other needs while the players Miller and Stastny would supposedly unseat are still growing into their roles and have untapped potential.
In July 2011 the Avalanche traded away a first round and a second round pick to Washington for Semyon Varlamov who was coming off of a strong campaign in a limited role for the Caps. They immediately signed him to a three year/$8.5M contract as their #1 goalie.
Since going to Colorado, Varlamov's number have declined, but most attribute it to a porous defense (which also leads many to wonder why the 'Lanche didn't pick defenseman Seth Jones first overall at the draft.)
Does Miller heading to Colorado make sense? Will he be able to rescue their poor defense?
No. He hasn't been able to do it in Buffalo and he won't be able to do it their either. He's not that type of goalie. Miller's numbers have been in a similar decline to those of Varlamov.
As for Stastny, the Sabres no doubt could use a top-line center. But is Stastny a bonafide #1 center?
Stats would say no. He may have been four or five years ago, but right now he should be considered a top-six center.
At 27 yrs. old, Stastny is just hitting his prime, but his statistical output seems to be leveling off somewhat. Matt Duchene seems to have eclipsed him on the depth chart, and 2013 first-overall pick Nathan MacKinnon wasn't drafted to play third-line center.
The Sabres certainly have questions at the center position right now, but the answers will come within the organization this year and possibly even next.
Cody Hodgson looks to be the teams' #1 center for the upcoming season. He's young and showing signs of steady improvement. This year he scored 15 goals and had 19 assists in 48 games (Stastny had 9 goals, 15 assists in 40 games.)
Stastny and Hodgson are very similar players with a very similar build. The bid difference between the two seems to be upside. Stastny's may be limited while Hodgson still has a room to make a big jump.
This proposed trade really doesn't make a lot of sense for either team, but it does give hope to fans who have wanted to see both of them moved off of their respective teams.
It was fun to consider, and great for a debate, but this one's pretty much dead in the water.
Like Dater wrote, "let's move on to the next rumor."
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