The St. Louis Blues were ousted by the defending Stanley Cup Champs in six games. In addition to former Sabre Ryan Miller, who was a 2014 trade deadline acquisition by St. Louis, three other former Sabres were on that team: Steve Ott, Jordan Leopold and Derek Roy.
There's a possibility that none will there next season. Miller, Ott and Roy are all UFA's while Leopold has one more year remaining on his contract that pays him $2.5M.
Although Leopold probably will be back, at least until the trade deadline, he really didn't do much of anything in his bottom-pairing role. He's an average player with average size and average skating ability that doesn't add a specific quality to the team. Vanilla, just like in Buffalo.
As for the others, Roy was a healthy scratch for two games and invisible for the four he played in. In typical fashion, when the heat was turned up, Roy folded. Which was exactly what he did for the Sabres.
Ott was the player that he is--a third line pest--which was fine until the final game when he got smoked by the highly skilled Hawks. Too many penalties and the injury to David Backes had him on the ice way too often throughout the series. It shows just how little talent Buffalo had when they were using Ott in a top-six role.
Although he could be back, Ott might better serve himself with a third-line role on a better team at a discount to his $3.2M salary or in a larger role on a lesser team for more money.
As for Miller?
He was average, which wasn't what Blues GM Doug Armstrong envisioned when he traded for the veteran netminder.
Even though the team in front of him folded, one less soft goal or one more big save may have made a difference in the series.
It didn't happen.
These Blues are in the same position that the Sabres were in a few years ago. They don't have a number of franchise players like the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks (or even the Colorado Avalanche,) nor do they have their overall game-changing speed and skill. They don't have the edge of the Boston Bruins nor the resiliency of the Los Angeles Kings.
Which is exactly the position player-wise Buffalo was in before they blew things up.
The Blues will not be blowing things up anytime soon, but they'll be careful with mortgaging their future for the present, like they did with Miller.
It's up in the air as to the future of Miller in St. Louis as the two sides haven't sat down yet to discuss a contract. But the Sabres can kiss that additional, conditional, 2014 first round pick goodbye. In their hands is a 2016 3rd rounder which could turn into a second should the Blues sign Miller before July 1 .
The Infamous San Jose' Sharks
Last night the San Jose' Sharks became the fourth team in NHL history to lead a playoff series 3-0 and get swept the rest of the way.
It's an epic fail that might be the punctuation mark on an era of failures.
Coach Todd McLellan has been at the helm since 2008. After getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs that year, the Sharks made it to the western conference finals two years running. They were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks in 2010 and lost to the Vancouver Canucks four games to one the following year.
Despite losing in the first round of the 2012, McClellan was re-upped. The Sharks also brought in Larry Robinson and his nine Stanley Cup rings to join McClellan behind the bench.
San Jose' made it to the second round in 2013 before getting bounced by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings. And they dropped the ball this year.
They have tried everything to get over the hump with their core players and just couldn't seem to get it done.
It's safe to assume that McClellan will be gone and with him his coaching staff.
What lies ahead for Robinson is up in the air as well. He has the coaching resume'--two Cups with the Devils as an assistant (1995, 2003) and one as their head coach in 2000--to take the reigns as Sharks head coach. He could be dismissed with the rest of the coaching staff or his friend, Sharks VP Doug Wilson, could move Robinson in a front office position.
Although the western conference travel schedule seems to be wearing on Robinson somewhat, he did move out to San Jose' to be close to his grandchildren who are in Los Angeles. In a November 2013 New Jersey Star Ledger interview by Rich Chere, Robinson seems to have found a spot where everyone in his family is happy. "We love it here (in San Jose',) he said. Despite the western conference grind.
Too bad for Buffalo. If I were owner Terry Pegula, I'd back up the truck to get him in the Sabres system as they do have an opening for President of Hockey Ops.
The "Midwest" Sabres are still playing.
Heading to the second round of the 2014 playoffs with the Minnesota Wild are Jason Pominville, Matt Moulson and Cody McCormick.
The Wild took down the Colorado Avalanche in overtime in Game-7 last night on a goal by former NY Islander Nino Niederreiter (2010, No. 5 overall) while the three former Sabres held their own in complimentary roles.
Pominville showed his steady play and McCormick his edge while Moulson (originally drafted by the Islanders) played well enough but should be looking to add more scoring versus the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Wild showed some resiliency against a very young Avalanche team who had rookie coach Patrick Roy behind the bench. They came back four times after a Colorado goal in Game-7 and overcame an injury to starting goalie Darcy Keumper half-way through the third period.
If Thomas Vanek has his eye on the Wild this summer, which has been rumored time and again, he has to like what he's seeing over there as Minnesota is playing pretty well right now.
The Avalanche are an interesting study in rebuilding
After short, largely unsuccessful playoff runs while alternating with a couple of low finishes post-2004 lockout, the Colorado Avalanche began their rebuild in earnest in 2009. In that draft they snagged two fixtures down the middle--Matt Duchene (#3 overall) and Ryan O'Reilly (#33)--and found themselves in the playoffs that year.
During the next three seasons they missed the playoffs which offered the opportunity to land upper echelon picks Gabriel Landeskog (2011, #2) and Nathan MacKinnon (2013, #1.)
In between those top picks they traded away a 2012 first rounder for Washington Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov.
Like the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks before them, Colorado is now icing a team that features some high draft picks in skilled positions. But, unlike those two, Colorado threw in a playoff season and a trade of a first round pick during a their bottoming out period.
Regardless, the timing of their high draft picks is impeccable and their luck has been great as 'Lanche GM Joe Sakic has Colorado loaded for bear going forward.
What will Boston do against Vanek
Montreal and Boston kick off the second round of the NHL playoffs tonight in the only scheduled game. The two Original Six franchises, who meet for the 34th time, have no love lost for each other and it should be a ruckus series.
The key for the Canadians just might be the former Sabres winger.
Vanek was sent to Long Island then was acquired by the Canadians at the trade deadline for a second round pick and Sebastian Collberg. (The bath Isles GM Garth Snow took concerning Vanek is a another story)
Back in 2010 when the Buffalo Sabres won the division crown with Calder Trophy winning defenseman Tyler Myers and Vezina winning goalie Miller, Vanek lead an offense included the aforementioned Roy and Pominville as well McCormick and Leopold.
During the opening round vs. Boston, Vanek looked as if he was going to take over the series. That was until the Bruins Johnny Boychuk took the skates out from under him with a slash and Vanek went crashing into the boards.
For the Sabres it meant taking out their only legitimate offensive threat and Boston would go on to win the series 4-2.
Taking out a key cog for the opposition is pretty much an annual rite (not right) during the playoffs as evidenced by Minnesota's Matt Cooke taking out Colorado's Tyson Barrie with a knee on knee this year.
The B's knew then and know now that Vanek always seems to up his game against them. Since 2005 he has 30 goals and 67 points in 55 games, including two goals in three games during that 2010 playoff series.
The problem that the Bruins will have with the Vanek on the Canadians is that Montreal has a better group of skaters than the Sabres did. Vanek who can score from anywhere on the ice but won't be the lone focus of attention for Boston.
Should be a fun time for him and everyone else as this series looks to be a doozy.
As the Sabres move forward with the second overall pick in the draft this season, as well as the potential to for another top pick next season, Sabres' fans have to be thrilled that the team isn't stuck with false hope like they had from 2008-2013. Like the false hope that the Blues are going through and the Sharks are going through now.
The 2014 NHL Draft will yield either forwards Sam Reinhart or Sam Bennett or defensemen Aaron Ekblad, any of them and anchor of the franchise moving forward.
Through the work of the amateur scouting staff lead by AGM Kevin Devine, a future core is starting to emerge in Zemgus Girgensons and Tyler Myers.
Sabres GM Tim Murray is locked into the next two drafts and it looks as if he's on top of his game when it comes to player evaluation when looking at a prospect like Hudson Fasching.
And Sabres fans need to remember that former GM Darcy Regier was instrumental in this rebuild as he extracted the most he could from his core group of players.
Predictions for Round 2:
- Montreal takes down Boston 4-2. Vanek plays a key role. Montreal's Cary Price outplays his counterpart Tuuka Rask as the B's get frustrated one too many times in too many games.
- Pittsburgh defeats the NY Rangers 4-2. Henrik Lundqvist can't do it all as the Rangers defense is overwhelmed by Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz and Co. The Rangers Rick Nash and Brad Richards underachieve although the Rags' special teams are their undoing.
- Chicago trips up Minnesota 4-1. Chicago looks like the defending Stanley Cup Champions they are as they proceed to dismantle the Wild. The Wild's Keumper and space-cadet Ilya Bryzgalov just can't throttle the Hawks' kick-ass core.
- LA Kings take down Anaheim 4-2. The battle for Southern California goes to the team with the best goalie and the most resilient team in this years playoffs. The Kings can thank the Sharks for waking them up. Should be a six-game knock-down/drag-'em-out series and it's not hard to envision a hot Jonathan Quick thoroughly outplaying the tandem of Jonas Hiller and Fredrik Andersen in net.
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