2021 Buffalo Sabres trade deadline possibilities--Taylor Hall and Brandon Montour

Taylor Hall is said to be ready to waive his no-trade clause, which isn't too surprising as who wouldn't want to get out of a situation in Buffalo where the Sabres have totaled six wins on the season. 

Yeah, it's been a hellaciously devastating ride for Buffalo this season, which was far worse than the .500 mark suspected here after the NHL placed the Sabres in the toughest division in hockey, but they can reboot in the off season. As long as franchise center Jack Eichel is still on board there's hope and when you add in Dylan Cozens as their No. 2 center next year, Buffalo has their one-two down the middle and they can build around them. 

Where's the bottom for this Buffalo Sabres franchise?

In 1956 the New York Football Giants won the NFL Championship and for five of the next six seasons they made it to the NFL championship game only to lose. Regardless of that fact the Giants were considered a model franchise but after their 14-10 loss to the Chicago Bears in the 1963 championship game, New York went 17 consecutive seasons without making the playoffs and got progressively worse (4-23-1 in 1973 and '74 combined) before stagnating well below the .500 mark until the 80's.

Football fans largely ignored the Giants and in a pre-ESPN era where game highlights were mainly shown via local news broadcasts and in Sunday pre-game or halftime shows (think Monday Night Football with a national audience,) out of sight, out of mind. As the New York football Giants continued floundering through another lost season, just when you thought it couldn't get worse, it did. On November 19, 1978 with New York up 17-12 over the Philadelphia Eagles late in the game, the 'brain'-trust on the sideline scoffed at the thought of kneeling to run out the clock and 'boldly' decided to run a complicated play. Quarterback Joe Pisarcik's handoff to Larry Csonka was flubbed and Eagles cornerback Herm Edwards scooped up the fumble for the winning touchdown.

Why this story in a blog about the Buffalo Sabres?

It's about finding the bottom.

That was...interesting. Krueger is mad scientist in win over FLA

Publised by hockeybuzz.com, 11-25-2019


The lineup to begin last night's game in Florida against the Panthers was somewhat of an eyebrow-raiser to begin with as it featured 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Yes, we've seen it before and other teams have used it before, including the Tampa Bay Lightning last season, as mentioned by Buffalo Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger post-game, but still, that set-up is a little difficult to wrap your hands around. Especially when you're accustomed to Krueger religiously sticking to his lines and pairings this season.

Last night, however, the hockey coach became a mad scientist after forward Evan Rodrigues went down with an injury during his first shift on the ice. Krueger did some juggling on the blueline to start the game as he tried to work in seven defensemen while double-shifting able bodies up front. But after Rodrigues went down he let it all hang out and rolled with various concoctions up front that were full of surprises, including defenseman Brandon Montour taking a regular shift at left wing.

"The way we play," said Krueger to the media after their 5-2 win, "it's about finding your role in the group. Sometimes d-men will be up in the front, forwards will be back and vice-versa. I think it's an easy style of play that you can step into that."

Brandon Montour injury clouds Sabres blueline, highlights Rasmus Ristolainen trade rumors

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-19-2019

The Buffalo Sabres announced that defenseman Brandon Montour has a hand injury, the severity of which has not been revealed. The Sabres tweeted today that Montour "will miss the rest of the preseason due to a hand injury" and that they'll update his status "at the conclusion of training camp."

So much for the right-handed, log-jam on defense.

Buffalo general manager Jason Botterill acquired the 24 yr. old Montour from the Anaheim Ducks on February 25 for d-prospect Brendan Guhle (2015, 51st-overall) and a 2019 first round pick (LW, Brayden Tracey, 29th.) Montour was the first of three right-handed d-men acquired by Botterill the past seven months as he also acquired Colin Miller from the Vegas Golden Knights on June 28 and Henri Jokiharju from the Chicago Blackhawks on July 9.

When added to roster players Zach Bogosian and Casey Nelson, those acquisitions loaded up the right side and really fueled speculation that disgruntled defenseman, Rasmus Ristolainen, a righty himself, was on the move. The Sabres have been adamant since that they were not shopping the 24 yr. old Ristolainen but there was said to be a lot of smoke surrounding his name with the Winnipeg Jets seemingly as the most likely match in a trade. Deductive reasoning has the Sherlock Holmes' of the internet hockey world pairing the Sabres and Jets in a two-plus-two scenario beginning with the Jacob Trouba saga with the plot thickening even more the past couple of weeks. 

Building the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster--RHD, Brandon Montour

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-27-2019


In this series we build the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster one by one leading up to the season opener on October 3.

RHD--Brandon Montour
25 yrs. old
6'0" 193 lbs.
2014, 55th-overall (ANA)

Career Stats:  189 games | 19 goals | 54 assists | 73 points | +7


If Buffalo GM Jason Botterill were able to pull off the trade for Anaheim Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour a month or two earlier, perhaps things may have gone a bit differently for the Sabres last season. Then again, with the way the team hit the skids while plummeting to the lower portions of the league, adding Montour in late December or January may not have made much of a difference.

Many, this writer included, really liked what Botterill was able to do in bolstering his defense corps with the trade for Montour. The second-year GM gave up a d-prospect in Brendan Guhle who at one time showed great promise but whose development curve had taken a turn for the worse over the prior nine months. The very athletic Guhle who'd shown offensive promise still has all the physical tools to be an NHL regular on the blueline, and contribute meaningfully, but something happened in the 2018 AHL playoffs that rattled him and Botterill felt that he was expendable. Especially when it comes to the immediate help that Montour brings.

In addition to Guhle, Botterill surrendered a 2019 first round pick that ended up being the 29th-overall pick thanks to the Western Conference Finals run the San Jose Sharks went on and the wild success of the Stanley Cup winning St. Louis Blues. With the 29th overall pick Anaheim selected LW, Brayden Tracey. Two picks later the Sabres selected defenseman Ryan Johnson with the Blues pick.

A mid-July look at the Buffalo Sabres NHL depth-chart on defense

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-19-2019


Please note the hyphenated word, "mid-July" as things could change with training camp still two months away. It also should be noted that the Buffalo Sabres traded for Jeff Skinner (CAR) on August 2 which goes to show that trades can happen at any time.

Buffalo's roster for 2019-20 will (must) change. As we saunter through the dog days of summer the Sabres have a full roster if you include the probable signings of three restricted free agents and two defensemen, Zach Bogosian and Lawrence Pilut, eventually coming back from off-season surgery. Bogosian is expected to be back for the start of the season while Pilut will take a little longer and will probably be spending time in Rochester before trekking into his sophomore campaign.

A crowded Sabres d-corps has eight NHL players already signed, another in Jake McCabe who's unsigned and filed for arbitration, and two more in Pilut and recently acquired Henri Jokiharju (CHI,) who played a significant time in the NHL last season. It's a good situation to be in as it's never a bad idea to have an overabundance of NHL-caliber defensemen but it will also force Buffalo to make some decisions.

For the sake of the following exercise we're going to move ahead under the premise that McCabe will re-sign with Buffalo.

Impressions of, and questions concerning--D, Brandon Montour

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-14-2019

Defenseman--Brandon Montour

DOB:  April 11, 1994 (age, 25)

Draft:  2014, second round (55th-overall,) ANA

How acquired:  Trade with the Anaheim Ducks February 24, 2019

Last contract signed:  July 24, 2018, 2yr./$6.775 million

Final year of contract: 2019-20

2018-19 Buffalo Stats:  20 games | 3 goals | 7 assists | 10 points | -4 | 21:46 ATOI  

Career Stats:  189 games | 19 goals | 54 assists | 73 points | +7 | 20:53 ATOI

What we wrote preseason:  N/A

What we wrote mid-season:  N/A 

Impressions on his play this year:  If Montour had been acquired earlier, perhaps in December or even early January when the Sabres were still in a serious playoff hunt, perhaps he may have had more of an impact. Then again, with the way this team devolved since the end of their 10-game winning streak in November, one would be hard pressed to make a case that Montour would have made that much of a difference.

Buffalo GM Jason Botterill tapped into the rich pool of defensemen Anaheim has stocked up over the years and got the Ducks to move one of them. But Montour didn't come cheap. Botterill sent d-prospect Brendan Guhle, who had been on a proper developmental curve ever since he was drafted 52st overall in 2015, along with what will end up being a low, 2019 first rounder to the Ducks in the deal. It may end up being a good hockey trade for both clubs as Guhle can stretch out their prospect pool a bit while the 25 yr. old Montour offers immediate help to Buffalo.

This was good use of the Sabres extra first rounder this year by Botterill. In acquiring Montour Buffalo received an extremely mobile, point-producing defenseman who can quarterback the powerplay. Montour's 10 points since joining the team was second only to Jack Eichel's 14 while his minus-4 rating was second best amongst Buffalo d-men who played in half or more of those games and he led the team with 19:36 of even-strength ice-time.

Montour was a good get for the Sabres in that all the numbers and metrics meshed with the eye-test and point to a solid top-four, point-producing d-man for Buffalo. On the flip side we also saw deficiencies on defense some of which may be inherent, some which may have been a product of the system he was playing in. One thing are pretty sure of, with Rasmus Dahlin soon entering the realm of full-fledged No. 1 defenseman, Montour will either be playing beside him, as they did many times this past season, or he'll be bringing the offense in a second-pairing role, which would be ideal for Buffalo if they can find the right d-partners for both. 

It's been an extremely slow makeover on defense for Buffalo but it's moving in the right direction. The Sabres needed more mobility on, and offense from, the back end and they got it in when they drafted Dahlin and traded for Montour. How far they go in that direction is to be determined but this is shaping up to be a much better d-corps than anything we've seen in quite some time, perhaps dating back to Tyler Myers Calder Trophy season of 2009-10.

Of note, Montour suffered an injury at the IIHF World Hockey Championships in Slovakia yesterday. The extent of the injury is unknown at this time but we do know that the 2019-20 probable Sabres defense-corps has taken a huge hit this off season. Veteran Zach Bogosian had hip surgery an may or may not be ready for the season opener. Rookie Lawrence Pilut, who appeared in 33 games for the Sabres last season suffered a shoulder injury in Rochester Americans final game of the AHL playoffs. He had surgery and is expected to be out five to six months.

Questions moving forward:  What was the injury? How long will the recovery take? Will the new head coach pair him with Dahlin next season?  Would Montour be better off paired with more of a defensive defenseman? Will the Sabres use two d-men on the powerplay? If they use two, did Montour displace Rasmus Ristolainen in that role? How will he adapt in going from a very successful Ducks organization to a Buffalo team that hasn't made the playoffs in eight seasons? 

Contract info via CapFriendly, stats via sabres.com and hockey reference.com.

Hello T.O. Sabres in Toronto with a little wind in their sails

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-25-2019


Sabres GM Jason Botterill made the big move last night in trading for Anaheim Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour. Buffalo gave up one of it's three 2019 first round picks (but not their own) and 21 yr. old d-prospect Brendan Guhle for Montour although the 24 yr. old Brampton, Ontario native won't be in the lineup tonight against his the Toronto Maple Leafs. Botterill told the gathered media that the team wasn't interested in rushing Montour to Toronto on a red-eye to play tonight but that he'll be in the lineup tomorrow night in Philadelphia against the Flyers.

In the only other move by Botterill and the Sabres, defenseman Nathan Beaulieu was traded to the Winnipeg Jets for a 2019, sixth round draft pick. Beaulieu was acquired by Botterill on June 17, 2017 from the Montreal Canadiens for a third round pick (Scott Walford) and played in 89 games for the Sabres scoring four goals and adding 12 assists with a minus-18 rating while averaging 15:32 of ice time. Beaulieu's time dwindled with Buffalo this season and he was often a healthy scratch causing him to ask for more ice-time while indirectly saying he wanted to be traded if Buffalo couldn't accommodate. His wishes came true today as the Jets added him for defensive depth.