Like the Top-Six...

...the Buffalo Sabres Bottom-Six has holes down the middle.

Holes down the middle has been a theme since 2008 when we found out that Derek Roy and Tim Connolly would not adequately fill the skates of the departed Daniel Briere and Chris Drury. And if you can't fill the top-two properly, the bottom-two will be affected as well.

About the only thing we know for sure when it comes to the bottom-two centers is that Paul Gaustad will be one of them.

The masses chortle GM Darcy Regier for giving an essentially #4 center $2.5M/year and they're somewhat right.

"The Goose" lets loose as he tangle with the
Flyers Scott Hartnell in Game-2 of the
2011 playoffs.

The former 7th-round pick (2000) has the size at 6'4", 225lbs and aggressiveness to be a strong physical presence on the ice and is considered a leader on the team wearing the "A" on his sweater.

"Goose" does a lot of the little things on the ice like sticking up for his teammates and is the team's best face off man, yet we always are left wanting something more than his 12-goal seasons. Fact is, he may not be capable of scoring more than that, which puts him in the bottom-six.

The Sabres have a big body in Gaustad who displays strong on-ice leadership and tenacity in the face off circle. As he enters into the final year of his contract, "Goose" is a Buffalo Sabre and probably will remain as one for his career. Not a bad thing, but a little salary adjustment downward for the center would probably be appropriate.

Gaustad as a #4 center would be ideal, but they still have a hole in the #3 slot.

Last season Rob Niedermayer was the #3 and the Sabres showed incredible patience with the veteran, cup-winning centerman as it took him 53 games to score his first goal of the season. In the playoffs, though, Niedermayer showed why the Sabres signed him as he provided a very steadying influence throughout the 7-game series loss vs. Philadelphia.

As mentioned in a previous blog, under the right conditions, bringing "Nieds" back would be a good thing.

Another player that might fill the #3 center position would be current UFA Tim Connolly.

Connolly has taken a beating over the past four or five seasons both literally and figuratively as he tried to fill a top-six center role. He may be shot to the point where he'd thrive in a bottom-six role as a defensive-minded, penalty-killing #3. But, coming off of a $4.5M/year contract, as well as a lot of guff from Sabreland, it would be easy for one to think that he'll move on for more money and a fresh start.

Jochen Hecht showing some spunk as he
tangles with the Bolts' Vinny Lecavalier.

Then there's Jochen Hecht.

Hecht is a utility-man up-front who's best position is wing. As a very smart, very versatile two-way player, Hecht would be welcome on the Sabres in a third-line role. Problem is, the Sabres are very strong on the wings, especially LW, his natural position.

Would the team want to pay $3.5M to a #3 center who's alternated between very good and very poor over the past four seasons? Have injuries caught up with him? Would the Sabres be able to trade him and his salary?

I like Jochen Hecht as a player and wouldn't have much of a problem with him as that third-line center. He has one more year on his contract and with the salary cap expected to climb into the $62-$64M range it wouldn't be that difficult for the team to keep him and still remain within whatever fiscal parameters Terry Pegula decides upon. After this season, the team can look towards filling that #3 slot with a Ron Francis/Rod Brind'Amour-type, cup-winner if need-be.

Nate Gerbe watches his playoff-
clinching backhander April 8, 2011.

With that in mind, we'll fill out the wings on the bottom-six:

• LW Nathan Gerbe really kicked it in gear in the 2011 portion of the season. The light-switch seemed to come on after a sub-par, bordering on brutal, first half of the season. But the kid's a winner and seems to have a penchant for the dramatic as witnessed by his game-winning/playoff-clinching, no-look back-hander from the slot vs. Philadelphia in the second-last game of the regular season. He still has work to do and a move up to the top-six would be a strong possibility were it not for the presence of Thomas Vanek and Tyler Ennis on the left side, but ya gotta love what the kid brings to the table.
• LW Cody McCormick is another FA, only unrestricted. Rumor has it that he's looking for a big (relatively speaking) pay day. As a fourth-liner, I'd like to see the Sabres re-sign him.
• RW Patrick Kaleta is a banger and it looks as if he may be in for a short career. He has four full NHL seasons under his belt and has yet to play more than 55 games. With his style of play, it wouldn't be much of reach to think that he'll have the same problems this season. A fourth-line agitator role would be ideal for the kid, playing 8-10 minutes per game.

With the probable retirement of veteran RW Mike Grier and no NHL-ready RW in the AHL, there seems to be an opening at #3.

Would the Sabres use 2011 trade-deadline acquisition Brad Boyes in that slot? That would be $4M there, and if they use Hecht as a third-line center, we're talking $7.5M tied up in two slots on the third line. I cannot see that happening even with Pegula taking off the financial constraints.

Boyes and Hecht are two sides of the same coin--Boyes supposedly the offensive side, Hecht the defensive side--so the team would not be adding anything special for the amount they'd be spending.

One or the other would need to go, and my guess is that it would be Boyes.

As for depth wingers, there will be plenty to choose from in the off-season, Matt Ellis, should he re-sign would be capable of filling in. We'll also probably see Zack Kassian and Marcus Foligno get a taste of the NHL as well.

the buffalosabresnow 2011/12 roster foundation:


Goalie:

• Ryan Miller
• Jhonas Enroth

Defense:

• 1st-pairing: Tyler Myers, ?
• 2nd-pairing: Jordan Leopold, Chris Butler
• 3rd-pairing: Mike Weber, Marc-Andre Gragnani
• reserve: ?

Top-Six Forwards:

• Thomas Vanek, ?, Jason Pomminville
• Tyler Ennis, Derek Roy, Drew Stafford

Bottom-Six Forwards:

• Nate Gerbe, Jochen Hecht, ?
• Cody McCormick, Paul Gaustad, Patrick Kaleta

knit-one, purl-two nominee #3

a look at some really crabby, whiny, sourpuss content from major media sources in the buffalo area concerning the bills and the sabres

***nominee #3--bucky gleason, buffalo news, january 19, 2011***

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/bucky-gleason/article316414.ece

the set-up:  the buffalo sabres come out on top in a 2-1 overtime victory at home vs. the montreal canadians...the habs are above the sabres in the standings and have beaten the sabres in the three previous meetings...the sabres have played well in 2011 going 5-2-1 thus-far, but are stuck in a win-one/lose-one scenario...they dug themselves a deep hole in october, and although they've hit the "visual-500-mark," they have yet to get above it...derek roy is out for the season, the defense is inconsistent, many players are either inconsistent or not contributing at all, top-line holes need to be filled and nothing will happen with the team until terry pegula signs on the bottom line...nothing new, but leave it to bucky to continue to sledgehammer these points home...

The cold truth is victory means little

"Terry Pegula remains on track to purchase the Buffalo Sabres, but don't fool yourself into thinking sweeping changes and immediate fixes are coming soon. He's not expected to be introduced as owner during NHL board of governors meetings before the All-Star Game, as many had hoped.

Step away from the panic button. The $175 million sale hasn't hit any major snags that would kill a complex transaction that takes time. Sources suggested in recent days he'll likely close on the purchase in February. And if you've been watching this season you know the Sabres aren't going, well, anywhere.

Was it me or did the Sabres' 2-1 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens feel like an unseasonably warm January day in which you enjoy the weather for a few hours knowing darned well 15 degrees and snow are around the corner? It was little more than a brief reprieve, a welcome break, right?

Let's start with the good news. The Sabres moved within eight points of Atlanta for the final playoff spot. They beat a Montreal team that has been battling with Boston for first place in the division. They came up with an inspiring effort in the third period. Ryan Miller was terrific in net. They deserved the win.

Nathan Gerbe played one of his best games all year. He was a general nuisance in the third period while tussling with Brian Gionta in a battle of featherweights. He irritated Scott Gomez enough to draw a high-sticking penalty that led to Jason Pominville's winner in overtime.

All were good signs, but let's also face reality. The Sabres have won six of nine games over the past three weeks yet have made up only two points in the standings. They have 45 points in 45 games. If they win five of nine over the final 37 games this season, which is a tall order for a .500 team, it's not likely to be enough to reach the postseason.

If anyone should have been celebrating after the game, it was Montreal. The Habs were short two forwards for nearly 56 minutes, were without three forwards for most of the game, played Monday night before traveling to Buffalo, managed to scratch out a point against a division opponent and almost took two.

Enjoy the win, Sabres fans, but don't lose sight of the fact that they remain a flawed team that needs work. Really, what can you say at this point, that Jochen Hecht is on the verge of busting out and carrying this team to the playoffs? He's now their No. 1 center between Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville.

Hecht has seven goals and 17 points this season and is making $3.5 million. His performance Tuesday, in which he had four glorious scoring chances and converted none in 19-plus minutes, has become the rule rather than the exception this season. He's reached a point where he couldn't bury a rumor.

And he's their best center? Yes.

Tim Connolly is on pace for 12 goals and 39 points. Take away the games he missed from injuries and calculate his production per game over a full season, and Connolly is trudging toward 15 goals and 47 points and a minus-30 rating. He makes $4.5 million. Cody McCormick, at $4 million less, has been more productive at even strength.

Hecht is headed for 12 goals and 30 points. Paul Gaustad is on pace for seven goals and 25 points. Rob Niedermayer still hasn't scored in 36 games. The Sabres weren't counting on him for 20 goals, but you can safely assume they were banking on scoring more than zero at this stage of the season.

The Sabres travel to Boston on Thursday before playing three games against teams currently behind them in the playoffs. Buffalo also is staring down the barrel of a seven-game road trip in March. By then, Pegula should be the owner. That's when the excitement begins."

wow, buckster...tell us something we didn't already know...ya ever hear of that old "beat a dead horse" expression?...we all know that darcy regier is lame as a gm and that tim connolly is invisible...jochen hecht?...really?...when in doubt bring out hecht, strap him to the yard-arm anc commence whipping...eh, bucky?..."Enjoy the win, Sabres fans, but don't lose sight of the fact that they remain a flawed team that needs work"...wow, dude...your insight is, like, overwhelming...i had no idea that the sabres were a flawed team...

this edition of the sabres is, indeed, flawed...they also dug themselves a very deep hole back in october and are close to reaching the surface...you think this victory means little to them?...you ever take a stick to the face to win anything?...maybe you had a pencil thrown at you or a lousy article you wrote crumpled into a ball and heaved back at you...ooooohhhhhh!!!!...scary....the only thing missing from this article is a reference/tie-in to drury/briere and tim kennedy to enrage the "buckites"...whatever...the sabres, as a team are trying to beat down a door and break into the playoff mix, despite being flawed and despite being written-off/bagged-on by the media



injuries up the middle baffle lindy ruff

two portland pirates got the call yesterday as the injury bug is starting to make it look like training camp all over again...center luke adam and free agent lw colin stuart will get the call as the pittsburgh penguins pay a visit to hsbc arena tomorrow night...

tim connolly and rob niedermayer, the sabres #2 and #3 centers, respectively, will both be out of the lineup with niedermayer undergoing a knee scope that will keep him out at least two to three weeks...compounding the problem is the sabres lack of depth down the middle...

during lindy ruff's weekly appearance on wgr's howard simon show, the coach was somewhat baffled as to how to approach a question as to who his #2 center is...after stammering for words, the coach stated that paul gaustad is the #2 center...the "yikes-moment" prompted him to quickly shift to a call-up, though, "if you're looking to the offensive side of it, we've called luke adam up."...then he shifts to something that "we've done this in the past and it worked real well for us,"--moving jochen hecht to the center slot....

jochen hecht's worst full-season in the nhl can be directly attributed to his playing in the top-six as a center during the 2008/9 season...it was awful to watch...no surprise that when he was switched back to lw for the 2009/10 season he promptly put up typical hechtian numbers--21 goals, 21 assists and he lead the team with a plus-14 rating...

ok, fine...out of necessity, hecht moves to center along with adam and they join derek roy and paul gaustad down the middle...since gaustad was not mentioned for a top-nine slot, where to put adam and hecht had ruff talking in circles, "with connolly out we would probably have adam slide into the two-spot," he said..."we would...have jochen hecht move into the middle and he would really be our #2, and we're pretty comfortable with luke [adam] being our #3 for us."

is it any wonder why the coach was searching desperately for words when you have roy, hecht, adam and gaustad going up against the pens on wednesday?...sidney crosby and evgeni malkin anchor the middle for pittsburgh with mark lesetsu and craig adams on the bottom-six...were it not for an injury to "third-line" center jordan staal, it could get really ugly for the sabres tomorrow night...

what this situation really exposes is the lack of forward depth in the sabres system, specifically at center...a brief look at the sabres drafting this past decade reveals a blatant disregard for the center slot and ineptitude in the players chosen...since 2001 when the sabres drafted jiri novotny (#22,) derek roy (#32,) and chris thorburn (#50) with their first three picks, this is what they've done for the center position:

2002--maxim schevjev, 6th round--never sniffed the nhl
2003--no centers taken
2004--no centers taken
2005--marek zagrapan, 1st round--couldn't crack the big club, plays in the khl
       --nathan gerbe, 5th round--presently playing wing in a bottom-six role
2006--felix schutz, 4th round--playing in europe after leaving portland this season
       --benjamin breault, 7th round, no longer with the organization
2007--paul byron, 6th round--diminutive center plying his trade with portland
2008--tyler ennis, 1st round--presently on the sabres top line as lw
       --luke adam, 2nd round, just got the call for the third time this season

no wonder ruff's talking in circles...sheeesh...