Who here amongst us was confused when the Sabres signed winger, Ville Leino, to play centre this past Summer? Leino and his agent worked out a beauty of a six year deal for what amounts to #1 centre money. The Sabres rationale for moving a natural winger to the pivot was that Leino had thrived at centre, when Peter Laviolette had played him there in the Flyers 2010 Cup run. The Buffalo coaches and scouts got to see Leino up-close-and-personal on the dot during the 2011 Playoffs.
Made sense to sign him and play him there.
Leino (10/6/1983, 6’1”, 190 lbs.) played in 81 games for Philly in 10/11 and was fifth in team scoring with career highs in points (53), goals (19), assists (34), power play goals (5) and plus/minus (+14). Leino also added five points (3+2) in 11 playoff games, including the OT GWG vs. the Sabres in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
On July 1, Buffalo were never in on the Brad Richards sweepstakes. When the Rangers signed Richards to his UFA deal in Gotham, Buffalo opted to sign the player who they felt was the second best UFA player available. His name was Ville Leino.
Here we are just seven games into the Leino Era, and its looking more and more like Leino will be playing the wing, not centre. The flashy Finn has struggled to get his offensive and defensive game in gear thus far. Leino shows glimpses of greatness, however, he's just not here yet. On last week's four game roadie, Leino was demoted from the top six to the fourth line. He stuggles mightily at times and his coach had seen enough of the inconsistency and indecision.
The departure of Tim Connolly to free agency seemingly opened up the #2 pivot job for Leino. Derek Roy's recovery from the serious kas nee that he suffered at the end of 2010 made him a question mark heading into this season. This made Leino at centre all the more important.
Rookie Luke Adam has seized the reigns of the #1 pivot on the team, thus relegating Roy to #2. Leino's struggles at centre are perplexing, to say the least.
He's has been more down than up in his first seven games. He's scored only one goal and added one assist. He's -1. Last week he voiced his opinion about not having an opportunity to play powerplay in Buffalo thus far, Bad idea, bro. Just ask Max Afinogenov how far you'll get by whining to the media about your role and your playing time. You want something from Lindy Ruff? Earn it. Just like every prospect who has been raised in the Buffalo system in the past 10 seasons. Thomas Vanek was benched for Eastern Conference Finals games in 2006 because Lindy was not happy with his sniper's conditioning and defensive zone play
Ruff is like E.F. Hutton. When he talks, his players have no choice but to listen. Ruff rewards those who deserve it.
Today, Lindy Ruff added another wrinkle of intrigue when he announced that left winger, Tyler Ennis, will be out for an extended period of time due to his sprained ankle. Is it a high ankle sprain? Don't know yet. Matters not.
Thanks, sabres.com.
If necessity is the Mother of invention, lets see how this Leino situation plays itself out. He's a winger being paid #1 centre money. What if his production jumps up while he's playing left wing with Roy and Stafford? What happens if his struggles continue?
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