Ryan Miller confirmed on Friday that he and Sabres president of hockey operations Pat LaFontaine have indeed had a couple of chats in the past three weeks. Miller said that informal talks were "just exploratory, get to know each other" rap sessions. No different then one of your buds telling you that he and his one of his acquaintances are
"just friends, we're not dating".
"They (LaFontaine and Nolan) came into a situation where some things had happened, one very recently with the Vanek trade," Miller said Friday. "You have to pause for a minute and evaluate where you're at. You just can't keep shedding everything I guess. I think they're trying to figure out guys they want to hang on to and they think they can build a core around. We'll see how it goes.
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LaFontaine said Thursday night that his first three weeks on the new job have been a "whirlwind" for he and his family. LaFontaine has a daughter in grad school, another daughter in college and his son who plays for Michael Peca's Buffalo Junior Sabres. LaFontaine is trying to get his house in order, both figuratively and literally. The sooner he hires a new GM, the sooner he can get down to the brass tacks of finalizing the future of Ryan Miller in Buffalo. Taking Miller's time and temperature on his experiences and doing his diligence on Miller's honest, candid takes on how he feels as a world-class hockey player will go a long way to helping LaFontaine to make his final decision on who the next GM of the Sabres will be. LaFontaine is likely using Miller's testimony to set the course for his closing comments with GM candidates. LaFontaine has conducted more GM interviews than he had first anticipated and he'll likely conclude his search and make a hire in the next week, before the NHL trade freeze kicks in on December 19. I get the impression that LaFontaine is eliminating candidates based on the way that they answer the
"Would you trade or re-sign Ryan Miller?" interview question.
Meanwhile, Miller has been patiently waiting for the new GM to be hired, He's working on being his better self, on and off the rink. He's immersed in the processes of keeping himself in physical and mental condition and he's blocking out all of the white noise and trade chatter that follows him to and from the rink.
Miller confirmed Friday that he's well aware of the ginormous seven-year, $59.5 million contract extension that Henrik Lundqvist signed on Wednesday.
Miller said that the Lundqvist contract extension
"sets the standards" all goalies moving forward.
"I thought it was actually lower than he was probably going for," a smiling Miller said of the Lundqvist deal. "I anticipate with the TV deals and such, the cap is going to keep going up. Maybe it will seem like a pretty average price down the line".
Translation:
"Hey, Patty La La. The annual NHL salary cap will be upwards of $85-$90 million in the next five seasons. So Tell your next GM if he's serious about re-signing me, my price and term just went up, and my term just got longer".
Miller and his agent Mike Liut aren't hayseeds. They are college educated men. They are plugged in. They study the market and know the analytics of the marketplace, chapter and verse. They knew, as did everyone on the free world that Lundqvist would be selling his UFA rights to the Rangers for $55-$64 million. They knew Lundqvist is rooted in New Jack City. Miller was and still is the #1 UFA goalie available on the free agency market. He's going to get paid a king's ransom, and rightly so. Remember where Miller was during the NHL lockout? While his NHLPA friends were playing in Austria, Russia, Germany, Switzerland and Europe, he was hunkered down at the bargaining table in NYC.
LaFontaine and Pegula can keep their Corey Crawford-style 6 year, $36 million contract offer for Miller. If there is or was one. Miller is going to get $8 million to $8.5 million per season for 6 or 7 seasons. be it from Buffalo or another NHL team.
Thanks, Hank.
Miller has no problem thinking about playing NHL hockey until he's 39 years of age. Hell, 39 is his favorite #39. He'd be wearing #39 in Buffalo were it not for Dominik Hasek. At 33, he's in excellent physical condition and he has a ton of great tread left on his high performance tires. The only injuries that have caused him to miss games in the 11 year NHL career are the broken finger that he suffered in 2006 and the concussion/neck injury that he suffered when he was wrecked by Milan Lucic. Other than, Miller's body is in great shape, unlike his goalie union bro Jonathon Quick, who is is bandages more than King Tut.
Miller has very little depreciation on his body, but not much. If he feels confident that he can play until he's 39, I believe him. Who are we to doubt him?
Its time to face the facts that Ryan Miller is about to move on from Buffalo. He's not a mercenary. He's not looking to sell himself to the highest bidder for the most amount of money, like Robinson Cano and his agent Jay-Z did on Friday (signed a 10 year, $244 million deal with perennial loser Seattle). As a Yankee fan, I say don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out, Robbie. Enjoy 10 seasons of no playoff games in a 50% filled building. The Mariners bought a star that will never help them win a World Series. It will be Cano surrounded by a bunch of "Punch" and "Judys" for the next decade. Winning doesn't seem to mind to Cano and Jay Z. Miller is not Cano, Liut is not Jay-Z. Miller's first goal is to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup once or twice. Getting paid like Lundqvist is the compensation that the market has dictated. Miller wants to win and he wants a long term deal worth fair market value. Miller knows that the Sabres are nowhere near close enough organizationally to be able to compete for an win a Cup on the next few years. His best opportunities to realize his dreams lie elsewhere, like St. Louis, Missouri, Brooklyn, NY, or Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Jonathon Drouin was drafted 3rd overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Lightning. Adam Erne was Tampa's second round pick (33rd overall) in the same draft.
On Friday night Drouin's Halifax Mooseheads faced off against Erne's Quebec Remparts.
The much anticipated head-to-head contest between to of the best scorers in junior hockey ended with a violent incident that has left the hockey twittersphere speechless.
Drouin was diagnosed with concussion symptoms after this ugly hit delivered by Erne.
It doesn't make sense. Two friends and future NHL teammates entered the game. One left with a serious head injury that could have been prevented and avoided.
Erne has all but kissed goodbye his opportunity to represent Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Malmo, Sweden, The tourney begins on Boxing Day. The IIHF will acknowledge and uphold suspensions and bans from the Canadian Hockey League.
Erne was given a 5 minute major for hitting-from-behind and a game misconduct for his hit on Drouin, and a suspension seems in order. Its too soon to say whether or not Drouin is injured badly enough for him to miss playing for Team Canada at the WJCs. Losing Drouin would be a huge loss for Canada.
My takeaway from the incident:
Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy traded away rambunctious winger Steve Downie in October after he wrecked the team captain Gabriel Landeskog in an ugly training camp incident?
Begs the question:
Will Bolts GM Steve Yzerman be trading away Erne in the near future so as to avoid any bad blood between Drouin and Erne. I can't see how these two guys can play together without letting some time transpire. Will they ever get past this incident?
If not, Stevie Y should consider trading Erne to Buffalo. The Sabres were very interested in Erne at the 2013 entry draft, however they used their two first round picks on their hulking D Nikita Zadorov and Rasmus Ristolainen. Erne slipped to the second round where the Sabres picked JT Compher and Justin Bailey.
Its worth noting that the Sabres invited Erne to their invitation-only prospect combine in June. Erne is great friends with Mikhail Grigorenko to this day having been Erne's lineup mate in Quebec City.
Patrick Roy may be interested in acquiring his former Quebec power forward too.
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