Have you ever heard Anaheim Ducks GM, Bob Murray, say on the record, that his sickly talented winger, Bobby Ryan, is indeed and in fact officially on the trade market?
I haven't. You haven't. No one has.
We've all heard a bazillion rumours of Ryan's departure from Anaheim. However, there's been no smoking gun evidence to suggest that the chatter is in fact the truth.
Shouldn't we have heard an official proclamation by now?
It can be as easy as Murray saying to the other 29 NHL GMs: "Hey, I have this disgruntled young star who is sick and tired of hearing his name constantly mentioned in trade rumours. Make me an offer I can't refuse".
Silence is deafening.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun tweeted this nugget on Saturday morning:
The word from league executives: Anaheim GM Bob Murray hasn't given a definitive asking price for Bobby Ryan. #NHL #Sens
So, again I ask:
Is Bobby Ryan REALLY on the trade market?
To which I would ask the follow up question:
What is Murray interested in obtaining as compensation for Ryan??
Centre? Winger? Veteran D? First round draft choice? A sampler-combo platter of all of the above?
How can we hit the target if Murray is not willing to shed some light on it?
My gut tells me that Murray was intent on shipping the South Jersey boy back home to the Flyers, however, Paul Holmgren put the kibosh on the deal when he refused to trade young centres Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier to Anaheim for Ryan. Once that deal fell apart, it appears as though Murray has drifted into REM sleep mode. No chatter. No buzz. No mention of Ryan or a possible trade. Just silence.
Begs the question, is Murray working on a trade deal, or, is he simply exercising his leverage and applying it to Ryan? Is Murray trying to teach Ryan a lesson that its not a good thing to throw your GM under the zamboni in public?
Remember two months ago, at the NHL draft when Ryan chirped his GM?
It was June 22, the weekend of the NHL Entry Draft, that Ryan vented to the Courier Post his frustrations about always hearing his name included in trade rumours.
“I heard Anaheim was a little overwhelmed with offers and they only took four seriously, but none of the teams were mentioned to me other than Philly."
“Everybody wants to play in your hometown, but it would be tough because a lot of expectations come when you’re put into a situation like that. For me, if I’m moved, Philadelphia would be a very ideal and comfortable place for me.”
Ryan also smacked the Ducks, and presumably Murray. At the time, I took this as a sign that Ryan's time in Anaheim was done. I though for sure these words would prompt a swift and sudden response from Murray.
“Anaheim to me has been a team over the past year that really has shown me nothing to prove that they want me here, unfortunately,” he said. “Obviously, it’s not the ideal situation. When you get drafted, you want to win championships with that team and every time they look to add a piece to the puzzle, I’m the piece going the other way.
“I gotta be honest with you. At this point, I don’t care. Move me…because it’s just tough going to the rink every day knowing that if something goes wrong, you’re going to be the guy moved.”
We sit and wait.
While we wait, I wonder about the Buffalo Sabres and their quest to identify the centreman that they are looking for. Might they have found their #1 centre in Mikhail Grigorenko? Is his stellar play at the Canada-Russia Challenge in Yaroslavl is any indication, perhaps the Sabres already have their new 31 pivot already signed and in their back pocket.
Perhaps Regier and Ruff are thrilled enough with Grigo's recent stellar showing at Sabres prospects camp in early July, and now his current growth and dominating performances playing alongside Nail Yakupov at the U-20 event that they feel confident playing Grigo between Vanek (or another high profile LW) and Pominville once training camp and the preseason schedule begins. barring a lockout, of course.
Check out Grigo's sexy net front presence on Yakupov's PPG. Shadows of Vanek and Vaive.
thanks, oilers.nhl.com
How about this nifty bit of spade work on the Yakupov pass vs. Canada? Grigo didn't convert, however, you have to love his stregth, speed, nose for the net, his drive, vision, and manual dexterity on that play. Given that same opportunity 100 times, I bet Grigo buries 90 of them. 90% conversion rate doesn't suck at all.
thanks, oilers.nhl.com
If Grigorenko is this comfortable and creative playing alongside the number one pick in the NHL draft, imagine how calm and collected he'll be when he's playing with experienced NHLers, like say Bobby Ryan.
Its worth noting that Buffalo, after seeing Grigorenko play up close and personal for the past month, that the Sabres may be content to call off their seasrch for the #1 centreman, and instead focus 100% of their efforts on trading assets for Bobby Ryan, while he continues to tweet about playing golf from his Summer ponderosa in Idaho.
The Shane Doan to Buffalo dreamboat has already set sail. He'll end up staying in Phoenix afterall, now that Jamison has reportedly scarped together the $170 million franchise fee. If not, he, his wife and four kids will settle in Vancouver.
Focusing on Ryan right now may not be such a silly notion afterall, as Grigorenko may be the solution to the #1 centre conundrum.
So then, which players do the Sabres offer back to Anaheim in exchange for Ryan?
Luke Adam is the second line centre that Murray covets. However, Vanek is a left winger, as is Ryan. Vanek-Getzlaf-Perry has a nice ring to it. I'm not a Vanek hater. I love his growth and development. Perhaps a change would do him some good. Murray has a helluva ticklish situation on his hands right now with Perry and Getzlaf set to become UFA 7/1/13. Perhaps playing with a complete player of Vanek's ilk would entice Perry and Getzlaf into signing extensions to stay in Mickey Mouse Land, rather than opting to test the UFA open market.
Vanek is a $7,142,857 cap hit for this and next season. Ryan is a $5.1 million cap hit for the next three season. Can you see the Sabres re-upping Vanek for $7.5+ million after the 2013-14 season? I can't.
Ya gotta love former Sabres D man, and stand-up philosopher, Steve Montador. Like his real life role model, "Kenny Powers", from HBO's delicious series "Eastbound and Down", Monty ain't afraid to vent his spleen. He looks you in the eye and tells it like it is.
On Friday, after the NHLPA meeting in Manhattan, Montador to Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune that negotiating with the NHL owners and Gary Bettman is like tap dancing on land mines. Monty serves as one of Donald Fehr's lieutenants on the NHLPA negotiating committee.
“To compare it to hockey, you have two teams and you’re doing the best you can and you want the best results,” Montador told the Tribune on Friday of the negotiations. “It’s different in that we’re working together, but they have their point of view and we have ours. It’s a little poker, it’s a little chess, it’s a little schoolyard battlefield.”
The scene shifts from NYC to Toronto, where on Tuesday, where Monty and the NHLPA will present their counter-proposal to Bettman and the owners. The players have prepared a radically different strategy from the one that the owners have presented. The owners are looking for wholesale changes, including major financial concessions from the players. The owners are asking the players to reduce their share of hockey-related revenues (HRR) from 57 percent to 46 percent. Monty and the players are like, you can kiss collective and united our......
"There's a new definition to HRR that they want to implement, so it really takes the percentage from 46 to 43," Montador said. "We proposed to them what it would look like with their new system, and you can see that with any team that has to up its revenue sharing, that all of the cuts come directly from the players' reverse compensation. It shouldn't just have to come from players' cuts.
"We feel we're in a position that we can put a proposal in we can work together with. We don't feel what they offered is workable, even from a starting point."
Monty and the players will put their puck on the net on Tuesday. Even if the owners throw it in the paper shredder and press "start", the players will still have 30+ days to re-group and to attack from another position.
At the NHLPA golf outing in Toronto in late July, Montador would not tip the player's hand, however, he suggested that he and his constituents are ready, willing, and able to work with the owners.
The players are in good hands with passionate, dedicated representatives like Montador going to war for them. I suspect that Tuesday in Toronto will be an emotional day for all parties involved. You best believe that Monty will be front and centre to have the backs of his brothers in arms.
Fehr and Montador are not okay with the proposed revenue sharing coming from the proposed players salary reduction.
How far are the owners away from the expectations of the players as we sit here today?
"There's a meaningful gulf there", said Fehr.
Montador's eybrows raised, like thos of all of the PA members when Gary Bettmen dropped the "lockout" card on Thursday.
"That was more news to us than Gary alluded to," Montador said. "I don't recall ever hearing specifically that if we didn't have a deal done, we wouldn't be moving past Sept. 15. It's not what anybody wants to hear because we want to get something done. It just puts the importance on the next four, five or six weeks."
Newly minted Sabre tough guy, Steve Ott tweet his disappointment when he said:
Sad to see Bettman bring up the words LOCKOUT, it was tough on everyone staff, arena people, and the FANS in 2004. The game is to Good!
San Jose sniper, Logan Couture also tweeted his displeasure with Bettman's use of the "L word":
Tough hearing the word lockout. Players just want what's fair. #NHLPA #theplayers
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