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On Ennis, Ghost, Kane, Kopitar and Iggy |
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One wonders if vetreran winger Tyler Ennis will be making his return to the Buffalo Sabres' lineup on Monday afternoon?
Today, the Sabres sent forward Justin Bailey and goaltender Linus Ullmark back to the Rochester Americans. Bailey has played nine games this season during his two call ups. He has scored one goal and provided a needed speed/skill/size infusion into the lineup when he plays.
Robin Lehner sat out the past two games with an illness. Ullmark made the road trip to Tampa and Carolina where he backed up Anders Nilsson.
Ennis was placed on injured reserve on November 9 when it was determined that he would need surgery to repair a groin injury. Ennis has missed the past 29 games. In 12 games played this season, Ennis scored one goal and added one assist. Ennis was a -6 in his first 12 games.
The logical explanation for his lack of production thi sseason was hi slack of mobility. When healthy, Ennis is one of the fastest skaters in the NHL. It appeared to my eyes during exhibition games and the first dozen contecst of the season that he appeared in that Ennis lost a step. Come to find out, the speedy winger over worked himself from a physical conditioning standpoint last summer. His weight training and skating routines likely contributed to the injury that requifed surgery to repair.
Ennis played in only 23 games for the Sabres after suffering two major concussions during the first half of the season. On locker clean out day in April, Ennis vowed that he would invest the time and energy to rebuild his body and be a different player at training camp. Ennis held up to his end of the bargain. He hit the weights all summer long and packed on muscle and mass to his 5'9” 180 lb. frame.
Ennis has been skating with teammates and participating in practices for the past few weeks. Dan Bylsma said this week that Ennis was making steady progress towards being given the green light to resume playing in games. Earlier this week, Ennis passed all battle tests with flying colors.
Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and the Dallas Stars play the Sabres at 1pm EDT on Monday afternoon.
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The Philadelphia Flyers scratched defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere today for the second time this season.
"Ghost" was a healthy scratch against Boston on Saturday despite playing well against Vancouver On Thursday night.
On the offensive side of the puck, Gostisbehere continues toibe dominant.
Gostisbehere has four goals and 15 assists for 19 points in 42 games this season.
The Flyers defense corps has an NHL high 102 points scored in 45 games this season.
Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol is having to remind his D-men that there are two sides to the puck, not just one. The Flyers D-men have been exposing the goalies to far too many odd man rushes that lead to goals against. Hakstol benched veteran Radko Gudas on Thursday night. Hakstol turfed Gostisbehere on Saturday afternoon.
Mark Streit, teh 39 year old veteran, played on Saturday afternoon for the first time in a month due to injury. Streit was -2 in the 6-3 beatdown in Beantown.
Flyers goalies Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth have been brutal this season allowing 139 goals against in 45 games played. Their combined GAA is 3.09. The goalies are getting zero help from their D-men.
The Flyers were slapped 4-1 in Buffalo on Tuesday night. They needed a shootout to beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 on Thursday night. The Boston Bruins punked Philly 6-3 on Saturday afternoon.
Flyers fans are voicing their displeasure of the benching of "Ghost".
Andrew MacDonald has been a frequent offender in games this season yet hasn't been healthy scratched yet. MacDonald has two goals and 10 assists for 12 points in 36 games.
Gostisbehere is Philly's best defensemen and scratching him has infuriated the fan base to say nothing of his teammates.
Hakstol is the boss afterall.
***
Paging Mr. Kopitar. Mr. Anze Kopitar.
Kopitar has scored just four goals and 20 points in 36 games this season. At this rate, Kopitar will finish with career lows in points, goals, and assists.
Kopitar suffered an injury to his hand/wrist and missed five games earlier this season. Is that the reason for his mercurial dip in offensive production? His head coach Darryl Sutter debunked that myth earlier this week when he proclaimed Kopitar 100% healthy.
Is it the fact that Kopitar was anointed team captain last summer? Dustin Brown was stripped of the “C” by Kings management last summer in a bold move that shook up the dressing room. Are Kopitar and Brown cool with the leadership change?
Is it any wonder the Kings (21-17-4 , 46 points) are in fifth place, only one point better than the surging sixth place Vancouver Canucks, in the Pacific Division standings and are sinking like a SoCal sunset?
The Kings are desperate for more primary, secondary and tertiary scoring.
The Kings have scored just 106 goals in 42 games.
When you factor our the 22 goals scored on the power play and the 25 goals scored by their defensemen, the Kings are a rather pitiful offensive team right now.
Only 69 of their total goals have been scored at 5v5, which is 24th in the NHL.
Jeff Carter's 22 goals (37 points) leads the Kings. Tanner Pearson has 13 goals. Tyler Toffoli has 8 goals, but has missed the past 10 games.
Kopitar is conspicuous by his absence from the score sheet considering he was L.A.'s leading scorer for nine consecutive seasons up until this season.
Kopitar’s career lows of 10 goals, 32 assists and 42 points were all set during the lockout-shortened 48-game 2012-13 season. Kopitar has not scored less than 16 goals and 41 points during a full 82-game season in his NHL career.
Kopitar assumed the Kings' team captaincy this season after Dustin Brown was stripped of it during an offseason leadership shakedown that was initiated by team management. Kopitar and Brown have said publicly that all is cool with their relationship.
True of false?
All the Kings horses and all the Kings men can not put Kopitar back together again.
Kopitar's power outage is killing the Kings. Sutter cannot find wingers to support Kopitar. Marian Gaborik has is mired in a mess of a slump of hi sown scoring only two goals in twenty games played.
The Kings are are averaging a pathetic 1.64 goals per game at 5v5.
In a nutshell, LA's top six forwards are whiffing at even strength scoring. Dean Lombardi and Darryl Sutter have been patient to a fault with their core players. For years, Lombardi and Sutter have gotten away with pulling up kids from the AHL to kick start their sluggish Kings offense.
Lombardi's AHL cupboards are now bare at the scoring forward position.
Carter is doing all he can to carry the Kings on his broad shoulders. What if he gets cold or injured?
Carter has 22 goals with 7 coming on the PP. Tanner Pearson has 13 goals (1 PPG). The injured Tyler Toffoli has 8 goals (2 PPG). Drew Doughty has 7 goals (3 PPG).
Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin, and Trevor Lewis each have scored 6 goals, while Dustin Brown and Dwight King-- all defensemen and fourth liners-- have scoreed five goals apiece.
Kopitar continues to be the invisible man.
It's January 14. In two weeks, the Kings will host the 2017 NHL All Star weekend. They need an injection of hope in their room to fuel the second half of their season.
Sutter and Lombardi have played all of the cards in their proverbial deck. They keep coming up snake eyes.
The Kings (46 points) are clinging to the final wild card spot by just one point with Nashville (45), Vancouver (45), Dallas (44), Winnipeg (43) ready to over take their thrown.
The Kings are dreaming if they think they can continue to hold on to a wild card berth with their current 54% win percentage need to make a trade now if they plan on earning a wild card berth.
Their aging core cannot get the Kings out of this jam. It's time to make a radical move to shake up the status quo and to inject offense into their lineup before it's too late.
The Kings have $3 million in available salary cap space today. They will have approximately $8.7 million when you factor in LTIR relief from Jonathon Quick and Tyler Toffoli.
Earlier this week, Kings sent their top two pro scouts to Buffalo to take notes on Sabres-Flyers. The same two Kings scouts have been making frequent visits to Buffalo this season.
The Kings continue to do their diligence on Buffalo power forward Evander Kane.
Kane has been one of the hottest scorers in the NHL for the past month and a half.
He now has 11 goals and 5 assists in his last 19 games. Kane has played in only 31 games this season due to the four broken ribs that he suffered in a collision with the end zone wall midway through season opening game on October 10.Kane has landed 97 shots on goals and is averaging 18:40 TOI per game. What's most enticing about Kane is his even strength goals scored this season.
Kane will earn $5.25 million this and and next season.
The ideal time to trade a player is when he is performing at a peak level.
Kane has been hotter than a firecracker and his offensive production has captivated the imaginations of NHL GMs who are looking to add more physicality and goaling scoring pop to their respective lineups.
The Kings area perfect fit for Kane right now because he would provide immediate 5v5 scoring.
Kane will also provide needed snarl and push back against Pacific Division maulers San Jose and Anaheim. Kane has 53 hits and 14 blocked shots this season. He's always ready willing and able to throw down and punch and opponent in the face, an element that the Kings sadly miss after losing Milan Lucic to free agency last July 1. Kane's zero to sixty in five seconds or less speed will give the aging Kings more pressure and creativity against the lightning fast, highly skilled Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
You sell a stock at it's highest value, right?
Kane's trade value is rising on a game by game basis.
Tim Murray isn't going to just give Kane away. Murray has been listening to phone calls from NHL GMs who are looking for scoring. Murray wants a veteran top four, left shot defender.
Dean Lombardi and Tim Murray have done deals before. They just might make another trade in the near future that will benefit both teams.
The loss of Toffoli for an extended period of time will put a dent in LA top six forward ranks. Kane would add the three things that the Kings so desperately need more of from their forwards:
Scoring, speed and physicality.
If Lombardi is wise, he will make a serious play for Kane before another NHL team does. The Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils are among the growing number of teams that have been scouting Kane for the past few months.
The NHL trade deadline is March 1. Teams looking to make a legit playoff push need to make their moves now, ahead of the trade deadline.
Last summer, the Edmonton Oilers set the market for top six power forwads when they traded Taylor Hall to New Jersey in exchange for top four defenseman Adam Larsson.
Dan Bylsma's Sabres have lost two straight games to Tampa Bay and Carolina. Outside of the Rasmus Ristolainen-Jake McCabe top pairing, the Buffalo D is largely slow and inconsistent.
Their last two losses serve as a microcosm of Buffalo's area of weakness: A slow D corps.
The BuffaloD were overwhelmed by the speedy, relentless fore check of the Bolts and Canes forwards who were allowed to get pucks deep, make the Buffalo D turn their faces to the glass and get out hustled in loose puck battles.
Time and again this season, the Buffalo forwards are not able to play north hockey at a high rate of speed and tempo because the D are getting smothered by the speed of faster opponents. The Sabres play very well against slower teams because their D are able to retrieve pucks ad transition them quickly to the breaking forwards. However, the faster teams like Tampa, Carolina, Boston, Chicago, Boston, Minnesota, and Ottawa get pucks deep and win battles down low against the second and third D pairs of Buffalo.
Tim Murray has been desperately seeking a left shot D who can consistently retrieve pucks and turn them into fasts, tape to tape passes to forwards while playing top four minutes and contributing on the PP. The Sabres need another skilled, fast lefty. Jake McCabe is the only lefty on the Buffalo blue line that can move the puck north at a high rate of speed with consistency. Dmitry Kulikov and Josh Gorges are currently injured and even when healthy fall prey to aggressive fore check pressure. It will not surprise me if the Sabres announce in the coming days that Kulikov is heading to the injured reserve list. Kulikov suffered a serious back injury during a collision with the bench door in an exhibition game in September. Kulikov's back has not responded well to conservative treatment methods. When he did play in 20 games, Kulikov was a shawdow of his former self as a -10 player while eating 22 minutes TOI per game. Kulikov will be a UFA in July and is earning $4,333,333 this season.
Jake Muzzin, 26, fits Dan Bylsma's needs to a tee. The 6'3" 220 lb. Woodstock, Ontario native has played a key leadership role in LA's success for the past six seasons.
Muzzin is an excellent puck retriever who loves to be the fourth man in the rush. He can run a PP and is not shy about firing the puck. He has 6 goals already this season.
Sabres D coach Terry Murray helped shape Muzzin into the defender he has become. Terry Murray worked with Muzzin in LA. Muzzin has three and a half seasons remaining on his current contract at $4M AAV which makes him a tremendous value contract.
The Kings can ill afford a prolonged scoring outage from its top six forward group.
Dean Lombardi must make a trade to add scoring and speed to his lineup now rather than wait until the trade deadline. Waiting that long could force the Kings fall out of wild card contention. Plus, another team just might beat him to the punch for Kane.
Why would Tim Murray trade Kane now when he is scoring consistently?
With the Las Vegas expansion draft coming in the next five months, I do not see the Sabres protecting Kane.
Move him out now to get a top four defenseman for him. Murray will have blue chip D (lefty) prospect Brendan Guhle in the Buffalo lineup next season. Guhle impressed in his three game emergency call up in December. He is tearing up Western Hockey League since being sent back to juniors before Christmas,
Murray has multiple home grown options to replace Kane in the lineup.
Murray will keep it in the family when he replaces Evander Kane's speed and scoring in the lineup.
Tyler Ennis is ready to return groin surgery that has forced him to miss 29 games this season. Ennis has scored 20 goals several times in his NHL career. He'll give the Sabres speed, skill and scoring, but, no size.
Team Canada and World Juniors all star scoring ace Alex Nylander will be in the NHL later this season for his nine game NHL tryout. Nylander is blessed with skills, speed and smarts. He reminds me so much of Washington Capitals all star Nik Backstrom the way he glides, distributes and creates.
Plus, Murray has AHL snipers Justin Bailey and Nick Baptiste on the deck awaiting recalls to Buffalo.
Former Kings draft choice and University of Minnesota star Hudson Fasching has recovered from his recent injury and is now back in the Rochester lineup.
Trading Kane now for a top four defenseman makes good business sense.
**
Jarome Iginla and Cody McLeod were Colorado teammates for three seasons up until three days ago. That is when McLeod was traded to Nashville. The Avs and Preds faced off on Saturday afternoon. Iginla and McLeod, friends away from the rink, engaged the NHL fist fight of the season.
I love Iginla's jam. He's 40 years old and his Avalanche are tanking in last place in the NHL standings. Iggy felt like his teammates needed of a swift kick in the ass to get moving and playing the game the right way. McLeod feels Iggy's pain. Literally and figuratively.
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