Tim Murray calls Buffalo, NY "The 8th Canadian Market". Murray said Sunday afternoon that he was floored by the positive response that this week's development camp elicited from hundreds of thousands of diehard hockey fans in WNY.
Murray said that he and his bosses could have easily held the development camp behind locked doors at the HARBORCenter, however, they purposely wanted the fans to be a part of the re-building phases from the ground up.
Murray's history in Buffalo began in January 2014 when he arrived in Buffalo. He loved the way that the multi-time campers performed like Reinhart, McCabe, Bailey, Kea and the like. Murray had high praise for Reinhart, called him one of the best players at development camp. Reinhart performed at star level the way that Murray expected him to.
Murray also said that he is still pursuing Johnny Oduya, the Chicago Blackhawks UFA left-handed D-man. Murray is still looking for trade partners.
Murray is shifting gears now to concentrate on the hiring of a head coach for the Rochester Amerks.
Thanks, Sabres.com
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Nothing to see here.
Just Jack Eichel blowing a snapper THROUGH the goalie and the net en route to scoring 5 goals and collecting 7 points in the Sabres Prospects 3 on 3 Tourney on Sunday.
When was the last time that Connor McDavid gave a hockey net a surgical exit wound like Eichel?
Eichel is a magician with the puck. Now you see it. Now you don’t. I love how he made sure to keep himself onside before he torched the goalie high cheese.
17,115 crazed puck heads packed First Niagara Center to get their first glimpses of Eichel sporting Blue and Gold. He was held off the score sheet that night but still managed to captivate the collective imagination of Western New York by manufacturing deceptive puck plays the likes of which the Sabres haven't seen since Gilbert Perreault rocked the crossed swords crest.
Admittedly, Eichel was fatigued on Friday night. The five days worth of physically demanding, grueling on and off ice work appeared to have caught up with the Hobey Baker Award winer. He lacked his trademark explosiveness in the third period of Friday's scrimmage.
On Sunday, Eichel's super hero powers retuned and he delighted the crowd with his 5 goals and 7 points.
Afterwards, Eichel was a bit cheesed at himself and his teammates for not winning the 3-v-3 tourney.
Eichel: You want to win the 3-on-3 tourney like you want to win everything else. I was a little bit mad we lost. #SabresDevCamp
Don't count on Johnny Oduya re-signing with the Chicago Blackhawks any time soon.
On Friday night, Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman traded three-time Stanley Cup winning sniper Patrick Sharp and prospect D Stephen Johns Trevor Daley to the Dallas Stars in exchange for D-man Trevor Daley and energy forward Ryan Garbutt.
Oduya’s agent Don Meehan told ESPN via email Saturday that Oduya is “considering a number of options”.
On Friday night, Stan Bowman was milk toast in his prognostication of the future of Oduya.
“Not going to rule anything out or rule it in,” Bowman said. “It’s still sort of a fluid situation, and there are a lot of factors at play. We’re getting closer to a point where we can say, ‘This is our team,’ but we’re not there yet.
"There has been some discussions on different things, but can’t characterize it other than that, which is discussions. Like this trade, until it’s done, it’s not done, and that’s why we’re here talking we’re able to come to an agreement and finalize it. It’s one of those things we’ve talked about and haven’t finalized. That’s about the best I can give you at this point.”
The Blackhawks have only $981,000 in cap space for 2015-16.
Bowman has said that it is a priority to re-sign RFA forward Marcus Kruger to a new long term deal.
Bowman has two options with Oduya:
1. Re-sign him
2. Say goodbye to him
Because he is UFA as of July 1, Oduya is in the driver's seat. He is the best D-man who is available on the stagnant UFA market.
The 33-year-old to-time Cup champ has been waiting patiently for the Blackhawks to clear salary cap space in order to re-sign him in Chicago. As of Saturday morning, Bowman has only $981,000 in available cap space to work with. He can free up $4 million if he trades heavyweight Bryan Bickell. If Bickell stays in ChiTown, then Oduya leaves, and vice versa.
Oduya has spent parts of four seasons with the Blackhawks.
His three-year, $10.1 million deal expired on July 1 making him an unrestricted free agent.
Oduya scored 2 goals and added 8 assists in 76 games played in 2014-15. He chipped in 5 assists in 23 playoff games en route to the 2015 Stanley Cup championship. the third for the Blackhawks in the past five seasons.
Oduya has been strongly linked to Buffalo because of his relationship with Zach Bogosian and Evander Kane. The trio played together for two and a half seasons in Atlanta and Winnipeg.
Oduya is a left handed D. Tim Murray is still mining and fracking for a left handed D who can make the one touch pass to his flying forwards to activate the breakout. Oduya fits that bill perfectly. I spoke with a couple of NHL scouts recently who feel that Oduya will be perfectly suited to play a big role on the Buffalo Sabres. Dan Bylsma would trust him to make the smart decisions with the puck while eating 22-24 minutes TOI per night. as well as having him mentor youngsters Rasmus Ristolainen, Zach Bogosian, and Jake McCabe.
Oduya has been sitting on a substantial offer from an NHL suitor. I'm told that it's Buffalo that made Oduya's agent the offer on July 1. Oduya's agent also represents new Sabres Ryan O'Reilly, Evander Kane, and David Legwand.
See me working here?
Smoke. Fire.
Oduya has been in a holding pattern waiting patiently to se if Boman can clear enough cap space to fit him in on a multi-year deal in Chicago. The Sharp trade was believed to be the move that had to be named, however, Daley carries a $3.3 million cap hit while Garbutt is a $900,000 cap hit. Sharp is a $5.9 million cap hit and Johns is an $800,000 cap hit. Do the math. Bowman sent out $6.7 million in contracts and took back $4.2 million in contracts in he Sharp trade. Bowman still has to re-sign RFA forward Marcus Kruger, a player that Bowman covets for the long term.
I've been saying for weeks that Oduya will end up in Buffalo if he is not re-signed by the Blackhawks. The Sabres have been tight-lipped about Oduya and the left D subject. We know that eleven days ago Tim Murray made offers to a couple of UFA D-men who signed with other teams. He also made offers to a couple who have not signed yet with other teams. We also know that he has spoken with teams about trading for D.
Murray is on a bit of a fishing expedition as it relates to his blue line right now. He is trolling the waters seeing what's out there. Engine idling slowly, he's waiting to see if he gets any bites.
He has options. Murray ALWAYS has options, doesn't he?
He already has signed UFA's Bobby Sanguinetti, Carlo Colaiaocovo, and Matt Donovan. All are lefties. Presumably, Colaiaocovo will stick and stay with the Sabres as a seventh D option.
NHL teams can operate at 10% over the NHL salary cap during the summer months. However, when training camp breaks, it is time for all teams to be cap compliant. Murray can sit and wait for the end of the summer to roll around to wait for the next Nick Leddy or Johnny Boychuk trade to present itself. The NY Islanders lurked in the weeds and pounced on Chicago and Boston, respectively last September when those teams had to dump salary in order to become cap compliant at $71.4 million.
Murray and Dan Bylsma just got a birds eye view of Jake McCabe during the weeklong development camp. They no doubt like what they say of the 21 year old former captain of Team USA's World Juniors squad. Prior to this past week, Bylsma had never seen McCabe play live in person. He was effusive in his praise for the University of Wisconsin product after Friday night's scrimmage. McCabe may be the short term solution to Buffalo's left D opportunity.
Murray has options. Oduya is one of them.
In the meantime, Oduya is taking the Stanley Cup home to Stockholm on August 18 to share with his family and friends for the third time in the past five summers. I want a guy who has hoisted the Cup multiple times to mentor and teach my youngsters and veterans.
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