Lost in the whirlwind trade that included one often talked about d-man long-rumored to be on the move plus a volcanic eruption of speculation in a 23 yr. old left-winger described as a misfit are a couple pieces that were largely ignored in the blockbuster deal between the Winnipeg Jets and the Buffalo Sabres.
But before we get to that, the earthquake that was the Kane/Myers trade swallowed up another move by Sabres GM Tim Murray done later in the day. He sent soon to be unrestricted free agent goalie Jhonas Enroth to the Dallas Stars for a struggling back-up goalie in Anders Lindback and a conditional 2016 3rd round pick. According to TSN's Bob McKenzie the pick could be a 2nd-rounder should Enroth win four playoff games for the Stars.
At this point in time, Dallas is five points behind Calgary with one game in hand and there are two other teams ahead of them in the chase--Minnesota and Los Angeles. The Stars have been struggling all season with their goaltending and as a team sit 28th in the league in goals-against average at 3.20. Only the Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo are worse. In addition to that, Dallas moved on from a goalie with one of the worst gaa in the league at 3.71 and one of the worst sv% at .875 to Enroth who has a respectable line of 3.27 gaa and .903 sv%. Enroth also won 13 games for the worst team in the league and rocked the shootout this season with a 5-0 record and a .953 sv%.
Enroth was a 2006 2nd round pick for the Sabres (34th-overall) who backed up Ryan Miller for a number of years before getting his shot last February when Miller was traded to the St. Louis Blues and although he's never seemed like the type to harbor mean thoughts, he did say this to The Dallas Morning News yesterday in a Q&A:
“I’m very excited to go to a team that actually wanted me and traded for me. So it’s nice to feel wanted I guess. And it’s like you said. We’re only a couple of points out of the playoffs here, so we’ve got a couple of big games coming up. That’s definitely a bit more fun and a little more exciting to play bigger games like this.”
And on reuniting with former Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.
“It’s great. I’m pretty fortunate to know the coach, I guess, and I’m pretty sure the goalie coach is half Swedish so we’ve talked. I know the coaching staff pretty well I guess.”
For fans of "Ewok," the truth has been moved south.
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So yesterday a couple of players other than Tyler Myers and Drew Stafford left the Sabres for central Canada--prospects Joel Armia (2011, 16th) and Brendan Lemieux (2014, 31st.) Both were big wingers (Armia, 6'3" 190 lbs.; Lemieux, 6'1" 209) that Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff coveted in return (along with Myers and the 1st round pick) for Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian.
"Our pro scouts really love the upside of Joel Armia," said Cheveldayoff at the post-trade press conference. And of Lemieux he said, "Last year at the draft he was projected as a first-rounder and when he did not go in the first round we tried like heck to be able to move up to see if we could acquire a pick to get him."
Although the principles of Myers and Stafford were a near-term bolstering of a team in a playoff position, the rest of the bounty for the Jets was longer term, including Armia.
Matt Larkin of The Hockey News called Armia, "hardly a throw in" and while he admits that the Finn has "plummeted" down THN's prospect rankings (from No. 23 in 2012 to No. 54 last year) he writes "it's not too late for him to become an impact NHLer."
The 21 yr. old Armia has a sick set of hands and the deft, accurate wrist shot of a pure goal scorer. The book on him from the NHL's Director of European Scouting, Goran Stubb in 2011: "He's big and tall but surprisingly mobile for a player of his size. He has a heavy wrist shot that he gets off quickly and is always looking for the empty spots on the ice. He's a sniper with a good selection of shots. You might have to look for him during some shifts, but then, suddenly, he scores the winner."
No truer words have been said. His stickwork is nothing short of amazing. During one game he toyed with a Lake Erie Monsters defender for about 10 seconds before the d-man got frustrated and slashed him.
When talking with long-time Amerks broadcaster Don Stevens as well as Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat and Chonicle, both marveled at his skill-level, although they acknowledged that he needed to work on his consistency as well as getting his shot off quicker.
Kris Baker of sabrespropects.com has been following him for years and this is where he thought Armia stood before the trade, "[He's] just inconsistent," Bakes told me. "He has so many gifts, but he needs a fire in his belly. Usually plays better after someone runs him."
Armia was drafted on the advice of a "friend of a friend" overseas even though he had a rather poor World Juniors at the former HSBC arena. The Sabres were sent a video (thx, VideoScout-3000, note sarcasam of the Golisano video scout era) and soon the Sabres were heading to the podium to select their first player from overseas since, ironically, the Enroth pick five years prior.
Whilst looking at Armia as a piece Murray had to include, and while there's cause for alarm in the potential of losing a player with Armia's skill-set, his rather inconsistent, mostly perimeter style of play is something that Murray believes he can get by without. There's a deep pool of prospects and more to come who will look to be "hard to play against," and although that phrase has never been closely associated with Armia, his skill level hasn't been seen in a long time.
Said Murray of Armia at the press conference, "Joel had a tough year in his rookie, pro season in the American [Hockey] League last year. [He was] better this year. Some nights he showed you tremendous flashes of upside and talent."
As for Lemieux, he is definitely "hard to play against," and it's possible that Patrick Kaleta breathed a sigh of relief after hearing of the trade.
Lemieux, the son of all-world, NHL pest, Claude Lemieux, is in the mold of his father. He's lives on the edge, gets deep under opponents skin and like his father has some pretty good hands.
Cheveldayoff was absolutely glowing at having landed a prospect like Lemieux. "We have a great relationship with the coach in Barrie (ironically, former Sabre, Dale Hawerchuk) and he speaks very highly of him as a competitor and as a person. The combine interview we had with him, he's a very respectful young man.
"He's got a real sense of purpose to everything he does. He plays the game with a sense of purpose. He plays the game hard. He's a real grinding, physical, skilled package of a player. We were excited about him as a prospect in the draft and he's lived up to that billing [this season] as well."
It's the type of player that would seem to fit Murray's build to "T" in the bottom-six or even the top-nine. He stressed that Lemieux is in junior hockey and acknowledged that the Barrie Colt forward was having a tremendous year (35 goals.) But he also laid it out as to where things could be headed with Lemieux next season.
"I feel that he would have to go back to junior next year," said Murray. "I'd be open-minded if he came into camp and tore it up, but the process for 90% of the players is that you go back to junior and you work your way up."
Perhaps it was that stance that miffed the Lemieux's to the point where TSN's A.J. Jakubec tweeted, "Not surprised to see Brendan Lemieux involved in Kane/Myers blockbuster. His agent (Claude) told the Sabres Brendan wasn't signing in BUF."
Regardless of that rumor and regardless of the progression and upside of Armia, the blockbuster trade between the Jets and Sabres was very complex, but in the end both sides got what they wanted.
For more on the time surrounding the Armia pick, click
here.
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