Special Kane (sabres ristolainen houlsey mcdavid)

sabres ristolainen houlsey mcdavid

Special Kane

By GARTH'S CORNER

Nov 24, 2017 • 6:34 pm

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It's the most highly antipated shopping days of the year.

Like bees at the Fourth of July picnic, several NHL teams taking a keen interest in the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers game tonight in Buffalo. There are quite a few deals to be had.

The 30th ranked Sabres and 29th ranked Oilers have players on their rosters that likely may not finish the season with their current clubs.

Ever since the Matt Duchene blockbuster trade, Evander Kane's stock price has risen. So too has Kane's offensive production and overall game.

Kane is off to the fastest start in his NHL career with 12 goals in his first 22 games played. Kane has scored 40 goals since December 3, 2016. Of his 40 goals scored in 92 games, 33 of them are at even strength. This season, Kane has 8 even strength goals, 3 SHG, and 1 PPG. After recording 11 points in 11 games during October for his first point-per-game month since January 2014, Kane has nine points through 10 games in November. I like his chances to earn a point versus Edmonton.

Kane is a pending unrestricted free agent. He carries a $5.25M AAV this season. Should he continue to score goals at his current torrid pace, and there's no reason to bet against him, Kane will be cashing in come July 1 when he becomes UFA. Kane will be looking for $7M to $8M AAV times eight years (if he re-signs in Buffalo) or seven years from the team that trades for him.

Kane is especially valuable to teams that contimually fail to score at even strength. San Jose misses Patrick Marleau in the worst way. The Sharks are dead last in the NHL with just 23 goals and even strength. Kane would inject a hunter's mentality into the currently passive Sharks lineup. Marc Edouard Vlasic is the type of veteran defender who could help the Sabres in a big way.

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost 4-3 in Boston on Black Friday. The Pens scored just 2 even strength goals and are presently ranked 30th in the NHL at even strength goal scoring with 32.

The Penguins have sent their assistant general manager to here Buffalo to watch Sabres-Oilers. Might the Pens, 7th place in the East standings, be once and for all ready to trade left defenseman Olli Maaata for a power forward like Kane?

The Western Conference champion Nashville Predators are currenly 29th in the NHL even strength goals scored standings with 34. The Preds have a surplus of quality defenseman. Adding a veteran sniper like Kane to their already potent offense would give the Preds a distinct advantage in the West. Phil Housley coached left shot D Mattias Ekholm for four years in Nashville. Ekholm-Ristolainen is a very intriguing tandem. Preds GM David Poile is the stealthiest GM in the league and he is the best at pulling off blockbuster trades. See: PK Subban, Ryan Johansen, Kyle Turris.

The Calgary Flames and Minnesota Wild are tied for 28th place in the even strength scoring rankings. Each team has 35 goals at 5v5. Flames GM Brad Treliving traveled cross country to scout the Sabres when they hosted Carolina and Columbus. Would Jason Botterill trade Kane in exchange for right shot, top four D Dougie Hamilton?

The Vancouver Canucks are the 24th ranked tea in terms of even strength goal scoring. They know all about Kane, a Vancouver native. The Canucks have defensemen Chris Tanev and Ben Hutton to send Buffalo's way.

The Anaheim Ducks will always entertain a discussion to add a big, fast, mean, take-no-crap power forward. Trust me when I tell you. The Ducks were all over Kane last season. They still keep tabs on Kane. If Bob Murray is willing to send a D like Brandon Montour or Josh Manson Buffalo's way.....

As I've been telling you for a month in this corner of the hockey world, Samson Reinhart is also attracting attention from several NHL teams, including: Arizona, Anaheim, Calgary, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Columbus and NY Rangers.

Reinhart is a top six center. With Jack Eichel and Ryan O'Reilly in Buffalo, he is releagted to third line center or wing. Eichel and ROR are cemented in the Buffalo faceoff circle for years to come. Reinhart should be open to looking elsewhere for an opportunity to play top six center.

On Wednesday night versus Minnesota, Reinhart scored his 5th goal of the season. It was his 100th NHL point. In 189 games played, Reinhart now has 45 goals and 55 assists. He is the fifth member of the NHL Class of 2015 to record his 100th career point.

** Pastrnak and Ehlers each have scored goals today.

***

**

Rasmus Ristolainen sure is a sight for sore eyes.

Sabres fans should be thankful for Ristolainen's return to action on Black Friday.

Buffalo’s number one defenseman missed nine games due to injury that he suffered on the road in Arizona on November 2. Ristolainen skated Friday morning. The feisty Finn will return to the starting lineup in the Black Friday tilt with Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. Ristolainen told that watching from afar, he has noticed some of the flaws in his team’s game. I asked the Sabres power play expert what he sees that needs to be corrected.

“It’s like our all- around game. It’s a tough time for us. Everybody wants to win but you can’t do too much. You just have to do your job. Keep it simple. It’s a power play. Get pucks and bodies to the net. You don’t need a big boomer. If you have a shot, just get it to the net. Recover. Then do it again….

The Sabres learned last season that a successful power play can cover up a lot of warts and blemishes on a wonky even strength team.

The Buffalo power play finished last season ranked 31 overall in the NHL. Ristolainen was Buffalo’s best PP QB when he scored one PPG and had 25 PPA, which ranked him 4th overall in the NHL amongst defensemen power play points. Last season. Ristolainen proved he belonged among the NHL elite PP D-men. Only Victor Hedman, Kevin Shattenkirk and Erik Karlsson had more PP points than Ristolainen.

Much was expected of Ristolainen this season. When Phil Housley took over as head coach, he raved about Ristolainen’s power play prowess and his even strength dominance. Ristolainen only chipped in two assists on the power play in his first 13 games played before his injury. He acknowledges that he has to be better. He has zero goals and just two assists this season.

The 30th ranked Buffalo PP has gotten to be easy to defend. Its predictable.

I asked him what is so different from last season to this on the power play?

“We played with a great confidence last season. We scored a lot and that builds your confidence. We did the same things each time. When we had the shot, we took it. We would make their D tired. We moved it around well. If there was a shot, we would take it. We just have to be available for each other.…

Ristolainen is back on the top pair with Marco Scandella. Ristolainen’s return to the lineup allows Phil Houlsey to play D in positions that they belong in. Jake McCabe with Viktor Antipin. Nathan Beaulieu and Justin Falk are a formidable third pair.

Housley is going to ride his horse in his first game back from injury.

“When he says that he’s ready, he’s ready,… Housley said. “We’re going to play him in all situations like we have in the past. I don’t see anything wrong moving forward.…

**

Ristolainen and Scandella will have to maintain a tight gap of Connor McDavid for 60 minutes. Otherwise, the Toronto native will send you to ECMC with burns over 97% of your body.

Phil Housley is impressed with McDavid.

"He's one of the best players in the world. He's extremely fast and you have to be aware when he's on the ice," said the Hall of Fame defenseman.

"He's got terrific speed so you're going to have stay above and can't give him the freedom to move around."

Jack Eichel strikes similar fear in the hearts and minds of opponents as McDavid. Housley said you can never rely one having one particular player defend Eichel and McDavid. Its a tall all-hands-on-deck task.

"When you look at it, McDavid and Eichel are tremendous players and that's why they're going to get a lot of attention. They're only one piece of the puzzle," Housley said. "It has to be a collective effort. I've never seen one player win a game for a hockey team."

**

Jack Eichel has a solution to ending Buffalo's current 0-5-2 winless malaise.

"I just think we should stop feeling sorry for ourselves, complaining or making excuses for what's going on". "We just need to come together and work harder. I think that's always the key to success. Things aren't going right, start preparing better and working harder off the ice. Things usually translate."

**

I watched both teams skate this morning. I was impressed with Sabres. Not so much with Oil.

Connor McDavid’s body language and tone of voice suggested to me he is sick of answering questions about why his team is playing so poorly this season.

The Oilers will start their back up goalie Laurent Brossoit. Top four D Oscar Kelfbom will be a game time decision as he has the flu.

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