The Buffalo Sabres will host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. Sabres fans have had this game circled on their calendars for months because the team will be retiring Dominik Hasek number. The team will be lifting Hasek’s trademark #39 to the rafters inside the First Niagara Center. Hasek did all he could to get the Sabres to the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, however, that’s as far as he would take the Sabres in the. Stupid Brett Hull. In order to win a Stanley Cup, Hasek had to leave Buffalo to pursue his dreams and goals elsewhere. After he demanded a trade to the Red Wings, the six time Vezina Trophy winner was rewarded with two Stanley Cup championships.
On Tuesday night, Tyler Myer and the present day Sabres will gather to watch the Hasek pregame ceremonies. Myers may reflect on his own future as he watches “The Dominator… take his rightful place in the rafter of Hockey Heaven.
One wonders: Will Myers have to leave the Sabres via trade in order to achieve his own personal goals to win a Stanley Cup? Myers’ name has been mentioned prominently in trade speculation and chatter ever since the 2013 NHL trade deadline.
Ironically, it’s the Detroit Red Wings have been connected the Myers trade speculation. Their GM Ken Holland expressed interest in Myers last spring and has been linked to Myers ever since. Holland and Sabres GM Tim Murray aren’t known chatter boxes, nor do they like to tip their respective hands in public. They prefer to press their cards against their chest and rarely leak information. The Sabres and Red Wings are notorious for their air-tight, Fort Knox-like organizations. Unlike other NHL GM’s, Murray is not in love with the sound of his own voice. Murray is a minimalist. Less is more. He moves from junior hockey rinks to college hockey rinks with stealth-like precision. Murray doesn’t leave finger prints, nor does he leave a ripple in the NHL waters.
On Monday afternoon, NHL.com published a story in which Murray cleared the air about the perpetual Tyler Myers trade chatter. According to Murray, he has never initiated a phone call to another team about Tyler Myers.
"I've never made a call to another team on Tyler Myers," Murray said.
"I've had some calls, and I think it's kind of a domino effect where one or two teams see in other press, not Buffalo press, and called asking if it was true. I have not tried to trade this guy. Some teams have asked about availability. I've plainly said, 'I'm not trying to trade the guy, if you want to knock my socks off with an offer I'll listen,' but it would have to be a major, major trade for me to move this guy. I'm not pursuing that."
Murray doesn't have to make phone calls to his 29 GM counterparts. They call him. He's a boss. The straight-shooting scout-turned-GM has said since day number one on the job that his best interest is improving the Buffalo Sabres roster. He doesn’t play favorites, nor does he avoid opportunities to make his team better. That means free agents and trade opportunities. Murray is not emotionally attached to any of the players on his roster because he didn’t draft any of them. Murray’s first ever draft choice was Samson Reinhart whom he selected with the second overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft. Murray’s predecessor Darcy Regier drafted exceptionally well in the early part of this decade and many of his prospects, including Myers now comprise the nucleus of the Buffalo roster. Murray inherited several stocked cupboards full of blue chip prospects. He’s always looking to add more top prospects to the organization.
Myers leads the Sabres and is Buffalo’s ice time leader on D where he averages 25:11 TOI per game. Myers has 1 goals and 7 assists in 35 games.
As Myers goes this season, so go the Sabres who went on a season-best 10-3-0 win streak in November and December while Myers was healthy. Myers recently missed seven games (12/21 through 1/3) with a lower body injury. The Sabres were a pathetic 1-5-1 in that stretch. Myers is such a valuable player because he plays well in all aspects of the game. He’s a one man breakout machine who can get the puck out of his end in one pass, or he’ll take it and go end to end. He blocks shots, he kills penalties, mans a point on the power play, skates like the wind ,plays against the other team’s top lines, and protects his end of the ice.
Murray knows that Myers is a uniquely distinct player due to his size, speed, skill and hockey smarts. It stands to reason why other NHL GMs and scouts want to get their hands on a player of his unique ilk. Murray knows that Myers has intrinsic value because he is in a very elite, private niche of big D-men that includes himself and Tampa’s Victor Hedman.
"If we insulate him the way good teams insulate all the good players, I think he can be a high-minute shutdown guy that can transition the puck," Murray said. "He can do a lot of things that a lot of people can't do." Myers has shown the propensity to dominate games. His rookie season of 2009-10 was punctuated with a Calder Trophy win when he scored 48 points (+13) in 82 games played. The Sabres won their division that season and the expectations on Myers soared. Myers didn’t adapt well to the higher expectations and he suffered through several miserable slumps that found him struggling in all phases of the game. Confidence is a terrible thing to lose in an elite NHL defenseman. Myers played as a shadow of his former self. Myers entered the NHL at 18 years of age. He was an immediate hit in Buffalo and made headlines with his tremendous rookie season. Try as he might for the next three seasons following his rookie of the year win, Myers became his own worst enemy. The Sabres have missed the playoffs the past four seasons and have been re-shaping their roster. Along the way, Myers has played for three head coaches in Buffalo. Lindy Ruff was tough on him and demanded more than what Myers was giving. Ron Rolston reduced Myers’ role and didn’t allow him to freelance and join the rush. Myers got a reprieve from the pressure when Ted Nolan took over the Buffalo bench in November 2013. Nolan pressed the reset button on Myer and his teammates. Myers has made steady progress under Nolan because he has earned his head coach’s trust. Nolan continues to ride Myers like a horse.
Myers is only 24 years old. He has 8 years of NHL experience on his resume. He has scored 146 points in his 353 NHL games. He has only played in 13 playoff games in his 8 year NHL career. Myers is signed through 2017-18 with a very salary cap friendly $5.5 million AAV per season.
"That's why I'm not trying to trade him," Murray said.
Operative word:
“Trying….
Murray isn’t actively shopping Myers. He knows that there are a few teams who seriously interested in the 6’8 complete D-man.
How bad do they want Myers? How serious are they?
If Detroit GM Ken Holland were to text or call Murray and ask about Myers’ availability, TMGM would be all ears. Holland is a GM with a lot on his mind today. He lost his starting goalie Jimmy Howard to a serious injury over the weekend. Wings head coach Mike Babcock listed Howard as week to week in providing the update on Howard’s injury after the Wings practiced in Buffalo on Monday. Howard was stretchered off the ice during in a 3-1 win at Washington on Saturday, the same day that he was named to the NHL All Star Game. Babcock said that Howard will not be participating in the All Star Game.
Howard has a 16-7-7 record and 2.11 GAA and has played exceptionally well for the Wings in the first half of this season.
Last season when Howard was injured before the Winter Classic game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs, Babcock turned to veteran back-up tender Jonas Gustavsson. Not this time. Gustavsson is also injured (shoulder). Czech rookie Petr Mrazek will start against Michal Neuvirth on Tuesday night. Neat, eh? Two young Czech goalies playing in front of their boyhood idol. Mrazek vs. Neuvirth on Dominik Hasek Night. How long can Mrazek hold the fort for the Wings? On Sunday, the Wings recalled Buffalo native Tom McCollum from Grand Rapids. Detroit plays at Buffalo on Tuesday.
The Wings have 53 points are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings, just three points out of eighth place. A five or six game losing streak could send the Wings into a standings tumble. Babcock and Holland are not interested in sliding down the standings. They may want to contact Tim Murray about a trade for Myers and a rental goalie. Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth will become UFA on July 1. The Wings won’t say so publicly but they are very concerned about the health and well-being of Howard. As their starting goalie goes, so go the Red Wings.
So, what would it take to pry Myers and Neuvirth away from Buffalo?
Holland would have to include one of his top prospects in the deal. Red Wings like hulking scoring winger Anthony Mantha or slick sniping forwards Dylan Larkin or Teemu Pulkkinen. A top prospect and a first round draft choice would likely get it done. My sense is that Holland covets all of his kids and would prefer to hold them near to his bosom for the next decade. Holland will have to trade valuable pieces to get valuable pieces in return. Tim Murray will not be taken behind the woodshed and beaten like a rented mule in any trades that he makes. His mentor and dearest uncle Bryan Murray taught him that NHL GMs don't throw life preservers to sinking NHL GMs. You throw them anvils and cinder blocks.
Murray is correct. He’s not trying to trade Tyler Myers. If he hears an offer for Myers that he can’t refuse, he’ll have to act on it if it improves the Sabres roster and organization. I'm pragmatic like Murray. Make me an offer that I can't refuse. If not, status quo. I'm all about accelerating the re-build and adding more equity to the Sabres brand. If that means trading Myers then so be it. The development of Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov gives me confidence about the future. Mark Pysyk and Jake McCabe are ready to make the jump to the NHL tomorrow.
Holland won't have to call, text or snap chat Murray to continue their conversation about Myers. They can have coffee in Murray's office on Tuesday morning.