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Laugh all you want about how the Buffalo Sabres tanked their past two seasons to drop to 30th place in the NHL standings. While you were guffawing, Tim Murray was selecting super centers Samson Reinhart and Jack Eichel with the second overall pick in the 2014 and 2015 NHL Drafts.
Watch Reinhart's gorgeous no-look, behind the back pass to Matt Moulson in the slot for Buffalo's first goal on Friday night. This is the same type of out of this world play that Reinhart executed with regularity and dexterity at the 2015 World Junior Hockey Championships. Reinhart made similar plays to his WJC line mates Max Domi and Anthony Duclair. Reinhart was voted best forward at the WJC's for his amazing Hockey imagination.
Still laughing?
Check out Jack Eichel posterizing Jeff Petry. That's an 18 year old playing in his eighth NHL game walking a veteran NHL defenseman. It's not the first that Eichel has exploited a defenseman like this. He is doing it nearly every game.
Eichel's size, strength, speed, edge works, power, and will/desire are off the charts.
Eichel dances past Petry pic.twitter.com/xagvJ1QjWG
— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 23, 2015
Who is laughing now?
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Bylsma has tweaked his forward lines for the umpteenth time this season.
Kane-O’Reilly-Reinhart Ennis-Eichel-Gionta Moulson-Girgensons-Foligno Deslauriers-Larsson-McGinn
Gorges-Ristolainen McCabe-Pysyk Weber-Franson
Johnson
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For the second game in a row, the Anaheim Ducks are scouting the Buffalo Sabres.
On Wednesday night, the Ducks sent the assistant general manager and the player personnel director to scout the Sabres-Leafs game.
Tonight, Anaheim’s AGM will be here to watch Sabres-Canadiens.
The Sabres don’t play the Ducks until December 17.
The Ducks are a red hot mess right now and it would not surprise me in the least if their GM Bob Murray is ready to make a blockbuster trade to wake up his team.
The Ducks are 1-4-1 this season. Their offense is downright offensive scoring only 6 goals for in 6 games played. Where are Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler and the high priced scorers and playmakers?
The Ducks have allowed this season.
I can see a Freddie Andersen trade coming. Th epending RFA has been a healthy scratch the past two games despite the fact that he has a .957 save percentage this season. Bob Murray has John Gibson standing on his head in AHL San Diego right now. Trading Andersen would give Gibson the starting role in Anaheim's net.
Gibson cannot crack the Anaheim lineup right now because Freddy Andersen and Anton Khudobin are the tandem there. For the time being, that is.
Another theory on Anaheim goalies is that perhaps the Ducks management feels strongly that they will not be able to get a long term, mutually beneficial contract done before the end of the season with the 26 year old Andersen. The young Dane will be RFA in July. He earns $1,150,000 this season and will be looking for a heavy duty, multi-year, multi-million dollar pay day in his next contract. The Ducks already have Gibson, 22, signed for the next four years at $721,000 for this season and $2.3 million for the three remaining years.
Will Gibson be the next main man in the Anaheim net? Or, will it be Andersen?
It's looking more and more like the Ducks are reaching their final decision as to which young goalie they will be hooking their wagon to for the future. It's not likely that they will sign Andersen so that they can platoon him with Gibson for the next four plus years.
Perhaps Tim Murray is looking at the Eastern standings right now thinking that his team can take an immediate quantum leap forward by bolstering his goaltending. There are several struggling teams in the East who are falling behind Montreal who enter tonight 7-0 this season. Murray could trade for Andersen now and then trade him again at the trade deadline. Or, he could choose to trade for him and make him the #1 goalie in Buffalo. Its important to note that Robin Lehner is nowhere near being ready to return to the Buffalo lineup. He will be gone until Christmas time or even later than that. Murray called up 22 year old Linus Ullmark earlier today and he will start against New Jersey on Saturday night. I see Ullmark's call up as a necessity for the short term to give Johnson a night off. Ullmark is still very green having played only 176 minutes total in North American pro hockey. He hasn't seen a ton of rubber yet. Ullmark has had to make only 110 saves in his three games played with 43 coming on Tuesday night.
I'd fell better with a veteran in the nets.
Knowing Tim Murray the way that I have gotten to know him, I don't see him being satisfied with a Johnson-Ullmark tandem.
This is not a tanking season. There is no reason to rule out the Sabres for one of the eight playoff seeds in the East. The rebuild is over. THe days of struggling and tanking are dead and buried.
Its now time to win games and strive to make the playoffs.
Murray will tell you that his #1 priority each and every day is to make the Buffalo Sabres a better, more competitive hockey team
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Other teams with eyes in the 716 sky:
STL, DET, SJ, CBUS,NYR, TOR, CHI, COL, WAS, CAR, OTT
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Linus (pronounced: Leen-us) Ullmark has had himeslf a whirlwind of the past six months.
The former 6th round selection (2012) and top goalie prospect on Tim Murray's organizational depth chart underwent not one, but two hip surgeries in his native Sweden in April.
His surgeons and physical thearpists initially said that the goalie would be on the shelf and doing his rehabilitation until late November or early December.
Frankly, I was surprised when I witnessed Ullmark participating in team drills during Sabres training camp. I have friends and family who have undegone similar hip procedures and six month recovery was the conservatve prognosis that they had been given.
Ullmark is a freakishly fast healer apparently.
I am very impressed with what poise and composure that I have seen the 22 year old back stop. He is 6'4", poised, very comfortable in his crease, and very agile.
The Sabres called him up from the Rochester Americans on Thursday night. He participated in Friday's game day skate. He will play the back up role to Chad Johnson tonight. Ullmark will likely get the Buffalo net Saturday night when the new look New Jersey Devils play the Sabres.
The Sabres sent Nathan Lieuwen to Rochester to create Ullmark's roster spot.
Ullmark made 38 saves in his North American hockey debut earlier this month. He also made 43 stops on Tuesday night.
Dan Bylsma wouldn't tip his hand on Friday morning as to whether or not Ullmark would be starting against the Devils. However, he said earlier this week on his radio show that Johnson would start the Toronto game and one of the two games this wekend. Bylsma refused to say which goalie would start the other fgame this weekend. Johnson has been the Buffalo starter since Robin Lehner suffered a frea high ankle sprain injury in the second period of Buffalo's opening night loss to the Ottawa Senators.
I'm going to go ahead and say that Ullmark will be make his NHL debut on home ice against the Devils.
In his three starts in Rochester, Ullmark is 1-2 with a 2.72 GAA and a .932 save percentage
Ullmark made 35 starts for his MODO club team in the Swedish Elite League last season. He posted a 2.72 GAA and .932 save percentage.
I like that Tim Murray and Dan ylsma are throwing the kid a bone and giving him a shot to prove himself against NHL competition on the 200 by 85.
I'm still not convinced that Murray is satisfied with his current goalie situation.
I'll be watching closely to see if the Anaheim Ducks will be scouting the Sabres-Habs game again tonight. '