If Tim Murray doesn't upgrade his blue line in the next two weeks, it won't be for lack of trying.
Murray has been patiently and persistently pursuing a trade partner from whom he can take a left shooting, top four defenseman.
I've been telling you for months ago the shadow dancing that Murray and Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray have been doing for the past three months. Bob Murray is sitting on a diamond mine of young, talented defensemen right now. So many that he cannot find NHL roster spots for them all.
That is a great luxury for the Ducks to have and hold onto with the February 29 NHL trade deadline approaching.
Bob Murray is the owner of an embarrassment of rear guard riches which extends from Orange County to San Diego, California. Murray has quality D-men in spades on the big club with Cam Fowler, Kevin Bieksa, Sami Vatanen, Hampus Lindholm, Simon Despres, Josh Manson, Clayton Stoner, and Corbinian Holzer.
Murray has a stash of lethal offensive defense weapons playing in AHL San Diego in top organizational prospect Shea Theodore, and future stars Brandon Montour, and Jacob Larsson. These kids are scary good and will b stars in the NHL before too long.
“We’re young right now, and Theodore is the next in line,… said Bruce Boudreau told the Edmonton Journal earlier this week.
“Our power play was at 30 per cent when he (Theodore) was up here. He gets the puck through. He’s not one of these guys who gets shots blocked every two seconds.
“Montour looks good, we had him at camp and he skates well … he’s a little reckless right now but he’s 21 years old, that’s what you’d expect. He competes, though, and he’s good on the power play. We think he’s a good candidate to make the NHL.
“We’re set for awhile with young defencemen and we drafted another one Larsson who’s playing for the Elite team in Sweden. He’s supposed a real good player,… said Boudreau.
Some observers, this one included, credit the dominating play of the 21 year old Theodore with turning around the fortunes of the Ducks and saving their season.
Theodore more than capably passed his NHL audition when he filled in for Fowler. Theodore was thrown from the frying pan to the fire which bought needed time for the former Windsor Spitfires star to take his time to heal completely from his knee injury.
What a revelation it was to Bob Murray and Boudreau because it opened their eyes to life without Fowler being not such a bad thing, albeit for 6 weeks and 5 games. Bob Murray, a former NHL defenseman, is one of the best GMs in the NHL and has been for a decade. He identifies great young defensive talent via scouting them live in person then he drafts them with excellent aplumb.
The fact is that the left handed Theodore is far too good a player to be playing in the AHL.
The Langley, B.C. native got a taste of the good life and wants more of it.
On December 27, the Ducks were out of a playoff spot and falling fast in from playoff contention. That was the day that Fowler suffered a knee sprain and was forced to the IR. Theodore made his NHL debut the in the Ducks' next game on December at Calgary. He scored his first NHL goal on January 13 vs. Ottawa. Theodore (2G,6A, 18:31 TOI per game) plays a mature, efficient and physical game which served as an inspiration an otherwise beaten down, struggling veteran Ducks team. At that time, the vultures were circling over Bruce Boudreau's head and a head coaching change appeared to be imminent. Then, the Ducks, without Fowler in the lineup, started ripping off wins and they saved their season with a huge assist to Shea Theodore thriving on the power play and at even strength.
In all, Theodore played 13 games with the big club from December 29 through January 26.
Since the Christmas break, the Ducks are now 17-4-2 and have totally turned around their season. In fact, they now trail the LA Kings by only three points now for the Pacific Division lead. Now may be the ideal time for Bob Murray to trade Cam Fowler (3G,14A) away and immediately promote Shea Theodore to Anaheim for the rest of the regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Ducks are not content to earn a wild card berth. Murray wants to win the Pacific Division.
Fowler will earn $4 million for the next two seasons. Bob Murray wants to sign both of his young pending RFA D-men in Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm. Bridge deals won't get it done for Vatanen and Lindholm. They will be looking for Fowler money. How many $4M AAV defenseman can Bob Murray keep on his roster which is already bottom heavy with NHL D-men.
Murray needs to balance out his roster at the NHL trade deadline.
Trading Fowler for a physical power winger who can finish at the net will be key for Bob Murray.
I used to think that the Buffalo Sabres could trade a top six forward like Tyler Ennis and a second round draft choice in exchange for Fowler. I don't think that Bob Murray is interested in the concussed Ennis, He's reportedly more intrigued by the physical center/winger Zemgus Girgensons.
The young Latvian really established himself as a relia ble, dependable 200 by 85 foot player last season under Ted Nolan. Girgensons was Buffalo's best, most engageg, and consistent performer in their season of "The Tank".
Girgensons scored 15 goals and added 15 assists last season. In 47 games this season, Girgensons has battled injury and has scored 5 goals and has added 7 assists. He's been used primarily on the wing and has played with several different line mates. What makes him so appealing to the Ducks is that he flushes the walls, wins pucks, is always above the battle and is not shy about throwing his weight around. Girgensons has 85 hits this season. He has a couole dozen blocked shots too. He is a foot soldier's foot soldier. Not pretty to watch but very noticeable by the way he batters opponents to create time and space for his line mates.
The 6'1… and 205 lb. Riga, Latvia native loves to play the grit grinder game which would give the Ducks another real threat when they play NFL football teams on ice in the LA Kings and St. Louis Blues. Hammering the snot out of the skilled players of the Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars is the key to slowing thos high octane teams down.
Girgensons, 22, was the 14th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft. There is no doubt that he figures strongly in Buffalo's future plans. However, if Tim Murray ends up landing pending UFA super star Steven Stamkos, then Girgensons would become expendable. The Sabres are already center-rich with Ryan O'Reilly, Jack Eichel, Samson Reinhart, and Zemgus Girgensons, who has been playing most of this season on the wing. Signing an A-List UFA like Stamkos would add another wrinkle in the Buffalo center depth ranks. Something would have to give. I believe that Tim Murray is in the driver's seat to land Stamkos should he make it to unrestricted free agency on July 1. Murray works very closely with Stamkos' agent Don Meehan and Newport Sports. I think Murray has first position when the Bolts' season ends this spring.
I've been saying for months that Tim Murray will be re-signing power forward Jamie McGinn between now and the February 29 NHL trade deadline.
Trading Girgensons for Cam Fowler makes a lot of sense for the Sabres and the Ducks.
I'm a huge Zemgus fan. I think that the kid's ceiling is very high. He hasn't played his best hockey yet.
If Tim Murray is truly serious about trading for Cam Fowler he is going to have to up the ante.
There is no denying that Dan Bylsma and Terry Murray have gotten all that they can from their 8 man D corps this season. Simply put, the Sabres need a better left D to playing for 25+ minutes alongside wunderkind Rasmus Ristolainen. Josh Gorges has done a great job showing Risto the ropes, however, his 31 year old legs can't continue to work in the mid to high 20s in terms of TOI per game. Cam Fowler's 23 year old legs can do just that, and more.
If Murray and Murray can consumate a trade for Fowler it would give Bylsma a top D pair capable of skating 25+ minutes TOI per night while scoring a combined 90 to 100 points. Talk about weapons if mass destruction!
For that, I would trade Zemgus Girgensons.
How about you?