Sabres GM Tim Murray laid it out there for all to hear on Tuesday night in Buffalo.
There are between 2 and 10 NHL teams that have expressed an interest in his soon to be UFA goalie Ryan Miller. Sounds like a lot of teams, doesn't it? Its not. There are NHL GMs and AGMs who are not in love with their current goaltending and have inquired as to the possibility of acquiring Miller. If I was an NHL GM, I'd play the game. I'd call Murray to ask what his price is, even if I wasn't totally committed to trading for Miller. Intel is intel, and at this time of the NHL season, knowledge is power.
I submit to you my list of nine teams that I feel confident have inquired about Miller's availability. Bear in mind, the inquiries may have been made to Darcy Regier, to Pat Lafontaine, and then again to Tim Murray. Regier began the process of trying to determine the trade value for Miller before he was fired in November. Lafontaine assumed control of the bus from November through January. Then, Murray's been in the driver's season for the past month. We are now five months into the NHL season and several teams can go to bed at night knowing full well that their goaltending is good enough to get the team into the playoffs, but its also capable of winning a playoff series or two, maybe three. There are other team that have determined over the course of time that they are just not good enough in goal. Those are the teams who have called Tim Murray.
They are:
1. St. Louis
Doug Armstrong and Ken Hitchcock can pump Jaro Halak's tires all they want. They can say how great he's been in the regular season and in the next breath say that they have faith in the pending UFA for the playoffs. Olympic disaster notwithstanding, Halak's at-times erratic play in key games is a huge source of concern. He's a combined 1-8 this season against The California Mob Families in LA, Anaheim, and San Jose. Brian Elliott is good, but he ain't great. St. Louis just might be o their way to another one round and done in the playoffs, unless a change is made to upgrade the goaltending. Doug Armstrong and Ken Hitcock saw Carey Price own the best players in the world at the Olympics. Goaltending matters more now that ever before. Players and coaches have to be able to trust their goalies. Do the Blues trust Halak? Armstrong has the assets necessary to make a deal. Will he?
2. Washington
GMGM wants to pull the trigger n a deal to upgrade his net. Holtby and Neuvirth have struggled mightily at times this season, and likely will again in the final two months of the regular season. McPhee has the young assets needed to pull of the deal that may well end up earning him another long term contract in D.C.
3. Minnesota
As Josh Harding goes, so go the Wild. Its time for Chuck Fletcher to find the solution.
4. Nashville
Pekka Rinne will go to AHL Milwaukee to play a minor league game in the near future. The Preds cannot be confident that Rinne can make a complete recovery and a return to his net after missing the past three months.
5. Winnipeg
Andrej Pavelec has been good at times and awful at other times this season. The Peg have been scouting season intently all season long. Paul Maurice looks to be snapping the Jets back into a playoff contender. They may have dipped their beak in the Miller pond for a drink at some point.
6. Dallas
Quietly lying in the weeds, the Stars have played well this season. Lindy Ruff and Jim Nill have a high octane offense and a solid D, however, their goaltending may leave something to be desired. Kari Lehtonen good enough to carry a team to and through the playoffs?
Nice young assets to work with.
7. Detroit
Jimmy Howard's injury is a huge source of concern to Ken Hollan and Mike Babcock. You think Mike Illitch wants to hear that his team will be missing the playoffs for the first time in 23 consecutive seasons?
Miller as a rental in Detroit makes sense. They have a bevy of young assets to work with.
8.San Jose
Antii Niemi may not be the man to carry The Sharks deep into the conference finals and beyond this season. Failure is not an option with aging stars Thornton and Marleau. Win no.
9. Anaheim
Jonas Hiller will become UFA at the end of the season. Renting Miler with the option to buy sets up nicely for the Ducks. They have a solid goalie prospect pool in Gibson and Andersen. Miller would look good in SoCal.
Food for thought.
More on this later....
________________________________________________________________________
The Buffalo Sabres' top line will get a new look tonight when Ville Leino takes the place of Tyler Ennis as top line pivot.
Ennis will not play tonight when Boston invades Buffalo tonight due to "general body soreness". Ennis scored a huge goal in the third period on Monday night. Tonight, he's out of the lineup. Matt Moulson, Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford played very well on Monday night and looked great in the final games before the NHL Olympic break.
Based on the morning skate line trios, its looking like energy forward Zenon Konopka will be re-joining the Sabres lineup tonight against Buffalo. Konopka missed Tuesday night's 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes due to a finger ailment.
Veteran D Hank Tallinder will skate after sitting out last night.
Jhonas Enroth will start in place of Ryan Miller.
Here are the lines from the game day skate:
Moulson –Leino –Stafford Ott -Hodgson –D’Agostini Foligno–Girgensons –Flynn Ellis–Konopka–McCormick
Ehrhoff – Sulzer Tallinder –Myers Weber –McBain * Scott
Enroth Miller
_______________________________________________________________________