There’s no denying Ted Nolan’s respect and admiration for his starting goalie Ryan Miller. Since he assumed the Buffalo bench boss job in early November, Nolan has expressed his high level regard for Miller as one, if not the best goaltenders in the world today. Nolan has said that There’s a goalie upper echelon that includes Jonathon Quick, Henrik Lundqvist, and Ryan Miller. Then, the rest get slotted in from there on.
Nolan’s philosophy on winning championships is simple: your start with goaltending and then build your way out to the D ranks and up to the forward trios. Nolan prefers to build around him starting goaltender. On Wednesday, Nolan raised more than a few eyebrows when he said in his post practice presser that he’d prefer to build a winning team around Miller rather than “use him as a pawn to get something to make your better….
Thanks, Sabres.com
I appreciate Nolan’s passion level and his candor. He has always said what he feels. He doesn’t believe in clichés. Nolan gives it to his players, manager, owner and fans straight from the heart. The head coach should want the team to be built around the starting goalie. Its like the old saying: “You show me a great coach, I’ll show you a great goalie…. Of course Nolan wants Miller to stay and play for him in Buffalo. However, there are four people who will have a bigger say in the matter than Nolan will. They are Sabres president of hockey operations Pat LaFontaine. Then there is the owner Terry Pegula. Miller has the biggest voice of all in guiding the course of his future because he is going to be a UFA and he has a no movement clause. Finally, there is the “x-factor…: the next GM of the Buffalo Sabres. Which hockey man will LaFonatine be hiring (hopefully soon) in order to expedite the Miller Matter? My choice is Bruins AGM Jim Benning who scouted then drafted Miller out of Michigan State University in the 5th round in 1999. LaFontaine should be close to naming his next GM. He’s interviewed his short list of candidates. He’s had time to mull it over. The next GM will have to re-sign Miller or trade him. The sooner the next GM gets hired, the better.
On Wednedsay, while the Sabres were on the ice practicing, the NY Rangers inked their all-world goalie Henrik Lundqvust to a behemoth 8 year, $59.5 million ($8.5M AAV) contract to keep the 31 year old tender on Broadway likely for the rest of his career. The Rangers have set the market for UFA-to-be goalies. Ryan Miller is next up on that food chain.
The Miller comparable has been set. Because of his age (33 years old) Miller will likely get a 5 year / $8 million per year deal.
The question du jour:
Will the Sabres trade Miller for huge assets to be used re-build the current roster? Or, will they re-sign him to a contract that will keep him in Buffalo until he is 39 years of age?
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Updated 9:15pm:
Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat confirms that Grigorenko is indeed heading off to Russia. He will leave Buffalo in Sunday.
Grigo posted this message on his Facebook page at 4pm on Wednesday:
"Flying to RUSSIA on Sunday with my brother Zadorov!!!!)))))))))"
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According to an unconfirmed report, Sabres center Mikhail Grigorenko is heading home to his native Russia to play for Team Russia at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. The WJCs will kickoff on Boxing Day in Malmo, Sweden.
If the report is true, the man without a country to play hockey for will find that home is where his heart is at.
Finally, Grigorenko will have a chance to play meaningful hockey. Its almost like a back-to-the-future moment for Grigorenko who last year at this time, left his Quebec Remparts junior hockey team to go home to his mother Russia to train for the WJCs which were played in Ufa, Russia.
Its dizzying to recount how many hockey outposts that Grigorenko has visited and played in during the 2013 calendar year.
December-early January:
Then 18 year old Grigorenko starred for Russia at the WJCs. In 7 games played, he scored twice and added four assists.
Early January-March 15th:
Grigorenko left Ufa and returned directly to Quebec City where he re-joined Patrick Roy and the Remparts until the NHL lockout was concluded in mid-January. Grigorenko attended the Buffalo Sabres one-week training camp and made the team as a rookie immediately following the lockout. He played 25 games in Buffalo and scored a goal sand added 4 assists.
Mid-March though mid-April:
He was sent back to The Q in mid-March to help his Remparts finish their regular season and to help them compete for a deep run in the QMJHL playoffs. When his Remparts were knocked out of the playoffs , Grigorenko reported back to Buffalo. He was then sent to the AHL Rochester Amerks where he played two playoff games against the Toronto Marlies. The Amerks were swept in the first round of the playoffs.
Grigorenko's first pro season was marked by the elation of earning an NHL roster spots to the dejection of watching his first two NHL coaches (Lindy Ruff and Ron Rolston) park him in the press box rather than play and develop him with similarly talented NHL players. When he did play in Sabres games, it was for only five minutes a game and was largely with John Scott and Drew Stafford on Buffalo's fourth line. Not the best place for the kid to learn the pro game. May-September
Grigorenko spent the majority of his summer in Buffalo skating with the Sabres' power skating coach and working out with his fellow rookies and veterans. I saw him 6-8 times over the summer around Buffalo and was happy to see that he was smiling and enjoying the time that he was spending with his two Russian confidantes and teammates Nikita Zadorov and Andrey Makarov. There were times during the 2013 NHL seaosn that Grigo appeared to me to be overwhelmed and at times dejected. Thats pro hockey for a young kid. He was paying his dues. Through it all he maintained a great attitude off the ice and said the right things about how he was following his personal development plan that the Sabres had drawn up for him. He told me a couple of times last summer that he was committed to showing his coach (Rolston), his GM (Regier) and his teammates that his summer training program in Buffalo was all done in the name of progress, not regress. In other words, he didn't take personally the demotions to The Q or the Amerks; the healthy scratches; the knocks on his skating, and the questions about his mental and physical toughness. Grigorenko wanted the chance to show that he's a professional hockey player who is worthy of a top six forward role in Buffalo.
September:
Grigorenko's fitness levels and skating were big pluses for him at Sabres training camp. He was moving better on the ice and playing with purpose. He has an ordinary training camp. Nothing spectacular. He seemed to fit right in, however, I was waiting for the moment when he'd take control of a puck in an exhibition game and make an emphatic statement that he and his game had taken a quantum leap forward. Still, we wait.
October to Present:
The Sabres are dead last in the Eastern conference, yet Grigorenko is still a spare part. he's been a healthy scratch for five of Buffalo's last eight games. Darcy Regier and Ron Rolston were fired in early November. Just when Grigo had gotten the drift from his GM and coach, they were fired and pat LaFontaine and Ted Nolan skated into town. Once again, the young Russia found himself back at the beginning, having to prove that he belongs. Two weeks ago, Pat LaFontaine and Ted Nolan thought that they had found the solution to Grigorenko's hockey hiatus when they attempted to send him down to AHL Rochester on a two week conditioning assignment. The NHL promptly rejected the attempted. Then, the thought of sending the kid back to the Quebec Remparts was quickly scuttled when the Remparts expressed their contentment with their two current import players (no more two imports can play at a time in QMJHL games). 18 games played. 2 goals and 1 assist.
Oy vey.
LaFontaine and Nolan have options with Grigorenko. Their Buffalo roster is a work in progress. Zadorov was sent back to juniors two weeks ago. Ristolainen, Larsson, and Porter was sent back to Rochester for more simmering time in the hockey incubator.
What about Grigo?
He can't play in Buffalo, Rochester, or Quebec City.
Dude is oh for two countries. The USA doesn't want him, nor does Canada.
Russia announced its WJC training camp invitee lost on Tuesday. Shockingly, Grigorenko wasn't listed on the camp roster. His hockey brother Zadorov was included on the invitee list.
Was Grigo omitted from Russia's list because their braintrust thought the kid was off limits so they didn't bother to ask? Or, was he bumped over deliberated because the Russian Ice Hockey Federation have thought into all of the hype about the kid?
If I'm LaFontaine and Nolan, I'm giving the kid the rest of December and early January off so that he can go home, immerse himself in the Russian culture and find the swagger that he lost in Ufa January.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Team Russia hadn't invited Grigorenko to play at the WJCs.
Thanks, sabres.com
Its the right thing to do.