Sabres head coach Ted Nolan and his new/old goalie coach Arturs Irbe may want to have a closed door meeting with McEichel Neuvirth. Not a typo. His name is now a hybrid of McDavid-Eichel. Were he Buffalo’s starting goalie, Neuvirth would answer the prayers of the Buffalo fans who want to see the Sabres commit to an all-out tank job this season. Based on his two terrible preseason performances in the Buffalo pipes, Neuvirth could easily lose the majority, if not all of his starts this season. There’s no way to spin t, so I’m not even going to try to.
Neuvirth was terrible in the exhibition season. He allowed 11 goals on just 59 shots faced. On 9/26, he allowed 6 goals on just 22 shots to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He found himself in a huge hole early in his first start of the exhibition season by allowing 3 goal sin the first period, 2 in the second period and a single in the third period. In Friday night’s exhibition season finale in Raleigh, the former second round pick of the Washington Capitals (34th overall 2006) allowed 5 goals on 37 shots faced. He allowed 1 goal against in the first period, however, got blitzed for 3 goals in the second period. Once again, he gave up just one third period goal.
If I’m Nolan and Irbe, I want to have a heart to heart with Neuvirth to see if he’s injured or if anything is bothering him. His play has been so erratic at times in the exhibition season that its alarming, especially when his two starts are compared to the two starts of Jhonas Enroth, the incumbent Buffalo goalie who he is battling with for the #1 job. It begs the question: Why isn’t Neuvirth trying to keep pace with Ryan Miller’s former understudy Enroth?
Is Neuvirth a competitor? Does he want the #1 job, or, has he already conceded it to the Sabres veteran? In other words, has Neuvirth already accepted the Buffalo back-up job without giving it the old college try? Is he uninspired? Is he taking for granted that Ted Nolan and Tim Murray will be keeping him as Enroth’s backup this season? Murray has one more round of cuts to make between now and Monday. If I'm Neuvirth, I'm not 100% sure that I made the Buffalo squad.
Neuvirth needs to be reminded that this is the NHL. In the words of Ted Nolan:
“Jobs are earned, not given….
Neuvirth isn’t guaranteed anything right now. He’s been outplayed not only by Enroth, but also youngsters Andrey Makarov and Nathan Lieuwen.
Frankly, I’m shocked that Neuvirth has been as bad as he has been in his two pre-season starts. I thought that he was better than that. I thought he had more fight and compete in him that he’s shown in training camp thus far. I thought for sure that his Buffalo goalie coach Irbe, who was also his position coach in Washington for two seasons, would help the Czech clean up and smooth out the rough parts of his game. It hasn’t happened yet. In 2010-11 Neuvirth posted career bests with a 27-12-4 record. He finished with a 2.45 GAA and .914 save percentage. He allowed only 110 goals against during the regular season on 1,173 shots faced. Neuvirth’s problem in Washington was that he could never out-perform fellow young goalies Braden Holtby and Semyon Varlamov.
Where’s the Neuvirth who started just two games for the Sabres following his trade at the NHL trade deadline in March and made a whopping 93 saves (.949 save %, 2.56 GAA)? Maybe Neuvirth doesn’t have what it takes to be a bona fide NHL #1 net minder who can start 65-70 games per season. Perhaps he’s contact to start just 22-25 games per season and wear a baseball cap while watching Enroth sell out on each and every save he makes.
Enroth is going to earn the #1 job on the strength of his two outstanding performances in which he has combined to allow only 1 goal against on 58 shots faced. On 9/23, he shutout the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0. He turned aside all 35 shots that he faced. On October 1 he allowed 1 goal on 23 shots. At one point, Enroth hadn’t allowed a goal against in 102 minutes and change.
Enroth has waited an NHL eternity of 4 seasons to be the heir to Ryan Miller’s throne. The time has come and Jhonas has performed and competed masterfully. Now is his time. He’s dreamt of this moment for years. He’s no longer the prospect from Sweden with the high ceiling. He’s invested his 10,000+ hours in his craft in Buffalo. He’s listened intently to Jim Corsi and now Archie Irbe. He’s won a World Championship for his native Sweden and had competed admirably in AHL Portland. Don’t you dare tell him that he’s too small to play goalie in the NHL. If you do, he’ll spear you where the sun don’t shine. Jhonas won’t listen one iota to the “Dishonor For Connor… and “Slack For Jack… smack that has been pervading the airwaves of Buffalo sports talk radio and message boards for the past five months. Jhonas isn’t about to buy into the notion that some 17 or 18 year old kid will be the savior that will skate into Pegulaville and restore the Sabres to past NHL glory. The 26 year old Enroth echoes the same battle cry that his teammates Chris Stewart, Matt Moulson, Brian Gionta, Josh Gorges, Drew Stafford, Tyler Ennis, Mike Weber, Tyler Myers, Cody Hodgson, Marcus Foligno, and Cody McCormick have said:
The solution to the losing culture and failed expectations exists in the Buffalo room, not in junior hockey or NCAA hockey.
Buffalo is going to shock many haters this season.
Is Jhonas Enroth going to go 65-0 in his starts this season? No, don't be silly. He's only human and there are going to stretches of frustration for the 26 year old Stockholm native. However, Enroth will be leaned upon to be the glue that binds this already close-knit hockey team together, through thick and thin. I believe that Jhonas will be up to the task of making the key stops at the critical times, and he will hold the Sabres close in games and give them an opportunity to pile up wins.
Who will be the Buffalo starting goalie on Thursday night when Sergei Bobrovsky and the Columbus Blue Jackets skate into Buffalo for the 2014-15 season opener?
His name is Jhonas Enroth, not McEichel Neuvirth.
__________________________________________________________________________
The New York Islanders didn't do the Buffalo Sabres any favors when they partnered with two cap-strapped NHL powerhouses on Saturday to beef up their defense. The Sabres own the Islanders' 2015 first round draft choice from the Thomas Vanek-Matt Moulson trade from October 2014. Sabres fans were hoping that the Isles would suck out loud in 2014-15 which would assist the Sabres in getting dibs on top prospects Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel who will enter the NHL Draft in June 2015.
The Sabres are owners of three first rounders in 2015. They own their own pick, the Islanders' pick and the St. Louis Blues' pick.
Isles GM Garth Snow isn't content to be an NHL door mat, therefore, he improved his forwards and goaltending over the summer. On Saturday, he massively upgraded his blue line when he traded for Johnny Boychuk from the Boston Bruins and Nick Leddy from the Chicago Blackhawks in separate trades.
Boychuk, who helped the Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 2011, was obtained for two second-round picks, one in the 2015 NHL Draft and another in 2016. There is a conditional third-round pick in 2015 involved in the trade, which comes into play if the Islanders trade Boychuk to another Eastern Conference team before the end of this season. The 2015 second-round pick going to Boston was acquired by the Islanders from the Philadelphia Flyers in a March trade for defenseman Andrew MacDonald.
"They've both won a Stanley Cup, so in the leadership department, that helps our group," Islanders GM Garth Snow told Islanders.com. "Leddy's ability to move the puck and skate the puck up ice, add offense; Boychuk’s ability to be physical, clear the front of the net and a howitzer for a shot; for us, [those are] two solid additions to our club."
The Islanders waved goodbye to former Sabres prospect D TJ Brennan, D prospect Ville Pokka, and the rights to goaltender Anders Nilsson, a restricted free agent who is playing in Russia this season.
The Blackhawks said Pokka and Brennan will report to the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League.
Boychuk, 30, had five goals, 23 points, 45 PIMs and was +31 in 75 games for the Bruins last season. At 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds loves to hit and is always in the middle of scrums.
He will become UFA on July 1, 2015.
Plain and simply, the Bruins needed to dump salary. B's GM Peter Chiarelli signed two RFAs this week in Torey Krug and forward Reilly Smith, to one-year contracts. Chiarelli had a surplus of D with the return of Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid, who were injured for most of last season.
"This is a tough trade. We all like Johnny," Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said. "... He was upset, I was upset, I'm still upset."
Leddy, 23, had seven goals, 31 points, 10 penalty minutes and a plus-10 rating with the Blackhawks last season, his fourth with Chicago. Leddy was taken by the Minnesota Wild at No. 16 in the 2009 NHL Draft and traded to Chicago on Feb. 12, 2010. He was part of Chicago's 2013 Stanley Cup championship.
The Leddy trade also was a salary-cap move by the Blackhawks, who got under the cap by moving the remaining year on Leddy's contract. Leddy can become RFA on July 1, 2015.
"It's not a situation where it came out of nowhere," Snow said. "We had been communicating with both teams for a period of time now and it all came to fruition today. It's a good day for our hockey club and obviously an exciting day for our fans. We ended up landing two top-four defensemen."
Oh, by the way...
McDavid scored two goals and added 2 assists in Erie's opening night win on Saturday night. He cellyed pretty hard afterwards.
Your Don Cherry look-a-like for the night is your captain, @cmcdavid97!!! pic.twitter.com/YuLffpa04C
— Erie Otters (@ErieOtters) October 5, 2014Jack Eichel recorded five assists in his first ever scrimmage with Boston University on Saturday.
***