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The Leafs are hosting the Leafs and according to a couple of reports, there are scouts from 15 different teams on press row.
Washington GM George McPhee is making a personal scouting trip Toronto. Hmmm....
Believe that's Caps GM George McPhee here in the press box. Which Sabres could he be eyeing?
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) January 16, 2014
Shouldn't McPhee be in Calgary with all of the other NHL GMs watching the top draft eligible prospects like Reinhart, Ekblad, and Draisaitl? Why wouldn't McPhee trust one of his regional scouts to watch and write up a scouting report on the Toronto-Buffalo game?
Maybe he's eagle eyeing a particular player for a possible trade.
I told you last Saturday that McPhee is eager to upgrade his goaltending position, and quickly.
GM GM's 3-headed goalie moster is ugly and getting uglier with each passing day.
Michal Neuvirth is no doubt on the trading block. Neuvirth beat the Maple Leafs last Friday night, his first win since November 22, then he was a scratch for the Caps' next game when Buffalo played the Caps on Sunday. Win a game, get scratched the next? What kind of reward system is that? Perhaps Adam Oates had one motivation to start Neuvirth vs. Toronto last Friday: to showcase him for a trade. Braden Holtby has been tossed to the wayside after having been invited to Team Canada's Olympic Orientation camp in Calgary last August. How the might Holtby has fallen. and rookie Phllip Grubauer is the starter. The Caps cannot win in the playoffs with an unsteady net. Grubauer's good, however, he's not a long term solution.
McPhee's job is under review right now with his owner Ted Leonsis right now. He needs to win and continue to win to please the big man. Failing to make the playoffs and/or a one-and-done first round out of the playoffs might seal McPhee's fate in Washington.
Ryan Miller would give Washington instant credibility and would allow the Caps to skate and compete with Eastern powers Boston and Pittsburgh.
Miller will be wearing the red, white and blue of Team USA in Sochi. Perhaps McPhee has designs on paying Miller Henrik Lundqvist money to once and for all stabilize the area of perennial weakness for the Caps: their net.
Miller has proven that he looks good in red, white, and blue.
McPhee has #39 available in a Caps sweater, too.
McPhee got an up close and personal look at this Miller gem on Sunday in Ovechkin's house.
What an amazing save!
McPhee needs a solution to upgrade his goal tending issues. Miller may be the man for the job.
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The other NHL teams scouting the Leafs-Sabres game live and in person:
New Jersey Montreal Anaheim (2) Los Angeles St. Louis Edmonton NY Rangers Chicago San Jose Philly Columbus Phoenix Nashville Dallas
Scouts routinely watch games in Toronto since many of them live in and around the GTA, however, 15 scouts is a lot for a week night tilt against two struggling teams.
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Likely Sabres players being scouted are Ryan Miller, Matt Moulson, Drew Stafford, Steve ott.
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Mikhail Grigorenko officiellement de retour chez les #Remparts pic.twitter.com/B9PB42TJoY
— Carl Tardif (@ctardifsoleil) January 15, 2014Sabres prospect Mikhail Grigorenko mety with the Quebec media on Wednesday. Smiling and confident, Grigo spoke from the heart and said that he is committed to changing the perception that people in the hockey world, and in Buffalo, have of him right now.
“Now that I’m here (Quebec City), it’s the only place I want to be, for right now. I’ll work as hard as I can, and just I want to win everything here, and I just want to be the kind of player that people say, “this guy works really hard…. That will be very good for me…
Grigo will skate between his great friends Adam Erne (Tampa Bay prospect/ Team USA WJC 2014) and Nick Sorensen (Anaheim prospect/ Team Sweden WJC 2014)
“The (Buffalo) Sabres, and me, it just doesn’t work for now, but you know I will keep pushing, keep trying and I won’t stop until I get there…
Grigo will score at will in The Q. Erne and Sorensen are hellified good. Erne had been playing center but not that Grigo takes over that role, he’ll be available to pound the one-timer and to get in the face of goalies like Zach Fucale. Sorensen can snipe from all areas on the ice and he’ll benefit from that tasty sauce that Grigo will be spooning out. That’s not the question about his game right now. Tim Murray, Pat LaFontaine, Ted Nolan and the Buffalo Sabres brain trust want to see the kid play as hard on the defensive side of the puck as he plays on the offensive side. He has the size, skill, and hockey sense to dominate games in juniors. He best not coast or take this opportunity for granted. The Sabers are watching his every move right now in terms of this development and his progression.
I hope he plays with a massive chip on each shoulder every shift. It will be nice to see him take out some of his frustration on his QMJHL opponents. It would be nice to see him finish a game with 6 points and 6 hits. Hell, a scrap might get his synapses firing at turbo speed.
The puck is on his stick now. What he does with it is entirely up to him.
Source: La Presse