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Sabres GM Tim Murray resurfaced on Wednesday night. I've been wondering where the new GM has been hanging out for the past week. Murray's been quiet lately. He's had a lot on his plate with the NHL Olympic roster freeze about to kick into effect on February 7. The NHL trade deadline is March 5 and Murray has players that other GMs want to trade for to add depth to their contending teams. Pierre LeBrun reports that Murray is now an official Buffalonian. The new GM moved his belongings out of his Ottawa resident and into his new Buffalo abode.
Now, the heavy lifting really begins for Murray.
Namely, what's the deal with pending UFAS Ryan Miller, Matt Moulson and Steve Ott?
Murray says he's waiting for the real offers to be presented to him for his stars. Come what may.
"When the concrete offers start coming in, and if the offers are legit offers that improve the franchise going forward, I have to listen," Murray said. "I think that all the pending UFAs are probably expecting to be moved, I’m not going to say they’re definitely going to be moved, there has to be a market."
Translation:
Buffalo isn't having a fire sale. If you want to make a legitimate offer for Miller, Moulson, Ott, Stafford, or other Sabres players, you better bring your best offer upfront. Murray isn't selling off players for pennies on the dollars.
Sounds like a lot of phone chatter has been a constant between Murray and his NHL GM counterparts, however, no serious offers have been made yet. Murray has to roll his sleeves up now and get to work. Perhaps Blues GM Doug Armstrong saw all he could tolerate when his team was spanked 7-1 in New Jersey on Tuesday night. Perhaps Caps George McPhee has finally taken off his rose colored glasses and has come to the realization that his goaltenders are pretenders. The Blues and Caps are the two teams that I have been talking about for weeks with regard to a trade for Miller. Both teams have the necessary roster players, prospects, and first round picks that Murray is seeking for Miller.
"We’re just starting to explore the market the last day or two," Murray said. "I’ve had some calls, and most of the calls are just generalities, 'If I can meet your demand would you be willing to move him?’ So you have teams calling for sure and they’re asking about different players. Every team has a different need, the same names come up obviously as far as the forwards go. My mandate here is to get better. I don’t want a five-year rebuild, that’s not what I’m about. It’s about getting better and if that means trading guys and getting assets for them, then that’s the way it will be."
Murray is open to having Miller, Moulson and ott stick and stay in Buffalo but their salary demands will have to be in line with the team's budget. Murray will have the luxury of overpaying his free agents if he so chooses. He has $27 Million to spend this summer to get to the salary cap floor.
Murray is not a fan of a five year top-down rebuild. He wants to do it in a year or two. He certainly has the currency to complete the task in the form of top prospects and several 1st and 2nd round draft choices in the 2014 and 2015 NHL Entry Drafts. Murray is cognizant of Miller's desires. He said that he will be fair and equitable in dealing with Miller. Murray won't stand in Miller's way if Miller wishes to leavevide the same opportunity to Buffalo in pursuit of getting his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. Murray cited the Ottawa trade that sent fan favorite Mike Fisher to the Nashville Predators. Fisher's wife, Carrie Underwood, is headquartered in Smashville, the hub of country music. Murray obliged a trade that reunited Fisher with his superstar wife. Might Murray be willing to Miller?
"There’s two lines of thoughts on that," said Murray, a key cog in the Ottawa and Anaheim front offices in his last two NHL stops before Buffalo. "I think if Ryan thinks that we’re three years away from being competitive, at his age… he’s not going to come out and ask for a trade and I know that, he’s been here a long time and I wouldn’t expect that. But you do have to be fair to a guy that has put his time in here and be realistic on what’s left and how much time it’s going to take. We were fair to guys in Anaheim and in Ottawa in the past. We traded Mike Fisher to Nashville. It’s not the best scenario, but I think I can figure out what deep down Ryan really wants and what’s fair to him. And maybe what’s fair to him is a chance to win a Cup."
Murray says that market will dictate Ryan Miller's future in Buffalo.
"It depends on the market," he said.
If GMs like McPhee and Armstrong wish to make a trade for Miller, they should bring their owners' platinum cards and a U-Haul moving truck because Miller will not come cheaply.
My takeaway:
I think Murray is playing this situation perfectly. He's been on the job for three weeks now. He's met with Pat Lafontaine, Ted Nolan and his scouting staff. He's presumably spoken with Miller, Moulson, Ott and other players about where they see themselves playing in future years. Murray is smart to tell the market to "put up or shut up". Talk is cheap. Lets assume that St. Louis and Washington have already done their diligence on Miller. The talking phase is over now. Murray wants a little less conversation and a little more action. Ditto on Moulson. If the Kings want the 30 goal scorer, its time to make a serious offer for him, otherwise, other teams will come knocking at the door.
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Those who know me well know that I grew up loving '60s and '70s hard rock. My bedroom was a shrine to the metal gods: Hendrix, Zeppelin, Cream, The Bloody Who, The Yardbirds, T. Rex, Black Sabbath, Mountain, Uriah Heep, Van Halen, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Montrose, UFO, Queen, Blue Oyster Cult. The forefathers of heavy metal were the soundtrack for my rebel youth.
My brother and I would blow all of our paper route money on classic vinyl and the badass rock mags of the day: CREEM and Hit Parader. and we would spin the legends all night and everyday on our rickety turntable at insane volumes. The neighbors hated our guts and would nark us out to our parents for "polluting" the neighborhood with Les Paul and Ibananez riffs shrieking at 120 dbs. Sucked for them. We were rebels without a clue. One band in particular blew my mind in 1975. My friend and his cousin turned me on the KISS. I was vaccinated by a phonograph needle that summer day. They were heavy, tough-talkin', in-your-face New York punks, who were brash, heavy, anti-establishment and were looking to stick it to the man. I immediately gravitated to the the band and drank their Kool Aid. Hell, I joined their army.
They weren't a band, they were an attitude. A movement.
40 years later, they are still bringing the thunder all over the rock and roll world.
Today, I was blown away when Darren Millard, Nick Kypreos, and Doug Maclean had a special guest on Hockey Central @ Noon.
None other than the general of the KISS Army, Mr. Gene Simmons!
The band will be performing live between periods at this weekend's outdoor game between the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks.
Take a listen.
Courtesy, Sportsnet
Without naming names, Simmons called out Ace Frehley and Peter Criss for their substance abuse issues that led to their controversial departures from the band. To hear Gene compare a rock band to a hockey team was fascinating. He's bang on. If a hockey team was busting its ass to win a Stanley Cup and two of its members were hammered or getting high all the time, the team would not successfully achieve its goals. Simmons is all about "team first".
I was blown away when during my lunch break I heard my cell phone chirp. I looked on the screen and it was a Twitter response from the God Of Thunder himself, Mr. Gene Simmons! Very cool day indeed! I love when my hockey world and my rock-n-roll worlds slam head-on into each other!
@genesimmons You just made my day. Thanks. Play Black Diamond live at Dodger Stadium #KISSARMY
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) January 22, 2014Please Gene, tell Paul and the boys to rip me a killer version of "Black Diamond" live at Dodger Stadium.
Nathan Gerbe to the Buffalo Sabres: In your face!
Not bad for a guy who had L5-S1 spinal surgery months before the NHL lockout in 2012. He skated and did his physical therapy according to doctor's orders and was given a clean bill of health last spring. He left the First Niagara Center on locker cleanout day fully expecting to return to Buffalo to reprove himself and to play a bigger offensive role for the Sabres in 2013-14.. Sabres management deemed Gerbe expendable last summer and bought him out. Sadly, Ville Leino was recovering from his own surgery that summer and was not able to be a compliance buyout for Buffalo. The new CBA says that
How badly do the Sabres miss Gerbe's brand of pinache this season?
The Sabres bought him out last summer and he has had himself a great season in Raleigh by scoring 10 goals and counting. Gerbe has 12 assists, too.
Now he just somebody that you used to know.
He'd be second leading goal scorer on the Sabres right now.
Gerbe and the Canes travel to Buffalo Thursday night.
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Matt Moulson is a wanted man. I've been telling you so for weeks now.
On Wednesday afternoon, Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reported that Sens GM Bryan Murray and his scouts have been holed up in Florida, compiling their player lists. Murray has been giving permission to go to the rental market for a pending UFA forward. Naturally, Moulson's name is front and center. So is that of Sabres winger Drew Stafford, Rangers captain Ryan Callahan, Oilers forward Ales Hemsky, and Carolina forward Tuomo Ruutu.
If the Sens think that Buffalo are going to trade Moulson for a first rounder and a prospect, they've got another thing coming.
Trust me when I tell you that Moulson, should the Sabres decide to trade him at of before the deadline, will fetch the same type of compensation package as Jason Pominville. The Minnesota Wild targeted the then pending UFA Pommer and traded Matt Hackett, Johan Larsson, a first rounder and a second rounder to Buffalo. Wild GM Chuck Fletcher was not getting Pommer for a first rounder and a prospect. I would say the same to Bryan Murray, who's nephew Tim is the new Sabres GM. Sorry Uncle Bryan, no hometown haircuts. If I'm Tim Murray, I'm asking for Ottawa's first and second rounders this season along with high-end prospect Curtis Lazar and a player off the current roster. Lazar was in my opinion, one of Canada's top three forwards at the recently concluded World Junior Hockey Championships in Malmo, Sweden. Lazar and Anthony Mantha were awesome for Canada. I feel like both players outplayed Sam Reinhart. I like Lazar's game a ton. Tim Murray helped draft him and he probably feels the same way about the kid. The 6'0 190 lb. center was the 17th overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He has 23 goals and 21 assists for the Edmonton Oil Kings this season.
If Bryan Murray balks at the four-pronged package for Moulson, then Tim should move on to LA, Washington, Detroit, and Nashville who all want to get their hands on the multi-time 30 goal scorer.
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