Where in the world is newly minted Sabres GM Tim Murray? He's not sitting in his office waiting for the phone to ring. He's out doing what he does best: identifying and evaluating players.
An veteran NHL scout told me recently:
"Tim is a road guy. He loves to get out as often as he can and watch players".
Murray accepted the GM job in Buffalo thee weeks ago. He spent the first two weeks doing his introductory media tour in Buffalo and Toronto. He and Pat LaFontaine collaborated with Mikhail Grigorenko's agent to create an equitable solution to the player's recent demotion back to his junior club the Quebec Remparts. Oh by the way, Grigo was the first star of the game last night when the Remps hosted Rouyn-Noranda. Grigo scored a goal, added a beauty assist and was 23-5 on draws. Murray's a no nonsense guy. He's all business. Just because you don't see him on the news or hear him on the radio doesn't mean he's not working to find other solutions to his many organizational challenges. Like his search for his assistant general manager. A report in the Ottawa Sun last Sunday stated that Murray may have found his AGM in the form of a current NHL player agent who reps Sens D Erik Karlsson. Bruce Garrioch reported today that Murray's man may have wiggled off the hook.
....agent Craig Oster of Newport Sports may have declined an offer from Murray to be the assistant GM.
Time will tell whether Oster turned down a Murray offer.
If the news is true it would be a shame considering Oster works for arguably the best NHL sports agency in North America, Newport Sports Management which would have given the Sabres a portal to the Newport rockstar client roster which reads like a Hollywood A-list:
Henrik Lundqvist, David Backes, Steven Stamkos, Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson, Jordan Eberle, Ryan O'Reilly, Michael Del Zotto, Corey Perry, Dion Phaneuf, Brad Richards, Bobby Ryan, and PK Subban to name a few. Newport also reps Sabres UFA to be Matt Moulson.
If Oster is out, who would Murray consider as his AGM? Pittsburgh's AGM Jason Boterill?
Perhaps incumbent Buffalo AGM Kevin Devine will retain the title and position that he has occupied for the past two seasons.
Time will tell.
In the meantime, Murray has three ginormous pending UFAs in Ryan Miller, Matt Moulson and Steve Ott to have to get his arms around before the February 7 Olympic roster freeze. The NHL will be shut down for two weeks during the Sochi games and the NHL has mandated that teams will be in moratorium period until such time that the Olympics end. Its a smart rule that protects the players from being traded if they are at the Olympics.
Inside the NHL, the February roster freeze is going to act as the de facto NHL trade deadline, which officially goes into effect on March 5. There will be business conducted between today and the February 7 deadline. Will Murray make a Matt Moulson trade? Will he re-sign Steve Ott to a long term deal? Will he be moving Miller to a contender in a blockbuster trade?
Sabres fans should prepare for a wild ride in the next two weeks.
Bruce Garrioch reported this morning that Murray and LaFontaine will make one final attempt to sign Miller to Lundqvist-like contract extension to stay in Buffalo. However, ten days ago, before he imposed his current radio silence campaign, Murray said on Toronto radio that he hasn't spoken with Miller and that no conversation was imminent.
Might that have changed in the interim? Of course.
Buffalo GM Tim Murray has a decision to make on goalie Ryan Miller before the Olympic roster freeze kicks in on Feb. 7. Does he deal him before he goes to Sochi? The Sabres are expected to make one last ditch effort to sign Miller but do they want to risk him getting injured playing for Team USA and then not available for trade in March? Since he likely wouldn’t accept a deal to Edmonton, the market is limited. The St. Louis Blues have been mentioned as a top candidate and GM Doug Armstrong knows they won’t get many chances. The Blues will tell everybody they are fine with their goaltending, they aren’t ...
Yes. St. Louis is, and has been keeping close tabs on Ryan Miller for the past four months, and well they should. Goaltending, or lack thereof has become a chink in the armor of the Blues. Jaro Halak was embarrassed Thursday night by the LA Kings on national TV. On Saturday night, Brian Elliott blinked first and lost to the Anaheim Ducks. Face it, Blues fan. Halak and Elliott are NOT big game goalies. They are regular season goalies who play well in games versus their divisional and inter-conference opponents. When the blinding lights of prime time games shine brightly, Halak and Elliott run from the light. Ken Hitchcock knows it, and so does Doug Armstrong. Halak and Elliott are pending UFAs. I can see Halak being traded and Elliott being kept and re-signed to be Miller's under study, should a deal be consummated in the next two weeks.
My sources have been telling me since last August that Miller is a man of interest St. Louis.
Are the Blues willing to trade TJ Oshie, Halak, prospect Ty Rattie and a first rounder to Buffalo for Miller?
He's also highly coveted in Washington these days, I'm told.
In recent weeks in this space, I've documented the Caps and their woeful goaltending situation. The former #1 man, Braden Holtby, has been chucked into the recycling bin, having started only three games in the past month. Michal Neuvirth has reportedly asked for a trade and has been a sieve in his most recent two starts. Rookie Phillip Grubauer was a bright light for his first six starts, however, NHL shooters have read their scouting reports and are now exploiting his five hole and his glove hand. Head coach Adam Oates is at wits end. GM George McPhee is tip toeing past the proverbial graveyard. Change is necessary in Washington, otherwise, the Caps will miss the playoffs. That may well cost GM GM his job. The Caps may qualify for the playoffs by playing Grubauer and Neuvirth. May. And, they may not. What good is it to make the playoffs only to get smashed and thrashed by the Bruins, Penguins and Bolts? Ryan Miller could go a long way to building a concrete wall across the home net at the Verizon Center. Miller, I'm told, is partial to playing for the Caps. There is a Miller family legacy with the Capitals. His first cousins proudly represented the red, white and blue in the '80s and '90s. Kip Miller played two seasons with the Capitals, while Kelly played 13 seasons in Washington. To know Ryan is to know that he idolizes Kip and Kelly. They were his role models growing up. They are the reason he chose to become a Michigan State Spartan. Miller is family. Family is Miller. He would have an opportunity to finish the job that Kip and Kelly couldn't in Washington and that is winning Lord Stanley's Cup.
Oh, by the way, Miller's agent, Mike Liut retired a Washington Capital after spending three seasons there. Liut also played six seasons for the St. Louis Blues early on in his career.
Lets assume Miller is Washington bound. What would the compensation be to acquire Miller?
Miller to Washington in exchange for a top prospect like Tom Wilson or Andre Burakovsky (Erie Otters), first and second round draft choice in 2014, and Braden Holtby. The Caps will not trade their top prospect Evgeny Kuznetzov.
Considering how desperate McPhee is at this monment to stop the madness in his crease, he may be more willing to over pay in a trade for Miller, whereas Blues GM Doug Armstrong may be in more in a "take it or leave" posture because his team much more stable in their net right now then the Caps are.
You're probably saying that the compensation for Miller is stiff because of his pending UFA status. The cap will rise next season which will make it possible for the Blues and Caps to afford to pay Miller $8.5M per season for 5 seasons. He's the player that the Blues need to get them to the Western Conference Finals and perhaps the Stanley Cup. Miller is the type of intense competitor who can make Jonathon Quick, Anti Niemi, Jonas Hiller and Corey Crawford blink first. Miller also knows the Bruins and Penguins like the back of his catching glove. He has had success against Boston and Pittsburgh in his career. He has what it takes to steal a series for the Caps against the best teams in the East.
The February 7 Olympic roster freeze is right around the corner. Are you ready for it?
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John Tortorella one-upped himself on Saturday night. Dude flipped his lid for the world to see and he's going to have to pay a heavy price for his irrational, destructive, unprofessional behavior.
What a beauty.
The fans paid to see a hckey game between bitter divisional rivals and they witnessed a gong show the likes of which the NHL hasn't seen since the mid-'70s..
The Vancouver Cauncks and Calgary Flames combined for 204 PIMs, multiple player ejections. and conducted a clinic on ethics and the wrong way to promote the NHL brand on international TV. It resembled a 1980s WWF "Battle Royale" with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan fighting Jimmy Hart. Art imitating life imitating art.
Whacko stuff, man!
Scene set: Calgary coach Bob Hartley started heayweights Kevin Westgarth and Brian McGrattan against presumably the Sedin line. Torts had last change and decided to fight fire with fire. Earlier in the week, the Canucks were thugged by the LA Kings to which Ryan Kesler had to lay a beat down on his close friend Dustin Brown, who had run over and injured Roberto Luongo the ast time the two teams had met. Revenge was exacted. Torts vowed that his team will not back down from the goon intimidation.
On Saturday night, it was more of the same.
Two seconds into the Saturday’s contest, Vancouver and Calgary had already combined for 142 penalty minutes. Calgary’s Kevin Westgarth, Chris Butler, Blair Jones, and Ladislav Smid had all been handed game misconducts. On the Canucks side, Kellan Lain (first NHL Game), Dale Weise, and Kevin Bieksa were all thrown out of the game.
Tortorella went postal during the donneybrook and wanted to tear a huge swath from Hartley's hide.
Tortarella is lucky that Malarchuk was restrained otherwise he'd have gotten his butt kicked. Malarchuk is a tough hombre who used to ride in the Calgary Stampede for fun during off seasons. He's tough as leather and don't take crap from anyone, especially a chirpy city slicker like Torts.
Hockey Night In Canada showed a live shot of Tortarella standing all alone, in the dark, on the Canucks bench with three minutes remaining in the intermission.
Tortarella manned up and addressed his irrational behavior in his postgame presser.
My take:
Tortarella knows the rules. He knows all about The Code. Its admirable and respectable that he wanted to protect the Sedins from Westgarth and McGarttan. He and Hartkley have a beef that dates back to earlier in their coaching careers. I get it. I don't acceptor condone it, but I get it.Where Torts broke the "law" is when he tried to literally fight the entire Flames team as he tried to bust into their room to accost their coach Hartley. Rather than heed the advice of his assistant coaches to go to the room and cool off for 17 minutes during the intermission, Torts thought he was Clint Eastwood in "Dirty Harry" taking on an army by himself. The lone wolf. That's where he'll crash and burn. His public temper tantrum not only devalues him, but it also embarrassed his team, his fans, his GM and owners.
Torts will have a hearing on Monday. Expect him to get slapped with a heavy fine and suspension.
Sounds like John Tortorella will have a hearing with the NHL on Monday in New York
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 19, 2014_________________________________________________________________________
Where in the world is newly minted Sabres GM Tim Murray? He's not sitting in his office waiting for the phone to ring. He's out doing what he does best: identifying and evaluating players.
An veteran NHL scout told me recently:
"Tim is a road guy. He loves to get out as often as he can and watch players".
Murray accepted the GM job in Buffalo thee weeks ago. He spent the first two weeks doing his introductory media tour in Buffalo and Toronto. He and Pat LaFontaine collaborated with Mikhail Grigorenko's agent to create an equitable solution to the player's recent demotion back to his junior club the Quebec Remparts. Oh by the way, Grigo was the first star of the game last night when the Remps hosted Rouyn-Noranda. Grigo scored a goal, added a beauty assist and was 23-5 on draws. Murray's a no nonsense guy. He's all business. Just because you don't see him on the news or hear him on the radio doesn't mean he's not working to find other solutions to his many organizational challenges. Like his search for his assistant general manager. A report in the Ottawa Sun last Sunday stated that Murray may have found his AGM in the form of a current NHL player agent who reps Sens D Erik Karlsson. Bruce Garrioch reported today that Murray's man may have wiggled off the hook.
....agent Craig Oster of Newport Sports may have declined an offer from Murray to be the assistant GM.
Time will tell whether Oster turned down a Murray offer.
If the news is true it would be a shame considering Oster works for arguably the best NHL sports agency in North America, Newport Sports Management which would have given the Sabres a portal to the Newport rockstar client roster which reads like a Hollywood A-list:
Henrik Lundqvist, David Backes, Steven Stamkos, Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson, Jordan Eberle, Ryan O'Reilly, Michael Del Zotto, Corey Perry, Dion Phaneuf, Brad Richards, Bobby Ryan, and PK Subban to name a few. Newport also reps Sabres UFA to be Matt Moulson.
If Oster is out, who would Murray consider as his AGM? Pittsburgh's AGM Jason Boterill?
Perhaps incumbent Buffalo AGM Kevin Devine will retain the title and position that he has occupied for the past two seasons.
Time will tell.
In the meantime, Murray has three ginormous pending UFAs in Ryan Miller, Matt Moulson and Steve Ott to have to get his arms around before the February 7 Olympic roster freeze. The NHL will be shut down for two weeks during the Sochi games and the NHL has mandated that teams will be in moratorium period until such time that the Olympics end. Its a smart rule that protects the players from being traded if they are at the Olympics.
Inside the NHL, the February roster freeze is going to act as the de facto NHL trade deadline, which officially goes into effect on March 5. There will be business conducted between today and the Februay 7 deadline. Will Murray make a Matt Moulson trade? Will he re-sign Steve Ott to a long term deal? Will he be moving Miller to a contender in a blockbuster trade?
Sabres fans should prepare for a wild ride in the next two weeks.
Bruce Garrioch reported this morning that Murray and LaFontaine will make one final attempt to sign Miller to Lundqvist-like contract extension to stay in Buffalo. However, ten days ago, before he imposed his current radio silence campaign, Murray said on Toronto radio that he hasn't spoken with Miller and that no conversation was imminent.
Might that have changed in the interim? Of course.
Buffalo GM Tim Murray has a decision to make on goalie Ryan Miller before the Olympic roster freeze kicks in on Feb. 7. Does he deal him before he goes to Sochi? The Sabres are expected to make one last ditch effort to sign Miller but do they want to risk him getting injured playing for Team USA and then not available for trade in March? Since he likely wouldn’t accept a deal to Edmonton, the market is limited. The St. Louis Blues have been mentioned as a top candidate and GM Doug Armstrong knows they won’t get many chances. The Blues will tell everybody they are fine with their goaltending, they aren’t ...
Yes. St. Louis is, and has been keeping close tabs on Ryan Miller for the past four months, and well they should. Goaltending, or lack thereof has become a chink in the armor of the Blues. Jaro Halak was embarrassed Thursday night by the LA Kings on national TV. On Saturday night, Brian Elliott blinked first and lost to the Anaheim Ducks. Face it, Blues fan. Halak and Elliott are NOT big game goalies. They are regular season goalies who play well in games versus their divisional and inter-conference opponents. When the blinding lights of prime time games shine brightly, Halak and Elliott run from the light. Ken Hitchcock knows it, and so does Doug Armstrong. Halak and Elliott are pending UFAs. I can see Halak being traded and Elliott being kept and re-signed to be Miller's under study, should a deal be consummated in the next two weeks.
My sources have been telling me since last August that Miller is a man of interest St. Louis.
Are the Blues willing to trade TJ Oshie, Halak, prospect Ty Rattie and a first rounder to Buffalo for Miller?
He's also highly coveted in Washington these days, I'm told.
In recent weeks in this space, I've documented the Caps and their woeful goaltending situation. The former #1 man, Braden Holtby, has been chucked into the recycling bin, having started only three games in the past month. Michal Neuvirth has reportedly asked for a trade and has been a sieve in his most recent two starts. Rookie Phillip Grubauer was a bright light for his first six starts, however, NHL shooters have read their scouting reports and are now exploiting his five hole and his glove hand. Head coach Adam Oates is at wits end. GM George McPhee is tip toeing past the proverbial graveyard. Change is necessary in Washington, otherwise, the Caps will miss the playoffs. That may well cost GM GM his job. The Caps may qualify for the playoffs by playing Grubauer and Neuvirth. May. And, they may not. What good is it to make the playoffs only to get smashed and thrashed by the Bruins, Penguins and Bolts? Ryan Miller could go a long way to building a concrete wall across the home net at the Verizon Center. Miller, I'm told, is partial to playing for the Caps. There is a Miller family legacy with the Capitals. His first cousins proudly represented the red, white and blue in the '80s and '90s. Kip Miller played two seasons with the Capitals, while Kelly played 13 seasons in Washington. To know Ryan is to know that he idolizes Kip and Kelly. They were his role models growing up. They are the reason he chose to become a Michigan State Spartan. Miller is family. Family is Miller. He would have an opportunity to finish the job that Kip and Kelly couldn't in Washington and that is winning Lord Stanley's Cup.
Oh, by the way, Miller's agent, Mike Liut retired a Washington Capital after spending three seasons there. Liut also played six seasons for the St. Louis Blues early on in his career.
Lets assume Miller is Washington bound. What would the compensation be to acquire Miller?
Miller to Washington in exchange for a top prospect like Tom Wilson or Andre Burakovsky (Erie Otters), first and second round draft choice in 2014, and Braden Holtby. The Caps will not trade their top prospect Evgeny Kuznetzov.
Considering how desperate McPhee is at this monment to stop the madness in his crease, he may be more willing to over pay in a trade for Miller, whereas Blues GM Doug Armstrong may be in more in a "take it or leave" posture because his team much more stable in their net right now then the Caps are.
You're probably saying that the compensation for Miller is stiff because of his pending UFA status. The cap will rise next season which will make it possible for the Blues and Caps to afford to pay Miller $8.5M per season for 5 seasons. He's the player that the Blues need to get them to the Western Conference Finals and perhaps the Stanley Cup. Miller is the type of intense competitor who can make Jonathon Quick, Anti Niemi, Jonas Hiller and Corey Crawford blink first. Miller also knows the Bruins and Penguins like the back of his catching glove. He has had success against Boston and Pittsburgh in his career. He has what it takes to steal a series for the Caps against the best teams in the East.
The February 7 Olympic roster freeze is right around the corner. Are you ready for it?
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