The Sabres will have their hands full when they visit the Sid The Kid and the Penguins on Monday night. The Pens allowed the Dallas Stars to dictate terms and conditions in the first period on Saturday night en route to a 3-0 Stars win.
After back-to-back wins against Montreal and the NY Islanders, the Penguins laid an egg in Dallas.
Thanks, Penguins TV
I'm expecting Ted Nolan to start Jhonas Enroth in The Burgh then answer back with Ryan Miller vs. Washington on Tuesday night.
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The NHL Olympic roster polar vortex will commence on February 7. This means that all NHL teams will not be able to conduct business until after the Sochi Olympic torch has been extinguished. Call it the artificial NHL trade deadlines because some teams may decide to cut the line and trade for assets that will improve their teams rather than wait until the March 5 NHL trade deadline.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reports that Ryan Miller may be leaving Buffalo.
Miller was brilliant is Buffalo's 5-2 win in Columbus on Saturday night. He made 36 saves to preserve the win. Miller led an inspired effort that snapped the eight game winning streak of the Blue Jax.
Ryan Miller’s days in Buffalo are likely numbered.While Sabres general manager Tim Murray is still trying to get the lay of land after taking over the post earlier this month, the whispers are getting louder that Miller won’t be sticking around after the trade deadline and there’s a school of thought he could be gone before the Olympic break.
The number of teams in the market for a goalie is limited though, which means Murray may not have many options. The St. Louis Blues have been mentioned, but GM Doug Armstrong has emphatically backed goalie Jaroslav Halak.
There are a number of teams that are interested in Miller and St. Louis is one of them. Armstrong's public display of support for Halak is more to do with improving the trade value of the pending UFA than it is anything else. Halak was beaten and allowed the OT GWG to Thomas Vanek on Long Island on Saturday afternoon. The NHL reviewed the obvious good goal then called it a no goal. To Halak's delight, Kevin Shattenkirk ended the game in the shootout. Halak gets credit for the win when he lost the game. Armstrong and Ken Hitchcock have to hold their breath a lot these days hoping that Halak doesn't butcher big saves. The Blues have the players, prospects and picks to craft a fair and equitable deal for Miller.
Do you honestly think that Hitchcock wants to look at this type of goaltending in the NHL playoffs? The poor guy has seen enough of Halak's inconsistencies. The Blues are not committed to a first round parachute drop out of the first round of the playoffs again this season. They are built to go deep into the playoffs and to advance to the Western Conference Finals where they would meet the Ducks, Kings, Blackhawks, or Sharks. Do you in your heart of hearts think that Armstrong and Hitchcock truly believe that Halak and Elliott can slay the intimidating, fir-breathing dragons known as Hiller, Quick, Crawford, and Niemi?
The Blues can rent Miller for the rest of the regular season and playoffs with an option to "buy him" with a long term 5-6 year ($8.5 million AAV per season) contract in July. They have $1.5 million in cap space to work with today. The Blues enter Sunday's action in third place in the Western standings, one point behind Chicago and one point ahead of San Jose.
The Washington Capitals slid out of the hangman's noose on with a 5-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens. They snapped their 7 game losing streak in Montreal, however, their poor goaltending is one of the reasons why they have fallen from seventh place in the Eatsren standings to 13th place in the past three weeks. The Caps head into Sunday's action in 13th place in the Eastern standings, just four points ahead of 14th place NY Islanders. If they are going to make a legitimate run to the playoffs, they will have to upgrade their goaltending immediately or else they'll miss the dance. GM George McPhee has $750,000 of available cap space and he needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat, or else. GM GM's contract expires at the end of this season. Braden Holtby earned the win on Saturday night and Michal Neuvirth lost on Friday night. Holtby will likely get the start when the Caps play in Buffalo on Tuesday night. George McPhee's team may not rebound from the terrible goaltending and the lack of scoring. Take Ovechkin's 36 goals away from the Caps and they are a cellar dweller. The Caps have the players, prospects and picks to make a deal with Buffalo for Miller.
I've told you in the past that the Minnesota Wild are not sold on their goaltending either. The Wild currently hold the 7th spot in the Western standings. They've hung on for dear life in the face of the adversity of injuries to Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu. They've somehow weathered the storm of goatending issues as well. Nik Backstrom has been injured this season and Josh Harding continues to battle his personal health issues as well. Darcy Keumper is too young and green to start games every and win other night in the NHL playoffs. The Wild need a veteran backup who is capable of slamming the door on opponents. Ryan Miller fits that bill to a tee. GM Chuck Fletcher will be making a serious play for Thomas Vanek at or before the deadline. Can he grab Miller and Vanek for the playoff run like he pulled off the Parise-Suter coup two summers ago? Fletcher has only $2.5 million in cap space to work with.
Garrioch notes:
If the asking price is reasonable, they might be willing pay what it takes to get Miller if he wants to go there. They would probably want the chance to negotiate with him, though, because the asking price will likely be a player, prospect and pick. While Murray may still try to sign Miller a trade seems more likely.
The Colorado Avalanche are a long shot to land Miller, however, they are said to be searching for a veteran goalie who they can plug and play now that J.S. Giguere's back has been acting up on him. 35+ year old goalies with back issues do not a happy head coach make. Patrick Roy and Francois Allaire have converted starter Semyon Varlamov into a legitimate winner in the regular season. Will he play the same way in the playoffs? What if he gets injured for Team Russia at the Sochi Olympics and cannot find his winning form when he returns? The Avs may make a play for Miller to add more equity to their net and to create a monster 1-2 punch that would be capable of defeating even the best of the West in the playoffs. Goaltending is where it begins and ends in the NHL playoffs. The team with the best goaltending wins the Stanley Cup. Better to have too much goaltending than not enough. The Avs have the picks, prospects, and players to play in the Ryan Miller sweepstakes. Colorado also has $30 million in available cap space today. Expect Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic to be active at the trade deadline.
I've heard that the Sabres are looking for a first round draft pick in 2014 or 2015, a top organizational prospect, and a top six forward.
The team that is Hell bent for leather on winning a Stanley Cup this season will make a trade for Miller. The tire kickers and window shoppers will be left out of the sweepstakes.
On Sunday January 26, we know that Ryan Miller is the most coveted pending in the NHL right now. However, we don't know for certain which team will be courageous and committed enough to trading for him. This much we do know. The team that trades for Ryan Miller will exponentially improve its chances of winning the 2014 Stanley Cup.
pic of the new mask from @BishopDesigns. Excited to get ahold of the 2014 version of my Olympic mask next week pic.twitter.com/VjZ6zApFgF
— Ryan Miller (@RyanMiller3039) January 26, 2014