Updated:
A tip of the bucket for beating the Toronto Maple Leafs on home ice on Saturday night.
The win was Buffalo's first regulation win in front of their home fans this season. Crazy stat, but its true. Its been that type of season for the Sabres. Nothing has come easy for Ted Nolan's club. Such is life in a re-building NHL franchise.
So the NHL GMs will meet in Toronto on Tuesday. Sure, rules and competition issues will be on the agenda, but these meetings are going to be all about horse trading. The NHL trade market intensity will be kicked up a notch or three. We are at the 20 game mark in the NHL season and GMs have had ample time to study their NHL and AHL rosters.
Sabres GM Tim Murray will likely be inundated with trade proposal conversations and "what about this guy for that guy and a pick" discussions. That will happen to the GM of the 30th place team in the NHL. There are 25-29 GMs want to make deals.
Murray will be a popular man at these GM meetings because he has the solutions that his GM counterparts covet. Murray has assets that contending teams can't wait to get their hands on.
There's Tyler Myers, Drew Strafford, Chris Stewart, Michal Neuvirth, Andrej Meszaros and Andre Benoit.
Since his first moment on the job in Buffalo last January, Murray has said that no player is exempt from being traded away in exchange for building blocks to be used to re-build the Sabres. See Ryan Miller and Steve Ott.
TMGM isn't bluffing when he says that he wants to turn his team around sooner than later. His eye on the future, Murray will attend meeting in Toronto with an open ear and an open mind. He has cap space and assets and he's not shy.
Murray has to think carefully about trading Myers now. He lost his best D and NHL leading shot blocker Josh Gorges to a knee injury in Minnesota on Thursday night. Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News tweeted Sunday morning that the injury to Gorges is his knee, and that it will take "weeks, not days". Murray has two options to off set the Gorges injury in Nikita Zadorov and Tyson Strachan, who are playing well at the moment. Murray could trade Myers now, keep Zadorov past his 9 game NHL try out, play Strachan, then recall either Mark Pysyk or Jake McCabe from Rochester.
Murrays likes having options and he has a lot of them due to his talent-rich farm club in Rochester.
Boston, Ottawa and Dallas need a top six forward and have for weeks, and Murray has two UFAs to be in Chris Stewart and Drew Stafford who both have found their respective grooves in the past two weeks.
On Saturday, Lindy Ruff lost 2013 first rounder Val Nichushkin to hip surgery. The big Russian will be lost for four months, and maybe more. The Stars need a scorer and Stafford may fit that bill. Ruff and Stafford know one another well.
The Bruins have been anemic on offense lately and could use an infusion of muscle and truculence. The B's have suddenly gotten slow and dae I say soft and that ain't sitting well with the locals, nor Claude Julien. Chara can't intimidate people from the press box. We still don't know if Chara will be ready to return at month's end from his knee injury. Surgery has not been ruled out yet. Losing Shawn Thornton, Jarome Iginla, and Johnny Boychuk has dramatically hurt the B's toughness quotient. Stewart would add the punch that Boston lacks right now. However, is Peter Chiarelli ready to trade away a Reilly Smith to get a Stewart?
Detroit, Anaheim, Boston, San Jose, Edmonton, LA, and the NY Rangers are among the contending teams who desperately need to shore up their blue lines.
The volume and reverb on the Tyler Myers trade chatter keeps intensifying with each passing day. Murray is in no hurry to trade Myers nor does he have to. He has Myers under contract for many tears to come and the kid is only 24 years of age and has 5+ years of NHL experience in his locker stall. If Ken Holland wants to trade for Myers (as we've heard since last March), then he's going to have to send his top prospect Anthony Mantha and another top prospect back to Buffalo. If not, no deal. Coincidentally, Mantha scored his first pro goal last night for the Grand rapids Griffins. Sabres fans would love to see the 6'5 225 lb. scoring machine in Blue and Gold. Depends how serious Holland is about Myers. In recent weeks, the Red Wings have sent two different scouts to Buffalo to watch the Sabres play live in person. One concludes that Myers is the must-see player.
Dateline: Southern California.
Between his team's mumps crisis and player injuries, Ducks GM Bob Murray needs help on D. He's ben with the services of Francois Beauchemin, Ben Lovejoy, Mark Fistric, and Bryan Allen for large chunks of the first two months of the season. He also needs goaltending help as Frederik Andersen and John Gibson have been spending a lot of time on the trainer's table lately. Gibson is out with injury and Andersen is playing with an injury. Murray and Murray could strike a deal for Tyler Myers and Michal Neuvirth, however, the asking price will be high. The Ducks would have to part ways with a top prospect in Nick Ritchie, the Peterborough Pete (2014 1t rounder) scoring/thumping machine, prospect Nic Kerdiles, and perhaps forward Jakob Silfverberg, who Tim and Bryan Murray traded from Ottawa as part of the Bobby Ryan deal.
Columbus, besieged by injuries, traded for D help when they landed former Sabres blue liner Jordan Leopold on Saturday. Not a huge deal, however, it addresses an immediate need for Jarmo Kekalainen and the the Blue Jax.
The trade window is officially open.
Beginning Tuesday in Toronto, Tim Murray will have face time with the GMs that he's been texting, emailing and speaking with. U.S. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and Murray has a cornucopia of trade options to offer. Question is, are other NHL GMs feeling enough pain and suffering with their current rosters to do start trading away assets to get players that can help in the now?
***
Final from Buffalo. pic.twitter.com/9ucLPkWThU
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 16, 2014They call him the "Latvian Locomotive". The nickname fits Zemgus Girgensons to a "Z".
All Hail, The Legend Of Zemgus!
Thanks, Dan Hickling
On Saturday night, the Sabres scored their first regulation win on home ice by embarrassing Toronto by the score of 6-2.
The Leafs no doubt took the Sabres lightly in this their second of four meetings this season.
Girgensons powered the 30th place Sabres over the high and mighty Maple Leafs. Girgensons scored a shorthanded goal and in the third period scored a beauty of a breakaway goal on James Reimer.
.@zemgus94 scored a goal like this. Seriously, he did. #TORvsBUF pic.twitter.com/hxkq8wam3E
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 16, 2014The Riga, Latvia native now has scored 6 goals and has added 4 assists in 19 games played.
The Sabres
Check out this amazing stat:
The Sabres are a lowly -38 in teams of goal differential. They have allowed 65 goals against. By virtue of their 6 goals scored against the Leafs, they have now scored just 27 goals for.
How is it that on a losing team that Girgensons is now a +3?
Its a testament to his exceptional work ethic and his dogged determination.
The Sabres also enjoyed their first three goal lead of the season.
His Sabres spanked the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2.
You'll have to wake up pretty damn early in the morning to get a head start on the rambunctious, intense 20 year old. The kid's motor never stops running. Girgensons skated 18:30 TOI and was +4.
The Sabres played their most complete 60 minute effort of the season. They jumped on the Leafs for two goals in the first period, their first two first period goal in front of their home fans this season.
"We've had a tough season, and it's hard enough when you don't win games, but today was absolutely different how we played, 10 times better than what we've done," Girgensons said.
Perhaps his best achievement of the night was chirping the Leafs fans for throwing beer, scarves and Leafs sweaters on the ice to show their displeasure for their team's poor effort in Buffalo.
"You don't see Buffalo fans out doing that with the kind of season we're having," Girgensons said. "I don't think that's right from the fans."
Tyler Ennis scored his team high sixth goal and added two assists for the Buffalo. Matt Moulson chipped in a goal and two assists. Drew Stafford and a goal and an assist and Tyler Myers for his first goal of the season.
Leafs coach Randy Carlyle was none too pleased with his team's lethargic effort n Buffalo, where the Leafs have now lost 14 of its last 16 games at First Niagara Center.
"We didn’t play very well, we’re disappointed in the way we played. You have to recognize what’s going on. We weren’t close to the desire and commitment to play our systems anywhere near where we need to be successful. The last two games you can’t say we outworked the other side . . . we got outworked by both those teams.…
Thanks, Leafs TV
**
You think Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf is cheerful and chipper after his team was destroyed in Buffalo?
***
The last time that Buffalo erupted for this many goals was their 7-4 win at Boston on January 31, 2013.
**
Props to Sabres first rounder Samson Reinhart who scored 1 goal and added 2 assists in Kootenay's win over Lethbridge on Saturday night. Reinhart also chipped in 4 assists on Friday night as the Ice outlasted Calgary 7-6.
***
Sabres GM Tim Murrat has a decision to make regarding the future of Nikita Zadorov.
When San Jose skates into Buffalo on Tuesday night it will Zadorov's ninth game in Buffalo this season. The kid has paid his dues and has earned the right to stay and play in Buffalo. There's no disputing whether or not he belongs in Buffaoo's six man D unit. Zadorov has rebounded exceptionally well after shaky Traverse City tourney and so-so rookie development camp. He's improved his overall fitness levels from sub-standard to exceptional. He's endured the after practice bags skates, the pre and post practice video sessions with coaches and has come out the other side a much better player and competitor for having taken the right path to the NHL.
The big, strong, nasty Russian D logged a team his 25:17 TOI in the 6-3 loss to to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. All the more impressive is that the 19 year old managed to be a +3 at the end of the night. Ever since Ted Nolan paired Zadorov with Rasmus Ristolainen in the third period of last Saturday's 6-1 pounding at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the two former first rounders (2012) have been Buffalo's best D pair. Whats more, Nolan has leaned on the two special young D in the wake of the Josh Gorges injury in Minnesota.
Its now up to Murray to rubber stamp Zadorov's NHL papers.
Should Murray decide to send Zadorov back to OHL London Knights, there will be a fight between the Canadian Hockey League and the KHL over the rights to Zadorov.
Do the right thing and keep the kid in Buffalo. Zadorov holds opponents accountable and he adds immediate value to the team every time he is in the lineup.
****