Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Montychristo

November 2, 2019, 5:11 PM ET [6 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
View this post on Instagram

Back at it tonight!

A post shared by Brandon Montour (@montour) on







Welcome home, Brandon Montour.

Montour will make his long anticipated season debut tonight versus the NY Islanders. Montour missed the first 14 games of thes eason due to a hand injury.

His return to the starting lineup comes at a time when the Sabres need him the most.

The Sabres played loosey goosey and lost 6-1 in Washington on Friday night.

Montour will replace rookie John Gilmour in the lineup. One other roster move has Jimmy Vesey returning to the the fray after missing the last three and a half games after suffering a shoulder injury in a 6-2 loss to the NY Rangers on October 25.

Ralph Kreuger will ice a right shot heavy D corps tonight vs. the Islanders, who have won eight straight games. Montour will be joined by fellow righties Rasmus Ristolainen, Colin Miller and Henri Jokiharju. Lefties Jake McCabe and Rasmus Ristolainen will likely be joined by Miller, who can play both D positions.

The return of Montour to the lineup has ratcheted up the interest in the Buffalo D corps by team struggling NHL teams that are desperate to bolster their respective blue lines.


Botterill has a great headache right now. He has too many NHL-caliber defensemen while other teams have bearly enough.





After tonight, the Sabres will not play again until they meet the Tampa Bay Lightning in Sweden next weekend.


Having said that, there are many NHL bird dogs in Ted Darling Memorial Press Box tonight.






NHL teams in the house tonight:

Devils (senior scout), Jets (Director Scouting), Canes, Oilers, Habs (AGM and Director Hockey Operations), Predators, Stars (2), Coyotes (Director Pro Scouting).


The Devils and Canadiens have had two different pro scouts here this week.


The Habs have also sent their VP of Hockey Operations to Buffalo tonight. Are the Habs eye balling a package that consists of Marco Scandella (currrently injured) and Conor Sheary OR Scandella and Evan Rodrigues, a healthy scratch?


Perhaps Taylor Hall is on the minds of Jason Botterill and Ralph Krueger. Hall has had a rather antagonistic past couple of weekd with the fans of the Devils. The pending UFA clearly wants out of New Jersey. Hall turns 28 next week and is an unrestricted freee agent on July 1, 2020.










What players do Sabres have that are of interest to Devils?


Defenseman Marco Scandella would add immediate value to the wonky New Jesery D corps. Also, forward Conor Sheary, who played for Ray Shero in Pittsburgh.

Taylor Hall carries a $6M AAV while Scandella is $4M AAV and Sheary is $3M AAV this season.

Botterill has said that he is intersted in dollar-in-dollar out trade opportunitiees with his current salary cap situation. Add Hall's $6 million while subtracting $7 million combined, $6 million if you substitute Sheafry with Evan Rodrigues who carries a $2M AAV.

Will Botterill trade a defenseman before his team heads over to Sweden? Or, will he wait until his team returns for Sweden?


Buffalo will return from the Sweden trip on 11/10 and will not play again until they host the Carolina Hurricanes on November 14. The Sabres will then play ten games between November 17 and November 30. Then they get slammed by a 14-games in 29 days marathon in December.
Join the Discussion: » 6 Comments » Post New Comment
More from GARTH'S CORNER
» Hailing Taxis
» He With The Gold Makes The Rules
» Sedentary Seven
» The Sedentary Seven
» GadZuccs