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

Tayor Shift

November 3, 2019, 7:59 AM ET [15 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
On Saturday night, the Buffalo Sabres lost 1-0 to the NY Islanders. The Sabres played three tough teams this week in Arizona, Washington and Long Island and compiled a not so sterling 0-2-1 record.

the Sabres have lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season.

The loss was Buffalo’s first regulation home loss this season, leaving Boston and Vancouver as the only teams not to lose a home game in regulation in 2019-20.


The Sabres have packed their gear and will wing to Sweden later tonight. The NHL Global Series will commence in Stcokholm on Friday when the Sabres will play the Tampa Bay Lightning. The same two teams will trade chances again on Saturday November 9.


Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger said Saturday night that when his team unpacks its gear in Sweden, his players will get a needed referesher course in the fundamentals of his defensive structure. Kruger and his assistant coaches are sticklers for the details in all phases of the game. The pressure and advesrity of the last three games has revealed some pin hole leaks that Krueger wants to seal before the puck drops again on Friday against the Lightning.

Aside from the game being played on the ice, there is a game of sorts being played off the ice in Buffalo. The Sabres have played well in their first 15 games and have a respectable 9-4-2 record (.669 win %) to show for it. It wasn't long ago that the Sabres were sitting alone atop the Eastern Conference standings boasting a 9-2-2 record. One not-so-great week can humble an NHL club. Consider the Sabres humbled right now.


Today, the Sabres find themselves tied with the Islanders for third place in the Eastern Conference standings. Botterill and Krueger are content with where their team presently sits in the standings. However, they want more from their group.

More consistency. More wins. More points. More cohesion throughout their lineup. More even strength goal scoring.




Never satisfied, Botterill and Krueger continue to collaborate on the formation of the Sabres winning culture. The general manager and head coach like where their team is at right now, however, they know that their squad is capable of so much more.

What of the game that is being played off the ice?

Several NHL clubs continue to tailgate the Sabres at home and on the road.


A few teams are in ongoing discussions with Botterill, who a we speak has eight NHL-caliber defensemen on his roster in:

Rasmus Dahlin
Rasmus Ristolainen
Jake McCabe
Brandon Montour
Colin Miller
Henri Jokiharju
Marco Scandella
John Gilmour



Montour made his season debut on Saturday night after missing the first 14 games with a hand injury. Montour didn't disappoint in his return to Krueger's top four D skating 18:57 TOI, 2 shots on goal, 1 hit and 2 blocked shots. Montour was excellent on the penalty kill as well.

Scandella is currently listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury that he sustained five games ago in a game against the NY Rangers. When Scandella returns to full health, Botterill is going to have to deal away a defenseman.

That is why NHL GMs, AGMs, and scouts continue to watch the Sabres play live in person. The analytics can only tell so much. The eyeball test is still a very important metric in player evaluation. Let me tell you, ther have been a lot of eyeballs fixated on the Sabres the first five weeks of the 2019-20 NHL season. The surveillance will continue until Botterill finds the deal that he is looking for. Botterill continues his quest to add another top six forward to his offense.


On Saturday night, several NHL teams were in Buffalo to watch Sabres-v-Islanders live in person:


New Jesrsey Devils (senior scout), Winnipeg Jets (Director Scouting), Carolina Canes, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens (AGM and Director Hockey Operations), Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars (2 scouts), Arizona Coyotes (Director Pro Scouting).


The Devils and Canadiens have been frequent flyers to Buffalo latel. This week, the Devils and Habs each have had two different pro scouts watching the Sabres. On Saturday night, Marc Bergevin sent his Director of Hockey Operations to Buffalo along with the scout. All told, the Canadiens have dispatched three different pro scouts, their assistant general manager and their Director of Hockey Ops to Buffalo.

Why?

Are the Habs constructing a package that could send forward Jonathon Drouin to Buffalo in exchange for defenseman Marco Scandella and Conor Sheary OR Scandella and Evan Rodrigues? Scandella is a Montreal native and appears to be the odd man out on the over crowded Buffalo blue line. Scandella, 29, is playing on an expiring contract that pays him $4 million this season. Sheary is a $3 million average annual value. Rodrigues, a healthy scratch, is a $2 million annual average value.




Drouin has scored seven goals this season with 6 goals coming at even strength. Drouin scored 18 times last season with 15 goals coming at even strength.


So, what are the Devils desperately in need of these days?


A legit veteran defenseman and a capable NHL goaltender.


Botterill will not be trading Carter Hutton nor Linus Ullmark. However, he has a cornucopia of defenseman.

What the past 3 or 4 games has revealed is that when opponents neutralize the impressive Buffalo power play, the Sabres struggle to score conistently at even strength. The Sabres power play has cooled off in recent games. Today, Buffalo is ranked third in the NHL with a 26.9% scoring rate with the man advantage. The Sabres are 14 for 52 with the man advantage, which is great. However, balanced scoring is what the Sabres will need to make a legitimate run for the Stanley Cup playoffs this season. The Sabres have not played a playoff game since 2011. If Botterill wants to exorcise that hideous demon, he needs to act swiftly and decisively to add more even strength goals to his nightly lineup. The power play will continue to take care of itself.

The Sabres have scored just 30 even strength goals in their first 15 games played, which places Eichel and Company at 14th in the NHL at even strength scoring. Sabres forwards have accounted for 25 of the 30 even strength markers.

The problem is that the top six forward group is not scoring at even strength at an elite rate.

For example, Jeff Skinner leads the Sabres with 7 even strength goals. Skinner has not scored on the man advantage yet in 15 games. Last season, Skinner scored 32 of his 40 goals and even strength. Samson Reinhart has scored five goals this season with four goals coming at even strength. Marcus Johansson has four goals thus far with three of them coming at even strength.

When we peel back the layers of information we learn that the Sabres are lacking even strength goal scoring on a nighty basis.

Four of Jack Eichel's seven goals have been scored on the power play.

Conor Sheary and Casey Mittelstadt have scored only two even strength goals each in the first 15 games of the season. To date, Jimmy Vesey and Victor Olofsson have zero combined even stength goals. Johan Larsson, Zemgus Girgensons, Kyle Okposo, and Vlad Sobotka each have scored one goal at even strength.



Perhaps Taylor Hall is on the minds of Jason Botterill and Ralph Krueger. Hall has had a rather antagonistic past couple of weeks 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.

Krueger coaches Hall in Edmonton in 2013.

View this post on Instagram

GAME TIME

A post shared by New Jersey Devils (@njdevils) on




Hall is an even strength scorer. Hall played just 33 gmes last season due to injury and scored 10 even strength goals. In 2017-18, Hall tucked 26 goals at even strength. In 206-17, Hall bagged 13 even strength goals.

I can see scenario where Botterill makes a bold move to trade for Hall--who is going to be traded in the very near future-- to bolster the even strength scoring of his top six forward group. Sitting and hoping and wishing and waiting for more good fortune to find its way into the even strength scoring of the Sabres is foolish. Botterill cannot allow his team to struggle to score even strength goals. He and Krueger are respnsible for mitigating any prolonged slumps. One thing we have learned about the Sabres inrecent years is that prolonged periods of misfortune and struggle tend to lead to crises in confidence for the majority of players in the room. That is why I am bullish on making a trade now to avoid a potential crisis.

The timing to make a trade for Hall is perfect in light of his comments from earlier this week when he openly criticized Devisl lfans for booing after the players blew a 5-3 lead and lost 7-6 to Tampa in overtime.


“We’re kind of battling our own fans right now. We were 1-for-3 on the power play and we are getting booed. It’s a tie game, we are getting booed. That’s a tough environment to play in sometimes, especially when you are at home. I know that when we’re playing somewhere and their fans start booing, it’s a fun environment for the away team to play in,” Hall said.

“I understand the fans’ frustration. After the game, if they are booing (because) we are losing that is fine. But when we’re 1-for-3 on the power play and they’re booing our power play, that is tough. If you’re playing at home, you want to feed off the energy of the crowd and not let that affect you, but sometimes it does.”


Th best way to get the GM's attention is to criticize the customers.

Hall's comments can't be sitting well with Devils management and ownership.










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.

The Devils begin a four game western road trip in Winnipeg on Tuesday night. I learned from my friend Elliotte Friedman on Saturday night that New Jersey Devils GM Ray Shero and Taylor Hall's agent will be meeting this week in Calgary. It is presumed that the talks will escalate to a trade of Hall, a former first overall pick in the NHL Draft.


Jason Botterill served Ray Shero in Pittsburgh. The two men have a very strong relationship to this day. Were it not for Shero, Botterill would not have gotten the job as assistant general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Botterill has the players that Shero needs to improve the defensive dexterity of his team. Shero has the player that Botterill needs to balance out his top six forward group and produce more even strength scoring.

Why is Hall such an intriguing player for Botterill to be pursuing? Take a look at his impressive bdy of work:

2018 Hart Memorial Trophy Award Winner
2016, 2015 IIHF World Championships — Gold Medalist
2010 First Overall Pick, NHL Entry Draft
2010 IIHF World Junior Championships — Silver Medalist
2010, 2009 Memorial Cup Champion (MVP) — Windsor Spitfires



Hall has his sights set on getting back into the playoffs and a Stanley Cup Championship. Hall has played in only five Staney Cup playoff games in his illustrious career, all with the Devils. Hall is a winner. He wants to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup.



I'm guessing that Taylor Hall will be packing extra suits, shirts, ties and socks for the long western road trip.

View this post on Instagram

Boys looking fresh

A post shared by New Jersey Devils (@njdevils) on

Join the Discussion: » 15 Comments » Post New Comment
More from GARTH'S CORNER
» Hailing Taxis
» He With The Gold Makes The Rules
» Sedentary Seven
» The Sedentary Seven
» GadZuccs