By Alexander Monaghan
President

Ryan Miller looked great in his first game back from injury. The Buffalo Sabres starting goalie was cruising towards a victory, perhaps a shutout as his team was winning 2-0 in the second period. Then, resident agitator of the Nashville Predators, left wing Jordin Tootoo, decided to test his boundaries against Miller.

Let’s take a look at the incident.

Tootoo clearly lost the puck and jumped in the direction of a sprawled Miller. Unlike the Milan Lucic incident, every member of the Sabres on the ice — including Paul Gaustad — decided to jump Tootoo and further protect their goalie from injury. In other words, all heck broke loose on the ice.

Ryan Porth of Smashville 24/7 reported, via Twitter, that Tootoo never meant to hurt Miller. Joshua Cooper of The Tennessean added, via Twitter, that the winger would face disciplinary action. Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff was quotably unhappy about the incident. On a related note, Why did Miller not go to the quiet room?

Seeing as running the goalie has become a hot topic this season, one can only expect Tootoo gets the book thrown at him. However, the number of games remains to be seen. As usual, we leave our readers with a vote; Where does your virtual Shanahammer fall?

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Jhonas Enroth backstopped the Buffalo Sabres to yet another win tonight, shutting out the below-average Carolina Hurricanes offense. The rookie has now won seven of his 10 appearances, improving his already stellar 2.19 GAA and .926 SV% to 1.94 GAA and .935 SV%. Without those wins the Sabres most certainly would not be sitting atop the Northeast Division, they might not even be in the playoff picture. As of this writing he has only accounted for one of their seven team losses which makes his case for team MVP.

Furthermore, Enroth’s improved peripherals now place him in the top five in both goals against average and save percentage while only padding his stats with his one shutout. Only twice has the Stockholm, Sweden native allowed more than three goals with one coming in mop up duty as he relieved Ryan Miller following the infamous Milan Lucic collision. His talent is now being seen on a national level leading local media to speculate on his potential accolades. Bill Hoppe of the MSG Network, via Twitter, suggested that Enroth win the Calder Memorial Trophy. Sadly, he will not win such a prize.

It would take a relatively poor showing from this season’s rookie skaters for Enroth to win the Calder, or even become a finalist for that matter. Last season, the rookie crop produced three 30-goal scorers, four 20-goal scorers and a few other deserving defensemen and goalies. This season is no different with current first overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leading his team in scoring while Craig Smith, Luke Adam, Adam Henrique, Matt Read and Colin Greening all have made an impact on their team’s respective top lines.

By not nominating Corey Crawford, Michal Neuvirth, James Reimer or Sergei Bobrovsky as finalists, the voters set a big precedent for the standards of the trophy. Perhaps the fallen play of Steve Mason — the last rookie to take the Calder — plays a part. Perhaps the voters are taking into consideration the competition among starting goalies and their backups.

It’s no secret that there are more than 30 capable starting goalies in this League. Ray Emery was good enough to backstop the Anaheim Ducks to the playoffs last season but now plays second fiddle to the aforementioned Crawford. Cory Schneider, Jonathan Bernier and Enroth all are taking advantage of every opportunity given to them in order to get more starts. Playing solid between the pipes is no longer seen as a feat. Most teams simply need a capable netminder (See Sanford, Curtis) in order to stay competitive.

Such is the case with Enroth. In a similar situation to Crawford, Neuvirth and Bobrovsky he is currently backstopping a strong team, one capable and previously expected to succeed prior to his hostile takeover. With Miller in nets, they were contenders, Why would that change with a rookie with solid AHL numbers?

Nevertheless, Miller is sidelined indefinitely but probably gets back into a few more games this season. Despite his struggles with concussions over the past two years, coach Lindy Ruff continues to make it very clear that this job remains Miller’s to lose. Therefore, Enroth may not even make the case to compete to win the Calder, not that he would win it anyways. His best bet would be to go for the gold and remain in the top five which would automatically put him into Vezina Trophy consideration. The Vezina is clearly a more attainable goal for an ascending rookie netminder, right?

Regardless, stay tuned for the 23-year-old to get yet another start tomorrow night against the Phoenix Coyotes as he looks to win his third game in four starts and eighth win in nine starts while further decreasing his impressive counting stats.

Alexander Monaghan
President

By Teravolt (Talk)

On Saturday night, Ryan Miller took a big-time hit at the hands of Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic. The hit, which was rendered at the 13:12 marker of the first period, knocked the starting goalies’ helmet off but did not immediately knock him out of the game — leading to further controversy. At this point you have likely seen the hit and offered differing opinions on the play. At no point in the rulebook does it state that Miller was out of bounds by playing the puck at the top of the circle yet viewers either feel he was either ‘fair game’ or ‘brutalized’. Certainly a hot topic.

Regardless of your thoughts on the subject, Miller is now out indefinitely with a concussion. Miller left Saturday’s game after the second period, not the first, playing over 26 minutes in the process and furthermore ignoring the NHL’s concussion protocol. If you are unfamiliar with the process, here’s the official statement from NHL.com:

In the past, a player suspected of having sustained a concussion would be evaluated by the team’s trainer or a doctor in the bench area. If a concussion was suspected, the player was moved to a quieter area for further evaluation.

So the thought process at this point is Miller either never knew he was concussed or chose to ignore the protocol. However, what interests me further were his comments to the media. The protocol would further explain that the said player needs to be “removed from the game and sent to a quiet place free from distraction so they can be examined by the on-site team physician.” Miller was neither removed nor free from distraction. In fact, he made himself immediately available to local media in his now infamous rant over Lucic’s lack of respect.

According to John Vogl of The Buffalo News, Miller waited around for the media to arrive just to rattle off expletives regarding Lucic. “However, he sat in the dressing room in a suit until the media arrived following Buffalo’s 6-2 loss.” Once again, protocol dictates he remain away from distraction which certainly includes the team’s media.

We understand that the concussion symptoms did not arrive immediately and would prefer not to argue the merits of his infliction. We’ve seen cases such the David Perron concussion in which a player immediately returns to action and plays well. Sidney Crosby played a game following his concussion. Marc Staal played the entirety of the season after his blow to the noggin. Nevertheless, he either comes out and is unavailable to the media or he stays in without a concussion. It’s that cut and dry. Nobody feeling so poorly would immediately speak to the media — that would and likely should have been disallowed by the Buffalo Sabres public relations personnel.

Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News would further explain that Miller felt worse as the game progressed, which makes sense considering he allowed three goals following the incident. Then again, he already sports a GAA hovering around 3 (2.86) so it could just be an extension to his struggles. Nevertheless, here is how Harrington explains it. From Sabres Edge:

Miller felt increasingly worse during Saturday’s game in Boston after the hit by Milan Lucic and was removed from the game following the second period by Bruins doctors under the NHL’s head injury protocol.

So he felt worse, was removed from the game and put through head injury protocol then waited for the media to immediately sound off on the incident? Something sounds a bit off.

If he wasn’t injured then the team would announce his status as healthy or even day-to-day. If he had a concussion, why wasn’t he brought to a local hospital for further examination? Considering Miller was concussed last season, the team would have made a bigger deal out of his malady opposed to saving the news for the following day amid pointing even more fingers at Lucic.

The Sabres failed to retaliate against their divisional rival and therefore took to the media in which GM Darcy Regier deflected all news from the concussion on Miller specifically to concussions in general. His vitriol, however, appears pointed at the wrong people in an issue that simply is not there. A goaltending injury due to a collision is rare at best. Alex Ovechkin is not suspended for the multitude of times he’s bowled over netminders. Neither is every opposing forward looking to crash the net who is nudged by a defender. In fact, a goalie is typically injured more for fights or pulled muscles than a forward driving the net.

Playing net is a dangerous position. Not only does a frozen piece of rubber hit you at every angle, the opposition is always bearing down on you. There are more than 30 worthy starting goalies in this league enacting a survival of the fittest mentality. Is Niklas Backstrom complaining that Josh Harding is always injured? No, because it guarantees 60 starts per season. Would Cory Schneider be ultimately hurt should he start another game more due to a minor tweak by Roberto Luongo? Again, no because backups deserve to play.

In this instance, Miller’s backup, Jhonas Enroth, might have gotten the starting nod tonight due to simply playing better. For all we know he may have came into the game to awaken a flat team that simply did not react to a fallen Miller. The ‘guilty’ party Lucic reviewed the play ’100 times’ and does not see how Miller could be concussed. From Big Bad Blog:

“I’ve looked at the hit 100 times because he said he got a concussion. I looked at it, and his shoulder hit my chest, so there was no hit to his head. His helmet came flying off, but his head didn’t hit the ice and later on in that period, one of their guys lifted [Tyler Seguin]‘s stick and threw him into the net as well, so who knows what it was? It was obviously unfortunate to hear that he got hurt on the play.”

His coach, Claude Julien, would offer a similar explanation when describing this bang-bang play from his power forward. From NHL.com:

“I saw the same thing [as Lucic explained],” Julien said. “It certainly wasn’t our plan to run him over and for what it’s worth, Looch has done the same thing to one of our coaches [assistant Geoff Ward] last year. He buries his head when he chases the puck, by the time he lifts it up, somebody’s there. Last year was a coach, this year was Miller.”

While this news doesn’t absolve Lucic, it does explain how he did not necessarily get out of the way. He is currently meeting with NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan over the incident which is probably something that would not have happened if Regier did not alter the agenda. The penalty was two minutes on the ice. No match penalty, major or misconduct. In fact, if Lucic’s hit is to be reviewed, the swinging stick of Ryan Miller deserves a look as well since that could have permanently injured Lucic as well.

We should find out the ultimate verdict soon. The two-plus hour delay is actually somewhat telling at this point. Regardless, should Lucic get suspended, Does it open up a wormhole concerning goalies being on or off limits? Something certainly sounds fishy about the entire situation whether it be Lucic’s intent, Miller’s actual injury or the team’s cover-up. At this point there are no legitimate cut-and-dry facts for us to ascertain which makes this perhaps one of the season’s biggest storylines.

One thing is for sure: You’ll want to tune in the next time these two teams faceoff — Wednesday, November 23rd at 7PM EST.

By Patrick Powell

Two games from last week may have set the wheels in motion for two substantial rule changes.

Last Wednesday, the Flyers attempted to thwart the Lightning’s 1-3-1 trap by holding the puck in their own end, waiting for a Tampa forecheck that would never come. During the game, a spirited debate erupted between sportswriters, columnists, bloggers, and NHL players on Twitter. Following the game, TSN’s Bob McKenzie indicated that the majority of GMs polled by him believe that the Lightning were at fault for slowing the pace of the game and should have attacked the Flyers instead of loafing in the neutral zone. It did not end there.

On Thursday, reports surfaced that the trap has become an agenda item for the General Managers meetings, which open Tuesday in Toronto. Could the NHL actually legislate a rule to penalize teams for illegal defense a la the NBA? The irony of this entire episode is that the trap, which was widely employed by Jacques Lemaire (when he coached the New Jersey Devils in the mid- 1990’s) seemed to work most efficiently against… the Philadelphia Flyers. On countless occasions in the mid 1990s, the Flyers would skate into the trap or dump the puck into a corner, where goaltender Martin Brodeur would calmly play it to a defenseman, leading to an easy breakout for the Devils.

The NHL has already restricted goaltenders from playing pucks in either corner. If the NHL were to outlaw the trap, officials would need to adjudicate the game even more subjectively than they do currently. Linesmen would have to get involved in making these types of calls, while still watching for offside infractions as well. What appears to be a trap to one official may appear to be legal to another. A myriad of questions would need to be answered before such a drastic change is enacted. Would the trap be legal in shorthanded situations? Would coaches be allowed to throw a challenge flag to request instant replay of their team’s defensive alignment? Don’t the referees have enough responsibilities in the NHL of the 21st century?

With referees being charged with calling clutching and grabbing penalties, which were basically ignored in the pre-lockout NHL, teams need to build strong skating squads and devise strategies to avoid falling victim to the neutral zone trap. The rules are lax enough for offense and flow; the NHL needs to let the players play.

Another hot button issue arose on Saturday night, as Bruins’ forward Milan Lucic served two minutes for charging following an open ice collision with Sabres’ goaltender Ryan Miller. On Sunday, Sabres’ General Manager Darcy Regier announced that Miller suffered a concussion as a result of the hit, which appeared to be an elbow. To the surprise and fury of some in the hockey world, NHL Vice President of Hockey Operations Brendan Shanahan has ruled after Monday’s hearing with Lucic that there will be no supplemental discipline.
Shanahan explained that he received satisfactory answers to his questions regarding Lucic’s intent during Monday’s hearing. In Shanahan’s judgment, Lucic was unable to deter his momentum as he raced for a puck in the Buffalo end. Shanahan concluded that Lucic did nothing in a malicious manner to Miller.

Miller and Sabres’ head coach Lindy Ruff strongly disagree with Shanahan’s decision, based on their postgame comments. Ruff suggested that “open season” on goaltenders would ensue if the NHL failed to discipline Lucic. In essence, Shanahan’s ruling makes certain hits (completely subjective) on goaltenders fair game. Often times, slight, incidental contact with a goaltender yields a two minute interference penalty.

Former Sabres’ enforcer and current ESPN analyst Matthew Barnaby questioned why the Sabres did not jump Lucic in an all out assault for the vicious shot levied against their franchise player. The tepid reaction of the Sabres may have influenced Shanahan’s decision because he may have felt that the Sabres knew it was a legal play. In my opinion, the Sabres should be ashamed of themselves for not challenging Lucic after such a callous play. The Sabres will have the opportunity to respond differently when the teams meet again on November 23rd.

Lucic and the Bruins must be grinning ear to ear after this trade- two minutes for a concussed, intra-division goaltender. For many teams, the goaltender is the franchise player. Enforcers and power forwards may begin to take liberties on the masked men of the NHL as a precedence seems to have been set for allowing violent hits on goaltenders when the puck is within reach. I wonder how many more goaltenders will need to sustain injuries before Shanahan and the NHL realize that they just committed a grievous error?

The O2 World arena in Berlin, Germany played host to the Los Angeles Kings and Buffalo Sabres on Saturday as part of the 2011-2012 Season’s opening weekend. The Kings looked to carry the momentum from yesterday’s game in Stockholm into Berlin, but it seems the Buffalo Sabres had other plans.

Any momentum the Kings had ran right into a wall.

Luke Adam put the Sabres on the scoreboard twice within the span of 2:20 early in the second period. Adam’s first goal came from a quick wrist shot over Kings goaltender Jonathan Bernier’s glove while the second goal was a tap in on a pass from Thomas Vanek. The Sabres’ other two goals came from Paul Gaustad and Drew Stafford.

The Kings attempted to mount a comeback in the third period, but it would prove to be too little too late against a Sabres team who spent much of the game driving hard at Bernier between the pipes. All four Sabres goals came from between the circles, an area the Kings defense usually excels at clearing out. Both of Adam’s goals were direct results of the Kings not clearing players from in front of Bernier. While it should be noted that it is only the second game of the season, the Kings would be wise to quickly resolve their coverage issues. Lack of consistent defensive coverage cost the Kings several games last season.

Photo Via Getty Images

Anze Kopitar, however, did prove to be the one highlight of the game for the Kings, scoring both goals. If there was any doubt about his performance this season after recovering from a broken leg last year, it is now gone. Kopitar recorded three goals and an assist on the Kings’ European trip.

While he has not recorded a goal yet, defenseman Drew Doughty is showing signs that he is ready to compete this season. Saturday’s game saw him with several close attempts on Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller and logging over 28 minutes on the ice.

Europe bids farewell to the Kings as they are now on their way back to the United States – but not home. Two more road games await the team when their plane lands at Newark. The Kings will have the next few days to practice before taking on the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.

Chris Van Deusen
NHLHS Los Angeles Kings Correspondent
Twitter – @TheCrazyWhls

With less than a minute left in overtime Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jack Johnson scored on a power play to lead the Kings past the New York Rangers by a score of 3-2. Johnson tallied the game winner after receiving a swift pass from the Kings newly acquired center Mike Richards.

The Kings started their 2011-2012 season overseas by facing the Rangers in Stockholm, Sweden on Friday. While the team wore their home jerseys, they were far from being the home team. The sold-out arena fully supported the Rangers mainly to support goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, a living legend in Sweden. While it may have been a home crowd for Lundqvist, he had to share the spotlight with a King.

Kings center Anze Kopitar put his team on the board first halfway through the first period and silenced any doubts about overcoming last season’s ankle injury. While in the Rangers’ zone, right-winger Justin Williams capitalized on a turnover and fed the puck to Kopitar, who rifled it past Lundqvist. Kopitar would continue on to play a solid two-way game with multiple chances and eventually snagging an assist in Johnson’s overtime goal. It appears the “Slovenian Superstar” is picking up right where he left off last season before his injury.

While the Kings dominated most of the first period, setting quite an impressive tempo for them compared to last season, the Rangers regrouped and tied the game five minutes after Kopitar scored. Rangers’ captain Ryan Callahan was able to cash in on a bad-angle shot, beating Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick who wasn’t square with his post.

Photo Via JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images

The second and third periods saw a much different game however as both coaches began the chess match of line-swapping. Both teams took to their strong defensive games until halfway through the third period, Marian Gaborik put the Rangers up 2-1 with a shot from just outside the crease. Richards would tie the game for the Kings with under five minutes left in regulation with a center-line drive that has only further excited Kings fans to see how he’ll fit in this season. He would earn his first goal and assist as a King in his first game as a King.

Johnson would earn the game-winning goal in overtime while on the power play. Rangers’ defenseman Ryan McDonagh opened the door for the Kings at a critical moment when he was called for holding. While the game winner was scored on the power play, the Kings still need to tweak their power play system. Going 1 for 4 on the power play seems to show signs of last season’s issue of having trouble with special teams scoring.

The Kings traveled to Berlin, Germany directly after the game in order for Saturday’s game. Awaiting the Kings in Berlin are Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres.

Chris Van Deusen
NHLHS Los Angeles Kings Correspondent
Twitter – @TheCrazyWhls

By Patrick Powell

On Friday, the Buffalo Sabres waived forward Ales Kotalik and defenseman Shaone Morrisonn. We have learned Monday evening that both players have cleared waivers, and that the club has assigned both players to AHL Rochester. Consequently, the Sabres have cut their salary cap liability for this season by over $5 million to $62.862 million, which is $1.438 million below the cap limit. The Sabres now have an active roster consisting of 13 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 2 goaltenders. They have 2 additional forwards and 1 additional goaltender still on their training camp roster.

Kotalik and Morrisonn were unsurprising casualties due to their high cap hits relative to their perceived values to the team.

Kotalik, a Sabres’ draft pick in 1998, reached his plateau (to date) in goals (25) and points (62) in the 2005-2006 campaign. Due to his inability to find the net consistently, Kotalik has made a complete circle back to the Sabres after being dealt to the Edmonton Oilers in 2009 and serving stints with the New York Rangers and Calgary Flames. Kotalik’s last action in the NHL came last season in which he tallied 4 times in 26 games.

Shaone Morrisonn was a first round draft pick of the Boston Bruins in 2001. He has played the bulk of his NHL career with the Washington Capitals. He is a prototypical stay-at-home defenseman who has developed a reputation as being defensively responsible. In his five full seasons with the Washington Capitals, Morrisonn was a plus player while typically drawing the assignments of number 1 offensive lines. Last season, he provided veteran leadership on the Sabres’ blue line. In 62 games, he tallied 5 points and played at a -2 clip. He played in 1 of the Sabres’ 7 playoff games last spring. With the emergence of youngsters Tyler Myers and Marc-Andre Gragnani on the Sabres’ blue line and the additions of veterans Robyn Regehr and Christian Ehrhoff (both of whom command healthy salaries), there was no room at the inn for Morrisonn.

Patrick Kaleta and Brad Boyes are the 2 roster players believed to be on the proverbial hot seat with Luke Adam and Matt Ellis playing well for the Sabres in camp thusfar. Boyes’ suspension, which will run the last 2 games of the pre-season, may hinder his opportunity to keep his roster spot.

Cross checks, high sticks, and general comments are always welcome on Twitter @Gordsie.

Defenseman Zach Bogosian has signed a 2 year/$5 million extension with the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets, who selected the Massena, NY native with the third overall selection in the 2008 draft, are looking for more production and better defensive play from the third year blue-liner. Bogosian gained acclaim and recognition for his play with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL. In his second season with the Petes, he recorded 61 points (50 assists) in 60 games. Importantly, he finished that 2007-2008 campaign with a healthy +8 rating. In two + seasons in the NHL with the Athlanta Thrashers (now the Winnipeg Jets), Bogosian is a disappointing -34. He put up 9 goals in his rookie campaign (in 47 games), 10 goals in 2009-2010, and 5 goals last season. The decline in goals and points is somewhat troubling for the Jets as Bogosian’s average power play time per game has risen in all 3 years in the NHL (1:07 to 1:39 to 1:58). In addition to his declining offense, Bogosian’s poor positional play and irresponsible pinching have caused blemishes on his resume. The Jets did not want to give up on their first round pick, but they hedged their bets by signing Bogosian to a short-term deal with a very manageable cap hit. In fairness, Bogosian may need to partner with a veteran, shutdown type defenseman. The best option on the Jets’ roster may be Mark Stuart, who played parts of 6 seasons with the Boston Bruins before joining the Jets’ organization in 2011. Ultimately, the Jets may need to develop a shutdown defenseman or acquire one via trade.

The Buffalo Sabres have invested long-term in their young blue liner, Tyler Myers. The 6’8” Houston, Texas native has recorded 85 points and has operated at a +13 in his first two seasons in the NHL. He added 6 points in 7 playoff contests this past spring. Myers is clearly the cornerstone of the future of the Buffalo Sabres, and his contract makes that completely evident. The 7 year/$38.5 million deal, which triggers in the 2012-2013 campaign, includes a $10 million signing bonus. The Sabres will still need to trim over $3 million from their current season cap liability. In regards to future cap management, the $5 million cap hit increase between the current and following seasons will be more than offset by five expiring contracts after the 2011-2012 season. Consequently though, the Sabres will need to replace 4 forwards and 1 defenseman by the start of the 2012-2013 season.

The Finnish Flash has returned to Southern California. Yes, late breaking news tonight is that Teemu Selanne has agreed to a 1 year/$4 million contract (which includes a full no movement clause per RDS’ Renaud Lavoie) with the Anaheim Ducks. The 41 year old Helsinki, Finland native is still playing at a high level. Last season, he scored 31 goals and added 49 assists. Selanne has indicated this will be his final season, so some clubs may plan farewell presentations/ceremonies for him. The Ducks are now about $7.3 million under the salary cap. Some of their fortunes may rest upon the health of their #1 goaltender, Jonas Hiller, who battled a head injury in the 2010-2011 season. They are a dynamic offense team which has struggled on the back end. They could be in the market for a veteran, checking center or a shutdown defenseman at the trade deadline.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie is reporting that there is an impasse is the contract talks between the Phoenix Coyotes and Kyle Turris.

You may reach the author with hip checks, blind side hits, and eye gouging on Twitter @Gordsie.

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By CzechAnada (Own work) [Public domain

Surprisingly, the now-defunct Atlanta Thrashers took Bogosian with the hopes of the 18-year-old jumping right into the lineup. Less of a surprise, he did, scoring 9 goals and 19 points in only 49 games, as he missed time with a broken leg. The next season, he was guaranteed to succeed but played hurt and finished with a disappointing 10 goals and 23 points through 81 games. We say disappointing due to the youngster barely eclipsing his rookie totals, but also because he scored 8 of those goals in the first 24 games of the year before falling completely off the map.

Bogosian teased Thrashers fans, but the potential seems there. There enough for the Winnipeg Jets to offer him a contract for two-years and $5 million, which naturally Bogosian ran to the bank to cash. Last season he managed to shock us all by regressing even further to 5 goals and 17 points through 71 games, riding the pine on occasion and rarely seeing offensive minutes. He played throw-away minutes for a team that knew it was out of contention with two months to go. Couple that with struggling attendance and Bogosian likely had a motivation problem — a common malfunction in young players. His potential, however, remains enough for the organization to believe in him for at least this season, re-signing the 21-year-old and in turn forcing the first domino to fall.

That news broke yesterday, but today we have much bigger news. News roughly 6’08″ and 222 lbs in the form of Tyler Myers. According to The Buffalo News, Myers signed a seven-year extension, worth $38.5 million today, making him the highest cap hit alongside his blue line brethren. Offensively speaking, he deserves a much higher contract than Bogosian, which fails to mention the role he actually plays for his team. His relative corsi, a statistic that measures his ability to push the puck up ice while on the ice against when a player is not on the ice, was a team-high 11.1. The newly-departed Chris Butler held the next highest total with 6.2 but he only played in 49 games last season due to offensive inconsistency.

To summarize: Myers earned a healthy raise because he deserved it and because he is miles ahead of Bogosian, who was the only comparable player from that draft year. Alex Pietrangelo won’t need a new contract for two more seasons, and while he assuredly deserves a raise, he will need to prove himself just as Myers did. The other two comparables, Schenn and Doughty, well… they don’t have contracts yet.

Schenn is confident a deal will get done, as reported by Bob Mitchell of The Star. The obvious question remains when, and what will the terms be? The rugged defender has the second-most games played to Doughty but is not even close in counting stats, ranking behind everyone except Pietrangelo. He should command a bit more than Bogosian due to the role he plays but certainly less than Myers, and miles behind the king’s ransom Doughty will require. His current cap hit sits at $2.975 million with most of that money coming from performance bonuses. Would $4 million be out of the question? Robyn Regehr and Brad Stuart, similar yet older players in a similar role make around that amount, so we would guess Schenn takes it to stay in blue and white.

By Resolute (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

Doughty should earn at the very least a $6.5 million cap hit but the terms have been the real sticking point. He probably would prefer to explore free agency in four years while GM Dean Lombardi would like to take at least one free agent season. Hey, even Sidney Crosby agreed to forgo one of his free agent seasons, well before young players signing long-term deals were the norm. Either Doughty caves in order to not hinder his development and takes part in training camp on time or Lombardi signs his young defender for whatever he can get. Judging by Doughty’s character, a hold out seems more than likely, especially with training camp starting less than two days away.

Nevertheless, the first domino has fallen. Schenn should be locked up soon with Doughty sure to follow, regardless of the term. History and the nature of the sport dictates these players will sign and play sooner rather than later, at a comparable rate.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at amonaghan at nhlhotstove dot com. You can also follow him on Twitter – @NHLHotStove

In June, natural gas tycoon Terry Pegula acquired the Buffalo Sabres. Pegula promptly promised his fans that the Sabres would be aggressive in the offseason. Following the expensive acquisitions of defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and forward Ville Leino, the Sabres’ faithful certainly cannot label Mr. Pegula as “stingy.” The Sabres’ roster currently consists of 14 forwards, 7 defenseman, and 2 goaltenders. Perfect, right? Pegula’s brain trust now needs to shed roughly $3.5 million in order to be in compliance with the 2011-2012 cap figure of $64.3 million.
In looking at the acquisitions, the Sabres are clearly trying to increase offensive productivity.

Ville Leino scored the overtime winner in Game 6 for the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Flyers unceremoniously routed the Sabres in Game 7, 5-2. In 81 games with the Flyers last season, Leino recorded 19 goals and 53 points in 81 games with a stout shooting percentage of 16.2%. The 27 year old native of Finland exploded for 21 points in 19 playoff games in the Flyers’ run to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2010 and added 5 points in 11 playoff contests (7 against the Sabres, 4 against Bruins) in the 2011 playoffs. Prior to his trade to the Flyers in 2010, Leino struggled to stay out of head coach Mike Babcock’s doghouse in Detroit. He put up 7 points in 42 games in the 2009-2010 campaign and operated at a -10. The knock on Leino has been his 190 pound frame and his inability to protect the puck. Leino displayed a determined attitude with hard drives to and around the net, particularly in the 2010 playoffs. Despite his point production, his detractors noted that he was much more rested than many of his playoff foes due to the fact that Leino dressed for only 13 regular season games for the Flyers to close out the 2010 season. Pegula is certainly paying a premium for a player who has yet to crack the 20 goal plateau in the NHL with a heavily front loaded 6 year, $27 million contract.

The Sabres made a splash prior to July 1st by procuring the rights to free agent defenseman Christian Ehrhoff from the New York Islanders (who had acquired Ehrhoff’s rights from the Vancouver Canucks 1 day prior). The 29 year old German native adds another offensively-gifted weapon to a Sabres’ blueline which already boasts the likes of veteran Robyn Regehr and youngsters Tyler Myers and Marc-Andre Gragnani (restricted free agent), who impressed in the 2011 playoffs. Ehrhoff battled through a shoulder injury in the 2011 playoffs and his defense suffered as he posted an abysmal -13 rating while collecting 12 points. In the 2010-2011 regular season, Ehrhoff tallied 50 points, a career high which tied him for 7th among defensemen. Ehrhoff should help the Sabres’ power play, which ranked 9th in efficiency last season with a 19.4% success rate.

Before being able to compete in the NHL in the 2011-2012 season, Pegula and his brain trust, led by general manager Darcy Regier, need to shed over $3.5 million of cap space. In recent weeks, there have been persistent rumors that the Vancouver Canucks are trying to acquire secondary scoring and have looked to the Sabres as a potential trade partner. Is the streaky Drew Stafford expendable with a cap hit of $4 million? Are the Canucks looking for a versatile, veteran forward like Jochen Hecht ($3.525 cap hit)? If the Canucks and Sabres were to complete a two team deal which would leave both teams cap compliant, the Canucks would need to make a secondary move as they are only $2.637 million under the cap. At any rate, Pegula’s spending has now put the Sabres in a position where they will probably need to shed the salary of a core forward.
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