Tag: buffalo sabres

Ryan Miller Changes The Blues Outlook

· Leave a comment ·

hi-res-453667981-ryan-miller-of-the-buffalo-sabres-skates-off-the-ice-in_crop_northIn the immortal words of The Joker, Ryan Miller coming to the St. Louis Blues tonight in a blockbuster trade with the Buffalo Sabres changes things. A team that had the best win percentage in the league and ranked in the top five in goals per game, goals allowed per game, penalty kill and power play efficiency still had a small leak. Their goaltenders produced a save percentage that ranked 17th in the NHL. Sure, Wednesday night, Jaro Halak made 34 saves in a 1-0 loss on the road in Vancouver. However, that doesn’t mean there was consistency there or an ability to take over a series of games in net. In short, the Blues had a need that wasn’t glaring but utterly apparent from a short distance, so general manager Doug Armstrong made a move and pushed this team into Stanley Cup contention.

Blues fans have been frustrated by a strong regular season team the past few seasons but one that couldn’t excel in the playoffs. The last two times the Blues made it into the playoffs, they ran into a goaltender in Kings’ stopper Jonathan Quick who was a lot better than their guy. With no hard smack to the likes of Brian Elliot or Halak, they will never be Quick and that was the mountain the team could not climb. Halak and Elliot were serviceable goaltenders alone and strong as a duo but in order to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, a team needs one man in net who can be spectacular at any given moment. With this trade, Armstrong is telling his team, “Here is your guy, so please go win one for this city now”. The expectations have officially gone through the roof now. As I noted earlier, things have changed for the St. Louis Blues. That is the nature of the business of pro sports. One night you call a man a teammate. The next he is shipped to another team for a player who hopefully makes you a better team.

The official deal looks like this. Miller and Steve Ott come to the Blues in exchange for Chris Stewart, Halak, prospect William Carrier, a first round pick in 2015 and a third round pick in 2016. It’s a very good deal. Stewart, except for a few games in December, has been a huge disappointment for the Blues this season. A guy wearing the jersey because he can score and provide tenacity has done very little this year in terms of mere production. Carrier doesn’t rank too high on the upcoming depth chart train and the two draft picks aren’t easily offered but stand as unknown quantities at this current juncture.

Ott is a solid grinder, a 31 year old former first round draft pick and center who served as Captain of the Sabres and will provide more punch to the Blues depth. He isn’t going to light up the lamp but that wasn’t the Blues particular need. Once again. The Blues can score goals. They have maintained a goals per game average that ranked at the top of the NHL and have a lot of young talent. Ott is a guy who will give it all every single night and is a player other teams and their fanbases love to hate. Just ask Blues fans before 6 p.m. this evening how they felt about him. He will help this team currently struggling with injuries to key players.

(more…)

Is Ryan Miller Worth The Squeeze?

· 2 Comments ·

It is that time of year where NHL trade rumors hit the highway and start to move at remarkable speeds, confounding fans and whipping teams’ faithful units into agitated frenzies.  Some say it’s good for fans to mix it up in the heat of the battle while others complain about blood pressures hitting the roof.   I prefer to observe, show restraint and wait  for the actual suits to make things happen.   With that said, I think we can still circle the situation and present our take.  Being faithful supporters of the St. Louis Blues, we owe ourselves that much.  So let’s look at it.

The million dollar question is quite simple.   Do the St. Louis Blues need to make a serious play for Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller?  The two parties have circled each imageedit_1_8180860284other like attractive parties at a ballroom dance session for years, so the hype isn’t premature.  Buffalo and St. Louis have talked about this before and part of me suggests Doug Armstrong had played out many scenarios in his head of how this could go down.  Let me weigh in here with my decent amount of knowledge on hockey and the Blues needs.

First, let me state that I am not completely for the deal or entirely against it.   I stand in the middle, contemplating each play here as the days pass.   My belief is that Jaro Halak and Brian Elliot are each pretty good goaltenders and make a solid duo but may not be able to stand alone during a time of need.   Neither has shown over a decent amount of time that they can handle the #1 job but have very solid stats to back up their cases.   If I had to choose one for the playoff run, I would stand with Halak.  It can’t be forgotten what he did in Montreal in 2010 during the playoffs.  He earned the 4 year deal with the Blues by playing that well in place of Carey Price.   Elliot can play well for a certain period of time but has come up short in back to back playoff appearances against the Blues new nemesis, the Los Angeles Kings.  Part of that was a result of overall team letdown, but Elliot self destructed when the rest of the team needed him to stand on his head.

The Blues also have a hot rookie waiting down with the Chicago Wolves, in Jake Allen.   About this time last year, Halak went down with an injury and Elliot self destructed during the season and Allen stepped into the net for the Blues.  For the better part of February, Allen was amazing in net, showing the hunger and ability that created the possibility that the Blues had in their own system a true #1 goaltender.

Allen is the biggest reason I think Ryan Miller isn’t needed.  I can see Halak or Elliot being moved before the deadline for talent, but I am not sure we need another goaltender.  If you have two pretty good goalies on your roster and another potential franchise stopper in your minor league system who got a taste of NHL action last season, why trade away valuable pieces for Miller?   Buffalo isn’t going to hand their premiere goalie away without prying draft picks, good established players and possibly the IMOS Pizza franchise from St. Louis.  In the immortal words of Timothy Olyphant in the underrated film Girl Next Door, “Is the juice worth the squeeze” here?

(more…)