DON’T GET ME STARTED saw the Sabres slipping a salute to its goaltender, Ryan Miller to the tune of a reported $6.25 million a year for the next five years. That’s a total of $31.25 million and, as everyone knows, that’s guaranteed.
Let’s see now….in two players, Miller and Thomas Vanek, the Sabres will be shelling out over $16 million a year for the next five years. Miller’s extension will go through the 2013-2014 season.
The Sabres were boxed in. First with Vanek, the box was open when they matched a $10 mill per year offer to Vanek. That was when they lost Chris Drury and Thomas Vanek. The box got tighter when they didn’t sign Brian Campbell when they had the chance to do so. That meant that the only really “Name” player was Miller. They doled out a lot.
Darcy Regier, reportedly was quoted as saying that Miller has established himself as one of the top young goaltenders.”
Let’s see now, with Buffalo failing to make the playoffs…..surfing the stats on the web, Miller finished the season with a record of 36 wins; 27 losses; and 10 overtime losses. He wound up with a 2.64 goals against average and a .906 save percentage.
Based on statistics, Miller was 24th in the NHL in goalie statistics based on his goals against average of 2.64 with his save % in the same area. That warrants $6.25 per year.
Simply put, the Sabres knew they couldn’t let Miller go following the departure of Campbell with the other stars. They feel that they need to retain Miller for marketing purposes and hope that he will rebound from the latter part of last season when some soft goals and shootout losses contributed to the Sabres being edged out of the 8th spot in the playoffs.
Certainly, it will be interesting to see who will pick up Campbell’s puck carrying talents this season. No matter who the goalie – without solid defensive play, the goalie may be at the mercy of the NHL’s sharpshooters.
In a radio interview, Regier was also hopeful that players like Tallinder; Lydman; and Connolly will rebound from sub-par seasons and help the team mount a drive toward a playoff berth this season. Regier also indicated that Teppo Numminen would be welcomed back. Fans rewarded the organization with a 97% season renewal rate for this coming season. Another exit from the playoffs certainly might affect next year’s total.
Next on tap for the Sabres will be Jason Pominville.
In the meantime, fans seem to be a little irked that the new NHL schedule will NOT have Patrick Kane and Brian Campbell visiting Buffalo. The Blackhawks will host the Sabres in the middle of January.
So it looks as if the Sabres players are in place and what you see is what you get. Fans are hopeful that it will be enough on Don’t Get Me Started.
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