I advocated for the Sabres to walk away from either Lydman or Tallinder or both if the players were unwilling to sign a contract with a term of just one or two years. I expected that both would insist upon longer deals considering the point they’ve each reached in their careers and so I expected, as many others did, that both would sign elsewhere. Honestly, I’m glad because I don’t think either player is talented enough to build a championship team around and that’s essentially what a team like the Sabres would be admitting if they re-signed a player like Lydman or Tallinder, both past the age of thirty, to a three or four year contract.
I’m not assuming for a second that either player will be easy to replace. They both logged a ton of minutes and were a big part of the Sabres exceptional penalty killing unit. But the 2009-2010 Sabres defensive unit was not a complete group. They were below average shooters and below average puck movers and no two players greater epitomized that collective stigma than Lydman and Tallinder.
Leopold should provide an improvement in both areas. But his addition should prove a regression in others. How effective Leopold is away from the puck, a strength of both Lydman and Tallinder, is a major question mark. As much as we all like to gawk over the scoring numbers, a defensemen’s greatest responsibility is to help prevent pucks from going in his own net. This is the skill that’s most commonly under-appreciated by the fans of hockey: defending away from the puck. The Sabres very well could find themselves in the position of having to depend on Ryan Miller even more next year.
I doubt if many will but I think Sabres fans can look back on the tenures of Tallinder and Lydman favorably. Despite the moments and, in Tallinder’s case, long periods of poor play, both gave the Sabres good value considering their individual cap hits. They were part of the foundation of the Sabres for many years and because of that, it feels a little strange to see them leave. They would have been smart players to invest in but I like to think the Sabres knew what they were getting with either at this juncture in their careers. They’re mid-level professionals. The future of Butler, Sekera, and Weber is still uncertain but each has at the very least a hint of promise that suggests their contribution could far exceed that of Tallinder and Lydman’s in both the short and long term. It’s always prudent to give younger players a chance to show what they’re capable of in more prominent roles.
The bottom line is of course that they have a lot of promising prospects who’s future is unknown and not enough elite professionals capable of consistently outperforming the competition, especially in the forward position. Miller is elite. Myers had an elite level season. Vanek could be elite in the right circumstances. That’s about it though and that’s clearly not enough.
I’m not at all worried that the Sabres have not yet drastically improved their roster less than one week out from the start of the free agency period. I can’t really emphasize that enough. Elite players seldom become unrestricted free agents and if they do the competition to sign these players drives their price tags skyward, diluting the value and elevating the risk associated with the contract. The free agency period seems most ideally suited for teams that already have a few elite players to build around and who are looking to fill in a roster gap, short-term, as Anaheim did when they signed Lydman. As has historically been the case with the Sabres under Darcy Regier’s management, roster moves are most likely to come in the form of trades.
I don’t want to go as far as to say which players I think the Sabres should trade away or for whom I think they should trade for. That’s not the aim of this post.
I do want to make note however that the Sabres have a lot of room in cap space even after they presumably sign Tim Kennedy and Pat Kaleta. They’re also in the middle of a brief window in which the Sabres have a decent look at a championship in my opinion. They have a goaltender in the prime of his career that’s demonstrated an ability to elevate his play to match an exceptionally meaningful game or series of games. It’s worth the risk to flip a couple prospects in order to take on players that would improve the roster and have an impact for the next three to four years. This isn’t a call to mortgage the future competitiveness of this franchise in order to acquire a talent that ranks in the top 10 in his position. Those players are, for the most part, unavailable but a player that seems to be on the verge of having a break through season, those players can be extracted from a team for an even swap in assets.
It’s a long summer but the Sabres have some important personnel choices to make like where or from whom they plan on getting more consistent offensive production from and who they expect to shoot the puck from the point on the powerplay.
As long as Tim Connolly, Jason Pominville, Derek Roy, and Thomas Vanek are on this team, they will be amongst the group of six forwards relied upon most to score goals. Removing one of them just for the sake of doing so is not an improvement unless it’s for a player capable of matching or exceeding their production. The real question is who joins them? Hecht, Stafford, Kennedy and Ennis are all possibilities but if it’s Hecht and Stafford, how can anyone be expected to call that progress? Is Drew Stafford even in the Sabres short-term plans anymore?
Moreover, is Tyler Myers the guy the Sabres want shooting the puck on the powerplay? It’s an important question. I don’t think he’s capable of filling that role right now. He was inadequate last year. Myers is a puck carrier; he can handle it from anywhere on the ice but I’m not sure his shot is ideal for the powerplay yet. I feel similar about Sekera’s potential to lead the powerplay. Neither have a particularly quick release or a very hard shot.
If the Sabres fail to address their two most pertinent flaws, it will be a mistake given the financial room they have to work with under the salary cap. Progress progress progress — that’s what the off-season is about. Progress in the short-term or the long-term is what every team is debating when altering their roster. For most, it’s a balancing act. For the Sabres, it’s always been that way and it understandably frustrates a lot of fans. The Sabres have some dependable players to build a championship team around now but in order to take the next step forward they must part with some players they’ve included in their long-term plans. Fortunately, it seems like they have enough depth at the amateur level where a transaction or two like this makes sense. Whether or not they’ll execute is a point of contention that separates the hopefuls from the haters.