Opinion 6
Sabres believe in the blue Line
Lost in all my blogging this week was that the Sabres actually made some player signings. The Sabres locked in defenseman Andrej Sekera and left winger Clarke MacCarthur to new contracts. The MacCarthur deal is a 1-year deal worth a reported 1.4 million dollars, while the Sekera deal is 2-year deal worth 2 million.
The interesting part of the dealings has to be the Sekera signing. We all knew it was bound to happen, but the sabres are now knee deep in defenseman (and s$#t). The Sabres defenseman from last year were Sekera, Tallinder, Rivet, Lydman, Butler, and Paetsch (Teppo is FA), with the team normally playing 6 a night. Now you have the signing of Montador. Now we have 7 D-men. Add in Mike Webber and Tyler Myers and you got 9.
I guess Lindy Ruff is taking a page out of Dick Jauron’s playbook by signing and drafting an abundance of players from his old position from his playing days. But what are the Sabres to do if opening night comes and they still have all 9 defenseman? I believe in the notion of baptism by fire. Play the young guys and let them learn from their mistakes. Sometimes coaches in sports get so worried about their young players psyche that you think they were teaching kids. These players are adults. Let them learn in the NHL. We already know what we got with Lydman and Tallinder, which isn’t much and more importantly they have peaked. So lets get these young guys that Darcy and MulliQuinn have been building up and telling the public that FA doesn’t matter because we got the goods in minors. Trade Lydman or Tallinder right now. If this team is as good at drafting and developing as they say they are, then they should welcome whatever prospects or picks they get for the duo.
This organization makes the process of going from the minors to the NHL seem slower then developing the waterfront. I’m sick of waiting for 6 years to see what we have in a player. McCarthur for instance was drafted in 2003 and I still don’t know what type of player the Sabres have in him. Daniel Paille same thing (2oo2). It’s time for the team to go with the youth moment. Colts QB, Payton Manning once said that the best thing for his career was that he was able to start every single game as a rookie and learn from his mistakes. The Sabres need to start reading up on history of other young players, because those who don’t read history are doomed to repeat it.
-Joe-
“The Sabres are 17-21-3 when Lindy Ruff eats chicken and wears a green tie”
-Harry Neale-
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