Tyler Myers: Player Profile

2010-11 Regular Season stats:

2011 Postseason stats:

Career:

Look Back: After starting the season with the proverbial ‘sophomore slump,’ Tyler Myers continued his evolution into what fans hope is a world class defenseman.  Myers played in 80 games in 2010-2011.  He only ended even in +/- but started the season -13 and was able to improve upon that down the stretch.  Playing most of the second half of the season with Chris Butler, Myers developed an edge to his game.  In the playoff series against the Flyers he was routinely there to clean up the crease in front of Ryan Miller and delivered some of the biggest hits in the postseason.  Half of his ten goals were game- winners for the Sabres and he led all defense in points in the regular season and was second on the team in playoff points.

Look Ahead: Although his aggression in the playoffs at times hurt the team (16 PIM and -4 rating), the evolution of an edge to his game will be crucial for Myers.  At 21 and still growing into his body, it appears that he has every opportunity to fit the mold for the Sabres the way players like Zdeno Chara, Scott Stevens, Darien Hatcher and others have for their teams.  The plan appears to be for the Sabres to acquire a legitimate, top-two defenseman this offseason to pair with Myers, eventually evolving into a top flight shutdown pair.  Myers is easily one of, if not the cornerstone players this team is going to use to build around.  He and Tyler Ennis are both RFAs after the 2011-12 season, and I would fully expect that the front office will do everything to secure that deal as soon as possible.

Fake Darcy’s Take: Someone needs to piss in this kid’s Corn Flakes. If he developed a mean streak, he’d be a monster. He is our future Captain; we’re just waiting for him to grow into the part. He fell to us at #12 in the 2008 Draft and I couldn’t get his name to the podium quick enough. He loves Twizzlers.