LGR4GM, on 28 February 2012 - 01:38 AM, said:
Well after editing it down a bit and leaving the bolded part for the end...
I would guess that McNabb may be odd man out to start the season and then work his way in from their. Weber has settled his game down nicely and is playing the best hockey of his career right now. Whether or not that translates to next season who knows but if he is our 6th or 7th its better than MAG being here still.
I think as far as the rest of the defense goes, we do have several #2 and a couple #3 dmen and that imho equates to a #1 guy. Myers, Ehrhoff, and Regehr are #2 guys in my book. Myers needs to show up at the beginning of the year next year though instead of the end. Sekera has quietly been having a very solid season. He goes out, does his job, and comes off. No complaints with his game really. Leo and Weber both bring different things but have good qualities as well.
Now as for the bolded part... That sentence makes absolutely no sense and I will explain why I believe that. Darcy for all his faults is not an idiot. He traded Kassian for Hodgson so that Hodgson would be our #1 center long term. Going out now to acquire that is counter productive because in Darcy's mind that guy is on the team now. As long as Ennis continues his truly amazing play at center than I see no reason at this current moment in time to waste money on a center except to fill the void on the 4th line. The offseason should be used to acquire a bit of grit (Dustin Brown would be nice) but acquiring a #1 center for long term was just accomplished even if we have to wait 2-3 years for him to become that. I say this because I personally think that is how regier views the situation.
On a side note a was reading some of the other posts and just so everyone is aware Tyler Ennis and Pat Kaleta are RFA's and with 57million already tied up in players for next season it will take probably around 4-5mil to resign them both. Adding in Adam and Tropp/Foligno (hopefully) as replacements for Boyes and Goose leaves you roughly with about 2-3million in cap space + whatever the cap goes up by... this means Parise is not in the cards unless we trade something else away. Also Brown (or a player like him) is not in the cards unless the cap goes up enough or we again trade something away. Food for thought.
My Roster for 2012-2013
Vanek - Hodgson - Pommers
Leino - Ennis - Stafford
Gerbe - Roy - Tropp?
Ellis/Foligno - Adam/McCormick - Kaleta
Myers, Ehrhoff, Regehr
Sekera, Leopold, Weber
McNabb
Miller - Enroth
1st off, there is no ###### way it will cost $5MM to bring Kaleta and Ennis back into the fold next year. (It won't cost $4MM either. Try more like $3MM or slightly less.)
2nd, it makes no sense to bring McNabb up at the beginning of the year to have him sit in the stands. It does make sense to put him there later in the year when he has the inevitable mid-year rookie slump.
3rdI haven't seen enough of Hodgson to state where he tops out at, but most of what I have read has him at #2 LT. It is premature to pencil in a rookie at #1 for the LT, and it would also be premature to assume that Ennis will top out at a #1 or #2 as a center based on less than 20 games at the spot.
I hope one of those 2 can grow into the #1 spot and be a true #1. Simply being the best center on this roster does not make a player a #1 center. I expect the odds are greater that they'll be #2's. (And the B's have shown that if you have enough #2's, you don't need a true #1.)
And, you are going out on a limb stating that Hodgson will be THE #1. If you are automatically giving Hodgson the #1 slot in 2 years because Regier brought him in to be that guy, don't you have to wait for Leino to stop running that spot (as that's what he was brought in to do)? Even if he was brought in for that role, recent history with Timmy, Derek, and Ville indicate that Regier has left something to be desired in way of finding and landing a true #1. The Canucks have a plethora of centers and wanted a tough wing to complement those centers. The Sabres, while having a dearth of tough top 2 line wings, have a glut of 2nd line wingers and have very little in the way of centers. If Hodgson can be a solid #2, unless Kassian grows into being either a Lucic (or worse a Neely), the Sabres will have at minimum broke even on the deal. The league (and the AHL and Europe and beer leagues all over North America) is littered with guys that were Calder Trophy contenders and then couldn't advance their game the way their fellow rookies improved. I hope he does grow into a formidible #1, but it sounds like he more likely will be a more than servicable #2 that can fill in for a stretch. And, as long as Roy is on the roster, I want to see a 1st line center on this roster that can take the 'leadership' role away from Derek. Ennis can't do that, and most likely neither can a slow footed rookie.