X. Benedict

Overpay Smith? Overpay Ray Emery, Nabokov at 38 y.o., ? Enroth/Harding/Leggio is looking like a better option to me.

There is good news in the UFA market though. Pretty thin for goalies. Which helps Miller's value. http://www.capgeek.com/free-agents/?year_id=2013&team_id=-1&position_id=G&fa_type_id=2

Thanks. Was that so hard. This is the UFA's for Goalies: Johnson, Chad » G 26 PHX 4 247 2 2 0 1 1.21 .954 Emery, Ray » G 30 CHI 20 1,102 16 0 0 3 1.91 .923 Khudobin, Anton » G 26 BOS 13 764 8 1 0 1 2.20 .925 Backstrom, Niklas » G 35 MIN 38 2,170 22 3 0 2 2.49 .909 Boucher, Brian » G 36 PHI 4 144 0 0 0 0 2.50 .891 Nabokov, Evgeni » G 37 NYI 39 2,346 23 5 0 3 2.53 .909 Smith, Mike » G 31 PHX 31 1,773 14 4 0 5 2.57 .911 Labarbera, Jason » G 33 PHX 14 666 3 2 0 0 2.61 .922 Greiss, Thomas » G 27 SJS 5 250 1 0 0 1 2.64 .909 Khabibulin, N. » G 40 EDM 10 564 3 1 0 1 2.66 .919 Garon, Mathieu » G 35 TBL 18 910 5 2 0 0 2.90 .897 Montoya, Al » G 28 WIN 7 351 3 0 0 1 2.91 .899 Taylor, Danny » G 26 CGY 2 120 1 0 0 0 3.00 .912 Desjardins, C. » G 27 TBL 3 160 0 0 0 0 3.00 .890 Nilstorp, C. » G 29 DAL 5 291 1 1 0 0 3.09 .897 Ellis, Dan » G 32 CAR 16 809 4 1 0 1 3.19 .903 Theodore, Jose » G 36 FLA 15 766 4 3 0 0 3.29 .893 Irving, Leland » G 25 CGY 6 270 2 1 0 0 3.33 .883 Mason, Chris » G 37 NAS 9 348 1 1 0 0 3.79 .848 Danis, Yann » G 31 EDM 3 110 1 0 0 0 3.82 .881 Leighton, Michael » G 31 CLB 1 59 0 0 0 0 5.08 .808

I think he's right in the sense that Miller's played his last home game here. And it is quite a debasing end to a solid career here. I don't think he's right about a better use for $6 million next year. I don't really see who to invest in right away, not in cap trouble, thin UFA market for what the team needs.

C'mon, PA. Is this where conversation ends? Is this question really that hard to shape and give a thoughtful answer to: who do you want to play goalie? is he already in the organization, or do you shop? How much do you pay him? We'll have a long off-season if the level of conversation remains at "go look it up" (especially since I have no idea how to use the search function on here :) )

Aside: The Buffalo News has pretty much started Miller's wake. If so, I'm sad that it ended on such a poorly constructed team.

His answer is "anybody, dude." Don't expect much in terms of conversation on this one.

:lol:

Gerbe hustles. But he's a third liner that hasn't earned a shift to kill penalties and hasn't shown consistent scoring. The club needs to maximize that roster spot. If I'm shopping, I'm in the market for a more versatile veteran upgrade.

He is strong on his skates and though not blazing fast, he's no slower with the puck on his stick. He can't play in Rochester until the NHL season is over as per the agreement with the CHL. (check that...his CHL season is over) His salary is prorated for the time he's on the NHL roster.

I agree. A player has to be smart to play his game. He almost never takes a minor by himself. He's remarkably disciplined in some ways. Which makes him all the more hated.

Vanek and Roy for sure....I was referring to this year. Oh, I thought they were moving this off-season. My bad.

He strikes me as analytic. Measured. Sincere. Honest. But this is just the point: I don't care about my goaltender's personality to begin with. It has nothing to do with his play. He's a goalie (they are all from Xexeon 12 in the Rooflax nebula). Only in Buffalo can a goaltender's comments send an entire city into mass ennui. That's probably why he's never been loved. He's part of the Buffalo brand and Buffalo has never been comfortable with its own brand. But it is a matter that I think is independent of his play.

A change of scenery would probably help Stafford. I think he just might be exhibit A in why you can't build a roster from the outside in. I don't think Stafford has been on a line that has made any long term sense to me either. Maybe he'd like to play in Brooklyn next year with John Tavares. No doubt he's looked at Boyes' revived production.

What's wrong with a cocky goaltender? Barrasso was cocky. I'm not sure if he ever admitted he misread a play until his late 30's. Hasek was always two minutes away from flipping out. So what? I'm not sure anyone would ever describe Patrick Roy as a great teammate. So what? If your goalie"s personality is a team weakness (which I don't really believe), your team has a roster problem, not a goalie problem.

I'm old school this way. Your goaltenders personality should never effect your teams attitude. All goalies are nuts. They stop vulcanized rubber. There is fundamentally something wrong with them. :lol: all of them. Why Miller talks to reporters is a mystery to me. Why he would ever answer a question that begins "Do you remind yourself of Patrick Roy?" is also a mystery to me. Why he would ever answer a question that begins "What do you think of fans booing you?" But he makes good copy. Do teammates care about comments to the press? I don't really think so. Besides, he's a goalie. His teammates all secretly think of him as an autistic brother. Enroth too.

I would reconsider. This is how I see it: your goaltender is part of your defense. Not the only part, but part. But if your goaltender is in position and has read the play....and it goes off a skate, The guy with the skate raises his hand. Every-time. (not exclusive to Miller). Ugly goals are part of hockey. The third goal was bad. The fourth goal was a hard won goal. You could blame Miller. I guess I always thought a goalie can give up goals and still play a great game. I have some empathy for Enroth coming off the bench cold...but I would say the #5 was on him, mishandled, #6 misread, #7 can't blame him, breakaway, #8 real Mr. Softie ice-cream special. I think that's how most players would see it too.

You blame the first two on Miller? Really?

I remember for years thinking, if only Andre Savard tried to catch it. I

The third goal was his fault. Bad goal. The rest weren't really weren't on Miller, but they do happen to every team, just usually not seconds apart. And luck always plays a role. One day of weather doesn't prove or disprove global warming. Enroth and Miller have had a really good month until last night. Enroth has earned more starts. It was a nice trend. The result was embarrassing. The third goal was f'ing embarrassing. But the problem with this roster is not goal-tending. Players are human. Fan and Miller relations are probably at an all time low. But, hey, he did let in one really really really bad goal. 2 scored by teammates :( , and one that is just good hockey. That's how i see it. That's how I would see it if anyone was in net.

I'm not debating Lindy, are you? I'm assuming Miller's gone. (if not this summer then soon) And I'm wondering how you replace 60 games a year at a comparable level. The answer so far seems to be anybody will do because that guy is easy to find.

Brad Park. I still feel that one. I can still see it. I still think if they pulled that game out they would have beaten the Islanders. And won the cup.

So anybody is better than Miller. But specifically Enroth. My worry, and It is just my own, is that over 50 games a year Enroth's numbers would slide dramatically. He just doesn't cover that much net. I like Enroth, but I'm slow to impress as far as goalies go. Of course you never know that until you play him that many. Most likely, he doesn't stand up to that schedule for very long. That isn't a slight on Enroth, those are just how I see the odds.

Funny. I thought it was obvious. I would err more on the side of fickle and abuse. I don't listen to radio much but when I've tuned in the Miller isn't worth it topic has been the default topic for the last 5 years, probably the last 5 years on this forum as well. His support has never been that deep despite his contributions. Some accolades of course, and some true adoring fans (are there any here?), but I would say on the continuum: fickle and abuse has been the norm. He's hardly been loved like many of Buffalo's stars in the past. His sin is that he's very good, and not a mutant freak savant like Hasek.

The drive to draft 12th!!