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Straighten Me Out: Ehrhoff


Stormin Norman

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The Sabres can't just have a team of 18-22 year olds three years from now, unless they want to be the Edmonton of the Great Lakes.

 

Of course not. It's just that the veterans won't be the same ones playing for us now.

The slogan for the 2013-14 season is "it all must go."

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Of course not. It's just that the veterans won't be the same ones playing for us now.

The slogan for the 2013-14 season is "it all must go."

 

Not really arguing, but why? He's a pretty good defenseman in a good contract. Why do they need more picks and prospects? When they lose the lottery in 2015, whoever wins it is not going to give them McDavid for all the tea in China -- so what's the point of this war chest?

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The Sabres can't just have a team of 18-22 year olds three years from now, unless they want to be the Edmonton of the Great Lakes.

I agree which is why I haven't posted it yet and am still trying to decide what I would do with Ehrhoff, among others.

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Not really arguing, but why? He's a pretty good defenseman in a good contract. Why do they need more picks and prospects? When they lose the lottery in 2015, whoever wins it is not going to give them McDavid for all the tea in China -- so what's the point of this war chest?

McDavid may be the Holy Grail, but he's not the only good hockey player available.

Whether you or I agree, the Sabres' plan for this year and next is simple: stripping the organization to acquire as much elite young talent as possible.

Trading Ehrhoff furthers that goal, keeping him does not.

 

Vanek, Miller, Ott, Ehrhoff, Moulson — any veteran with value will be sold to the highest bidder.

Stafford, Kaleta, McCormick, Tallinder and Leino will be gone too if they can find any takers.

They are burning it all down.

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McDavid may be the Holy Grail, but he's not the only good hockey player available.

Whether you or I agree, the Sabres' plan for this year and next is simple: stripping the organization to acquire as much elite young talent as possible.

Trading Ehrhoff furthers that goal, keeping him does not.

 

Vanek, Miller, Ott, Ehrhoff, Moulson — any veteran with value will be sold to the highest bidder.

Stafford, Kaleta, McCormick, Tallinder and Leino will be gone too if they can find any takers.

They are burning it all down.

 

But what are they going to get for Ehrhoff? The 21st pick in the 1st round plus a 2nd-rounder and/or a good prospect? Those picks don't get you elite young talent -- it gets you a player who MIGHT be as good as Ehrhoff in 5 years.

 

You could certainly be right about the plan, but I guess I haven't seen any indication that they are planning on completely burning it to the ground. Trading the upcoming UFAs isn't the same as trading good players who are under contract.

 

Ah, what's the use? My heart isn't in it anyway.

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But what are they going to get for Ehrhoff? The 21st pick in the 1st round plus a 2nd-rounder and/or a good prospect? Those picks don't get you elite young talent -- it gets you a player who MIGHT be as good as Ehrhoff in 5 years.

 

You could certainly be right about the plan, but I guess I haven't seen any indication that they are planning on completely burning it to the ground. Trading the upcoming UFAs isn't the same as trading good players who are under contract.

 

Ah, what's the use? My heart isn't in it anyway.

 

I'd say you try to leverage Ehrhoff into a young roster player (i.e. a Hodgson type), or take the 21 and package it with Islanders pick for pick eight, or...

The player may never be as good as Ehrhoff is now, but five years from now chances are he will be doing more for the Sabres than Ehrhoff will.

 

Total teardown plan is the only way you can justify this year's Sabres.

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Ehrhoff is awesome, mentally checked-out or not. Keeping in mind that the Sabres are the worst possession team in the league (39.6 Fenwick-for % at even strength in close games), consider the following:

 

-Ehrhoff's on-ice Corsi is -1.68, second on the team (behind Larsson's 1.22) and best of all defensemen by ~4 shot attempts.

-Ehrhoff's relative Corsi is 18.9, best on the entire team. Next highest? Larsson at 17.4, then Pysyk at 12.7...then it drops to single digits.

-Ehrhoff's offensive zone starting percentage is 47.2, and finishing percentage is 52.2. He's driving play from our end to the opposition's end...only Myers and Pysyk have lower OZ starting percentages

-Among defensemen, only Myers and Ristolainen are facing stronger competition (...I sincerely hope Risto facing such strong competition is a result of opponent line-matching and not by Rolston's choice)

-The team's SH% while Ehrhoff is on the ice is 8.28, tops among defensemen and 3rd on the team (excluding Moulson)

-The team's SV% while Ehrhoff is on the ice is .916...4th among defensemen...the only real knock against him

-His PDO is 999, meaning we shouldn't expect any precipitous dropoff in on-ice SH% or SV%...aka what he's doing is sustainable

 

Seriously, what he's doing is pretty spectacular considering the garbage around him.

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Well, just to liven things up a bit, I am going to predict that Ehrhoff will NOT be traded. Key reason: DR has stated many times that it is difficult for the Sabres to bring in good veteran players under contract. I think he values the "under contract" part sufficiently highly such that he won't want to trade Ehrhoff.

 

Of course, I also predicted that the Sabres would make the playoffs this year.

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Awful passer, including the breakout pass. Panzy in front of the net. I don't see his value at all. Can't wait to watch this next 7 seasons. Ugh. Nice work, Darcy. You, too, Pegula.

 

How many times am I going to have to repeat this: until the forward corps on this team is improved, Ehrhoff is going to look like crap. He's our best offensive defenseman since Brian Campbell.

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Well, just to liven things up a bit, I am going to predict that Ehrhoff will NOT be traded. Key reason: DR has stated many times that it is difficult for the Sabres to bring in good veteran players under contract. I think he values the "under contract" part sufficiently highly such that he won't want to trade Ehrhoff.

 

Of course, I also predicted that the Sabres would make the playoffs this year.

 

I'm inclined to agree. Another consideration I don't think has been brought up: if he gets traded and subsequently retires a year or two early, wouldn't we get *crushed* by cap recapture since we'd have gotten the full benefit of the front-loaded deal?

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How many times am I going to have to repeat this: until the forward corps on this team is improved, Ehrhoff is going to look like crap. He's our best offensive defenseman since Brian Campbell.

 

Can't agree more ... Ehrhoff spends 90% of his 24:30 average TOI helping clean up the mess left by lazy forwards who can't get the puck out of their zone. A plus/minus of -1 on this team probably equates to +10 on Pittsburgh. And maybe his shots from the point are getting blocked more because the forwards can't seem to send a crisp pass back to him to at the point.

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Well, just to liven things up a bit, I am going to predict that Ehrhoff will NOT be traded. Key reason: DR has stated many times that it is difficult for the Sabres to bring in good veteran players under contract. I think he values the "under contract" part sufficiently highly such that he won't want to trade Ehrhoff.

 

Of course, I also predicted that the Sabres would make the playoffs this year.

 

Hope you are right.

Surprised at how effective he has been despite the lack of talent around him, or obvious motivation.

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Can't agree more ... Ehrhoff spends 90% of his 24:30 average TOI helping clean up the mess left by lazy forwards who can't get the puck out of their zone. A plus/minus of -1 on this team probably equates to +10 on Pittsburgh. And maybe his shots from the point are getting blocked more because the forwards can't seem to send a crisp pass back to him to at the point.

 

It has more to do with the fact that our forwards aren't scaring anyone, therefore not drawing coverage, which would take pressure off the point and open up shooting lanes.

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How many times am I going to have to repeat this: until the forward corps on this team is improved, Ehrhoff is going to look like crap. He's our best offensive defenseman since Brian Campbell.

I believe he will follow in Soupy's footsteps.... I personally feel he nets the best return in a trade..... but i do agree he is the best d man on the squad
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I believe he will follow in Soupy's footsteps.... I personally feel he nets the best return in a trade..... but i do agree he is the best d man on the squad

 

I hope he doesn't go the way of Campbell. For all the abuse he took, Brian was a good player. I'd like to not make the same mistake again.

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