Sabres Sign Center Rob Niedermayer
by Andy Boron on Jul 7, 2010 12:48 PM EDT
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PrintFlash back to the summer of 2009. July 1, and Buffalonians are clamoring for help on the blue line since Jaroslav Spacek looks to be headed out of town. GM Darcy Regier responds by signing...Steve Montador? Ok, not the guy you wanted, but solid nonetheless. Some time passes without any news from HSBC, and everyone starts to get antsy. Bloggers, fans and columnists call for Darcy's head for not signing their guy, and stormclouds build over the Sabres season. Then, a ray of light pierces the clouds - the return of fan favorite Mike Grier. A tough, two-way veteran to anchor the bottom six.
And that's where we ended up at the start of the season. The two free agent acquisitions were a solid-but-unspectacular defenseman, and an aging veteran forward looking to bring some leadership and experience to Buffalo. Fast forward to the summer of 2010 and what do we have so far? Another solid-but-unspectacular defenseman and another aging veteran forward who should bring some leadership and toughness to the bottom six. It may be uncreative, but it worked last off-season pretty well. Let's take a look at the newest and hardest-to-spell Sabre, Rob Niedermayer, after the break.
Many of you might remember Rob Niedermyer as the Stanley Cup winner from the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. As Eric from 3rd Man In stated on Twitter, the 35-year old Niedermayer now has more Cup rings than the rest of the team combined. He has been to the Finals a total of three times, twice with Anaheim and once with Florida.
His stats are fairly pedestrian, as he's never been a huge points guy - his career high was 61 points all the way back in 1995-96. He can put in goals, having been a 20-goal scorer in the past, but usually settles in around 10-15. Niedermayer's strength comes from his toughness and leadership. He's a pretty big boy at 6-2, knows how to use his body, and will anchor one of Buffalo's bottom two lines, most likely the third with Gaustad centering the fourth - however, he's versatile enough to play either wing if necessary.
As Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com pointed out, Niedermayer chose Buffalo over both Pittsburgh and Edmonton, his hometown. His contract is for one year at $1.150 million with playoff bonuses, according to TSN's Darren Dreger. So Sabres fans, what do you think of the team's newest addition- like it, hate it, or somewhere in the middle?
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Im a fan of it.
Its almost exactly what we needed… a 3rd line center, with leadership, rings, versitle, battle tested. Not a flashy signing by any means… but a solid one.
DO, if you were going to play with the lines, who do you see playing on the wings with him?
Old school Bills tattoo [ √ ] Old school Sabres tattoo [ √ ] ... see the avatar.
Lets Go Buffalo!!
Wow
I spend a couple of hours in the car and find out this happened. I like the move a lot.
I would play him with Kennedy and Grier on the third line, although I reserve the right to change my mind.
D.O.
www.diebytheblade.com - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere
although I reserve the right to change my mind.
Never!!!
by bluecollarbuffalo on Jul 7, 2010 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions
TK and the Geezers...
I like the sounds of that 3rd line.
Old school Bills tattoo [ √ ] Old school Sabres tattoo [ √ ] ... see the avatar.
Lets Go Buffalo!!
maybe a little premature but...
i’d like the lines to look like this if ennis is ready:
vanek roy ennis
hect connolly pomminville
kennedy niedermeyer stafford
greer gaustad kaleta
time to ring that championship bell
Griere is a RW. Stafford is not going to see the light of day in this lineup, my hunch tells me.
More likely:
Ennis-Roy-Vanek
Hecht-Connolly-Poms
Kennedy-Nieds-Griere
Gerbe(McCormick)-Goose-Kaleta
Stafford gone for a pick or Bieksa. I don’t like projecting Ennis on the top line to start the season. I’d prefer someone else brought in. The Zherdev rumor is intriguing:
Vanek-Roy-Zherdev
Hecht-Connolly-Poms
Ennis-Nieds-Griere
Kennedy-Goose-Kaleta
The situation is beginning to have me very confused with the possibilities. It’s going to be a very interesting training camp.
Ta,
NVM… Zherdev has signed with Philly. For how much and how long we don’t know. But, their cap situation is now horrid.
Ta,
Gange or Carter have to be on their way out now…
Old school Bills tattoo [ √ ] Old school Sabres tattoo [ √ ] ... see the avatar.
Lets Go Buffalo!!
http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=26798235&postcount=411
Nothing confirmed on the Zherdev front yet. We’re still in the hunt. If he signs in Philly or Boston, someone else pops free.
Ta,
I mentioned this because tom usually has very good spelling, except for that one error.
On the Mike Weber bandwagon.
Tyler Ennis: Freed from Portland!
lol. sorry, im a horrible speller. bad spellers have each others back. like a gang. you ever hear the saying blood in blood out well we go by mispell in, spell correctly out.
time to ring that championship bell
I'm a horrible speller - like so bad Dictionary.com is one of my 5 most visited sites
but just about every internet browser now has spell-check and it’s not hard to look up player names.
Just do it as a courtesy to other readers, plus it makes you look/sound more intelligent.
Save Jenrry Mejia!
I haven’t typed the man’s name right in 5 years! You only just now noticed?
BWAAHAHAHAHA!
Griere has been my nickname for him since 2005.
Ta,
I guess you’d have to blame the other people that spelled it incorrectly as opposed to a nickname that causes Griere to be categorized as a spelling error.
Plus, I ignore spelling errors unless its pretty apparent that they aren’t typos.
On the Mike Weber bandwagon.
Tyler Ennis: Freed from Portland!
Hopefully some players move out of town…..according to my count we have about 9 3rd or 4th liners. Yikes.
I do like this move however….I just hope that’s not it. This team isn’t 3rd and 4th line leadership away from being contenders. They are the “Top 6” leadership away.
by bluecollarbuffalo on Jul 7, 2010 1:40 PM EDT reply actions
Who are the 9?
I would consider Cody McCormick, Paul Gaustad, Patrick Kaleta, Rob Niedermayer, Mike Grier and maybe Tim Kennedy and Drew Stafford (although an argument could be made to put them in the top six).
D.O.
www.diebytheblade.com - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere
Well, the consensus on this site has been that Hecht plays at his best when he’s a third liner, not a “top 6” guy. So even if the Sabres want him top 6, I just don’t see it. Stafford clearly isn’t top 6 as much as the team wants him to be and I would be stunned if Kennedy is on the top two lines. So I guess that’s eight instead of nine. But, for the top two lines there is Roy, Pommer, Connolly, Vanek, Gerbe, Ennis. That would tell me that everyone else on the roster are going to be on the third for 4th line. If you want Kennedy instead of Gerbe, OK, but the number still stands at eight. So the question is, on a nightly basis, who is in the lineup? Are there trades that will be made for roster players or just draft picks. This is going to be a very intriguing (and I believe important) offseason to determine if they want to be “competitive” or contenders.
by bluecollarbuffalo on Jul 7, 2010 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Hecht plays best with Connolly, it doesn’t matter what number line it is.
D.O.
www.diebytheblade.com - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere
Really?
I’m not saying you are incorrect, its just that I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that one…….
by bluecollarbuffalo on Jul 7, 2010 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions
seems like a good piece to the puzzle
what should we be looking to upgrade? a sniper from the point? anything else…?
We got the tools, We got the talent
zherdev went to philly, maybe we could trade a 1st round pick for carter.
time to ring that championship bell
Gagnes probably going to be the one who goes.
Old school Bills tattoo [ √ ] Old school Sabres tattoo [ √ ] ... see the avatar.
Lets Go Buffalo!!
from BSH.
UPDATE, 2:31 PM ET: Frank Seravalli of the Daily News just passed on the following news. “One league source says the Flyers and Zherdev have talked and an offer is pending. Bruins and Sabres are also interested.”
On the Mike Weber bandwagon.
Tyler Ennis: Freed from Portland!
Travis Hughes can talk with Russian agents?
I guess that makes him awesome. Travis Hughes:
UPDATE 2:53 PM ET: I just spoke with Zherdev’s agent, who confirmed that the Flyers are in talks with the Russian forward. Nothing is done just yet, according to him, but he said things are “close” and that “due to the time difference, we might have something done tomorrow.” They’ve talked with four or five other teams.
On the Mike Weber bandwagon.
Tyler Ennis: Freed from Portland!
What the signing of Niedermyer means...
…I think we’re officially going to see Ennis on the third line next year. At least to start….Tim Kennedy has earned his right to play with Vanek and Roy IMO. Staffor-ennis-niedermyer on the third would be a solid line…and it would balance out the scoring
I think Rob Nieds will be the 3rd center for us. Doesnt mean that Ennis wont be on the 3rd line with him… but if he is it will be as a winger, IMO.
Old school Bills tattoo [ √ ] Old school Sabres tattoo [ √ ] ... see the avatar.
Lets Go Buffalo!!
Ennis is technically a LW, though he seems to be listed as C/LW and i don’t know how good he is on faceoffs anyway.
On the Mike Weber bandwagon.
Tyler Ennis: Freed from Portland!
Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe
Preseason last year Ennis centered with Vanek and stafford as his wings. Doesn’t really matter to me who centers the line…I just done forsee playing with roy and vanek. Only way he breaks top 6:
hecht-ennis-pominville
vanek-connolly-roy
…although i thought that second line experiment failed miserably last year
Can yall imagine if this was
Rob Niedermayer circa 2005?
The player I would like least at #9 would be my sister’s cat, Captain Creamsicle. She does have a great work ethic and agility, but I’m really concerned that at 9 lbs., she’s too small to play safety in the NFL. She also bites way too often on play action and is easily distracted by someone waving string in the crowd. Lastly, her wonderlic score was pretty awful, answering "meow meow meow" for most of the questions- Dr. Brackish Okun
I really like this signing.
And shouldn’t it be Vanek-Hecht-Pomminville? I was thinking that that line was really tearing it up this past year. I could very well be misremembering.
So, Philly has elimanated my two least favorite teams. WHAT NOW, BOSTON!!!!!!!
Martin Broduer doesn't look so great now huh?
My 2 Cents
Maybe Darcy does know what he’s doing…maybe. I love the signing, but I would have loved a Lombardi more. Nevertheless this combined with the Lalime re-signing are two positives for the club.
Now where to play Nieds? I think you can put him either between Griersy and Timmy or put him on the wing with Goose as his pivot. Looks like Lindy has options!
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