During the Olympic break in February, I briefly graded the Sabres roster and went over some basic projections. Naturally only one playoff series projected out in reality; Pittsburgh and Ottawa. Although in an attempt to pat myself on the back, I did correctly project Washington, New Jersey, Boston, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Ottawa to be playoff teams in the Eastern Conference. The only team I missed was Montreal, which is probably a big deal since they already ousted Washington in one of the biggest upsets of this decade.

(Get it? It's a joke. Just like a division champion being eliminated in six games.)

In going back and reading my February blog, not a whole lot changed in those final two months of the season. The Sabres were still wildly inconsistent, leaned on Ryan Miller to the point of hanging him out to dry and their "stars" disappeared when it mattered the most. One quick glance at the playoff statistics will show you this.

Tied for the team lead in points? Tyler Ennis. That's right, the AHL call-up with a grand total of 10 regular season games and six playoff games under his belt. Also in the top half in terms of scoring: Tim Kennedy, Mike Grier, Adam Mair, Nathan Gerbe, Patrick Kaleta, and Raffi Torres.

So who is listed below those players above? Derek Roy, Tim Connolly and Drew Stafford. To be fair, Stafford only played in three of the six playoff games so his numbers could be skewed a little bit. Then again, Cody McCormick had two points in three games during the same series with less ice time and considerably less talent. The faster the Sabres ship Stafford out of town, the better.

Now that I'm done with my little rant (for now), let's get back to grading the Sabres roster. To help break this up, this article will mainly focus on the goaltenders and defensemen, with the rest of the grades coming later this week.

Goaltenders

Ryan Miller: A+

Miller is the only reason the Sabres even made a playoff appearance, let alone winning the Northeast Division. For this reason alone, he should've been recognized as a Hart Trophy finalist. Instead, Miller will have to settle for being a Vezina finalist. If Miller doesn't win the Vezina, it will be pure highway robbery. For the sake of argument, let's take a look at his competition, Martin Brodeur and Ilya Bryzgalov.

Miller played in 69 games this year (way too many for my liking) and finished the regular season with a 2.22 GAA and .929 save percentage.

Brodeur played in 77 games this year and finished with a 2.24 GAA and .916 save percentage. Brodeur had fewer shots faced than Miller (-94) and more goals allowed (+18). To me, Brodeur is the token candidate. It's the NHL's way of saying, he's been such a great goalie over the course of his career, of course he should be nominated for the Vezina. Reminds me of how Ruben Brown was voted to all of those Pro-Bowls while playing for the Bills.

Bryzgalov played in 69 games and finished with a 2.29 GAA and .920 save percentage. Also, fewer shots faced than Miller (-137) and more goals allowed (+6). Don't get me wrong, Phoenix as a team was a great story during the NHL season and Bryzgalov was a huge part of that success. But in a head to head comparison against Miller, he isn't better.

Both Brodeur and Bryzgalov did have more shutouts than Miller, but getting the shutout has never been Miller's strong suit. That being said, with more shutouts, it shows how inconsistent these guys were as well. Without checking game logs, I'd guess that both had more four and five goal games while Miller routinely had one and two goal games. Shutouts are nice, but I'll take consistency any day of the week.

All three goalies were ousted in the first round, but here is a quick look at their brief playoff stats (as if those matter for this award).


 
Case closed.

Patrick Lalime: C+

Patrick Lalime only played in 16 games this season and was able to elicit several different emotions out of me. Early in the season I proclaimed, "I'm done worrying about the backup goaltender position." In early February I ranted and raved about how the Sabres had to make a trade at the deadline for a new backup. I guess I'm not an even keel person all the time. Or ever for that matter.

Truth be told, Lalime wasn't terrible. Over the course of his two year tenure in Buffalo he did have his good moments. Unfortunately for Buffalo, there were more bad than good. I'm not asking for an A+ performance out of my backup goalie, but a nice solid B would be nice. I think C+ is really the ceiling for Lalime at this point. He isn't getting any younger and things will most likely continue on the downward trend. I almost feel bad saying that because he does seem like genuinely good guy and a great teammate, but I think parting ways on July 1^st is best for both parties involved.

Just to state for the record; I am 100% on the sign Martin Biron bandwagon. The Sabres have an opening for backup goaltender and Biron is a free agent. Let's also factor in that he lives in the Buffalo area still, has made regular radio appearances on WGR 550 during the playoffs, has the trust of Lindy Ruff and knows the Sabres system. All the stars are aligning. Sign him, play him at least 22 games next season, celebrate second consecutive division title.


 
Defensemen

Tyler Myers: A-

Myers was easily the best defenseman for the Sabres this season. He led the team in average ice time, goals, assists, plus/minus and power play points. It would be a bad joke if he doesn't win the Calder Trophy. Look, this is nothing against Jimmy Howard, but he is 26 years old for crying out loud. Howard's numbers are impressive; there is no doubt about that. He also fits the description of a typical NHL rookie, so I can't blame him at all for being nominated for the Calder. However, did you know he played games for the Red Wings in 2005-06? Not enough to accrue a season (obviously), but that right there shows that he was much more seasoned that Myers was. Even with all that being said, Myers was the leader of the Sabres blue line. Lindy Ruff gave him a ton of responsibility and he lived up to the hype and even more. This is his award.

Henrik Tallinder: B

Tallinder had a resurgent season in 2009-10 after a dreadful season previously. So what were the significant changes between the seasons? Well, he was paired with Tyler Myers this entire season. I'm positive that had a lot to do with his improved play. It was also a contract year which for some reason usually has players playing better than they normally do. There is a very slim chance that Tallinder will be back in Buffalo next season. Judging on the way Montreal overpaid for Jaroslav Spacek last offseason, I'm sure some team will do the same with Tallinder. His cap hit was already over 2.5 million and there is no way I could justify a raise. He is 31 years old and just finished his first full regular season since the 2005-06 campaign. Fans supporting the re-signing of Tallinder point to his comeback season and the way Myers played throughout the season. I have no doubt that Tallinder was a major reason why Myers succeeded, but can't we say that Myers was also the reason Tallinder finally showed some consistency?

Steve Montador: B-

I'll be honest, I was all about signing Montador last offseason and very excited when the Sabres did sign him. That excitement cooled off considerably about midway through the season and apparently it cooled off with Lindy Ruff as well since Montador was a healthy scratch for a handful of games. However, Montador was second on the Sabres blue line in points during the regular season and was one of the few sources of toughness. My rough estimate has Montador in about seven fights during the season. Montador's relatively high grade has a lot to do with his playoff performance though. He was probably my first or second favorite defenseman during those brutal six games. He only contributed one point, but kept a lot more off the opposing scoreboard by playing very solid defense. I'm glad he's around and I look forward to seeing him next season.

Toni Lydman: C+

Lydman is also hitting the free agent market and it couldn't have come soon enough. Maybe it's me, but for every good play Lydman makes, there are usually one or two awful plays that follow it up. I bitched and moaned all last summer that the Sabres should trade him and get rid of the cap hit, but unfortunately most NHL GMs were too smart to take that trade. Did you know Lydman is older than Tallinder AND his cap hit is higher? Lydman's days in Buffalo are numbered. I see a 0.8% chance that he comes back and if he does, it would have to be at a significantly lower cap number. I'm talking about a 50% pay cut. No way this happens.

Craig Rivet: C-

We didn't know until the season was over that Rivet was playing with a double labrum tear for the bulk of the season, which explains his poor play. In fact, his offseason surgery will guarantee that he misses part of next season already, so it was a pretty major injury. I have to give him credit for playing through the injury; it's something you expect from your captain. On that topic though, I think it's time that Rivet hands over the 'C' . Rivet is a UFA in the summer of 2011 so this is pretty much his last season in Buffalo or that is at least my best guess. With that in mind, he might as well just hand it over now so the Sabres can get going with a new captain.

Andrej Sekera: C-

Sekera struggled for large portions of the season but the overall picture doesn't look too bad. His Olympic performance showed what he is capable of doing, but he needs to do it more consistently at the NHL level. I fully expect him to appear in 70 or more games for Buffalo next season and be one of the better defensemen on the team. I know; I'm a homer sometimes.

Chris Butler: D+

Butler came into the season with high expectations after a solid rookie season and he finished the season up in the press box. Butler was horrendous for almost the entire season. I think his -15 in 59 games will tell you that. All hope isn't lost with him though. He is only 23 years old and there is definite room for improvement. I saw what he was able to accomplish during his rookie season so I know it's in him, it's just a matter of whether he is able to regain that level of play and improve upon it. I still have high hopes for the kid.


 
With Lydman and Tallinder most likely leaving this offseason, that leaves Myers/Montador/Rivet/Sekera/Butler as the returning defensemen. As you can see, that's only five and NHL teams usually dress six. Combine that with Rivet missing part of next season already and there is going to be some openings for younger players to step in. Two names off the top of my head are Mike Weber and Marc-Andre Gragnani. Who knows, maybe another Steve Montador is hitting the market on July 1^st and will be a good fit in Buffalo. Only time will tell.

Coming soon, grades on the Sabres forwards.