Myers

[Jacob582]

I guess when he misplays the GA in the last minutes of the Ottawa game and the GA in OT in the Tampa Bay game he tends to stick out.

His stats kinda stick out too. 5 goals against. No goals for.

Only Sulzer was worse (on ice for 5 of 8 GA for Rochester).

 

[Chainshot]

neither have I...

He's been pillaged by those running the asylum for a couple plays that were not his fault.
- The late goal against vs Ottawa is completely on Ennis. Myers was executing the system, Ennis was not.
- The Tampa OT goal... not sure what everyone was blaming Myers for on that one. Tampa got a lucky bounce and Vanek was floating... both had more impact then Myers getting slightly turned around on a quick play.

I'm curious what people actually think a top-pairing defenseman actually is. Is it an image of Myers, hanging from the top of the Empire State Building, swatting tiny forwards away from him while he clutches Tyler Ennis in his other hand? There have been a few mistakes, sure. And yet, there seems to be a groundswell of "see! see!!!" every time he does anything wrong.

Ray the other night is harping on Myers to take the man on the Crosby goal... the guy coming out of the left wing corner to the net who goes right through the LD on that play -- McBain. He did the same thing later on. The Ennis mistake, same sort of thing from Ray -- oh, that's on the D.... uhhhh, no.

 

[Jacob582]

Come on. Myers let Eric Brewer get past him wide along the boards. He should have taken the body. Then Myers tried to stick check Killorn when he was behind the net. Should have checked him there. I will agree. Other players made mistakes on that GA too.

Myers on the ice for 5 GA, no GF. You can't convince me.

 

[Moskau]

He's not my cup of tea for a defensemen and he never will be.

Give me a D man like Mark Pysyk over one like Tyler Myers any day of the week. Pysyk is twice the player defensively, is a natural leader and well respected by his peers and teammates at every level. Smarts go so much farther than natural skill when it comes to defensive players. In fact Pysyk is such a smart player that he will put up similar points to Myers on a yearly basis completely nullifying the advantages that Myers is supposed to have over Pysyk. Pysyk's smarts allow him to work half as hard as Myers and do twice the job. It's the same reason Ryan Suter puts up the same amount of points as Shea Weber with half of the physical tools. I would actually say that we have a guy who can become just as good as Ryan Suter in Mark Pysyk and no one around here seems to care. Jake McCabe is a player with a similar approach to the game. It's why when people say we shouldn't draft Ekblad because we're set on defense I can't help but laugh. His offensive potential isn't very high but he's a guy who will put up 40+ pts a year on smarts alone and be a rock defensively. Myers is too stupid and wildly inconsistent to ever be that guy and if having Myers on the roster prevents Regier from drafting a guy like Ekblad I will lose my ****ing mind.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Myers is going to be a guy we end up building on top of because he's in the way and not someone we can build around because he's good. He's eventually going to be taking up a roster spot that could be put to much better use by a player on a better contract. He's never going to be a key piece on a winning team. Even if the team manages to become a contender with him on the roster he's never going to be a guy you feel comfortable with during key situations in the playoffs. If the rest of the team becomes good enough where Myers can be our #6 guy then that's great but that's not a contract that you can sustain like that with a salary cap for more than a year or two. After the complete lack of puck possession time Tyler Myers is the biggest problem with this team and they need to cut their losses with him while they can or hope that Ristolainen, Zadorov and McCabe can carry the load while on their ELCs.

 

[Zman5778]

I haven't had all that much issue with Myers since the start to the season, including last night. There were a few times he hurled people off the puck, including the one where he blasted Stamkos to the ice and drew a penalty. He hasn't been without mistakes, but then again, no defenseman is mistake free.

Yep. He hasn't been "tire fire Myers" like he was at points last year. He hasn't been "Good Myers" much either....I'd like to see him try rushing the puck a bit more (but then again, maybe the chances just aren't there).

 

[Zman5778]

He's never going to be a key piece on a winning team.

He already has been. He was the absolute key to the 09/10 Division winning team and was a key cog in the 10/11 surge into the playoffs.

In fact, his first 3 years, you can more or less say that as Myers went, so did the Sabres. When Myers played well, the Sabres did well (09/10...last half of 10/11....last quarter of 11/12).

 

[jBuds]

He already has been. He was the absolute key to the 09/10 Division winning team and was a key cog in the 10/11 surge into the playoffs.

In fact, his first 3 years, you can more or less say that as Myers went, so did the Sabres. When Myers played well, the Sabres did well (09/10...last half of 10/11....last quarter of 11/12).

Agreed.

And he was rushing the puck then, contributing in multiple facets of the game.

You can't question how valuable a true number one is. It's so clear.

 

[Moskau]

He already has been. He was the absolute key to the 09/10 Division winning team and was a key cog in the 10/11 surge into the playoffs.

In fact, his first 3 years, you can more or less say that as Myers went, so did the Sabres. When Myers played well, the Sabres did well (09/10...last half of 10/11....last quarter of 11/12).

And he's too inconsistent for it to be a contending team if he's the key fixture. I'd much rather replace him with smart consistent Hockey players who are less skilled or a less overall potential package.