Player Discussion Player Rewind: Michael Sauer...

[sark76]

Where do you think Michael Sauer would be today if it wasn't for his career ending injury? Do you still think he'd be with the team? Would his game have continued to get better every year, or did he peak? What NHL player do you think he might have become like?

I know there is no use crying over spilled milk, but the player I think he would have become most like is oddly enough another Ranger.... Jeff Beukeboom. What do you think? A poor-man's Dion Phaneuf in his prime, or more like a Rod Langway type of SAHD?

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[JT Kreider]

He was honestly looking like he could've been our most solid defensive defensemen.

Kind of like a more mobile and offensive Karl Alzner.

 

[*Bob Richards*]

I remember this board attempting to send him a get well card of some sorts a few years ago. Don't think we ever actually got it sent out to him.

It's a shame what happened.

 

[mike14]

If Sauer had of stayed healthy i guess the questions would be:
- would we move MDZ for Klein if we already had 2 right handed defensive D-men (sauer and G)? Also do we keep MDZ or trade him for different help?
- with McI improving and Sauer cementing his spot, do we trade G or let him walk as a FA?

 

[Machinehead]

I think Sauer would have been along the lines of Chris Tanev

 

[Ghost of jas]

Sauer would have been McD's partner the past five years, as he was in 2010-11.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

Where do you think Michael Sauer would be today if it wasn't for his career ending injury? Do you still think he'd be with the team? Would his game have continued to get better every year, or did he peak? What NHL player do you think he might have become like?

I know there is no use crying over spilled milk, but the player I think he would have become most like is oddly enough another Ranger.... Jeff Beukeboom. What do you think? A poor-man's Dion Phaneuf in his prime, or more like a Rod Langway type of SAHD?

Not sure I see Beuk as being a good comparison. Sauer was much more mobile than Beukeboom was. Not sure he would have had Beuk's mean streak either.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Jesus ****ing Christ, the way some of you people harp on him here years and years and years after he was a forgettable talent, you would have thought he would have been a future HoF-er.

He seemed like a nice guy, you never want to see that happen to anyone, and he was an NHL talent, but these boards need to get over him already. He wasn't what you seem to choose to remember him as.

 

[cwede]

Jesus ****ing Christ, the way some of you people harp on him here years and years and years after he was a forgettable talent, you would have thought he would have been a future HoF-er.

He seemed like a nice guy, you never want to see that happen to anyone, and he was an NHL talent, but these boards need to get over him already. He wasn't what you seem to choose to remember him as.

yeah, time to move on to Cherapanov and Cherneski
... and Blackburn



but if Sauer had kept his chin strap tight ....

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

I honestly think he would've been a similar player to Klein, maybe a little less mobile and less offense. But a reliable middle pair D man.

 

[cwede]

I honestly think he would've been a similar player to Klein, maybe a little less mobile and less offense.

agree, very similar, steady not flashy

a bigger, better hitter,
and maybe even, not less offense
he was just beginning to use his shot more

even his skating was up to par

a Minnesota kid, his fundamentals were solid

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/michael_sauer/

Talent Analysis
A very good skater, who has excellent vision and passing abilities, Sauer has a very good work ethic and will not panic with the puck. He needs to improve his strength on the puck, adjust to the speed of the professional game, become more physical and stay healthy to develop into a regular NHL player.

Future
Sauer comes from excellent hockey bloodlines, and is a very hard worker on the ice. Eager to learn, his junior and professional careers have been marred by injury. A potential second pairing defensive defenseman, a healthy Sauer is at least one and maybe two seasons away from being NHL-ready.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

Probably would have been on the second or first pairing.

 

[RangerBoy]

Sauer was always hurt. He was coming off hip surgery when the Rangers selected him in 2005. Shoulders. ACL. It was amazing he stayed relatively healthy in 10-11.

 

[Edge]

In junior I felt Sauer was actually more naturally talented that Staal. But the kid just couldn't stay healthy --- a trend which would later be his undoing.

I don't know if it was genetics or just plain bad luck, but he and his brother just always seemed to be hurt.

As for where he'd be: I think Klein is a pretty good comparison. A solid two-four defenseman.

 

[silverfish]

He'd be a fancystats superstar. He was a fancystats superstar.

Probably first pairing with McDonagh, and Girardi isn't here anymore.

 

[sark76]

It just was so hard to see his future unfolding....It was like everyone knew that the less news we heard, the worse this was gonna' end up being...it was just like he kinda disappeared. Felt like we heard less about him then blackburn...one day he just gets hurt, then you hear so little about his condition, next thing you know, he's just gone and forgotten...seemed like it happened so fast although in reality it was a long time that he was trying to recover...
Not saying he would have become a HoFer either, but I don't think he had peaked. Didn't he give a lot of credit to Wade Redden in his stint with Hartford as to making him a better player? Maybe that was just the thing to say about a washed up guy playing on the farm who was taking a ton of heat from the entire city. Seemed like a nice guy off the ice too.
I guess this is a little update on him, in a article dealing with TBI.
http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2016/02/06/family-helps-sauer-battle-his-pain/78962834/

 

[Filthy Dangles]

He was honestly looking like he could've been our most solid defensive defensemen.

Kind of like a more mobile and offensive Karl Alzner.

Wait, what? Sure your not thinking of Stralman?

Sauer had almost 0 offensive upside as an NHL defenseman and he certainly wasn't fleet of foot either. He was a big-bodied, crease clearer who made decent reads in the defensive zone.

He was the product of an up and coming elite defenseman named Ryan McDonagh. Check the Corsi's without Mac. Negative Possession player while playing bottom-pair/4th line.

Liked the guy as a #4D and as a player and it sucked that his career ended but...Most overrated player in Ranger history....

 

[Antoine Vermette]

Would probably still be here today. Would have made a huge difference in the Finals against LA.

 

[mike14]

Jesus ****ing Christ, the way some of you people harp on him here years and years and years after he was a forgettable talent, you would have thought he would have been a future HoF-er.

He seemed like a nice guy, you never want to see that happen to anyone, and he was an NHL talent, but these boards need to get over him already. He wasn't what you seem to choose to remember him as.

Why the **** would you read and reply to a thread about a player you have no interest in discussing?

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Why the **** would you read and reply to a thread about a player you have no interest in discussing?

The better question is why the **** would you think that I have no interest in discussing a thread that I read and replied to?

 

[Fanned On It]

The better question is why the **** would you think that I have no interest in discussing a thread that I read and replied to?

Burnt 'em. Good response. Would read again.