sicknfla

He is as good as gone.

Regehr???? Are u kidding me? Get rid of Myers, Vanek, Ennis, Foligno, etc but keep Regehr. Ok!! Vanek Erhoff Hodgson Ott Myers (have to give him a chance with new coaching staff)

How is that changing my scenario? If we have no goalie the summer that Miller becomes a FA my hope would be we would try every other available option than to sign an aging 34 yo goalie who is living off what he did 4 years ago. Right now, at best, he is slightly better than average. What the hell will he be like during that 3 year contract when he is 37. Come on!! If Ryan Miller is our best option for the next 4.5 years then we are in trouble. So, NO, I do not offer Ryan Miller a 3 year deal after next year - regardless of what our other options are. Start exploring those options now and it is a mute point.

Then we would have 4 more years of mediocrity at best. At some point we must find his replacement. It has to be now. Not when he is 37. If I am going to spend the money to sign a average goalie at best in Ryan Miller at 34 then I will spend the money on a younger FA.

Let's put it this way with Miller. He has 1 year left on his contract. At that point, he can go anywhere he wants. That is fine. Basically, at that point as a FA he is no different to us than if he had played for any other team in the league. So, taking the hometown emotion out of it, what do you think this board would be saying if Ryan Miller played for the Columbus BJ's for the past 10+ years and we went out and pursued him as a FA after next year? We would be going nuts that we were going to put our future in the hands of a then 34 yo. Point being, we would never pursue him if he was someone else's property. Not going to invest that kind of money into a mid 30's goalie. Therefore, you HAVE to get what you can for him now. He is useless to us the rest of this year and , most likely, won't make that much of a difference next year. The best way for him to make a difference next year and for the years after he is gone is to get some prospects/picks for him now. It is an absolute no brainer but some of you just can't take the emotion away from it.

I know it would never happen but it would be great if the fans did a first period boycott. What better way to send a message than to have nobody in the stands. I don't recall anything like that happening in sports before. Pick a game, get the local sports radio guys on board, have a bunch of people in front of the FNC with signs and see what happens. Maybe when Black and TP look out to a near empty arena they may get the point.

He is not going anywhere until maybe the summer. A team like Chicago may come up short in the playoffs and realize they are a goalie away from winning it all. Not sure what team right now gives up a bunch for him. Of course this could change with an injury but my guess is DR keeps him around until he gets fired - which appears to be after the season but then again who knows. Maybe DR is back in the fall.

Watching this team gives me gas!

Miller has been an ass since day 1. He is the first guy to throw his teammates under the bus. Always had this I am better than the team attitude. I don't recall his teammates calling him out when he had a bad game or lets in a soft goal. I could understand if he had some Cups under his belt but he has not won nothing. He has had some good teams infront of him and has very little to show for it. It will be a few years before we have a competitive team again. Just like with Ruff and DR his time has passed. It is time for new blood. Loosing is easier with hope. Right now we have no hope. Please don't remind me we have no goalie in the system. We are not winning with him and at some point he will decide to ride out his contract. Do we want that? Get what you can for him. DR won't do it but I guarantee you the new GM ( god willing) will.

Am I the only guy that doesn't read a post that is longer than my phone screen?

I kind of relate this O'Reilly thing to gambling. How many times have you heard someone say " i love northern illinois tonight over east bfe". Meanwhile they could not tell you the color of either teams uniform. How many of us have truly seen enough of O'Reilly to say he is worth this or that. I know it's fun to speculate but i would guess some of you don't even know what his number is. I know this probably makes me sound like an ass but come on. We are acting like he is a franchise player. I say Stafford, Leopold, and a pick. Just for the simple reason i hate those 2. BTW, i don't know his number.

I am just upset that we wasted so much time hiring a new coach. To think all it took was two games and he has figured out our problems and it should take 5 games to turn it around. Pretty confident guy.

I am not debating that Miller is a good goalie. What i am saying is he is not going to make a difference on this team. It is going to be bad with or without him. If we are going to rebuild you need to get rid of assets. He is one of the few players that will get us value in return. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. We ask talk about trade proposals but nobody wants to give up anything. I have also seen Miller with much better teams infront of him. I don't recall any cups being won. It's time to go. If the highlight of my watching the game is seeing how many shots my goalie can stop i am not watching anyhow. I honestly can't tell you how good or bad he is playing. I gave up. Tuned out about 2 weeks ago. Luckily my shoe missed the tv. You know it's bad when given the choice between Duck Dynasty or the Sabres that the Sabres loose........AGAIN!!

My point exactly. He can bring us a lot in return. Winning us the occasional game and making some great saves is not going to mean much with this group. The difference between Miller and a second tier goalie is minimal right now.

After reading that i am even more convinced we would have an active market for him. Besides, the trade market for a goalie can change in one night. Watch a number 1 go down with an injury and watch what we can get. As you can tell i am not a huge Miller fan. Always felt he was overrated and not sure how he is in the locker room. If we truly want to see a change in the identity and culture of this team then he needs to be part of the changes. Sure he can make some great saves and win us some games. What NHL goalie can't??

And there lies our problem. We don't have the depth in our farm system to gut 4 or 5 prospects in return for 2-3 established players. You trade prospects when you are a couple players away. We have only a couple players....period. Big difference.

We are one of the worst teams in the league for a reason. Our players are not very good. You don't trade 6 players who suck and get back 6 players who are going to make you a powerhouse. This mess is 3 years of rebuild from being fixed. Draft picks and some luck in FA is our only hope. Having Miller and his contract to finish in the bottom 10 makes no sense. Any middle of the pack goalie can do the job right now. He is one of our few assets. We need to take our assets and turn them into 4 or 5 prospects and draft picks. It will not be the quick fix that we want but it has to be done.

Not in my book. I want nothing to do with someone coming here who's previous job title was ass.

The best money TP will ever spend is on an experienced GM. Not an assistant to an experienced GM. He needs to make this his signature hire. Someone who will instantly restore credibility.

Exactly. My fear is we go and hire one of these so called up and comers and we find out he is no better. This is not the time to roll the dice. Go with a GM that has been in the league and is not afraid to be his own person. Not every move is going to work but you have to have the confidence too go after them. A new comer is going to be thankful for the job and be hesitant to do any large scale moves. An inexperienced GM brings in an inexperienced coach. Not a good recipe for success. Now if an experienced GM were to hire an inexperienced coach then you would be a little more confident.

Same response different thread......BRIAN BURKE!!! It is a no brainer. He would be coming back to the division that fired him and he would make the changes we need. No guarantee that they all pan out but he is the type of gm we need. One that will come in and make it HIS team..at least half this roster would be turned over.

I would trade Miller first. I know we have nobody in the system but you are not going anywhere in the next year or two anyhow. He is not getting younger and goalies are like running backs. Sometimes the best ones come out of nowhere. Give enroth 30 games as the number 1 and see what happens. Can always get a goalie in trade or FA over the summer. Have to believe that behind closed doors Miller has had enough anyhow. Cut the man loose. Vanek i would keep. Still young enough that he will have gas in the tank after we rebuild. Rather see Myers go before vanek.

If DR wasn't holding out for a 1 he would have been gone by now. It will take a package of players/picks but it won't be as easy as Gaustad.

Could not agree more!!