The Buffalo Sabres blueline depth is about to get tested, big time.
The team reported Monday that third-year defenseman Tyler Myers will miss 4-6 weeks with a broken wrist. Myers, who had been a healthy scratch last Monday against the Montreal Canadiens and responded with his two best games of the season, hurt the wrist during the second period in Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes.
Myers had surgery on the wrist Monday morning.
With a blueline corps already missing Mike Weber, for what coach Lindy Ruff called “a matter of weeks”, losing Myers could be a huge blow. The team hasn’t exactly been what one might call “consistent” in their own end for much of the season, and this injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for the team, or Myers.
Responding to his first ever healthy scratch, Myers lit the lamp twice and was an animal, both offensively and defensively, albeit in a losing effort against the New Jersey Devils last Wednesday night. Myers genuinely looked as if he was turning the corner, but being pulled from the lineup will normally do that to a player.
If it weren’t for the emergency Medi-vac (the Sabres are now without Myers, Weber, Jochen Hecht, Ryan Miller, Tyler Ennis and Cody McCormick), Ruff could have used the Myers scratch as motivation (threats) for his other, let’s say, underachieving players.
Now, there’s no threat of being pulled from the lineup, as there are barely enough bodies to fill out the forward lines, defensive ranks, and goal crease. Depth usually breeds competition, especially for a team in desperate need of a serious kick in the dupa.
To replace Myers in the lineup, the Sabres have called up 22-year old, American-born defenseman TJ Brennan from the Rochester Americans of the AHL. The 6’1″, 214 pound Brennan, a former second round pick by the Sabres, has 3 goals and 4 assists in 17 games with the Americans, registering a -3 rating. He is a smooth skating rearguard, with a good shot from the point, and can be physical when called upon.
He will wear number 33 and will make his NHL debut Wednesday night, of all games, against hated division rival Boston Bruins, and you can bet that any one of Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Shawn Thornton, Gregory Campbell or Adam McQuaid will have thoughts about “welcoming” the rookie into the NHL.
Good luck, kid, and have eyes in the back of your head.
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