I thought at the trade deadline, the Sabres would get rid of Derek Roy. Roy has been having his worst season as a Sabre since he became a fixture on this team in the 2005-06 season. He currently has 14 goals and 36 points in 64 games and is also a -11. Excluding his rookie season in 03-04 (when he only played in 49 games) and his injury shortened season a year ago, his lowest goal and point totals came in 05-06 when he had 18 goals and 46 points in 70 games. He might surpass them, "might." He had been playing better with 11 points in a 12-game stretch which might have led many to think his trade value had been increased in order to trade for him. The deal must not have been that good because he is still here over a week later. They did get a 1st round pick for Paul Gaustad, a 4th line center. Recently, Roy has cooled off as he has been pointless the last 3 games and is a -4. Last night's "must-win" game against Winnipeg in which the Sabres would have been in an 8th place tie for the playoffs if they won in regulation, the line of Roy, Tomas Vanek, and Jason Pominville produced 0 points and was on the ice for both Jet goals in the 3rd period in a 3-1 loss.
It's obvious that Roy has struggled this season and now the top-two scorers in Pominville and Vanek have struggled on his line. To be fair, Vanek has struggled with just 4 goals since the 1st of the year and that was before Roy was centering his line. Pominville has been in a season-worst slump of 6 consecutive games without a point. They had been winning without the top line producing. But now in last night's loss when the top line should have gotten them a clutch goal in the 3rd period, they failed to produce and gave up two goals. Now it's time to get Roy off that line. Hopefully they put Cody Hodgson on the top line even though he had been playing well on the Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford line. IDK about Ville Leino, who has been well with Nathan Gerbe and Patrick Kaleta. Roy should actually be a healthy scratch tomorrow night at home against Carolina.
The obvious thing is that in the offseason Roy needs to go. He's got one more year left on his deal and I'm sure he won't yield much of a return, but who cares he needs to go for whatever. I know they will lose a center, but I don't care. They need to get a number 1 center anyways either through a trade or possibly trade up to draft one in the top-3. Roy is not a number one center and this point, he is a number 3 or possibly 4. Roy just doesn't have a place on this team unless it's the 4th line, but you can't really put a $4 million center on the 4th line. There is no sense keeping him on the team after this season whether or not they make the playoffs. As a center your job is to make others around you better and setup players for scoring chances and goals. Also, the center really needs to have awesome puck control and puck possession, especially in the other team's end to create plays and keep the other team from possessing the puck. Roy does none of the above. I don't know what his deal or issue is but clearly he is holding this team and players on his line back.
Vanek has been a problem playing with Roy with the exception of the 2006-07 season. It seems when Vanek plays on a line not centered by Roy, he plays better. It's not a coincidence. Yes Vanek has struggled badly since the 1st of the year and yes all those games were with Roy. But Roy has kept the slump going. This year, Drew Stafford was struggling mightily with Roy on the line. Since being taken off, Stafford has been scoring more and burying his chances. Last season, many of Stafford's 31 goals came after Roy was injured and missed the 2nd half of the season. Stafford did much better last season with Tim Connolly at center. Love or hate Connolly, he was still a natural center that can make players around him better and was a point a game guy. Too bad Connolly didn't bring leadership nor make clutch goals especially in the playoffs. So has Derek Roy. Look, I don't hate Roy and i used to like him a lot as a player even though he can drive you nuts with his whining and taking dumb penalties but he scored. Then two years ago in the playoff loss to the Boston Bruins, he along with Connolly failed to score a single goal and i thought it was time to go. Plus Roy has been publicly admitting that he doesn't follow Lindy Ruff's system and admitted that he should follow his system. Yea no duh Roy.
Last season, Roy was having his best season with 35 points in 35 games before being injured and missing the rest of the regular season. At that point, the Sabres were 10 points out of a playoff spot and were one of the bottom five teams in the league. Players like Vanek, Pominville, Gaustad, Connolly, Hecht, Tyler Myers, Nathan Gerbe, and even Ryan Miller were struggling. When he was out, all these players played much better after the 1st of the year and they had the best record in the Eastern Conference and made the playoffs without Roy in the lineup. I don't think that's a coincidence. This season, many of the Sabres are having their career-worst seasons and Roy has been in the lineup most of the season and they are currently on the outside looking in.
Look, I don't want to put all the blame on Roy the other players are paid to play too so if there is a problem Roy, they need to address it and deal with it. That's life. Guys like Miller, Vanek, Stafford, and Myers who have struggled all or most of the season make big money and it's up to them to figure out a way to get their heads out of their you know what's and play up to their contracts. That being said, Roy is still a huge problem and there is a large body of work showing that the team is better without him. That should be enough to justify parting ways with him and doing the best to get another center in here. I like Hodgson so far, Ennis had played well at center, Leino struggled at center but has played much better the past couple of weeks, and Luke Adam was off to a great start before going a long stretch without a point and being sent down to Rochester. It's important to get a legit number one center and build center depth. We have a surplus of defensemen, wingers, and even draft picks to package for a deal for a number one center or move into the top-3 of the draft. I don't care Darcy, get us a number one center. It is obvious that Roy is not the answer.
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