Miller - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Darcy Regier mum on if Sabres would keep some of Thomas Vanek’s salary in trade

BUFFALO – On Wednesday, CBC’s Elliotte Friedman tweeted he was hearing the Sabres would be willing to keep some of star winger Thomas Vanek’s $6.4 million salary if they found a trade partner.

A fired-up Regier said today someone recently emailed him – he didn’t say who – asking him if the Sabres would do that.

“My experience is you don’t answer those emails, whether they’re true or not true,” Regier said inside the First ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Ryan Miller ‘not racing out of town’

BUFFALO – Of course, Ryan Miller’s renting. Why would the Sabres goalie, the subject of rampant trade speculation and an unrestricted free agent following the season, purchase another home right now?

Miller’s decision to put his Buffalo townhouse on the market during the spring, just when it appeared his long Sabres career would be ending, certainly raised eyebrows. He understood it wouldn’t look good to locals.

But the 33-year-old insists he wasn’t bailing on ... Read the full article

Ryan Miller upbeat about future with Sabres as training camp opens

BUFFALO – Playing an 11^th season with the rebuilding Sabres isn’t a bad situation, Ryan Miller said. The goalie, the subject of rampant trade speculation for months, is returning to a familiar city he considers a home.

Miller said he’s only received warm greetings from fans, many of whom jeered the 33-year-old and his teammates last season as they missed the playoffs again, since arriving back in town last week.

He understands why locals ... Read the full article

Sabres facing plenty of questions as first training camp under Ron Rolston begins

BUFFALO – The Sabres convene for training camp physicals today inside the First Niagara Center, for better or worse, almost the same team that ended a disappointing, 11^th-place season 137 days ago.

Other than a busy draft day and reacquiring 34-year-old defenseman Henrik Tallinder, the rebuilding club remained quiet throughout the summer.

Starting goalie Ryan Miller and leading scorer Thomas Vanek, two veteran stars rumored to be on the trading block, ... Read the full article

Thomas Vanek hasn’t requested trade, wants Sabres to add more veterans

AMHERST – Thomas Vanek spoke firmly. No, the high-scoring winger said, he hasn’t asked to be traded from the Buffalo Sabres. The widespread belief he wants out of town doesn’t bother him. But it’s simply not true.

“The media and people, they can make up their own assumptions as long as I know where I’m at and stuff and my family’s at. That’s fine,” Vanek said following an off-ice workout Wednesday morning. “At the end ... Read the full article

Ryan Miller upbeat about staying with Sabres: ‘I still fit into it somehow’

BUFFALO – Ryan Miller understands it’s the nature of hockey. As a veteran entering the final season of his contract, it’s only natural the Sabres, a team going through a transitional period, would shop him around the NHL.

“We’ve had a couple tough years,” Miller told reporters today at USA Hockey’s Olympic camp in Arlington, Va. “It goes from a situation where as a goalie it’s about the hope you can bring to I’ve been ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Ryan Miller not a lock to represent Team USA at Olympics again

It’s no slam dunk Buffalo Sabres starter Ryan Miller, one of six goalies Team USA placed on its National Team Orientation Camp roster today, will be named to the Olympic team again for the upcoming Sochi Games.

Consider the other netminders the 2010 Vancouver Games hero is competing with for one of three spots in February:

– Ottawa’s Craig Anderson, who led the NHL in goals-against average (1.69) and save percentage (.941) last season.

– ... Read the full article

Report: Sabres re-sign goalie Matt Hackett

BUFFALO – The Sabres have re-signed restricted free agent goalie Matt Hackett to a one-year, two-way contract, according to RDS’s Renaud Lavoie.

The 23-year-old Hackett, a key piece in April’s Jason Pominville trade with Minnesota, gets $715,000 in the NHL, Lavoie reported.

If the Sabres keep starting goalie Ryan Miller, Hackett’s expected to be Rochester’s No. 1 netminder in 2013-14. The prospect played three regular-season games and one postseason contest with the ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie prospects will battle for action with Amerks next season

BUFFALO – In his first professional season, Connor Knapp sat on the bench in the AHL and watched … and watched … and watched as David Leggio handled the bulk of the Rochester Americans’ goaltending duties.

Knapp made the first of his seven starts Nov. 3, the season’s 10^th game. The rookie played again 13 days later, then sat another three weeks. After Knapp’s Dec. 22 appearance, Leggio started the next 15 games.

Finally, ... Read the full article

Sabres could still have Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek in fold when training camp opens

BUFFALO – With each passing day, general manager Darcy Regier acknowledged, it becomes more likely starting goalie Ryan Miller and slick winger Thomas Vanek will still be with the Sabres when training camp starts in September.

Regier has said both stars, whose contracts expire after next season, could be dealt from the rebuilding Sabres. He said he’s had some “discussions regarding both those players” with other teams.

“The nature of this business as you move ... Read the full article