There has been much speculation and excitement surrounding Sabres prospect Mikhail Grigorenko (and justifiably so) but I think that another player on their roster merits serious attention, Tyler Myers.

Myers has been a good player for the Sabres and in certain stretches has been excellent. This is a problem that most young defensemen in the league come across, consistency. For the Sabres to start making serious strides towards being a threat in the playoffs Myers needs to keep evolving as a player. Lately his development has hit a plateau or even a slight decline in some areas.

 Here are his career stats to this point:

Corsi rating is the on-ice shot differential (goals + saves + missed shots + blocks). This is expressed as a rate stat per 60 minutes.

Quality of Competition is average Corsi of opposing players, weighted by head-to-head ice time.

Myers 2009-2010 season was arguably the best of his career. He won the Calder Trophy and had his best offensive numbers in a season. Out of all players who played at least 20 games for the Sabres in 2009-2010 season, he ranked 4 out of 20 in the quality of his competition. Only his partner Henrik Tallinder ranked higher than him as defensemen. It was impressive for Myers to be taking on those kinds of minutes as a rookie and providing the offense that he did. His Corsi rating had him ranked 15 out of 20 which isn’t great, but he was a rookie playing really tough minutes so that is to be expected. His 48 points help cushion the blow of being ranked 15th in Corsi rating.

In his second season Myers saw his points per game drop from his rookie season. Myers did however see a huge jump in his Corsi number. He was third best out of Sabre players that played in at least 20 games during the 2010-2011 season. Myers saw a big drop off in the quality of competition rating. He went from being fourth on the team his rookie year, to ninth in his sophomore campaign. Part of that had to do with losing his trusty partner Tallinder. Tallinder gave Lindy Ruff the confidence to use Myers against better competition because he was with a safe veteran partner. The other part had to do with Myers having a really terrible first half of the season. Myers was sitting at a +/- rating of -15 in January. It was only natural that Ruff cut back his minutes against better competition. Myers did rebound to close out his second year as a pro. He was able to go from -15 to even by the end of the season.

This past season saw Myers regress in all the categories from the chart above. He played in fewer games because of injury. He had fewer points and fewer points per game. His Corsi and quality of competition ratings both took a huge hit as well. As good as the end of his second season was, the 2011-2012 season looked more like his first half of 2010-2011. Myers’ Corsi rating saw him ranked 21st out of 23 Buffalo players who played in at least 20 games (521 out of 680 NHL players who played in at least 20 games). That is definitely not where you want to see your franchise defensemen stack up statistically. Myers’ Corsi rating was significantly in the negative which means the puck is flying at the Sabres net when he is on the ice a lot more than its being sent towards the opponents net. Further compounding the issue was that he was seeing these poor results while facing the easiest quality of competition he has faced thus far in his career. His points per game were also at a career low for the 2011-2012 season.

A popular counter argument for why its OK for Myers to show signs of inconsistency is that Zdeno Chara took a long time to develop. To me that is one of the laziest comparisons that one can make. “They are both really tall so they will both share the same struggles as developing players.” That is poppycock. Other than both being ridiculously tall they do not share much similarities at age 22. Tyler Myers has a significant advantage compared to when Zdeno Chara was 22 years old. Myers is light years ahead of Chara as a skater and already moves extremely well for his size. Myers also has better puck skills than Chara. Myers has the ability to go on end to end rushes, something that Chara has never, and will never, have at his disposal. This gives Myers the ability to be a way more dynamic offensive force as he is always a threat to join the rush.

So why isn’t Myers a more talented Chara yet? I think a lot has to do with Myers not utilizing his size defensively. While Myers’ reach certainly makes him tough to play against, Myers is not “tough to play against.” He lacks the sandpaper in his game that could take him to the next level. This is a puzzling aspect to me because I don’t see a reason for any player of that size to be hesitant physically. People should think twice about entering his corner, I don’t think players feel that way. When Lucic trucked Miller over last November, a guy like Myers should have been front and center in the response the Sabres gave. Instead, there was a minimal group response and the result was a dark cloud that hung over the team all season.

Between being 6’8” 227 pounds and having the latest in protective equipment, what is the excuse for not having/displaying a mean streak? This is the part of Myers’ game that I have the most hesitation about. Being physical and having a nasty streak is usually something that a player possesses or they don’t. I have rarely found it to be a skill/trait that is gained through coaching. It’s in a players’ DNA.

Until Myers develops a mean streak that strikes intimidation into his opponents, he will never reach his potential ceiling. He has the potential to have one of the best contracts in the league if he does ascend to his potential ceiling.   This next season will say a lot about who Myers is as a player and where he is headed. Given that his raw hockey skill is not in need of drastic development, the time is now for him to take the bull by the horns.  I think it's a toss up right now to which direction he is going to go. For the Sabres to start becoming a force in the NHL, he has to be more physical and consistent starting now.

Thanks for reading!