Lavoie: Ducks' Fowler linked in trade talk for Sabres' Myers
/Renaud Lavoie was on Buffalo’s WGR 550 on Friday morning.
On his report that talks are intensifying between the Sabres and Ducks on Tyler Myers:
“That's interesting because yesterday I received a phone call early in the morning about Tyler Myers from somebody in the league and it was about the Ducks and it said that they're talking a lot right now. I was surprised by the names that I was hearing. I think what the Sabres are looking at is another D in return. The name that was in was Cam Fowler, who's a young D, obviously, with the Ducks. And another player could be involved if that trade comes up. So it's going to be Tyler Myers for, let's say, a defenseman like Cam Fowler and another player. Is it going to happen? I don't know.
"But after that, later in the afternoon, another contact of mine when we were talking about the Sabres, out of the blue said, 'Renaud, there's a lot of talk again concerning Tyler Myers and Tim Murray is really busy on the phone concerning Myers.'
"And there was a third contact of mine later during the day who said exactly the same thing. So when you have three different persons from three different organizations who are telling me exactly the same thing, it must be true. Is it going to be a trade with the Ducks? I know the Ducks are really interested. I'm not the first one to say that. It was reported before. I know the Detroit Red Wings are in the mix for Tyler Myers.
"But what people need to understand is this: I know Tyler Myers, if you're looking to his first year, he was unbelievable. Won the Calder Trophy. Everybody was looking up, thinking he'll have a big and long career in the NHL. But after that, it went down a little bit.
"When the teams are talking about Tyler Myers, they're saying, 'You know what? It's a Zdeno Chara case.'
"Because Zdeno Chara, I remember and I don't know if you remember guys - when he started with the Islanders in the NHL, he was not the beast that he is today. It was a different player. He was not strong on his skates. He was falling down a lot. You see a little bit of that with Tyler Myers. But everyone around the league is saying, 'Tyler Myers is a good D. There's a lot of upside again for him. He's still young and he can do a lot better and he's going to be better I guess in two, three seasons.'
"So that's why there's tons of interest for a guy like Tyler Myers. I know salary-wise he's making a lot of money. But it seems like it was maybe an issue a year ago, or two years ago. It seems like for teams right now less of an issue, because they're looking at him and they really like what they see."
On if the Ducks' other player coming back would be a roster player or a prospect:
"That's a great question. The person who gave me the information wasn't able to give me all the details of that possibility. But Cam Fowler, I remember when he arrived in the league, when he was drafted with the Ducks, there was a lot of people really high on him. And I think he's a good defenseman. Is he physical enough? Maybe not.
"But what I like is if the Sabres make a trade, they're going to get somebody interesting in return.
"Like I said, I'm convinced that Tim Murray right now, like a lot of GMs with teams that are not making the playoffs, I'm convinced they're receiving for sure 10 calls a day from different GMs with different scenarios. So it's one, I guess, of the many scenarios on the table for him.
"That's why I don't want to tell your fans that are listening right now that it's a done deal...
"But it's interesting to hear names like that. Before, yes we've heard the Ducks were interested. Maybe the Red Wings were interested. But we didn't hear about any names that maybe the Sabres would get back. When you hear a guy Cam Fowler, it's not a bad name. It's not a bad name out there. So t's interesting, but at the same time it must be a tough call for Tim Murray to make because even if you're receiving tons of offers, at the end of the day we all know that the Sabres in a year or two are going to be way better than they are today. They still have a good core. I think Tyler Myers is part of that core right now. And he's going to be a strong defenseman in the league.
"So maybe he's not going to be traded. People are telling me it's going to happen, but until it happens... we'll see. Because I've heard that before, that that guy is going to be traded. It's a done deal. First thing you know, he's not traded. A year later or maybe two years after, he's one of the best players on the team. A lot of speculation."
Source: WGR 550/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey
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