Ryan Miller will likely suit up for the Buffalo Sabres tonight when they return from the Olympic break and host the Carolina Hurricanes, but his future with the team beyond that is in question as Buffalo is reportedly still shopping the veteran goaltender for a potential trade before the NHL trade deadline on March 5.
According to the Boston Globe, Miller missed Monday's practice because he was still traveling back from the Olympic Games in Sochi where the 2010 tournament MVP played mostly as a backup to Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.
General manager Tim Murray is reportedly still looking to trade Miller--who has spent his entire career in Buffalo up to this point--by next week.
"Tim is testing the waters as hard as he can," a source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because Murray declined to speak to reporters Monday, according to the Boston Globe.
According to the report, the team's first priority is to trade Miller, who is due to become an unrestricted free agent by season's end, while their second option would be to sign him to an extension before he hits the open market if a deal isn't done by the March 5 deadline.
Murray has said that he is willing to move anyone after taking over the team a month ago, as the Sabres look to rebuild and are sitting in last place in the league.
"This team's in last place right now," Murray said, during his inaugural news conference on Jan. 9 via the paper. "Everybody can be traded."
The Sabres currently sit at 15-34-8 and have several veteran players that are due to be free agents at season's end that they may look to part with. Interim coach Ted Nolan said he wouldn't be surprised to see the team trade a few pieces away.
"I think that's the key right there, not knowing," Nolan said via the Boston Globe. "We can't worry about who might be gone, who might be coming in. Today is the day we have to work with what we've got. And tomorrow, whatever we've got here, then we'll work with that, too."
Nolan originally said that he was hoping the team would hang onto Miller while he recently said it was out of his hands.
"My thoughts don't really count right now," Nolan told the paper. "Certainly, what Ryan Miller means to this team and this town, no question you'd like to keep him. But it's business. And we have to look forward to rebuilding this organization."
Miller, the 2010 Vezina Trophy winner, has set franchise records during his career in Buffalo with 283 wins and 589 games played. The Sabres sitting in last place know that there will be trade talk consuming the locker room until the deadline.
"I think you guys in the media as a whole have been telling me I've been getting traded since the first day I got here," said forward Matt Moulson, who was acquired in October in a trade that sent Thomas Vanek to the New York Islanders and could be traded again since he's set to become a free agent via the Boston Globe.
Moulson added: "Sometimes it's a little stressful. But I think when you tell yourself to control what you can control, it kind of calms me down a bit. I'm going to go out there and play hard, and whatever happens, happens."
Miller, 33, has been the Sabres MVP in a lost season, accounting for all of the team's wins but one with a 14-22-3 record while adding a 2.74 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
Miller has spent his entire career in Buffalo, but his days with the Sabres may be numbered.
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