Maybe it's the Theraflu talking, but let me get my "Jump to Conclusions" mat out after just eight games:

Tyler Myers could one day sign the biggest contract in Sabres history.

This isn't about his game-winning shoot-out goal. For one thing, he actually shot the puck off Mike Smith's glove. It is, however, about a player with the potential to be something the Sabres have never had in the line-up in their 40-year history: something close to blueline perfection.

At 6'7", Myers obviously possesses something you can't teach. His crazy reach allows him to do things other players cannot, like keeping forecheckers well away from the puck and holding clearing attempts in the zone by essentially covering half the blue line. He's also very calm with the puck in his own end, almost too calm for his age. When Steven Stamkos tailed him into the Sabres zone for a loose puck Saturday night, he unconsciously found his way behind the net, losing Stamkos in the process. That is no small feat (pun subconsciously-intended).

The real coup for the Sabres is Myers' skating. It never looks like he is going all that fast, but we've already seen him maneuver through entire teams on a rush, and his reach is so ridiculous that a completely-legal diving stick check on a preseason opponent's breakway was called a penalty shot.

Whether he'll show a Chris Pronger-style nastiness remains to be seen, but he's already shown the propensity to do the yeoman's work well. He absorbs punishment along the boards in his own end, and makes the first pass on a break-out like a veteran. I was adamant that Buffalo re-sign Brian Campbell, who is one of my favorite all-time Sabres. Myers should be even better.

He is 19-years-old. Don't forget that. He's going to make mistakes, like Saturday's poor positioning on Maxim Afinogenov's goal, but when he does his game right, he's going to amaze. Honestly, I've never seen anything like Myers in the blue-and-gold. If he can explode a couple folks' faces, Zdeno Chara will have nothing on him in short order. I like the guy so much that I'm nervous to post this and force some sort of Buffalo jinx. Couldn't you just see him shrinking or something?

Someone Tweeted this to me after the game: "The best sports story to hit Buffalo since the post lockout team.We never seem get "that guy" in the league. We got that guy," (bps21). Yes, Buffalo, you just may have that guy (Best sports story? That's maybe taking it a bit too far). In time, he has the potential to be up there with names like Schoenfeld, Korab, Horton and Housley as the franchise's most important blue liners. Feel free to enjoy it.

(By the way, don't look now but Tim Kennedy plays hockey the way Buffalonians want hometown boys to play. He was ready to fight Lecavalier, who is half-a-foot taller than Kennedy. Also, apparently some other Tim Kennedy is an MMA fighter).

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm waiting for my fever to come back, or at least to get back to coughing my lungs out. Go flu, go!

Email: nick@wgr550.com