Ryan Miller Trade Rumor: Goaltender Has Likely Played Last Game With Buffalo Sabres

Ryan Miller played his 500th game with the Buffalo Sabres on Friday, and there’s a more than good chance it will be his last with the club.

Miller had 30 saves to lead the Sabres to a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders in a shootout. Though the Islanders are playoff bound, the Sabres ended a disappointing season at 21-21-6 and missed out on the playoffs.

After firing Lindy Ruff earlier in the year and trading away a number of their players for draft picks and prospects, the Sabres are clearly a team in flux. Facing the possibility of a 1-2 year rebuilding process before they are once again a contender, and with Ryan Miller entering the last year of the contract, the Sabres are expected to trade the franchise netminder in the offseason.

As a sign that Ryan Miller is likely to leave, the goalie has put up his Elmwood Village townhouse for sale.

Ryan Miller hasn’t been spending his offseasons in Buffalo anyway. He used to return to his native Michigan, but now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Noureen Dewulf. But still the townhouse listing seems a sure sign that Ryan Miller will be traded before the start of the 2013-14 season.

Miller bought the three bedroom, four bath townhouse for $348,500 back in May 2006, as he was leading the team on an unlikely run to the Eastern Conference Finals. That year the Sabres came within 20 minutes of reaching the Stanley Cup Finals, but their injury-depleted defense couldn’t hold a lead against the Carolina Hurricanes.

That seems like decades ago for Sabres fans. After winning the President’s Cup the next year (but again falling apart in the Eastern Conference Finals), the team has struggled and only made the playoffs two times in the previous six seasons. Though the Olympian netminder has been able to keep the team competitive, Ryan Miller will likely be traded to a Cup contending team this offseason.