[TEHLUDDITE]

2014 Off-Season continued


June 22nd (Draft day)
What follows is a blow-by-blow account of the draft. I'll cover the first 10 picks and then ecnomize by just talking about the Sabres picks.

1st Overall- Edmonton - Sam Reinhart, C, Kootenay (WHL). As expected Edmonton made Sam Reinhart of Kootenay the 1st pick overall of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. He really was the consensus choice and we are a bit disappointed but hardly surprised.
2nd Overall - Buffalo - Aaron Ekblad, D, Barrie (OHL). After briefly considering the other top forwards from our draft list, we decided to go with Ekblad, a rare combination of size ( 6-4 and 222 lbs.) and mobility, physicality and skill. He didn't blow anyone away statistically this year, but his talent is undeniable. We're secretly hoping we have drafted another Scott Stevens, although Ekblad might never be quite that intimidating.
3rd Overall - Florida - Sam Bennett, LW/C, Kingston (OHL). The Panthers grab arguably the most complete, pro-ready forward in the draft not named Reinhart.
4th Overall - NY Islanders acquired from Ottawa - Nick Ritchie, LW, Peterborough (OHL). The Islanders land a power forward prospect with intriguing offensive upside.
5th Overall - Columbus - Michael Dal Colle, C, Oshawa (OHL). Dal Colle is also a fairly complete player who can really shoot the puck and should be a nice fit with the Blue Jackets.
6th Overall - Nashville - Jake Virtanen, LW, Calgary (WHL). Preds get a big assertive winger with offensive skills.
7th Overall - Dallas - Hayden Fleury, D, Red Deer (WHL). This was a bit of a surprise since we had Fleury rated in the middle of the round. He possesses a nice blend of offensive and defensive skilss, but could be a lot more physical especially for his size (6-4, 204).
8th Overall - Calgary - Jack Glover, D, Regina (WHL). Glover is a mixed bag of skill and size but is more a "diamond in the rough" than a polished prospect - a bit of a gamble by the Flames.
9th Overall - Anaheim - William Nylander, C, Modo (SHL). This highly skilled Swede was ranked much higher and could turn out to be a steal. He isn't large but is very quick and puck-skilled.
10th Overall- New Jersey- Jacob Middleton, D, Ottawa (OHL). The Devils land a big workhorse defenceman with decent skills. The knocks on Middleton are that his skating could be better and scouts question his coachability. If those issues can be ironed out this will be a good pick.


By the time our second pick in the first round came up, there were eleven players still available from the top 25 of our pre-draft list. But rather than simply selecting the top guy, we went well down the list to our 23rd ranked player.
18th Overall - Buffalo - Leon Draisaitl, C/LW, Prince Albert (WHL). The Sabres take the German import , a big, strong playmaker who was among the scoring leaders in the WHL. Our scouts felt he was more pro-ready than any of the other forwards available at this point and they especially liked his hockey sense and competitiveness.
48th Overall - Buffalo - Anders Karlsson, RW, Frolunda (SHL). We had Karlsson ranked 20th although that was mostly based on projection since he's a pretty raw talent at this time. Described as a pure goal-scorer, Karlsson has decent size but has yet to earn much ice time in Sweden's top league.
54th Overall - Buffalo - Ville Husso, G, HIFK Helsinki (SML). Husso started 34 games for his elite league team in Finland as a 18-yr old and is a pretty advanced goaltending prospect whose upside rivals that of Linus Ullmark, our top goalie prospect.
61st Overall - Buffalo - Nikita Scherbak, LW, Saskatoon (WHL). We had our eye on Scherbak all the way back to the first round and were amazed when he was still available here. He has tons of offensive potential but needs to gain strength and learn to use his big frame better. He might have been a sketchy first rounder, but I think he's an amazing find in the third round.
121st Overall - Buffalo - Brendan Lemieux, LW, Barrie (OHL). The son of long-time NHL agitator Claude Lemieux, Brendan plays his father's style, driving the opposition crazy and chipping in with timely offence. If he also inherited his father's clutch scoring ability he could be quite a find for the Sabres.
181st Overall - Buffalo - Jan Mandat, C, Victoriaville (QMJHL). Czech import Mandat is a crafty center who was among the QMJHL scoring leaders last season. He's a good skater and an advanced prospect but our scouts think he may not have much development room left. He could eventually emerge as a 3rd or 4th liner or might get stuck in the minors.


Overall, I'm delighted with the draft haul. I think we improved our prospect depth at every position, which was more than I expected going into the draft. After suffering through the misfortune of not having enough talent to ice viable third and fourth lines last season, I am now ready to try a different approach to constructing those lines which emphasizes speed and skill over brawn. There may not be a forward in our draft this year that turns out to be first line quality, but I really think the remaining lines will benefit immensely when these players begin to reach the NHL level. I'm not totally sure how much we improved on defence with the pick of Ekblad, but its nice to know that we got the best defence prospect in the draft. Where I think we really improved was in goal since the draft of Ville Husso now gives us a second prospect who may be capable of starting on a playoff-caliber team. A franchise goalie would have been a great pickup, but there was no one rated that highly in this draft. However, the aquisition of that asset remains a high priority for the Sabres during their rebuilding phase.