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Buffalo Sabres Links: Mike Babcock, Jack Eichel

By Melissa Kania

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The talk of the town for Buffalo Sabres fans the past few days has been: Mike Babcock, of course. Babcock visited Buffalo and met with the Pegulas, got a tour of HARBORcenter and First Niagara Center.

Of course, this doesn’t guarantee anything. It doesn’t mean that Babcock will definitely be the next head coach of the Buffalo Sabres, but… there’s a glimmer of a chance, there.

If nothing else, it seems unlikely (in my eyes, at least) that he’ll be returning to Detroit. With the news that he turned down a contract extension offer that would have made him the highest-paid coach, I can’t see him changing his mind and going back on that. Who knows – maybe it’s just time for a change.

Either way, Babcock has declined to comment after meeting with Buffalo Sabres brass. [Free Press]

One draw for Mike Babcock that could really help ‘lure’ him to Buffalo: the Sabres’ prospect pool.

Though not all of these guys are going to be playing in the NHL this season, there’s a steady pipeline of prospects that will be joining the team at one point or another in the years to come.

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The Buffalo News compiled a depth chart of the Sabres’ prospects, including Sam Reinhart, Mikhail Grigorenko and Zemgus Girgensons. Will guys like this be helpful in luring Babcock to the 716?

In other Eichel-related news, check out this just-slightly-awkward interview he did with IIHF reporter Olga Khmylev, who also works for HARBORcenter’s Hockey Academy and the daughter of former Buffalo Sabres forward Yuri Khmylev.

In the interview, Khmylev holds up a Buffalo Sabres shirt in front of Eichel, which is then awkwardly snatched away by someone off-camera. The interview then closes. [TBN]

Let’s wait until June, people. Then again, there was already those issues of The Hockey News with Eichel Photoshopped into a Sabres jersey and McDavid in an Oilers jersey, so…..

Other NHL-related links for you this morning:

How about the biggest surprises in the 2015 NHL playoffs so far? [Bleacher Report]

From Steven Stamkos’ struggle to score to the Anaheim Ducks absolutely ruling the postseason, there have been some less-than-predictable moments during the playoffs. The best part? It’s not even half over yet, at least not for the Eastern Conference, and there’s plenty of time for more surprises on the horizon.

One more question for you this morning: who would you say is the best American NHL player of all-time?

Fansided took a crack at it, picking the “top 27” American-born NHLers.

Without looking at the list, some names that come to mind for me: Mike Modano (of course, how could he NOT be on this list?), Pat Lafontaine (though maybe that’s a Buffalo Sabres bias coming through), Patrick Kane and former Buffalo Sabres defenseman Phil Housley.

Personally, it’d be interesting to see the folks come up with a similar list of the top 27 Canadian-born, European-born, etc. players in NHL history.

Next: Sabres Should Proceed With Caution

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