NHL Draft: Revisiting the 2010 Selections, Five Years Later
Well – it’s officially June, which means we can say with certainty that the NHL Draft is THIS MONTH! It’s one of the most exciting times of the year, with the Stanley Cup Finals underway, the draft coming near the end of the month and free agency just around the corner.
As we prepare for the 2015 NHL Draft that may or may not bring Jack Eichel to the Buffalo Sabres, we continue to revisit past drafts and see just how those players are doing nowadays.
Today, we revisit the 2010 NHL Draft, which was hosted by the Los Angeles Kings at the STAPLES Center. It was the first – and to date, only – time the Kings have hosted the NHL Draft.
Entering the draft, it was Tyler vs. Taylor, as both Tyler Seguin and Taylor Hall were the top-two prospects headed into the event.
Despite Seguin finishing the year top-ranked by Central Scouting, it was Hall that got the coveted first-overall pick by the Edmonton Oilers. Seguin was then chosen second by the Boston Bruins, the infamous pick acquired in the Phil Kessel trade. Defenseman Erik Gudbranson rounded out the top three after picking chosen by the Florida Panthers.
Fast-forwarding back to the present time, Hall and Gudbranson remain with their draft teams, while Seguin has of course since moved on to the Dallas Stars. Five other players from that 2010 NHL Draft first round are no longer with their draft teams: Nino Niederreiter, Brett Connolly, Alexander Burmistrov, Kevin Hayes and Charlie Coyle.
The Buffalo Sabres, meanwhile, held nine picks in the 2010 NHL Draft. Of those nine players, one – Mark Pysyk – has made it to the NHL, while three others have played at the American Hockey League level with the Rochester Americans.
First up, the Buffalo Sabres selected defenseman Pysyk with the 23rd overall selection in the 2010 NHL Draft.
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Pysyk, 23, spent two more seasons with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings before making the jump to the NHL/AHL. Since 2012, he’s appeared in 70 NHL games, including seven this past season. He’s also appeared in 150 AHL games and is quickly growing into a top defensive prospect for the Sabres and should find himself a secure NHL spot soon, provided his health keeps up.
The Sabres didn’t have a second-round pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, so we move ahead to the third round, where they chose three times.
First, it was defenseman Jerome Leduc. Leduc spent two seasons in the QMJHL after his draft and joined the Rochester Americans in 2012.
He’s spent most of the past three seasons in the AHL, appearing in a total of 182 games with the Amerks. He also spent eight games in the ECHL with Gwinnett during the 2013-14 season but found a legitimate AHL spot this past year.
Next up in the third round for the Sabres was center Kevin Sundher, picked up with the 75th overall selection.
Sundher also spent two more years in junior, joining the Amerks in 2012. Since then, he’s appeared in 129 AHL games. He also spent time this season with the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL.
Pysyk, Leduc and Sundher all have expiring RFA contracts this summer.
The Sabres’ final pick in the third round of the 2010 NHL Draft was used for defenseman Matt Mackenzie (83rd overall).
Mackenzie joined the Amerks in 2011, but has been split between the AHL and ECHL for several seasons.
He’s no longer technically Sabres’ property but signed an AHL contract with the Amerks this past season. Mackenzie played 47 games in Rochester, racking up 77 penalty minutes, and also appeared in eight games for the Jackals. His one-year AHL deal is up, so it’ll be to be determined if he’ll be back in Rochester next year.
Fifteen slots later, the Buffalo Sabres picked up center Steven Shipley with the 98th overall selection in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL Draft.
Shipley, now 23, has never made it to the NHL or the AHL. After playing with the OHL’s Niagara Ice Dogs through 2013, he joined St. Mary’s University of the Atlantic University Sport league in Halifax and has spent the last two years there.
He had 15 points (7-8) in 28 games this past season.
The Sabres’ next pick came 143rd overall, when they chose right winger Gregg Sutch.
Sutch, now 23, spent a few additional seasons in the OHL after his draft, playing with the Barrie Colts and Saginaw Spirit – two of four OHL teams he played with in his career.
He’s since quit hockey – check out his blog detailing his time with the sport – and is a CrossFit trainer, according to his Twitter bio.
Next up, the Sabres used the 173rd overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft to select left winger Cedrick Henley.
After being drafted, Henley played three more seasons with the QMJHL’s Val-d’Or Foreurs. He last played there in 2012-13, when he recorded 64 points in as many games.
Henley re-entered the NHL Draft and was not selected, and as far as I can tell, hasn’t played hockey since that last season in the Q.
On to the 7th and final round of the 2010 NHL Draft, which the Sabres held two picks in. With those picks, they selected right winger Christian Isackson (203rd overall) and Riley Boychuk (208th overall).
Isackson spent his immediate post-draft year with the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL. Since then, he’s spent four years with the University of Minnesota. This past season, Isackson notched seven points and 17 penalty minutes in 39 games.
Boychuk, 24, has bounced around a bit since his draft year. He started off with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks and has since played with the Rochester Americans, Gwinnett Gladiators and Fort Worth Brahmas — that’s four leagues in three seasons.
Boychuk split the 2013-14 season between the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals and AHL’s Albany Devils, but it doesn’t appear he’s played any major hockey since then.
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