Buffalo Sabres Round Table: 2015 Draft Thoughts
By Tim Redinger
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
The 2015 NHL Entry Draft is over, and the Buffalo Sabres came out of the draft one of the better teams in the National Hockey League. They certainly are not going to be the best team heading into the regular season next year, but they will be playing for more than the right to draft no worse than second.
Tim Murray made several key acquisitions – not just only in draft picks, but in trades as well. Let us briefly recap the 2015 NHL Draft Day that the Buffalo Sabres and Tim Murray had. This isn’t your normal round table – we will go through the 2015 NHL draft, and have a couple of writers from Mile High Sticking joining us to discuss the major trades.
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The future looked promising – the Buffalo Sabres had three draft picks before the season started in the first round of what was being touted as a very deep draft class. Then all of a sudden, before it was even lunch time on the day of draft day – they were brought down from their draft pedestal, with just one pick like most other teams.
The Sabres had clear indicators that they weren’t done for the day – the team now had a goaltender that wasn’t aging, and that wasn’t just around for the push for last place.
Certainly a gamble – but the mantra of Sabres Nation so far has been In Tim we trust – so the goalie that he drafted and is high on, we should look to pin our hopes of the future on. Follow along with Robin’s Twitter.
The day remained quiet after that – until it was time to start the draft, and the rumors started heating up about the Buffalo Sabres and Ryan O’Reilly again – only this time, they were a little more than rumors. While Twitter had it announced that the Buffalo Sabres had traded to the Colorado Avalanche, but first, it was to the podium to select their first round draft pick at second overall.
2. player. 12. Buffalo selects, Jack Eichel.. Center. Boston University. Jack Eichel
Oh Tim Murray, you man of few words. How many dreams did you finally make come true with those four simple words. Jack Eichel was finally ours.
More From SabreNoise – Buffalo Sabres like their Jack with a splash of Kane.
It was then that Tim Murray showed the hockey world that he was serious about keeping Jack Eichel in Buffalo and not letting him go back to the NCAA, and that he was serious about improving the Buffalo Sabres as early as next season.
That seems like a lot to give up for a player that is going to command a big salary (with only one year on his deal), but Tim Murray got rid of two players with maturity issues – and we all know he isn’t afraid of trading good prospects and players to get better quickly.
That would end the first day for the Buffalo Sabres and their fans – with plenty to look forward to the next day. The Buffalo Sabres retained all of the rest of their picks for the second day of the draft, and it was a pretty quiet day for the Blue and Gold. Here are the day two picks, with recaps from Sabres.com:
51. player. 12. A native of Sherwood Park, Alberta, Guhle (6’2”, 184 lbs., 7/29/1997) finished his second WHL season with the Prince Albert Raiders in 2014-15 with 32 points (5+27) and 36 penalty minutes in 72 games. The left-handed defenseman recorded 15 of those points in the last 22 games of the season, earning a 20-spot improvement in NHL Central Scouting’s final prospect rankings.. D. sabres. Brendan Guhle
A St. Cloud State commit, Borgen (6’1”, 189 lbs., 12/19/1996) tallied 19 points (3+16) in 24 games during his senior season for Moorhead High School (Minn.) before joining the Omaha Lancers (USHL) for 21 games to finish the 2014-15 season.. D. sabres. William Borgen. 92. player. 12
(6’1”, 171 lbs., 1/2/1997) made his WHL debut during the 2014-15 season, recording 11 points (4+7) in 64 regular-season games for Rockets. The Surrey, British Columbia native added four assists in 17 playoff games, helping Kelowna to team team’s fourth WHL Championship.. D. sabres. Devante Stephens. 122. player. 12
(6’0”, 188 lbs., 2/3/1997) ranked third among Hurricanes skaters with 51 points (23+28) in 64 games 2014-15. After being unranked on Central Scouting’s midterm rankings, the Edmonton, Alberta native saw his draft stock soar in the second half of the season after finishing the year with 45 points (22+23) in his final 39 games of the season.. C. sabres. Giorgio Estephan. 152. player. 12
player. 12. A Chicago native, Chukarov (6’2”, 190 lbs., 4/3/1995) recorded 43 points (12+31) in 55 games with Minnesota last season and is committed to the University of Massachusetts Amherst.. D. sabres. Ivan Chukarov. 182
More From SabreNoise – Buffalo Sabres Add Depth At D In Second Day Of Draft
So with that, some thoughts on the Buffalo Sabres draft moves from us here at SabreNoise – and from around FanSided.
Next: Nadia Archuleta, Editor Mile High Sticking