Good morning, Buffalo Sabres fans! We have finally entered the month of September; for kids, that means it’s time for back-to-school. For NHLers, it’s back-to-ice time as training camps and preseason begin later in the month.
With that being said, news around the hockey world is building – let’s see what’s going on.
The folks over at Die By the Blade are looking at the top 25 Buffalo Sabres prospects under the age of 25. Yesterday, they highlighted Hudson Fasching, one of the few Sabres prospects who won’t be in attendance at the team’s prospect tournament later this month. Fasching and other NCAA players will have already begun their seasons and thus will miss the prospect tournament.
As their series continues, we can think of at least a few of the names coming – including Jack Eichel (likely number one?) and Sam Reinhart (number two?). Keep checking out DBTB as they continue their series of looking at Buffalo Sabres prospects.
Speaking of Eichel, he signed a multi-year exclusive trading card autograph deal with Leaf yesterday.
What does this mean? Leaf will exclusively market signatures of Eichel, meaning there will be no licensed autograph rookie cards *and* that Eichel’s autograph will only appear on high-end cards. For hobby card collectors – that may not be a good sign, according to Twitter user essbeay.
From NHL.com yesterday comes a piece about Buffalo Sabres center Tyler Ennis and his confidence entering the 2015-2016 season.
We all know that last season was a rough one for both Buffalo Sabres players and fans. The offseason, however, was anything but tough, and it’s impressive what Tim Murray has done in a relatively short offseason. The Sabres are now looking to rebound after the two worst seasons in team history, but they’ve got a lot of new pieces.
More from Sabres News
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- 3 takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres final Prospects Challenge game
- Buffalo Sabres experiment with lesser-known talent in loss to Pens
- Buffalo Sabres 75 Bold Predictions for 2023-24: Prediction 51
- Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh: A quick look at the Penguins prospects
From Dan Bylsma behind the bench, to new members on his coaching staff; from the addition of the obvious top-guy Jack Eichel through the draft, to incoming players like Evander Kane, Ryan O’Reilly, David Legwand and Jamie McGinn. The team that hits the ice at First Niagara Center later this month will be quite a different team from the one that skated off it in April, and it’ll be interesting to see just how far that can take them.
The folks at Today’s Slapshot, meanwhile, have been reviewing the 2013 NHL Draft Class and just how that’s panned out to date. Part three of the series, published Monday, includes former Buffalo Sabres defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who will look to jump into a top-four role with the Colorado Avalanche this season.
Others highlighted in that post: Marko Dano, Kerby Rychel and Curtis Lazar. Also check out parts one and two, which include a discussion of Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, Nathan McKinnon and Seth Jones.
Off the ice, it’s been a rough offseason for the NHL.
Since the end of the season, the league has had to deal with multiple off-ice incidents involving its players and coaches. ESPN says the NHL is at a “crucial crossroads” in deciding how to deal with these incidents, with the Patrick Kane investigation still ongoing, Ryan O’Reilly still awaiting his court date and Mike Richards recently being charged by RCMP.
How the league reacts to things like this, particularly once a legal decision has been made, will set a precedent for the future and will show just how seriously the league takes this.
Finally, to wrap things up today on a non-hockey note: a big congratulations to Jessie Pegula on her win in Day 1 of the US Open!
Next: Cody McCormick Should Play All Year
More from Sabre Noise
- 3 biggest standouts at Buffalo Sabres 2023 Prospects Challenge
- 3 takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres final Prospects Challenge game
- Buffalo Sabres experiment with lesser-known talent in loss to Pens
- Buffalo Sabres 75 Bold Predictions for 2023-24: Prediction 51
- Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh: A quick look at the Penguins prospects