Buffalo Sabres Daily: Free Agents, NHL Draft

By Melissa Kania |

Good morning, Buffalo Sabres fans. The Sabres have a few days now until they wrap up this season, with the last two games facing them on Friday in Columbus and Saturday at home against the Penguins.

Of course, after last night’s 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, there will be some scoreboard watching – particularly the Arizona Coyotes – as the remainder of the season determines whether the Sabres end up in 30th place or 29th, and what the team’s chances at the draft lottery will be.

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Speaking of last night’s game — it was a good one. Anders Lindback was sharp in net, stopping 49 shots faced – including 23 in the first period alone. Tyler Ennis scored his 20th goal of the season and with that, the Sabres have had a 20-goal scorer in every season.

Now for some news and notes from around the hockey world this morning.

First up from The Hockey Writers: the top 10 free agents this upcoming summer, including former Buffalo Sabres forward Drew Stafford.

The Sabres have a handful of players that are set to become either restricted or unrestricted free agents this July, and at this point, there’s no guarantee that any of them will be back. With a likely top-three draft pick coming in June, the Sabres are focused on youth and development of players, and may end up letting some of their impending FAs walk. Don’t forget the addition of Evander Kane who, once healthy, will also be a contributor to the team.

That being said, are there any free agents you really hope the Sabres go after this summer?

Next up from The Hockey Writers this morning is a look at the top 15 defensemen heading into this year’s draft.

Mostly everyone’s heard of Noah Hanifin, but what about other blueliners who could prove to be valuable pickups, such as Brandon Wheat Kings d-man Ivan Provorov or Niagara IceDogs blueliner Vince Dunn?

With that being said, of course Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel remain the two hottest players heading into June, so here’s an NHL.com piece about how both continue to lead their respective teams.

McDavid’s Erie Otters just made it to the second round of the OHL playoffs, where they’ll face the London Knights and another valuable 2015 NHL draft prospect: Mitch Marner. The series starts Thursday in Erie.

Finally this morning, a Sportsnet piece about some NHL teams that may – surprisingly – miss the playoffs this season.

I think the craziest one on this list for me is the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings have made the playoffs for 23 consecutive seasons – almost my entire life. I’ve never NOT seen them make the playoffs, and the fact that they could miss this year is astounding to me — but anything can happen.

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