NHL Draft: Revisiting the 2008 Selections, Seven Years Later

With the 2015 NHL Draft now exactly two months away, this is a great time to look back on some of the past drafts and see just how things panned out for those players and their respective teams, especially the Buffalo Sabres.

Last week, we revisted the 2007 NHL Draft, which saw the Buffalo Sabres select players like T.J. Brennan, Paul Byron and Corey Tropp. None of the Sabres’ 2007 picks are still with the franchise today.

This week, we move forward to the 2008 NHL Draft.

Held in Ottawa and hosted by the Senators, the 2008 NHL draft saw center Steven Stamkos selected first-overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Stamkos, the top-ranked prospect heading into the draft, has seen his career grow with the Lightning as he continues to be a big part of their roster today.

The Los Angeles Kings selected Drew Doughty with the second pick, while the now-defunct Atlanta Thrashers selected current Buffalo Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian from the OHL’s Peterborough Petes with the third-overall selection.

The Buffalo Sabres had two first-round selections that year, with the 12th overall and 26th overall picks. The Sabres, of course, used those picks to pick up defenseman Tyler Myers from the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, and forward Tyler Ennis of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.

Funnily enough, though Myers has since left Buffalo, the Sabres have THREE first-round draft picks from the 2008 NHL Draft on their roster. Ennis and Bogosian are two, with the other being Cody Hodgson (selected 10th overall by the Vancouver Canucks.)

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As for the Sabres picks: we all know that Myers is now in Winnipeg after spending parts of six seasons in Buffalo. Ennis, of course, remains in Buffalo, coming off his fifth full season with the NHL club.

After the first-round picks, the Sabres picked again with the 44th overall selection: center Luke Adam.

Adam is currently in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization, having spent much of his season with their AHL affiliate in Springfield after the trade. He has 90 games of NHL experience — all but three with Buffalo — with 26 points in that time.

(Picked right below Adam? Zac Dalpe.)

The Sabres’ next pick came at #81, when they selected defenseman Corey Fienhage.

Fienhage has never played a game in the NHL, mostly playing in the ECHL over the past four seasons. He played limited time with the Portland Pirates and Rochester Americans. Fienhage spent this season with Bakersfield and Utah in the ECHL.

Next up: Justin Jokinen and Jordon Southorn, picked up with selections #101 and #104.

After the draft, Jokinen played four years of college hockey at Minnesota State U – Mankato. As far as I can tell, he hasn’t played hockey since 2012 and has dropped off the map.

Southorn has never played in the NHL, but has seen the run of the mill over the past few seasons. Since he was drafted, Southorn has played in four different leagues: QMJHL, ECHL, AHL and EIHL. He spent this past season with the Portland Pirates and Gwinnett Gladiators.

The next pick for the Sabres in the 2008 NHL Draft was right winger Jacob Lagace (#134).

Lagace is another player who never made it to the NHL, though he did play for the Pirates and Amerks before being shipped to the ECHL. Lagace spent this season playing overseas with Asploven HC (Swe-1), where he had 57 points in 52 games.

The final pick for the Sabres: defenseman Nick Crawford (#164).

Crawford spent a solid few seasons in the AHL with Portland and Rochester after his draft. He’s never played in the NHL, but has since joined Dornbirn EC in Austria. This season, he recorded 25 points – including 23 assists – in 41 games there.

As you can see, the 2008 NHL Draft class was only slightly better for the Buffalo Sabres than the 2007 one. Tyler Ennis and Tyler Myers certainly panned out, even though Myers is since gone. But with the other six picks: only one has made it to the NHL, and he has 90 games of NHL experience, most of it coming between 2010-2014. Next week, we’ll check out the 2009 NHL draft class and see if that’s turned out any better for the Sabres.

Next: NHL Draft: Revisiting the 2007 Selections

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