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Buffalo Sabres Links: A Busy Week Ahead

By Melissa Kania

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Good morning, Buffalo Sabres fans….. it’s the most wonderful time of the year!

This week – and the next one, if we’re looking further ahead – is bound to be a busy, exciting one for the Buffalo Sabres organization, and the NHL as a whole.

On a league-wide perspective, it begins on Wednesday evening, as some of the NHL’s top stars converge on Las Vegas for the 2015 NHL Awards. Members of the Stanley Cup-winning Chicago Blackhawks team will be on hand with hockey’s most coveted prize, and honors such as the Calder Memorial Trophy, Vezina and Jack Adams will be awarded.

The show begins at 7 p.m. and lasts roughly two hours. Aside from the awards themselves, EA Sports will also announce its cover face for the upcoming NHL 16 video game. Here’s an NHL.com preview.

Following the NHL Awards on Wednesday night, the 2015-2016 NHL season schedule is expected to be released on Thursday.

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This isn’t far off the mark from when the schedule was released last season, though it is significantly earlier than it had been released in years past. But hey, all the better to have more time to plan those road trips, which games you absolutely NEED to be at the bar to watch, and to find out when Connor McDavid and (likely) the Edmonton Oilers will come into town.

After those two events, of course, comes the big show, as the 2015 NHL Draft takes place Friday night and Saturday in Sunrise, Florida, hosted by the Florida Panthers.

Day one of the draft begins Friday night at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on NBCSN. Be sure to tune in from the start to see the Sabres’ second-overall selection; then stay tuned for the team’s 21st-overall pick, which they could use to pick up guys like Timo Meier, Vince Dunn or Kyle Connor.

This year’s draft has the potential to be a game-changer for the Buffalo Sabres. GM Tim Murray is ready; are you? [NHL.com]

Don’t forget to check out the draft party at First Niagara Center if you’re interested. Doors open at 6 p.m. on Friday night, and there will be events including a “junior combine” for kids, Sabres alumni autographs and more.

Following Friday’s exciting first round, the draft picks up again on Saturday at 10 a.m. The second day is always much faster-paced, particularly as you go through the rounds and select players that aren’t necessarily in attendance. Either way, at the end of the roughly 24-hour period, there will be a whole new crop of Buffalo Sabres… and who knows, maybe Murray will throw in some trades and we’ll see even more excitement along the way.

Of course, that exciting weekend will soon be followed up by the opening of the free agent period on July 1. Let’s shake, rattle and roll.

Next: Sabres Announce Development Camp Dates

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