Apr 1, 2015; Buffalo, NY, USA; Buffalo Sabres left wing Matt Moulson (26) celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at First Niagara Center. Buffalo beats Toronto 4 to 3. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Nathan Fleming, Staff Writer – SabreNoise
Buffalo Draft 2015 – “The O’Reichel Situation” (I said it first! LOL)
When it comes to draft day, I’m a first-round investor only. I don’t follow the players leading up to the draft beyond a handful of top prospects, so I couldn’t speak to Tim Murray’s efficacy beyond 7:30 on Friday night.
Puck Prose
The biggest issue I have as a fan, is that I get very attached to our players. When trades happen, I can usually appreciate the long-term benefits but it takes me a while to get over the loss of Sabres I’ve come to love. Case in point, I’m finally over the loss of Tyler Myers and pretty excited to see Evander Kane take the ice in the fall.
As for the draft, the only two things I cared about was the expected drafting of Jack Eichel, and the rumored trading for Ryan O’Reilly. Both happened, and as for what we gave up to get O’Reilly, I can live with it.
Grigorenko had a lot of potential but, blame it on how his early career was managed or by his lack of maturity, I’m not really disappointed that he’s gone. Zadorov is a different story. His struggles last year with conducting himself as a pro athlete were very minor and would have been short-lived. He was one of the defensemen I was most excited to have on the ice, even more so than Ristolainen, who I feel gets much more positive press. However, keeping in mind that you can’t get something for nothing, I think we’ll be fine.
I think Ryan O’Reilly will be a solid piece of the puzzle. The one concern I have, is that I do think he’s overpaid, if only based on the numbers he’s put up. So, as far as his contract extension is concerned, I think the pressure is on him to make an immediate impact on this team in October.
Oh, and he also shares the name as my favorite character from “Oz,” but that’s neither here nor there…
Aside from his stats, I’ve liked everything I hear about Jack Eichel. He seems like he’s extremely mature for his age and I think he might make a quicker impact even than Connor McDavid. Maybe his numbers won’t be as high, long term, but I think we’ll see a big upswing.
I’m very disappointed we didn’t capture Cam Talbot and went with Lehner. I think this was a huge mistake, but I’m coping and hoping. We’ll see where this one takes us.
The next question: What will Tim Murray do during free agency to tighten up the paling blue line?
Next: Billy Weltzer, Staff Writer - SabreNoise