The Buffalo Sabres Prospect Challenge kicked off earlier this weekend, and it was a welcomed sight here in Buffalo. Fans got their first chance to see Jack Eichel in action against another team since the development camp in summer. The hype was high, and the expectations were even higher for the young Sabres players, but they delivered with a convincing victory.
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Saturday evening, the Buffalo Sabres prospects laced up the skates to play one of a few exhibition games before training camp official starts at the end of the week. Their first opponent was the New Jersey Devils prospect team; a team featuring 2015 draftee Pavel Zacha. The Buffalo Sabres prospects were fired up right from the start and came firing right out of the gate.
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Only 25 seconds into the first period of the game, a loose puck made its way into the New Jersey zone. It was picked up by a speeding Jack Eichel and dished over on his backhand to Nick Baptiste for the first tally of the game. That’s all it took him ladies and gentlemen, 25 seconds. Jack Eichel had his first point of the tournament in 25 seconds.
As far as Eichel’s skill goes, nobody was questioning it in the first place, but that burst of speed and pass had to make every Sabres fan happier than anyone else in the league about their new future star. Eichel looked like a man amongst boys out on the ice as the only players that could keep up with him (barely) were his line mates Nick Baptiste and Evan Rodrigues.
By the end of this game, we learned a few things collectively as fans.
The first thing we learned is that Jack Eichel is more than NHL ready. He was able to skate past every defender with ease and was the most consistent scoring threat the entire game. Jack had the ability to function at high speeds and basically run circles around the opposition, and it seemed to be getting in the head of the New Jersey Goaltender.
The second thing we learned was that Nick Baptiste may be closer to and NHL trial than we think. Throughout earlier training camps and prospect tournaments, it was always common to see Baptiste scoring goals left and right, but last game proved more than his scoring ability. His skating was much improved and his speed is nearly as close to Eichel’s. I would not be shocked to see Baptiste in the NHL sooner than many of us thought.
The third thing we learned was that Andrey Makarov is ready for the minor league starting role. With Matt Hackett no longer around to take the job from him, Makarov should take that crease by storm. The prospects game has shown his sharpness and compete level to be higher and better than ever.
The last thing we learned was that Justin Bailey is the most NHL ready prospect besides Reinhart, Eichel, and McCabe. His bomb for a shot scored the Sabres third goal of the night, which ended up being the official game winner (the Sabres won by a score of 6-2). Bailey not only showed off his shooting ability, but was physical all game. He may be one of the favorites for a call up during the regular season.
I know I was impressed by the skills shown as a whole a few nights ago. I hope to see similar results tonight as the Sabres will take on the Bruins Prospects at 7pm.
And just for those of you who missed it, here are the highlights from Saturday’s game… Enjoy!
Next: Rochester Americans Sign Patrick Kaleta
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