Buffalo Sabres Draft Options: Trading the 8th To Los Angeles

The Buffalo Sabres have many options when it comes to how they use the 8th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, but is trading it to LA a smart option?

With only 15 days left until the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, we are beginning to plumb the depths of what the Buffalo Sabres could do with the 8th pick.

Notice I said “what the Buffalo Sabres could do” – a lot of people read these suggestions and trade ideas we throw around here and assume that these ideas are what we WANT to see from the Sabres.

Some of our ideas are solid – trading the 8th pick to the Edmonton Oilers, for example, or even using it to pick up a LHD from the Anaheim Ducks. Then again, some of these ideas are just spitballing, attempts to play GM from a safe distance, knowing that our hair-brained schemes would possibly gets us fired if we were actually employed by the Sabres.

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Today’s scheme might go down as hair-brained, but it is one worth at least discussing: trading the 8th pick in the draft to the Los Angeles Kings.

A year removed from failing to qualify for the 2014-15 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Los Angeles Kings came out hot in 2015-16 . . . and were quickly bounced out of the playoffs by the San Jose Sharks. Worse, Kings GM Dean Lombardi deviated from the script a bit and made some moves that felt desperate, according to this well-written piece by Jason Lewis over at Hockey Buzz.

Los Angeles still has a playoff team, and there is some young talent in the team’s pipeline, so it’s not like the Kings are in panic mode. However, the Kings currently possess no first-round picks for the 2016 draft; as a matter of fact, the Kings will not pick until 50 other picks have been made, as their first pick in this draft is number 51. Given the success rate of players picked beyond the first round, that pick is great for LA’s AHL team, the Manchester Monarchs. Beyond that, though? Meh.

The Kings should be looking to move into the first round, and being able to jump into the top ten would be a huge boon. If Buffalo is going to be willing to give up its first-round pick altogether, though, LA is going to have to give Buffalo a player high in value, so which players on the King’s roster or in the Kings’ system fit the bill?

If you are looking at prospects, the Kings have LHD Derek Forbort, who was picked 15th in the 2010 Draft. Forbort got a few NHL games under his belt last season and is thought to be ready to compete for a permanent spot on the Kings’ 2016-17 roster when training camp opens. He doesn’t sound like the puck-moving LHD that the Sabres need, but he sounds like a solid third-line pairing who could someday slide into the top-4. Hey: sometimes you need a defenseman who is just really good at playing defense.

Another prospect in LA’s system who has good value is LW Michael Mersch. The former 110th pick in the 2011 draft scored 22-23-45 in his 2014-15 campaign with the Monarchs, and added another 13-9-22 in the 2015 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs, proving that there often are gems to be found in the deep stages of the draft. Like Forbort, Mersch is thought to be within a year or two of finding a permanent home on LA’s roster.

Both of the prospects I have mentioned are set to become RFAs this summer, but it is hard to believe that Lombardi will part with either of them, mostly because the team is more likely to try and shed a few veteran contracts during the offseason. With forwards Dustin Brown and Marian Gaborik said to be on the trading block, and veteran center Vincent Lecavalier thought to be about to announce his retirement, LA could have some spots on its roster opening up soon for players such as Forbort and Mersch. And the player I would really like to see GM Tim Murray go out and get, Tanner Pearson, isn’t going anywhere.

Next: Sabres Should Take A Look At Minnesota LW Jason Zucker

Up until a few days ago I might have argued that LHD Brayden McNabb might be worth getting back in the 716, but the Kings signed him to a two-year extension, so there goes that idea. All in all, the Buffalo Sabres might receive a phone call from the Los Angeles Kings in regards to the 8th pick in the upcoming draft, but from what I can tell, there is nothing that LA would be willing to offer that the Sabres would be interested in getting. I’m not a huge LA Kings fan, so if you have heard any rumors that might interest the Sabres, feel free to chime in below! Otherwise, I’d have to say that there is exactly a 0% chance of anything transpiring between these two teams come draft day.

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