Buffalo to select 11th at the NHL Draft in Las Vegas later this month
Buffalo to select 11th at the NHL Draft in Las Vegas later this month
The NHL Scouting Combine is in Buffalo this week, with NHL general managers and their scouting staffs getting a final look at players to be selected at the NHL Draft in Las Vegas later this month and to lay the groundwork for trades leading in the summer.
The Buffalo Sabres will be selecting 11th (a valuable draft choice when you consider that GM Kevyn Adams picked winger Zach Benson at #13 in Nashville one year ago), but the club's circumstances and the emphasis on winning has changed their priorities. The Sabres have accumulated a large stockpile of talent in prospects Jiri Kulich, Noah Ostlund, Isak Rosen, Matthew Savoie, Anton Wahlberg, Vsevolod Komarov and Ryan Johnson. With the goal of snapping their 13-year playoff drought and the likelihood that a player selected at #11 will not play in the NHL for two to three years, Adams may be poised to deal his first-rounder for immediate help.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on the FAN 590’s The Jeff Marek Show said he believes that it is a make-or-break year for Buffalo and that because of that, their pick is in play, along with the Montreal Canadiens who select 5th overall and the New Jersey Devils, who pick right before Buffalo at #10.
Dealing their top pick was something that the Sabres were not open to doing last summer. There were reportedly opportunities to trade for veteran defensive help with short-term left on their contracts, but Adams was not willing to trade a future asset for a player who would likely be in Buffalo for one year. After dealing Mittelstadt to Colorado for Bowen Byram, the Sabres now would be more likely to target a veteran forward.
Friedman and Marek also said it is possible that the Sabres would be interested in restricted free agent forward Martin Necas, who Buffalo passed on at the 2017 Draft in favor of Casey Mittelstadt, but that would depend on how open the Carolina Hurricanes would be to a deal comprised of young prospects and/or draft picks.
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