Kevin Devine and the Sabres vs. Chris Pryor and the Flyers at the 2013 NHL Draft

Well, not so much a mano-y-mano battle of both teams' head scouts, more of a comparison of thought processes concerning amateur players rankings at the draft.

Before we get into it, much thanks should go out to the NHL and their teams for providing behind the scenes videos of the 2013 NHL Draft.

Previously we delved into the Sabres and their draft workings via Beyond the Blue and Gold.

Last week the Philadelphia Flyers released Flight Plan, Episode 1--The War Room.

Flight Plan takes us into the Flyers draft room as they prepare their list of prospects. Philly scouts are all focused upon Scouting Director Chris Pryor and the draft board up on the wall.

The Sabres and Flyers have a history that dates back to the mid-70's with The French Connection meeting the Broadstreet Bullies in the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals.

That history is also embedded in Sabres owner Terry Pegula. His introduction to hockey was with the Flyers back then, but he wound up falling in love with The French Connection and the Buffalo Sabres.

Both teams missed the playoffs in the 2013 lockout-shortened season. The Sabres would have the 8th pick in the draft while the Flyers would have the 11th.

And both teams "had their guy" as they went to the table.

For the Sabres, Assistant GM/Head Amateur Scout Kevin Devine and his scouts pegged defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.

Pryor and the boys from Philly went to the draft table with their guy as well.

The Flight Plan video gives us a glimpse as to how they got there, but what's interesting concerning the connection between the Sabres and the Flyers is how they ranked their players.

Once again, with the 8th pick in the draft the Sabres were locked into Ristolainen. But they also had a player fall to them at No. 16 that they did not expect--defenseman Nikita Zadorov.

None of the Sabres scouting staff expected Zadorov to be there and some even had him rated higher than Ristolainen. Devine said that the big Russian "kept sliding and we kind of looked at each other and said 'this is a no brainer.'"

He encapsulates the enthusiasm of picking Ristolainen and Zadorov, "If somebody would have told me we got these two guys at No. 8 and 16, I'd be shocked."

Sitting with the 11th pick, GM Paul Holmgren and his staff watched as their guy was slowly falling to them.

Prior to the draft, Flight Plan gives us a glimpse as to how they came to pick defenseman Samuel Morin.

It's later in the video when Pryor asks his staff, "Who has the most upside?"

A scout jumps in, "Morin," he said and quickly qualifies it, "I don't know if he's going to hit it, but he has the most upside."

Pryor proceeds to take his marker and move Morin up the chart (everything on the chart except for Morin's name is scrambled) but we come to find out later that the scouting staff moved him up to No. 6 on their depth chart.

Here's how they rate the group after Morin. Pryor says, "We got Risto (Ristolainen) at #11. (Darnell) Nurse at #12. (Sean) Monahan at #13." Then he amends it to:

• Morin (defenseman)
• (Mirco) Mueller (defenseman)
• Zadarov (defenseman)
• Nurse (defenseman)
• Risto (defenseman)
• Monahan (center)

Unless something happened at the draft table, it would seem as if defense was what they were going for.

What's interesting here is the juxtaposition of the scouting staffs.

The Sabres were intent upon picking Ristolainen, a more well-rounded defenseman, who was said to be the most NHL-ready of that defensive grouping.

The Flyers were more interested in upside on defense and had Morin as the guy, moving him all the way up to No. 6 on their draft board.

Here's what sportsnet's Patrick King had to say about Morin:

"Morin has such raw potential that there is no real consensus ranking among the scouting community. His skating ability at his size is an asset NHL teams will surely covet. He can move the puck well with an outlet pass and shows enough poise with the puck on his stick to seek out his best option. Morin doesn’t have an overwhelming shot, but it is utilitarian in that he generally gets it on net. He’s solid in his own end and uses his long reach beneficially. He’s one of the most intriguing prospects in this draft class, and it should be interesting to see where NHL teams value his potential on draft day."

Here's a scout's take (via sportsnet):

'He’s a monster on the ice,” says Ross MacLean, head scout for International Scouting Services. “He has tremendous size and moves very well for his size. While he is a good skating and decently mobile defender, he still has a lot of technical development left to do with his footwork. He has smooth hands for a big man and some decent offensive upside but his biggest appeal is that he is a capable two-way defender who has a ton of room to develop and who has the potential to be cultivated into a real stud defender.'

Interesting to note that King rated Ristolainen a bit higher than Morin, and said this about teams that might be interested in Ristolainen:

"The Philadelphia Flyers have been in search of quality defencemen for years. There’s no better place to address this need than with a player like Ristolainen, a late birthdate who’s been playing pro for several years and may be ready to make the jump to the NHL as early as next season. They will have several options around the 11th pick and Ristolainen would make a lot of sense for the Flyers."

Another quick note, Philly also had Zadorov and Nurse rated higher than Ristolainen, but had all of them in the mid-teens on their needs-board.

Three or four years down the road, because of these vids, we'll be able to see just how each scouting staff did with their projections.

Maybe both teams will end up with what they wanted, maybe one will and one won't, maybe they'll both be wrong.

But it's awesome having a definitive point of reference to look back upon.