This year the Buffalo Sabres will head into the 2014 Draft with the #2 overall selection. It's the first time they've had a pick in the top-5 since 2003 when they selected Thomas Vanek and it's their highest pick since 1987 when they drafted Pierre Turgeon #1 overall.
With the Sabres rebuild in full swing to the point where the "re" part of the equation is almost gone, the build portion could certainly begin with this year's selection as the team looks to place top-end skill on a methodically laid foundation.
Over the past two years Buffalo has amassed 19 total draft picks with eight of them coming in the first two rounds. To put it in perspective, with a pick no lower than #52 in those two drafts, they have selected eight of the top-96 players in the draft over the last two years.
It's not that hard to get excited, but before we start planning the parade, it should be pointed out that the Sabres organization had done the same thing before with one of the greatest hockey minds of all time at the helm.
Scotty Bowman came to the Sabres in 1979 after coaching the Montreal "Flying Frenchmen" Dynasty of the 70's. In eight years he and GM Sam Pollock guided the Canadians to five Stanley Cups, including four in a row after dethroning the Philadelphia Flyers in 1976.
Bowman came to Buffalo as coach, general manager, and director of player personnel with an aging Sabres team and a rebuild through the draft on his mind. He would ride out "The French Connection" era for a couple of seasons before amassing multiple first and second round picks for his rebuild.
The Sabres had three first rounders in 1982--D, Phil Housley (#6); LW, Paul Cyr (#9); C, Dave Andreychuk (#16)--and two second rounders--C, Mike Anderson (#26) and D, Jens Johansson (#30.)
They would repeat that in 1983 with three more firsts--G, Tom Barrasso (#5); RW, Norm Lacombe (#10); C, Adam Creighton (#11)--and two more seconds--C, John Tucker (#31) and LW, Richard Hadju (#34.)
Ten of the top 64 players in those two drafts.
The crown jewels of those drafts were Housley, Andreychuk and Barrasso. The rest ranged from relative flops (Cyr, Lacombe,) to solid and serviceable (Tucker and Creighton,) to the wasted (Anderson, Johansson and Hajdu.)
Those players were part of a core group of highly skilled players that ended up being a huge disappointment. They never made it past the first round of the playoffs.
Despite the all those high draft picks two years running, one of the main reasons for their failures could be traced to the lack of support from the previous drafts.
Outside of D, Mike Ramsey, none of the players drafted from 1979-1981 would be impact players in a top-line/top-pairing role for Bowman's Sabres.
The best of the rest those three years include Randy Cunneyworth (1980, #167) and Lindy Ruff (1979, #32) with a nod to Gilles Hamel (1979, #44.)
In addition, Bowman's 1981 draft was a complete disaster.
First rounder Jiri Dudacek (#17) of the Czech Republic was a gamble that didn't pay off as the authorities in the former Soviet-bloc nation wouldn't allow him to leave.
And no other player of the 12 selected in 1981 played more than D, Hannu Virta's 245 games. The defenseman was selected two spots before Montreal picked some guy named Chris Chelios.
In Montreal Bowman had reaped the benefits of Pollock's superb drafting. Said Bowman (via Hockey Hall Of Fame Spotlight,) 'We had a lot of great young players. That was a team that was built mostly from the draft. We picked up Guy Lafleur along with Larry Robinson in '71. It seemed every year thereafter for three or four years we were getting two or three young players who made the team, guys like Steve Shutt and Bob Gainey.'
Not so with the Sabres under Bowman.
After years of getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs, the Knox family bounced him in the middle of the 1986-87 season.
It was after that disastrous season that the Sabres would get the #1 pick. New GM, and former Buffalo Sabre Gerry Meehan would snag Turgeon with the first overall pick at the 1987 Draft.
Although it's way too early to tell, the support for this year's #2 overall pick, and presumably top-5 pick next year, looks to be much stronger than what Bowman laid out in the 80's.
Before the Sabres were in official "rebuild-mode" the 2008 Draft produced "the two Tylers"--D, Myers (#12) and C, Ennis (#26.) Both have shown that they can have an impact on the team. Myers beat out Matt Duchene (2009, #3 overall) for ROY honors in 2010 while Ennis has shown a steady ramp-up to his game culminating in a career high 21 goals this past season on the lowest scoring team in modern NHL history.
The 2009 draft is almost a complete bust for the franchise as only fourth round pick Marcus Foligno (#104) able to stick.
The 2010 draft would be a complete bust were it not for first rounder D, Mark Pysyk (#26) and the 2011 draft hinges mainly on the success or failure of first rounder Joel Armia (#16.)
The two most important drafts to watch as they lay their foundation could be the last two. Former GM Darcy Regier commenced the rebuild by stockpiling a total of four firsts and four seconds in 2012 and 2013.
It would seem as if C, Zemgus Girgensons (2012, #14) will have himself a pretty solid NHL career after landing a roster spot at the age of 19.
The three defensemen they took will be looking to join Myers as key pieces for a very young d-corps in the near future. Rasmus Ristolainen (2013, #8,) could be with the team full-time in 2014-15 and Jake McCabe (2012, #44) will be starting his pro career in Rochester after three years with the University of Wisconsin.
The Sabres will be in a bit of a quandary next season with d-man Nikita Zadorov (2013, #16.) He's in that same state of limbo that 2012 first round pick Mikhail Grigorenko (#12) was in last season--too good for junior but too young for the AHL.
Sabres fans have been fed the Pittsburgh Penguins rebuild model for two years running--tank for years landing consecutive top picks. The Pens, as should always be noted, also happened to land a once in a generation player in Sidney Crosby.
Buffalo GM Tim Murray doesn't look to be going that route fully when he mentions that he doesn't want this rebuild to take too long. Nor is there a Crosby-like player in the mix to this point.
And besides, on the downside, the Edmonton Oilers had three consecutive first overall picks from 2010 to 2012 (without a "Crosby") and they're still in the basement looking at the 3rd overall pick this June.
And of course there's Bowman's rebuild during the 80's.
The Sabres really need a hit from one of the last two drafts, and as it stands, 2013 could be the one. It's touted as one of the top drafts in history with depth stretching well into the 2nd round and the Sabres had five of the first 52 picks that year.
Should they do well in that draft, or in concert with the 2012 draft, they'll be setting the table nicely for this year's #2-overall pick.
A good example of setting the table is Colorado.
In 2009 the Avalanche nailed three of their first four picks. They drafted centers Duchene (#3) and Ryan O'Reilly (#33) who solidified the middle while their 3rd-rounder, defenseman Tyson Barrie (#64,) is now a key cog on the blue line. All three would be part of a strong foundation for future captain LW, Gabriel Landeskog who was drafted 2nd overall in 2011.
Those four players were the foundation for Colorado's build and they helped provide the team with a perfect platform to launch 2013 #1 overall pick C, Nathan MacKinnon.
MacKinnon's 24 goals and 63 points while helping lead his team into the playoffs, should make him a lock for 2013 Rookie of the Year. He also had two goals and 10 points in 7 playoff games this post season.
In Buffalo, year one of "suffering" is in the books for Sabres fans, and another one looks to be on the horizon. Yet, as always, hope springs eternal in Buffalo. But this time there's good reason to believe in the future of the franchise. There are strong cues that this rebuild through the draft could be a real good one.
Murray and Co., with props to Head Amateur Scout, Kevin Devine, seem to have laid a solid foundation. When the top picks come in, much less pressure will be thrust upon them and they should be much more successful as a group than Bowman's Sabres.
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