Threre's more to the Sabres future than just presumed 2nd-overall pick, Jack Eichel

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Probable second-overall draft prospect Jack Eichel deserves all the press he gets. Let's get that out of the way right off the bat. Yet in saying that we need to remember that he's still only 18 years old and has a ton to learn on the ice. We Sabres fans also need to keep in mind that although it's a foregone conclusion that he will be drafted by the Buffalo Sabres later this month, he's still not in the Sabres organization yet.

Members of the Buffalo Sabres brass walked into First Niagara Center for the interview portion of the 2015 NHL Draft Combine and stuck to their agenda. They still went through the interview process with Eichel, just like they will do with presumed 1st-overall selection Connor McDavid and many of the 120 prospects in Buffalo for the Combine. Questions like, "what are your strengths and weaknesses?" and "Do you like Buffalo?" are some general ones. Those specific to Eichel included  "how did you feel about your year at Boston University and losing in the NCAA Final Four?" and "Do you need to go back and win that game again?" They're the parameters of the process and some of the things Buffalo Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma delved into when discussing Eichel on WGR's Howard Simon Show this morning.

Bylsma would quickly qualify the Eichel-specific process by saying, "You ask those questions just like you would any other kid. Whatever the chances are in Vegas are that Eichel is not the second-overall pick (for Buffalo,) that's still a part of the conversation too."


Fans and the media in Buffalo have every right to gush over their future No. 1 center, should he end up being the Sabres selection at 2nd-overall and he will be the most highly touted draft pick of the Blue and Gold since Pierre Turgeon was selected first overall in 1987. So when the first 12 minutes of the Bylsma interview this morning centered on Eichel, it's taken with a shrug as something to be expected.

There are others on the team that are worth mentioning, however, like Evander Kane who was traded for on February 11, 2015, but who's yet to play a game for the Sabres because of surgery. And the trio of first-round picks that preceded Kane and (probably) Eichel--center Zemgus Girgensons along with defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov.

I’ve always been a fan of the number "3." From the Holy Trinity to the gold, silver and bronze to “Three strikes, you’re out.” There’s Tex Winters’ Triangle offense in basketball, the old adage, death comes in threes, three stars of the game and Tri-Star Pictures featuring films like The Natural, Rudy and 3 Ninja Knuckles Up.

 

At this point in the Sabres rebuild--the build process--it would seem as if they've found a trio that can be looked upon as a strong nucleus and foundational centerpiece for the team for years to come. With all due respect to Kane and defenseman Zach Bogosian, as well as the homegrown Tyler Ennis and a bevy of players within the organization, the aforementioned a trio is emerging as a group that could very well define the Buffalo Sabres moving forward.

They're big, strong, gritty, can skate very well, are not afraid to get their nose dirty and have the skill to contribute consistently at the NHL-level. And none of them are over the age of 21. "When talking to the coaches in the last couple of weeks about the Sabres and the scouting report on the players they had these are the names that they came to.

"They talked a little bit about different guys and what they thought about them--Girgensons and how he plays, Ristolainen and Zadorov."

Host Howard Simon directed the interview to the blueline and asked to what jumps out at him on defense. Bylsma replied, "Big, heavy, talented, can skate and move" without any hesitation.

He continued, "Ristolainen, Zadorov. We're talking about big defensemen, mobile defensemen. They're excited bout having these two guys in the top-four for years to come. They need to develop, need to get better but they really like these guys."

That the "Twin Towers" of Ristolainen (who will be 21 in October) and Zadorov (who just turned 20 in April)  are young is one thing. That defensemen take longer to develop is another. In due time, perhaps two or three years down the road, both are being looked upon as pillars on the back end.

Girgensons, however, is a bit ahead of the curve and leads the charge of the "new core" rising. For the better part of two full NHL seasons and with 131 games under his belt, the "Latvian Locomotive" has shown a maturity way beyond his age. He's also displayed an impressive, all-situations skill-set that has plenty of upside and while also displaying a versatility unmatched on the roster right now.

With two, top-end picks at his disposal this upcoming season, Bylsma was prompted to project out his depth down the middle with the names of Eichel, 2014 second-overall pick Sam Reinhart, Girgensons and Johan Larsson as reference points.

"The young, high-drafted players coming to an organization, you slot them," he said. "When you slot them in your minds-eye you slot them first, second-line center. Are they that when you draft them? No, they're not because they're 18-yr. old kids. But [they're] good young, talented players, possibly very, very good young players." He then went from hypothetical projections to the here and now.

"I like Girgensons because he offers protection for the other two players (Eichel and Reinhart) wherever they slot. Initially you can't just fire the second pick overall from the last two years and say they're first line centers who will go up against Sidney Crosby and then go up against [Claude] Giroux and then go up against [Alex] Ovechkin. That's a tough, tall task."

Girgensons history is that of steam-rolling ahead as chronicled for the last three years and already has been through the fire. He had the opportunity to play for college hockey's Vermont Catamounts for the 2012-13 season after being drafted by the Sabres with the 14th-overall pick in 2012, but chose to head straight to the pros. He sized himself up against other youngins who had played in the NHL like Marcus Foligno and Cody Hodgson during development camp and felt that he was ready to make the jump.

 

That first pro season was a learning experience for the 18 yr. old. He was the youngest player in the AHL that year and produced very pedestrian numbers during the regular season for the Rochester Americans--61 games, six goals, 11 assists, minus-7. But things began to click for him and in a first-round playoff series loss to the Toronto Marlies. He scored three goals in three games during that series.

 

Next year was his rookie year in the NHL and the 2013-14 season was yet another learning experience for him as he not only had to acclimate himself to the NHL-game, but he also had to hold steady during an ugly 30th-place season complete with a multitude of changes that overtook the Sabres organization. Once again his numbers weren't eye-popping--70 games, eight goals, 16 assists, minus-6.
 

With things stabilizing in Buffalo and head coach Ted Nolan remaining at the helm last season, "Gus" was steppin' out with 15 goals and 15 assists in 61 games before he being shut down for the season due to injury. He was seeing top-line minutes at the time with Matt Moulson and Ennis on his wings.

Bylsma, for the second time in less than a week, rhetorically asked the question, "Is Girgensons a top-end, first-line center?" then answered "no, he's not" (although one might think Girgensons may have something to say about that in the future.) The coach then revealed his "minds-eye" concerning the player who's name, Zemgus, means "one who eats lions."

"He's a solid, hard-working, heart and soul, tempo-guy for the team," said Bylsma of Girgensons. "That's what he continues to bring." And on his versatility, Bylsma said, "You can slot him in where you like, put a number on him. But the (projection and)  protection from Girgensons (in holding the fort while the others develop) is important to that position."

As incredulous as it was that former Sabres GM Darcy Regier finangled a first round pick from the Nashville Predators for the services of fourth-line center Paul Gaustad at the 2012 trade deadline, almost as incredible was how he moved up from that 21st-overall pick at the draft to land the 14th-overall pick in a trade with the Calgary Flames.

Regier, it was said, ruffled some feathers at the draft when he was able to swing a deal with his counterpart in Calgary, Jay Feaster. “Darcy being able to pull off that trade," said head scout Kevin Devine at the time, "I think a lot of general managers … were kind of mad at him because he stepped up and took (Girgensons), because they were all ready to take him."

Buffalo went into that draft looking to do a couple of things--strengthen a weak prospect pool at the center position and get bigger, faster, tougher. They picked five centers beginning with the highly skilled Mikhail Grigorenko taken at No. 12, two spots ahead of Girgensons. “The focus [was] on centermen, some size, and those two players were identified,” Regier said after the first round selections, while Devine thought they achieved some balance with those two first rounders, "Once we got the skill (in Grigorenko), Girgensons I thought (made) a real good package.”

The counterbalance to Grigorenko's skill was Girgensons will. At the draft he was described by scouts as "a tireless worker," "hard to play against," and from TSN draft analyst Craig Button, "A hard player. Hard on the puck, hard on the body, hard competitor, hard working."

He was called "the Latvian Locomotive" for a reason.

Devine put it this way after drafting Girgensons, “The fans of Buffalo will love this guy; he just will not quit. We talked to his coach (Jim Montgomery, Dubuque Fighting Saints USHL,) and he said that he’s got the leadership qualities of a Jonathan Toews and Mark Messier" and the two-way play of Rod Brind'Amour with Montgomery saying, "It's mostly his work ethic and competitiveness. It's just the intangibles they both bring." It's a competitive nature that will attack anything thrown at him head-on.

Bylsma recongnizes that Girgensons is the type of hard-nosed, all-around player who will afford Sabres GM Tim Murray ample time to address any top-line/top-six needs that come up. And the coach can now use him in any position up-front without worry.

Sounds like a pretty good pillar to build upon, one that eventually should be wearing a "C" sewn to his sweater, just like those mentioned by his USHL coach. And hopefully that sweater will be one that will hoisting the Cup, just like Toews, Messier and Brind'Amour have done. A sweater that's blue and gold.