"Prime Years"--A look at the 2011 NHL Draft. Terry Pegula's first as owner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-22-2018


It's been just about seven and a half years since Terry Pegula took ownership of the Buffalo Sabres on February 18, 2011. If you're a fan of seven-year cycles, then the new one for him and his team is punctuated by the drafting of 2018 first-overall draft pick, Rasmus Dahlin.

To get to that point, however, Pegula's Sabres had an atrocious season on their way to a last place finish but were lucky enough to win the NHL's Draft Lottery to secure the right to draft what many consider to be the best d-prospect possibly dating back 45 years. Hockey Hall of Famer Denis Potvin was drafted first-overall by NY Islanders in 1973, was named captain of the team for the 1979-80 season and lead them to four consecutive Stanley Cups (1980-83.)

But as Dahlin begins a new seven-year cycle for the Sabres, those first seven years under Pegula were fraught with dysfunction and dismay as the first time pro sports owner struggled to find his footing. During Pegula's tenure the team missed the playoffs in all of his full seasons, never finishing higher than third in the division, and ending up in last place three times, two of them by design. In those seven full seasons Buffalo saw one President of Hockey Ops come and go in less than four months, is on their third general manager and fifth head coach.

The Sabres finished the 2010-11 season well as they rode the Pegula wave to the playoffs and were in a position to win their first round series against the No. 2 seed in the East, the Philadelphia Flyers, but lost in overtime in Game-6 then fell in seven games. They were being carried by GM Darcy Regier's core but their prospect pipeline was producing very little and after a disastrous first full season under Pegula, Buffalo began charting a new course that would lead them to a complete strip down of the roster and consecutive tank seasons in 2013-15.

Throughout the past few years we did a series entitled "Prime Years." In it we looked for Sabres draft picks who would have been in their prime (roughly 24-28 yrs. old) during any given year. We started with the 2005 NHL Draft wherein those players would be within those prime years (albeit at the high end) when the Sabres came out of their consecutive tank years in 2015.

That 2005 draft year was a train wreck beginning with the selection of Marek Zagrapan in the first round and it didn't get much better save for the 2008 draft where two first rounders--defenseman Tyler Myers and forward Tyler Ennis--cracked the upper half of the lineup with Myers playing top-pairing minutes in Buffalo.

From 2005-09 as found in the summation here (with links to individual years,) the Sabres drafted 37 players an outside of the two Tylers, only a handful played a significant number of games in Buffalo with most of them coming from the mid-latter rounds of the draft. The 2010 draft was better when it came to their first rounder, defenseman Mark Pysyk, but none of the other eight picks made it to the NHL.

Once again, at the time of the series, these draft picks would have been in their primes and with a record like that, it's not surprising they ended up in a scorched earth rebuild.

Those drafted in 2011 would be right in the middle of their primes right now at the age of 25 or so. This was Pegula's first draft and in an effort to enhance their drafting, they held the Sabres draft combine between the NHL Combine and the draft. In three years the Sabres hosted 75 player but individual team combines were deemed to be an "unfair competitive advantage" by the NHL and they were stopped.

Buffalo went into the 2011 draft with five picks beginning with the 16th-overall and with it they chose Assat (SM Liiga) right winger, Joel Armia. The Sabres had not selected a player from overseas since picking goalie Jonas Enroth in the second round (46th) of the 2006 draft.

Armia was an interesting pick in that the Sabres saw very little of him play live overseas. But a "friend of a friend" recommended they take a long look at him and sent along a video package. They also had the opportunity to see him up close at HSBC Arena as they hosted the 2011 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. Although his performance was underwhelming, Armia did enough to pique the Sabres interest and with his first ever pick as an NHL owner, Pegula took the podium to announce Armia as their selection.

The prospect profile on Armia was that he was very mobile for a 6'3" 191 lb. player and that he was a sniper. However, it was also said by Goran Stubb, NHL's Director of European Scouting at the time, that "you might have to look for him during some shifts, but then, suddenly, he scores the winner."

Armia's sniping abilities never materialized in Buffalo. He played in 126 games for the Rochester Americans scoring 22 goals and adding 46 assists in three seasons and only dressed for one game with the Buffalo Sabres. He was part of the Myers/Evander Kane trade in 2015 and has played 179 games for the Winnipeg Jets since the trade.

Speed-demon Daniel Catenacci was selected by Buffalo with the 77th-overall pick. He played five seasons for the Rochester Americans posting 43 goals and 86 points in 247 games before being traded to the NY Rangers organization where he played a total of 61 games for their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolfpack. Cantenacci played 11 games for the Sabres and one for the Rangers failing to register an NHL point. He signed to play overseas next season.

Big center Colin Jacobs was selected 107th overall by Buffalo and spent most of his years bouncing between the AHL and ECHL. At the AHL level he collected two goals and five assists in 46 games for the Amerks while posting 39 goals and 88 points in 190 games for three different ECHL clubs.

West Seneca, NY native Alex Lepkowksi (137th) had a brief taste of North American pro hockey when he played eight games for the Amerks and one in the ECHL after his 2013-14 OHL season ended. The big defenseman played in 62 more ECHL games the following year
 before heading overseas for the last two seasons.

Goalie Nathan Lieuwen was taken in the sixth round (167th) and got himself a taste of the NHL in the 2013-14 when the Sabres set an NHL record for most goalies dressed in one season--nine. Lieuwen got into seven games for Buffalo that year posting respectable numbers (1-4-0 record, 2.98 goals against average, .906 save %) for the worst team in the league. Although his career was proceeding nicely at the pro level, concussions knocked him off track forcing him to retire last June.

Brad Navin (197th) was Buffalo's final pick in the 2011 NHL Draft and has spent his entire pro career in the ECHL thus far playing for three different teams and compiling a stat-line of 147 games, 26 goals, 35 assists.

 

Sabres youngins get schooled in Detroit

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


You don't tug on Superman's cape,
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off of the ol' Lone Ranger...


If singer-songwriter Jim Croce was still alive and a Buffalo Sabres hockey fan he might have added, don't be stupid enough to put the Detroit Red Wings on the powerplay.

The Buffalo Sabres really helped the Wings out last night by putting the NHL's 7th best powerplay unit on the ice six times. And despite allowing a short-handed goal to the Sabres' Andre Benoit (his first of the season,) Detroit would score four goals with the man advantage en route to a 6-3 shellacking of Buffalo. It was a performance which vaulted their powerplay into fourth place in the league.

Buffalo's collapse with just over 22 minutes to play in regulation helped Detroit get out of a rut as the Wings were winless in their previous six games (0-2-4.) The six goals they scored were the most all season and matched the total number of goals they'd scored during the winless streak.

Joel Armia gets the call today as injuries mount in Buffalo

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


The injury/illness bug has hit the Buffalo Sabres hard this month and the list grew longer in their 4-3 OT loss at Boston on Sunday.

Brian Gionta got leveled by Bruins defenseman Matt Bartkowski in the second period and left the ice woozy. It was a borderline suspendable hit that ultimately was deemed within the bounds of the National Hockey League Player Safety Department.

As is the case in the NHL, when your teammate is smoked by a hit, clean or not, it's expected that he be defended. In many cases it's silly as the gloves are dropped after a clean hit. Bartkowski's hit on an vulnerable Gionta was worthy of defense by a teammate.

Marcus Foligno sent the pass to Gionta which left him in a vulnerable position and Foligno immediately went to his fallen teammate's defense. Unfortunately he got too much helmet in his blind rage and busted up his hand.

Catching up with Don Stevens and the Rochester Americans

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Plenty on the docket tonight for Sabres fans to watch as three contests are of relevance to the organization.

The Sabres are at home for their fifth back-to-back of the season as the Edmonton Oilers come to town. Edmonton is one point ahead of the Sabres in the league standings thus far and may be the most disappointing team in the league.

The Oilers are a team that had three consecutive first overall picks (2010-12) including claiming victory in the "Fail For Nail" campaign of 2012, yet it looks as if they're gunning for this year's prize prospect, Connor McDavid. If the Oilers continue to plummet to the bottom of the league (which wouldn't be tanking, would it?) they'll have a good shot at McDavid or the next two top-prospects, C, Jack Eichel and D, Noah Hanifin. Both are considered top-notch prospects who would be at or near the top of any draft year.

And for those interested in seeing them in action, the collegians face off against each other tonight as Eichel's Boston University Terriers face off against Hanifin and his Boston College Eagles in a battle of #5 vs. #3 in the college ranks. Game time is 8pm on NBCSN.

Round-2 for Rochester and Buffalo

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Both the Rochester Americans and Buffalo Sabres will be in action tonight finish off a back-to-back homestand to start the season while the Sabres head to Chicago to face the Blackhawks in their second game of this young season.

The Amerks are coming off a 6-1 drubbing of the Adirondack Flames in their opener. After a sluggish start, Rochester potted three goals in both the second and third periods as six different Amerks scored.

Tim Schaller opened up the scoring shaking off a Flames defender and rifling a quick shot low, far-side. After Adirondack tied it, Mikhail Grigorenko snapped a wicked wrister top-shelf and Chad Ruhwedel buried a 4-on-3 powerplay goal to put the Amerks up by two.

Assisting on the Grigorenko goal was Joel Armia and head coach Chadd Cassidy, after juggling lines to try and find something that worked, thinks he may have found a good combination. "Once we got Grigorenko and Armia together, they dominated from the second period on," he said in today's pregame interview with Don Stevens.

The 2014-15 Sabres Training Camp "Also-rans"

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Also-rans might be a little tough, but the Sabres still need to do some serious trimming down of a roster that began with 59 players to open camp.

The next wave has been sent down. On Friday night before their game vs. Toronto, the Sabres sent 11 players to Rochester. Forward Luke Adam is the only one of the group that will need to clear waivers, the rest are:  forwards William Carrier, Dan Catenacci, Colin Jacobs, Justin Kea, Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Kevin Sundher and Phil Varone plus defensemen Brady Austin, Jerome Leduc and Chad Ruhwedel.

The team also returned two forwards to their junior clubs, Justin Bailey (Kitchener) and Brendan Lemieux (Barrie).

There are still plenty to go. Here's a list of players, some more notable than others still with Buffalo who might eventually be considered an "also-ran" this season as they head back to their respective clubs :

Rochester goes down in Chicago, a trying season comes to an end, and a glimpse at where some prospects might end up next season

It didn't seem right that a phantom penalty on Amerks forward Mikhail Grigorenko would lead to a Chicago Wolves go-ahead goal and ultimately bring Rochester's season to a close. With the "hooking" call very late in the second period the Amerks still would have another full stanza to try and knot the score.

Unfortunately they would be up against the AHL's best goalie in the Wolves' Jake Allen and Chicago would close the door on the Amerks season.

Allen, who was pulled after five goals against in a Game 4 loss, was rather pedestrian in the first two periods allowing 2 goals on 16 shots (.875 sv%) in Game 5. Even though the Amerks buzzed the zone throughout the third period they only managed seven shots, with none getting by Allen.

Rochester went down swinging, but ultimately didn't have the horses to run with a Chicago team that finished second overall in the league during the regular season.

That the Amerks could not only make the playoffs, but take the Wolves to Game 5 is a tribute to Rochester GM Kevin Devine and his coaching staff lead by Chadd Cassidy.

At one point with the Sabres going through a rash of injuries, Devine was plugging holes in Rochester with ECHL'ers or anyone else he could get his hands on to ice a full roster.

For instance, goalie Andrey Makarov, who was struggling in the ECHL with the Fort Wayne Comets, got the call to Rochester as Buffalo was in the process setting a record for most goalies used in one season (9.) Both Amerks goalies were eventually called up to be replaced by ECHL'ers Connor Knapp and Makarov. Knapp would eventually get called up to Buffalo because of injury opening the door for Makarov in Rochester.

Which was a good thing for him.

Amerks can use a "pissed off" Joel Armia

Sabres prospect and Rochester Americans RW Joel Armia seems to be liking the AHL's Calder Cup Playoffs.

Through six games he has three goals and six points, tied for the league lead in both categories amongst rookies.

Within those leaders, though, he has one thing they do not, a fighting major.

Although it wasn't duel of players throwing haymakers until exhausted (as evidenced by the lack of a video on hockeyfights.com,) the fact that he showed some quantifiable emotion in Game-3 vs. the Chicago Wolves 36 yr. old Joe Corvo is worth noting.

Or should it?

The development of Joel Armia and Mikhail Grigorenko is Randy Cunneyworth's first major task.

About a year ago I had a discussion with Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com about Joel Armia and Mikhail Grigorenko.

The gist of it was former GM Darcy Regier and his penchant for drafting or acquiring (see Tim Connolly) soft-but-skilled hockey players, with Armia and Grigorenko being the last in a long line of players like that.

The Sabres' overall philosophy was changing at the time as the team was moving towards "tougher to play against," "gritty," "bigger, stronger, faster."

Both Armia and Grigorenko have size and plenty of natural skill, but it's their will that is being severely tested at the pro level.

As the preseason gets a bit tougher, spots on the Sabres roster are tougher to come by

Winning the first three games of the preseason basically says that one team's mix of youngins is a little beter than another on a given night. Vets sprinkled in with recent draft picks and second-year AHL'ers in the right combination vs. the right combination of the same doesn't really amount to much in the grand scheme of things.

Which is not to take away anything from the players who are busting their ass to make a good impression on the Sabres brass. Winning, as well as getting on the score sheet, is good for confidence, but as the preseason moves forward the chaff gets separated from the wheat and the competition becomes a little more NHL-like. A little tougher.

The Sabres have lightened the ship. They sent five back to their junior clubs--draft picks Nicholas Baptise, Justin Bailey, Justin Kea, Logan Nelson and free-agent signee Connor Boland--on Monday.

On Friday before this weekend's home-and-home with Toronto, the Sabres really took a chunk out of the training camp roster by cutting 14 players. They assigned 12 players to Rochester:  forwards Colin Jacobs, Eric Locke, free agent signee Jonathan McGuire, Jonathan Parker, Kevin Sundher, Shawn Szydlowski, and Frederick Roy; defenseman Alex Lepkowski, and Matt McKenzie plus goaltenders Connor Knapp, Nathan Lieuwen and Andrey Makarov.

They also announced that defenseman Nick Crawford was sent to Rochester pending waivers while defenseman Brady Austin and free agent forward Peter Trainor were assigned to their junior clubs.

The team just announced that they're down to 35 players after six more were moved off of the roster. Forwards Daniel Catenacci and Phil Varone along with defensemen Jerome Gauthier-LeDuc "of Earl" and Tim Schaller were sent to Rochester.

Jamie Tardiff was also sent to the Amerks, pending waivers.

Former Minnesota 1st-round pick Colton Gillies was released from his pro tryout contract.

The Sabres will need to get down to 23 players by September 30.


***

This is where things get pretty interesting for the Sabres, whittling away 12 players from their roster to get down to the league max.

The Sabres will have one less goalie before they hit the ice for their opener at Detroit on October 2.

Although there's always the possibility that Jhonas Enroth will be moved, odds are that either Matt Hackett will be sent to Rochester or Ryan Miller, who's in the last year of his contract, will be traded.

The battle for the remaining 11 roster spots is mostly on defense and rounding out the bottom-six forwards.

Save for one possibility.

Joel Armia was selected with the 16th overall pick in the 2011 draft by the Buffalo Sabres. Since then he's been plying his trade in his native Finland playing in the top league against men.

“You play against grown men that are stronger,” Armia said. “They know how to play hockey. So that’s been a big difference in my development.”

At 20 years old he still has a long way to go in his development despite having played against men. And as he begins his first season in North America, he'll also be acclimating himself to a smaller ice surface.

But one thing that can't be denied is the skill package Armia brings.

Kris Baker of sabres.com and sabresprospects.com has Armia ranked third in his 2013-14 prospects rankings saying, "Armia's size and speed have the look of the Sabres' next scoring line threat off the wing [and] will immediately compete for NHL minutes when he brings his scoring hands to North America in 2013-14."

Baker also mentions Armia's quick release, sense for open space and tip skills as attributes that might allow him to make the jump right to the NHL this season.

Armia has played in two preseason games, has one goal and one assist, both points while playing on the top line with Thomas Vanek and Cody Hodgson.

Vanek had some good things to say about the kid after the game, “You can see that he puts himself in good spots,” he said. “Those are things you can’t teach. You either have it or you don’t, and he seems to have it.”

Armia definitely has the "it" factor. But a willingness to fully engage on a consistent basis in all three zones is what he'll need to show.

If he can do that in the remaining preseason games, there may a chance for him to earn a spot out of camp.


***

That Armia as a talented right-winger should make Vanek happy.

For some reason Vanek seems to have an aversion to playing on the right side despite his right-handed shot. Having Armia on the right while he stays in his comfort zone on the left side certainly would make him happy.

To open preseason, Vanek was on the right with Hodgson in the middle and Marcus Foligno on the left. The trio formed a pretty good line. Foligno scored two goals with that line at Columbus.

Last night Vanek and Hodgson had the night off while Foligno was on the left side of Tyler Ennis, who was playing his first preseason game at center. Drew Stafford was on the right.

The trio almost single-handedly lead the Sabres to a playoff birth in 2011-12, but fell on hard times last season and were split up.

They regained their magic last night as the Sabres top-line. Although being somewhat limited on the score sheet with Foligno scoring a goal and Ennis garnering an assist, they looked real good as a line carrying the play much of the night.

The fate of Armia, as well as which side Vanek plays on, may very well rest on the play of this trio. If they continue to work well, a top-nine could feature Vanek/Hodgson/Armia and Foligno/Ennis/Stafford.


***

The other line should pretty much be etched in stone:  Mikhail Grigorenko centering Steve Ott and Ville Leino.

At 19 years old, Grigorenko will be entering his second NHL season. Because of NHL rules he is ineligible for the AHL. He can either play for the Sabres or be sent back to junior.

Sabres GM Darcy Regier has already said that Grigorenko will be with the big club.

And his best chance for success will be on a line with Ott on his wing.

Grigorenko is big--6'3" 200 lbs.--and his highly skilled. He tops Baker's list of Sabres top prospects. But he is also having a rough time acclimating himself to the NHL game.

His skating is average at best and he looks disinterested at times.

In his first preseason game, he finally kicked it into gear and looked like he could hang with the big boys. That was with Ott and Leino.

He looked good last night playing on that line again.

Sandwiched in between was a stint with Ennis on the left and Brian Flynn on the right. Grigorenko really didn't fare that well.

With Regier's insistence on Grigorenko being with Buffalo, his best chance for success would be with Ott on the left and Leino on the right.


***

There is quality competition at the forward position. But there's even more quality competition on defense.

Locks for the top six are Tyler Myers, Christian Ehrhoff, and Mike Weber.

Rookie Mark Pysyk is coming off of a good 19-game stint with Buffalo last season, and has looked even better this preseason. He looks to be a lock for the top-six as well.

Hank Tallinder was traded for in the off season and should be the veteran mentor of the defense corps. He and Pysyk had some excellent chemistry when paired together in the first game.

Probably the only question in the top-six is Weber's partner.

The Sabres traded for Jamie McBain at the draft and he has shown enough to be a reserve/bottom-pairing d-man. He also has no waiver options.

Chad Ruhwedel came straight from college into a 10-game stint with Buffalo last season. He played well, but can be sent to Rochester without clearing waivers. "Rudy" could also use some seasoning in the AHL.

The Sabres will probably carry eight defensemen like they did last season which essentially leaves three players vying for two spots.

The veteran of the group is Alexander Sulzer. He came over in the Hodgson trade with Vancouver and is a solid bottom-pairing d-man. The Sabres re-signed him to a one year contract this summer.

His veteran presence isn't really needed with the big club, but he could get claimed should he be exposed to waivers.

Rasmus Ristolainen was the teams first round pick (#8 overall) in the 2013 draft. After two years playing in the Swedish Elite League, he was said to be NHL ready. And he sure looks the part.

He looked real strong in the first two preseason games before taking a step back vs. Carolina. Last night vs. Toronto he got that step back.

Despite his "NHL-readiness" a short stint in Rochester may be the best way to go for him as he learns game-to-game management, an area which affected him in that third preseason game.

Brayden McNabb has been playing in Rochester the last two season after four seasons with Kootenay of the WHL.

He has the size, 6'5" 215 lbs and offensive instincts to make the team out of camp. And he's also having a pretty good preseason.

Jon Vogl rightly points out that McNabb is making a strong case to be on the Sabres opening day roster.

"Not long ago," writes Vogl, "McNabb was the Sabres’ hot prospect on defense. Buffalo figured his physical skills would plug a hole on the blue line for years to come. A few drafts, trades and injuries later, McNabb is almost an afterthought."

McNabb is in the middle. He's not a rookie any more, and with only 25 NHL games under his belt he's not a veteran either.

But a one goal, two assist night vs. Carolina certainly garnered some attention for the former 3rd round pick. "McNabb shined in his second game of the exhibition season. He ripped a slap shot home and directed two pucks toward the net that were tipped into the cage." continued Vogl.

If McNabb continues to get noticed for the right reasons, he may earn himself the opportunity to not only make the team, but get some bottom-six minutes as well.

2013 first round draft pick Nikita Zadorov should get one more game to whet his appetite for the NHL. He'll be headed back to junior next week.

The Sabres visit Toronto tonight and a good chunk of players will be playing their last preseason game for the club.

Just a part of the process.

Sabres prospects drop championship game to Detroit at Traverse City

After scoring 16 goals through the first three games of the Traverse City Tournament, the hard-charging Buffalo Sabres prospects were throttled by the Detroit Red Wings prospects as Buffalo lost 4-2 to Detroit.

The Sabres squad got no production from their top-two lines as only Fredrick Roy--a Rochester Amerks bottom-six pest--and Peter Trainor, who was added to the prospects team after Mark Pysyk was withdrawn from the team, scored.

For the first time all tournament Buffalo found themselves playing catch-up as Detroit took a 2-0 lead on powerplay goals by Anthony Mantha (#20-overall, 2013.) He scored at 18:29 of the first period with Zemgus Girgensons in the box for interference.

Thirty seconds later, Buffalo's Nikita Zadorov took a high sticking penalty and a mere :29 into the second period Mantha potted another powerplay goal.

Roy cut the lead only to have Detroit's Zach Nastasiuk (#48, 2013) put the Wings up by two goals once again.

With six minutes left in the game, Trainor pulled the Sabres to within one. Red Wings forward Tomas Jurco (#35, 2011) iced the game with :26 left on an empty net goal.

Players don't have a lot of time to reflect as Sabres training camp starts tomorrow.

Many will be headed there while others will be headed to their respective junior team.

Much will be said about the perfomances of Nick Baptiste, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Zadorov. All three 2013 draft picks had strong performances. Baptiste for his relentless play and work-ethic, not to mention his team-leading seven points (4g, 3a); Ristolainen for his rock-solid steadiness on the back-end; Zadorov for his goliath-like presence, hard hits and a glimpse into his offensive up-side.

Girgensons and Johan Larsson showed that they'll have a good shot at making the big club out of camp. Chad Ruhwedel was excellent until his upper body injury and will make a strong push for a spot on the Buffalo blueline. And Trainor earned himself a long look for the Amerks.

But, conspicuously absent from the score sheet as well as any mention at all in re-caps is the Sabres Joel Armia.

The 2011 16th overall pick disappeared.

The book on him is that he'll pull a Houdini for long stretches only to make pot an important goal.

None of that this tournament, even playing on the top line with Grigensons and Larsson the last two game.

The excuses will come out--he's adjusting to a smaller rink, penalties kept him on the bench, he couldn't get warmed up, etc--but the fact is, he was invisible.

That's not a good sign. Anyone who thought he could make the Sabres out of camp got a sharp dose of reality.

Armia still has camp and preseason to make a strong impression, but a ticket to Rochester may be his best hope.

If not, it's a shame the team wasted a first rounder on an highly-skilled, inconsistent forward who can't handle the rigors of a smaller rink and tough competition. All traits, by the way, that we've found with Darcy Regier's "core" over the last six seasons.

There are only two "core-like" players left, Armia and Mikhail Grigorenko.

Let's hope at least one of them can have the impact they were drafted for.

Sabres first round in the 2013 Draft brings in two big defensemen

Sabres owner Terry Pegula took over the team in 2011, just a little over two years ago.

One of his mantras during his first presser was, "I want to keep not only statistically good players, but winners, gritty players."

At the 2012 Draft last year, Kevin Devine the Sabres assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting, stated that the team wanted to get "bigger, stronger, faster."

Presently in the midst of a rebuild/team makeover, Buffalo went into the draft with many needs up and down the lineup--including top-line talent and defensive help. They went into Sunday with two first-rounders and two second-rounders and a total of 10 picks.

There was a wealth of offensive talent at the very top, some two-way standouts just below and some highly regarded defensemen said to be amongst the top-10.

The Sabres couldn't crack the top-four of the draft where Devine said there were two drop-off points--one after Nathan MacKinnon and Seth Jones, the other said to be after Jonathan Drouin and Alexsander Barkov. Another drop-off point, Devine implied, was somewhere around the 9th/10th pick.

Most fans had high expectations an impact forward and a solid defenseman, in either combination, to be taken by the Sabres if they stayed at No. 8 and No. 16.

At yesterday's draft one could feel the collective sigh coming out of the F'N Center, home to the Sabres Draft Party, when Buffalo selected defenseman Nikita Zadorov with the 16th pick in the draft.

Not that it was a bad pick by any stretch of the imagination. In fact most thought Zadarov would be gone anywhere from No. 10 to the mid-teens--within that fourth tier of players.
And most Sabres fans would've liked the pick had the team not selected a defenseman with their first 1st-rounder.

At No. 8 the Sabres drafted 6'3" 205 lb. Finnish defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, a player Devine said they "keyed on" heading into the draft.

Ristolainen is a big, strong defenseman who plays with an edge and can move the puck out of his zone. He spent the last two seasons playing against men in the Finnish Elite league and acquitted himself extremely well.  He logged well over 20 minutes a game and was used in all situations as an 18 yr. old.

Projections for Ristolainen have him NHL ready. Just how ready is yet to be determined. Devine said post-draft that "he has a good chance of playing in the league next year." Ristolainen is under no Canadian Hockey League constraints and will either be in Buffalo or Rochester to start next season.

As for Zadorov, the Sabres had no intention of grabbing another defenseman with their 16th pick, "we had [Ristolainen and Zadorov] neck and neck," said Devine, mentioning that having Zadorov drop was "our biggest surprise."

"We were looking to move up [from No. 16] but teams were saying no and [Zadorov] kept sliding and sliding," said Devine with almost a Cheshire grin on his face. "So, to get those two big guys [without trading up] was pretty nice."

Nice is not a word when it comes to those two, especially Zadorov.

"Yeah, I like to hit," he beamed at his presser.

"In Russia it's not a physical game," he said. "Here in Canada everybody plays physical and play against you stride for stride. You should be ready every second."

In Zadarov the Sabres got themselves a huge, mobile defenseman with some offense and a mean streak.

So with one stroke of a 2013 first-round draft-brush, seemingly much to the dismay of some fans, the Buffalo Sabres revamped their blueline. Some would say at the cost of passing a possible difference maker up-front.


The Skinny

There are seemingly many things at work under the surface of these two picks.

First and foremost it signals a shift in a team-building philosophy that once largely centered around skilled, puck-movers on the back end.

Gone are the days where we'd see five Brian Campbells to one Jay McKee on the back-end. Throughout the last six, largely forgetable seasons, the Sabres back-end was about as soft as it could be outside of gritty veterans like Craig Rivet and Robyn Regehr.

A more balanced defense with the addition of heft and nasty is a good thing for everyone on the team, especially in goal.

Long-time Sabres goalie Ryan Miller has been run at for years, the Milan Lucic incident being the most recent, with little recourse and it looks as if that should no longer take place.

Picking the best player available has always been how Buffalo works the draft and in their minds they worked it just like that with the Ristolainen and Zadorov picks.

But it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to think that picking these two big defensemen will have some influence upon whether Miller re-signs or moves on.

Miller seems like a very loyal guy, and as he looks upon (up at) these two defensemen, he could see them as templates of the future on defense, and it very well could sway him into sticking around through the rebuild.

Yet another factor seemingly at work in the selection of these two defensemen is the influence of scouts from Europe.

Long-time NHL defenseman and former Sabres player Teppo Numminen has been an assistant coach for the Sabres for the last two seasons. Before that he was a scout with the Finnish National Team.

It's safe to assume that Numminen had access to scouting reports from numerous contacts in Finland concerning Ristolainen, his fellow countryman. And it wouldn't be at all surprising if the he was on hand for a few games himself.

The Sabres also have a full time presence over in Europe in amateur scout Fredrik Andersson.

Andersson was hired to scour Europe for late round goalies-gems like Nashville's Pekke Rinne. Last year the Sabres drafted goalie Linus Ullmark in the 6th round and he's quickly rising up the Sabres prospect ranks.

It wouldn't be too surprising to hear that Andersson had taken in a number of Ristolainen's games and had a full (obviously positive) report for Devine and Co.

And if those underlying factores weren't enough, one might also note that both Ristolainen and Zadorov have fellow countrymen on the team.

Regier and Devine had been telegraphing for weeks that some of the young players from overseas might find comfort in having a fellow countryman to grow with.

Most had assumed that Elias Lindholm would learn the pro ropes from fellow Swede, Jhonas Enroth, but that factor alone, obviously and correctly, wasn't enough to sway Regier and Devine to move up for and draft Lindholm.

They did find a match to their liking though in Ristolainen. He will be entering the North American pro ranks with fellow Finn, and World Junior teammate, Joel Armia (#16 overall, 2011.)

And Zadarov, who is just learning the English language having been in North America for only a year, will have fellow countryman Mikhail Grigorenko (#12, 2012) to buddy up with in the Sabres organization.

Many had been thinking that RW Valeri Nichushkin would be buddying up with Grigorenko to formulate two-thirds of a line. But the Sabres passed on the Russian due to his links to the KHL and his ultimatum that it would be either the Russian pro league or the NHL this year. Nothing else.

Pairing countrymen wasn't the driving force behind the picks, but it does add a layer of comfort for all four of the players involved and may help increase their chances for success in the NHL.


The Review

I was as deadened as anyone when they picked Zadarov at No. 16 in the draft this year, thinking there's now way they'd go defense twice in the first round.

But taking everything into consideration, the Sabres did well in picking both Ristolainen and Zadorov, two big, strong defensemen.

Bo Horvat was available at No. 9 and would have been a real solid pick, but they already have a player of that ilk in Zemgus Girgensons.

The shot at a trade up to No. 5 for Lindholm that was passed on by the Sabres is mildly disturbing, but I actually liked Horvat better than Lindholm so it really matters not to me.

What it comes down to is the Sabres are continuing to change the type of player they want to build with.

Ristolainen and Zadarov are two big boys who seem mature to the point where they look like men and both should be with the Sabres in the very near future. They're a couple of towering d-men who can play the game at high speed and seem intent upon protecting their own end in their own, somewhat different, way.

It's a postitive for Miller (or whomever else ends up in net,) it's a postive for the forwards who can play the game while having their backs covered, and it's a positive for their fellow countrymen (as well as themselves) as all four--Ristolainen, Armia, Zadorov and Grigorenko look to have an impact on the team within the next two seasons.

All-in-all, it was a real good first round for Kevin Devine and the Buffalo Sabres.