The 2013 NHL Draft will be upon us soon. The Buffalo Sabres, for the second season in a row, have four picks in first two rounds. They have the #8 and #16 in the first round, #38 and #52 in the second.
Many believe that the team should do anything they can to get into the top-3 this year to land a "franchise player." Sabres GM Darcy Regier is actively trying to move up, but going from 8th into the top-3 is nearly impossible, and as we've seen, not many picks in the 4th-6th spots get moved.
Chances are the Buffalo Sabres will be drafting somewhere around #8.
The following series looks at past drafts from 1979-2003, bookending what are widely considered the best drafts ever over that 25-year span, and what that might mean for the Sabres in this year's draft.
In the last segment we looked at the LA Kings and their team-building.
The Kings had three players from the vaunted 2003 draft who played significant roles in their 2012 Stanley Cup season: Dustin Brown, whom they drafted, and two they traded for in Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.
The Buffalo Sabres already have two first round picks in what's said to be the deepest draft since 2003.
The Sabres also have flexibility this year with two second-rounders in the draft and they have an array of players that could be used as trade chips to either move up in the first round or grab another first round pick altogether.
Today we'll look at the possibility of moving up from the 16th pick overall.
Moving up from the 16th pick for two top-10 picks would be a safe bet.
As mentioned in oue 2013 Draft overview, while most scouts look at this draft as deep, even the most "pessimistic" scout sees this draft, in the least, having a "deep top-10" on top of an "OK" first round.
Sabres head of amateur scouting, Kevin Devine, leans towards the former in his assessment of the talent pool.
"It's a deep draft," he said, "it probably goes into the low 20's a team is going to get a very good player, and a player at 20 may be just as good as a player at 11."
In both instances, it would seem as if there's a cut-off point at the 10th pick.
With the top-four players in this year's draft all being said as interchangeable first overall picks, all four teams drafting in that range will have the opportunity to land themselves an elite player with elite talent. The odds of the Sabres trading up--their stated goal at the draft this season--are pretty slim.
Carolina has the 5th pick and Calgary the 6th. Both teams should have an NHL-ready player there for the taking and the odds of them moving down the draft are pretty slim as well. Plus, historically speaking, those picks don't usually change hands.
Ahead of Buffalo with the 7th pick is Edmonton. The Oilers and the Sabres will be able to draft comparable players who are said to be on the cusp of playing in the NHL. Behind them, the 9th and 10th picks represent potential on the level of the 8th pick, where Buffalo is set to begin the 2013 Draft.
Unless Sabres GM Darcy Regier works some magic to move up in the draft, it would seem as if the Sabres could be locked into the 8th pick.
With that in mind having three other picks in the top-52 after that spot isn't a bad thing. Especially in a deep draft. There are two ways they may be able to maximize their positioning in the draft this year after #8.
They can try to move up using thier 16th pick to land a second player in that "safe area" inside the top-10.
Or they can use their veteran assets--Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek (maybe someone else?)--to land another pick in the top-20.
In either scenario tapping into the strength of a deep draft like Los Angeles did when the assembled three players from the 2003 Draft on their way to their first Stanley Cup in 2012, could expedite the rebuild process while adding strong pieces to their foundation.
At the 2012 Draft, GM Darcy Regier also had two first-rounders and two second-rounders.
Regier was able to turn the 21st pick in the draft last year into the 14th by adding the Sabres second-round pick (#42) in a trade with Calgary.
He was able to land two centers with those first two picks: Mikhail Grigorenko (12th) and Zemgus Girgensons (14th.)
Like they did last year, the Sabres could very well have the opportunity to move up into the 7th, 9th or 10th slot this season.
Sitting at #7 in the draft, the Edmonton Oilers have a wealth of talent up-front and could use some help on the back end. There are three defensemen considered in the second-tier behind consensus first overall pick, Seth Jones.
Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com, in his mock draft for Sabres.com, has defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen going to the Oilers with the 7th pick. He has Darnell Nurse going 11th and Nikita Zadarov getting picked 13th.
It should be noted that Edmonton has a very young team, and they've made some siginificant changes this off-season including a new coach in Dallas Eakins. The Oilers are said to be open to trading the pick.
Team President Kevin Lowe said, 'Because the draft is deep, as you move along, if someone offered us something we felt could fit in with our group, a different age and a certain type of positional player we need, we wouldn’t be opposed to moving the pick.'
"A big center," according to Jason Brough of Prohockeytalk.com, "as well as a goalie to push Devan Dubnyk" are said to be pieces the Oilers are looking for.
Sitting in the 9th slot is the New Jersey, the host city for the draft this year.
The Devils have a lot of roster holes to fill and have a 28th-ranked prospect pool, yet only have four picks in the draft this year. In addition, they forfeited their first round pick next year as a penalty for the Ilya Kovalchuk signing in 2010.
Although GM Lou Lamoriello hasn't mentioned trading their first round pick, there are a few scenarios where the Sabres may be able to move into that 9th slot.
First off, it's being said that the Devils are interested in picking a scoring forward at #9. Baker has New Jersey selecting fast-rising Bo Horvat in that spot.
The Devils might be interested in the Sabres 16th overall pick and a player, either a roster player or an NHL-ready player that's in the minors right now. Do the Sabres have a "scoring forward Lamoriello might be interested in?
Or could he drop down to the 16th slot and find that type of player while adding an additional 2nd-rounder in this draft and maybe even add one of the Sabres three 2nd-rounders next season.
In Dallas, head scout Les Jackson doesn't seem to see a ton of value in having the 10th pick and is said to be open to moving down.
Perhaps the reason for Jackson's luke-warm reception to drafting there starts with the probable best player available at #10.
The Stars have organizational depth at defense and if the 2013 draft unfolds the way most think, impact forwards will be gone leaving Dallas looking at a defenseman as the best player available.
Dallas also has a new GM that grew accustomed to picking in the latter half of the first round (or mostly starting in the second round) in Jim Nill.
Nill was the director of amateur scouting with Detroit. In his 15 years with the organization, the Wings never missed the playoffs and never drafted higher than #19 (Jakub Kindl, 2005.)
Dallas also has nine picks in the draft this year including a second first-rounder acquired from Boston and an extra second-rounder.
With that kind of organizational depth, and those many picks, using the Sabres 16th pick and an additional second rounder probably wouldn't be that appealing to Nill.
They would probably be leaning more towards a roster player or a forward prospect on the cusp of the NHL in a trade down scenario.
There's also the possibility that they would move that pick straight up for a upper-level roster player.
Which leads us to the next segment: Loading up with a third first-rounder in a deep 2013 draft.
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