Prime years: 2007, another draft class with nothing to show for it

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


If the 2005 and 2006 drafts left much to be desired, then the Buffalo Sabres were in for more trouble heading into the 2007 draft as they were without a first round pick. Not that it would matter all that much. As shown previously, the Sabres ended up squandering their 2005 first-rounder, Marek Zagrapan as well as their 2006 first-rounder, Dennis Persson, as neither ever played in an NHL game. In addition, because of the Presidents Trophy-winning success the team had as well as another Eastern Conference Finals appearance, the team was set to pick way down in the first round (28th overall.)

At the 2007 trade deadline Buffalo was looking to bolster their lineup for the playoffs. GM Darcy Regier traded former first round pick Jiri Novotny (2001, 22nd overall) and their 2007 first round pick for Danius Zubrus (1996, 15th, PHI) and Timo Helbling (1999, 162nd, NSH.) Regier would also hedge that loss of their first rounder with the trade of back-up goalie Martin Biron to Philadelphia for the Flyers 2007 second round pick, 31st overall. All-in-all Buffalo dropped three slots in the draft but would bolster their smallish forward ranks with the 6'5" 225 lb. Zubrus.

I blame Kevin Devine and Darcy Regier as well as...

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Pat LaFontaine, Ted Nolan and Tim Murray.

They're all responsible for the high-character core that's pulling the Buffalo Sabres up from the depths of the NHL. With a 6-1-0 run in the last seven games, the once 3-13-2, last place Sabres have now risen to their present 26th-overall standing.

Back in mid-November the team had showed some signs of life while mired in an awful start. After getting shellacked in Pittsburgh, they played fairly well at St. Louis the next game, yet still scored only one goal. They would play a little better at Minnesota while scoring three times, but still gave up six goals to the Wild, the third game in a row they surrendered six goals.

Avenging an earlier 4-0 embarrassment to the hated Toronto Maple Leafs in their next game was to be expected, but to destroy them 6-2 certainly raised some eyebrows. Surely it was just a shot of adrenaline that would soon pass before they hit the ice in Washington. Coming out on top of a 2-1 score against the Caps wasn't all that far-fetched either, but had it some wondering how a bottom-dweller like Buffalo managed to bottle up "The Great-8" and company.

For a team that most felt would bounce along the bottom of the league all season, something just didn't seem right.

Should Traverse City results matter that much to Sabres' fans?

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Not really. But it sure seems as if those results matter to Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray and Traverse City bench boss Chadd Cassidy. And they should.

Mike Morreale of nhl.com just wrote of Murray at the tournament, "[He] is the one standing on his bench in the last row, scribbling notes on a clipboard and every so often shaking his head and yelling to his players with the hope of gaining their attention."

A big chunk of those players are his guys, the ones he's either drafted, traded for or gave a tryout to.

His draft picks include 2014 2nd overall pick, Sam Reinhart and four others from that class--2nd rounders Brendan Lemieux (31st overall,) Eric Cornel (44th,) and Vaclav Karabacek (49th) up front and Brycen Martin (74th) on defense.

William Carrier (2013, 57th, STL) and Jordan Samuels-Thomas (2009, 203rd, ATL) were traded for in separate deals. The team invited six players to Traverse City--goalie Francios Brassard; defensemen Ryan MacKinnon and Jared Walsh; forwards Joseph Blandisi, Michael Joly, and Jack Rodewald.

Connor McDavid and the Erie Otters to play in Buffalo. Plus other notes

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


The Buffalo Sabres and Erie Otters held a joint press conference this afternoon to announce that the Otters will be facing off in an OHL tilt against the Niagara Ice Dogs on Wednesday, October 22 at 7pm at the First Niagara Center.

Tickets for the event are $15.

Sherry Bassin, general manager and managing partner of the Otters called the event "an exciting moment for hockey fans in Buffalo and in Erie. They’ll have the chance to see the hockey stars of tomorrow play in a future NHL home like First Niagara Center. It’s a special opportunity for the Ontario Hockey League, as a hockey town like Buffalo will provide great exposure for the top junior hockey league in the world.”

The 2012 and 2013 draft classes are looking pretty solid

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


For the past two drafts the Buffalo Sabres have been laying a pretty good foundation for the future.

The 2012 draft was a good haul as six of the eight players drafted that year are signed with the club.

Twenty year old Zemgus Girgensons will be heading into his second NHL season and fellow first-rounder Mikhail Grigorenko will be in his third season with the club. After bouncing around, Grigorenko will be settled in to Rochester to continue his development.

Three other 2012 draftees--D, Jake McCabe (44th overall,) F, Justin Kea (73rd) and D, Brady Austin (193rd)--will begin in Rochester this season having signed their entry-level contracts.

Goalie Linus Ullmark (163rd) is on a sliding ELC and will remain in Sweden for another year before coming to North America next season.

And if this off-season is any indication, the 2013 draft class may be even stronger.

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.

"Do you want to get tougher to play against?"

So posed the question from Buffalo Sabres Assistant General Manager/Head Amateur Scout Kevin Devine to the brain trust seated at the 2013 NHL Draft table.

It was a question that both GM Darcy Regier, seated at Devine's right, and Owner Terry Pegula, seated at his left, emphatically said yes to.

That was the scene from Beyond the Blue and Gold at Sabres.com. BBG is an award-winning series that takes us behind the scenes of the Sabres hockey world.

"Tougher to play against" has been a goal of Pegula and Regier ever since the Milan Lucic/Ryan Miller incident exposed Regier's weak, fragile team. It's something that they could see, but just couldn't touch.

Devine, on the other hand, knew the type of player they'd need to draft to help fulfill that goal.

The Sabres had already selected "their guy" (according to Devine) with their first pick in the draft, big Finnish defenseman, Rasmus Ristolainen.

Sabres 2013 draft pick, defenseman
Nikita Zadorov said on draft-day,
"Yeah, I really like to hit."

Another defenseman with their second first-rounder, said Devine "wasn't even in their plans," but hulking defenseman Nikita Zadorov kept slipping. And as he got closer to No. 16, where the Sabres sat with their next pick, Devine posed that question, "Do you want to get tougher to play against?"

Make no mistake. This was Kevin Devine's draft.

I'd asked Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com, about that and he said that it was a team effort, which of course is true. But it was clear in that Devine had the final decision.



Kevin Devine, who played for
the Indanapolis Checkers, was
 "a gritty winger who could score"
 indyhockey.blogspot.com

In the BBG piece, Devine talks about the work they as a team put into the process and how, maybe unlike other teams, they go as far as they can up until draft day working them to the point where he probably "drives his staff crazy with all the meetings." But, he says, "we want to get this right."

It's always been assumed that Regier has the final say in player personnel matters including the draft, and it would seem as if that had been the case for most of the 16 years he's been on board as Sabres GM. But the winds of change are beginning to howl at the foot of Washington St.

The team is moving away from the passive qualities of Regier, as displayed by in his soft, underachieving "core" over the last six seasons, towards a more aggressive team.

"Kevin's a fierce competitor," said Reiger, "fiery.

Baker said that Devine has tons of say when it comes to team building and that Regier gives him full trust, a trust that stretches back to the 2008 draft where the Sabres sat at No. 13 and only one team standing between them and "their guy."

At that draft, Devine convinced Regier to move up one spot to select defenseman Tyler Myers.

We all know that Myers hasn't been playing well the past few years, but as a rookie in 2009-10, he won the Calder Trophy at age 19. As a scout, that's about as good as it can get.

Since then, Devine has been taking on more responsibility within the Sabres organization.

Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle said back in 2012 that Devine needs an "amendment to his job title."

"Devine," he said, "oversees the operations in Rochester. His duties span well beyond just amateur scouting."

That was on the heels of a Regier interview with WGR's Schopp an the Bulldog the previous month where he amended Devine's title while answering a question. "I was talking with Kevin Devine, Director of...Assistant General Manager who still oversees the amateur scouting."

As of yet, there's been nothing official with Devine's promotion to AGM even though he's listed in the Sabres 2012-13 media guide as being in that position for two years.

Why?

Perhaps they're taking a page out of the Buffalo Bills playbook.

Earlier this year, Bills AGM Doug Whaley seemed to be the acting GM while Buddy Nix still had the title. It was pretty clear that the reigns of the franchise were in the hands of Whaley, especially at the draft, and soon it was official. Nix stepped aside and Whaley officially took the title of GM soon after the draft.

Regardless of the title, Devine has some serious input into the team.

It's said that a team is a direct reflection of it's GM, and as we look at the Sabres and the types of players that they're rebuilding with, one can deduce that it's more of a Devine team than a Regier team--more aggression, less passivity.

Even something as little as how he briefly describes Ristolainen reveals how Devine looks at a player, "he has size, grit and skill" he said of 8th-overall pick in the 2013 Draft (the "grit" part being placed before the "skill" part.)

There are other little nuggets in the Beyond the Blue and Gold piece as well.

Overall it presents Devine between Regier and Pegula at the draft taking full command of the table.

And he is definitive in his beliefs.

On the Ristolainen pick:  "We're taking Ristolainen at eight, unless he's gone. We've got our guy, we're not moving to 10. They're gonna take our guy."

But what is also revelatory in respect to his somewhat new stature within the organization is that he's a bit spirited at one point, something one would see in a "rookie."

When the Nashville Predators are headed to the podium to make their pick at No. 4 he gets somewhat animated.

"They've got their f-in' Finn scout up there," a nervous Devine bemoans as he anticipates the Preds taking Finnish defensman, Ristolainen. "Holy sh!t."

After Nashville takes Seth Jones 4th overall, he exclaims, "Thank God."

It's pretty obvious that Kevin Devine has scouting and player development (overseeing Rochester) under his belt. Do his duties stretch beyond that into the big club and their player choices at the NHL level? Is his fingerprint on the Derek Roy for Steve Ott trade? A trade that may end up being a franchise landmark in regards to team-building?

For fans like myself who've been dying for a change in the culture of the Buffalo Sabres, specifically at the GM position, I would say that this change has already begun. It's not a firing and hiring, but a transition.

Present GM Darcy Regier seems to be on his way out of that title and Kevin Devine seems to be the man who will take control.

"Do you want to get tougher to play against?" asks Devine, innately, confidently knowing how to address that.

The answer from Sabres-nation is a resounding yes and we know that it starts with the GM and the team he'll  fashion in his image an likeness.

That likeness is not of Regier, but of Devine.



From the 2012-13 Buffalo Sabres media guide:

Kevin Devine begins his 15th year with the Buffalo Sabres and his second as assistant general manager. In this role, Devine oversees the organization’s seven-member amateur scouting staff and is instrumental in making Buffalo’s NHL Entry Draft selections.

Prior to becoming the assistant general manager, Devine spent, five years as director of amateur scouting, six years as a professional scout in the Sabres organization and two as an assistant amateur scout.

Before joining the Sabres, he spent three years coaching the Prince Edward Island Senators of the AHL. He also coached in the UHL, with stints in Port Huron and Thunder Bay.

Much appreciation to the Buffalo Sabres and the producers of Beyond the Blue and Gold.

 

The Sabres add three forwards in the second-round of the 2013 draft (Andrej Sekera, Connor Hurley, J.T. Compher, Justin Bailey)

After going with defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov in the first-round, the Sabres turned their attention to forwards in the second. Whether defense or offense, there was a theme that ran through their first five picks--two-way players.

Even though Ristolainen and Zadarov are big, defensively responsible players, both have some offense to their games and consider themselves two-way players.

In the second-round we would see more of that theme with all three picks. "Three" being the operative word as the Sabres added a pick.

Having three picks in the second round was, in essence, defined by selection of Ristolainen.


The trade that wasn't and the trade that was

Picking a defensemen like Ristolainen who they considered to be "NHL-ready" allowed the Sabres to move veteran puck-moving rear-guard Andrej Sekera at the draft.

Sekera had been in the organization since he was drafted in the third round (#71) of the 2004 NHL Draft and he was also a key component for Carolina in a potential trade-back from the 5th pick with the Sabres. The potential deal went like this:  Carolina trades No. 5 along with defensemen Jamie McBain to Buffalo for No. 8 and Sekera.

The Sabres balked.

When the second round came around, Assistant General Manager/Head Amateur Scout Kevin Devine said that the Sabres were ready to use both their second-rounders (#38 and #52) to move up to land a player they coveted.

"We were actually trying to move up to possibly get him," said Devine, "when our phone rang with the offer from Carolina. To be able to keep [our picks] was nice."

Sekera went to the 'Canes and in return the Sabres got McBain and Carolina's second-round pick (#35) in the deal.


The picks

With that pick the Sabres started a run of forwards by drafting C JT Compher, the player Devine and Co. wanted.

"We thought Compher would be gone by the 38th pick," continued Devine. "We looked at moving up to the first round, but there were no takers there.We would have lost both 38 and 52, so it worked out pretty good."

Compher is known for his hard-working, two-way game and it would seem as if they went after a player comparable to Horvat, albeit with a little less on the skill side.

And although the team went away from the "bigger, faster, stronger" mantra with the pick with the 5'10" 185 lb Compher, they stuck with owner Terry Pegula's stated desire for hard-working players.

What he lacks in size Compher, it's said, makes up for in compete. He's said to be relentless in all areas, especially on the back-check, an area severely lacking during "the core" days.

The two second round picks that Devine saved by not having to trade up to get Compher were used on a couple of forwards who also have strong two-way games.

With the 38th pick in the draft the Sabres went with the youngest player in the draft Edina (MN) High School forward Connor Hurley.

An obvious project, Hurley has enough skill that if he were born just a day later, he'd have been projected as a first-rounder in the 2014 Draft. Instead he'll be in the Sabres organization playing in the USHL next year then headed to Notre Dame the following year.

This pick is all about upside for Hurley. Not two or three years, but maybe four or even five years down the road. If he ends up making an impact in the NHL, it will be a tribute to the projections of the Sabres' scouting staff. If he bombs, he'll get lost in the number of overall picks the Sabres had in the first two rounds of the draft.

Many had thought that Williamsville, NY native Justin Bailey would be the Sabres pick at 38, but Buffalo was lucky to be able to land him at No. 52 with the third of their three second-round picks.

Bailey is a 6'3" LW who will have time to bulk up from his 183 lbs. He plays a two-way game and has all the makings of an NHL power forward, but will need to work on his strength and consistency. Right now he skates well, can weave through traffic and can finish, which makes for great skill-side building blocks.

He seems to be a high-character guy as well. One would also believe that the motivation to make the home team proud should propel his work-ethic and desire to move up the prospect ranks.

We know everyone in Buffalo will be rooting for him.


The skinny

With three second-round picks in what's said to be a deep draft, the Sabres fortified their prospect pool with the addition of three forwards.

Work-ethic and two-way acumen seem to be desirable cornerstones with which the Sabres want to rebuild and all three second-round selections have that.

Gone are the days of picking that purse-carrying skilled player.

The Sekera trade added a interesting twist to the second round, and one would think that the Sabres were thrilled to not only get their man in Compher, but also to be able to keep their selections and add to the talent pool.

Bailey is a very good pick and has all the makings of a power forward a few years down the road, but the most intriguing pick may be Hurley.

In effect, one could look at Hurley as a 2014 first-round pick whom the Sabres were able to draft a year early. He seems to have a helluva skill-set and that work-ethic/two-way acumen. But the best part of that pick for the organization might just be time. Hurley will have plenty of time to hone his skills while the Sabres can be extremely patient in the process.

All in all the first two rounds were solid. Maybe not as flashy as most had hoped, but rock solid none-the-less.

The rebuild is on, and if there was a question as to the types of players the Sabres are rebuilding with, the first two rounds of this draft certainly provides a strong indication as to where they're headed.

They've added two towering, gritty d-men on the back-end and traded a puck mover to make some room. They continued to build up-front with two-way acumen being the desired trait. They added tons of compete and plenty of upside plus gained some size on the wing.

These are the types of players that have been lacking for a number of years, maybe dating back to 2007/08 when the NHL was transitioning away from the "new-NHL" to a more old-school grind it out style.

The players selected in this draft, along with the likes of Steve Ott represent players who should be able to play in any style NHL.

And that's a helluva foundation with which to build upon.




For more detailed information on the players selected by the Buffalo Sabres and an overview of rounds three-seven, visit our good friend Kris Baker at sabresprospects.com.

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.

Defending Pegula and Regier

Back in the summer of 2011 when new Sabres owner Terry Pegula was making waves by throwing big money at free agents, he was also investing heavily in other, less flashy areas of the organization. "There is no NHL salary cap on scouting budgets or player development budgets, " he said at his first presser declaring that he planned on increasing those budgets.

More scouts in the field and a Sabres Combine for draft prospects were amongst the areas receiving additional finances.

In direct contrast to the immediacy of his free agent splurge, the benefits of an increased focus upon scouting and player development wouldn't be seen for at least a few years down the road.

It looked to be a two-fold approach to their goal of the winning the Stanley Cup:  a direct influx of free agent talent for an immediate, short-term run into the playoffs while underneath the surface, a feeder group of prospects would be developing for long-term success.

Unfortunately for the team and it's fans, the short-term plan imploded. The team did not move forward with an augmented core, missed the playoffs two years running and had their worst finish in 10 years last season.

To make matters worse for an increasingly impatient media and fan-base, Regier, the GM who built the team, is now in charge of breaking it down and rebuilding it.

As the team gets ready for the draft, picking at the highest slot since 2003, the entire Pegula regime is under attack. And the source of this disdain is Regier with tertiary disgust being thrown at Pegula for keeping his GM on board.

The Buffalo News' Jerry Sullivan calls it "Trouble in hockey heaven" as he takes Pegula to task in a recent article. Sullivan and his understudy, Bucky Gleason, have never hidden their contempt for Regier and undeniably and unabashedly want to see his ass shown the door.

Sullivan has been railing against Regier, and at times directly attacking Pegula because of Regier, for a couple of years, "It has become a joyless, redundant exercise," he wrote, "to criticize the Sabres and their owner, Terry Pegula. You're whispering into a tornado of denial, helpless in the face of one man's refusal to entertain the wide-held notion that his general manager might be a problem."

The source for Sullivan's latest rant was Pegula's appearance on WGR's Hockey Hotline, a Sabres radio show with direct ties to the organization.

With these five words Pegula sent the media into a frenzy, "What has [Regier] done wrong?"

Pegula was said to be in hiding by his detractors. His team stumbled on the ice this season and he had not made a public appearance to talk about his hockey team since January when he announced Regier's contract extension. Everyone, especially the sports department at the Buffalo News, wanted answers.

In the interview on GR, they were instead treated to a somewhat smug rebuttle of Regier's critics. An obviously irritated owner was sticking by his GM.

What has Regier done wrong? Those in Sabreland have a littany of transgressions from which to choose from when it comes to his decisions over the last 16 years. But they forget that Pegula is looking only at Regier's job performance for the two-plus years he's owned the team. Pegula has stated this time and again.

A mere two days after Pegula made his appeareance, Regier held the Sabres annual draft presser and blew up every GM wannabe's dream scenario by stating simply and honestly, "to move [from 8th in the draft] up into those top [three-five] spots will be extremely difficult if not impossible."

This was yet another transgression. It dashed NHL-13 fantasies of trading goalie Ryan Miller, Mikhail Grigorenko and the 8th pick to Colorado for the 1st overall pick and a chance to draft Nathan MacKinnon.

Unlike other times when there was an outcry for honesty and transparency, the truth of Regier's statement was an unwelcomed bucket of cold water. A large portion of the fan base, it would seem, wanted to go on believing that there actually was a chance to move up and draft a potential superstar.

In an epic rant on WGR, afternoon co-host Chris "Bulldog" Parker blasted that mentality, "That's how bad it is?" he barked at host Mike Schoppsie. "You wanna pretend that something might happen that isn't really going to happen?"

"You wanted them to suspend belief for ten more days that they might be able to draft Nathan MacKinnon. That's what you were hoping for out of them?

HOLY COW!!!"

Although the Sabres short-term plan was rocked like the Milan Lucic steamroll of Ryan Miller, the long-term team-building plan is still in place.

The fruits of this process are still well beyond Pegula's stated three-year Stanley Cup plan. But the foundation is beginning to take shape.

The Sabres' scouting staff has increased significantly including a larger overseas presence like the hiring of Fredrik Andersson who is scouring Europe to unearth latter-rounds goalie gems.

He found Linus Ullmark, last year's sixth round pick, who's rising fast on the Sabres depth chart.

Ullmark was one of many prospects brougth to Buffalo to attend the Sabres Combine, something that was a dream of head amateur scout Kevin Devine under the previous regime. With Pegula's financial resources and commitment to scouting and player development, Devine's dream became a reality. Draft prospects now hit the ice at the F'N Center while the organization gets a first-hand look at what they have to offer.

There has also been a fundamental change in the players that the Sabres want to build with.

At his first presser Pegula stated that he wants "not only statistically good players but winners, gritty players." Anyone who's watched the team since 2007 knows that this team was generally the opposite of that. The previous core could put up numbers, but they were routinely described as "easy to play against."

Two faces of Regier's old core, Derek Roy and Jason Pominville--both consistently amongst the top-three scorers on the team but lacking grit--were traded. The bellweather of the Sabres' philosophical change in players might be the trading of Roy for gritty winger Steve Ott in the 2012 off season.

In Pegula's GR interview this past week, he stressed his affinity for "hard workers" and pointed to Zemgus Girgensons who was drafted with the second of the Sabres two 1st-round picks last year, a pick Regier traded up for.

Johan Larsson, part of the Pominville trade, was also pointed to as a hard worker by Pegula.

Both Girgensons and Larsson look to be a big part of the team's "new core" going forward, a core that follows Pegula's stated desire to land "not only statistically good players, but winners, gritty players."

These are players targeted by Pegula's hockey ops team headed by Regier.

The media and fans have seen Regier's team-building prior to Pegula and it was a failure save for two seasons. Pegula, on the other hand, looks at what his GM has done in the two years since he took over the team. Regier was given his marching orders and has impressed his boss. That's what Pegula is looking at when he asked the question "what has he done wrong?"

In this battle between disenchanted fans/irate media members and Pegula, I choose to side with the owner.

I really don't think Regier's done much wrong since the decision was made to purge his core. To the contrary, I think he's pulled off some impressive trades.

If Regier's role and main focus right now is to acquire the assets that others within the organization deem fit to build with, great. I think he's done an outstanding job thus-far.

And if you choose to look at this defense of Pegula and Regier as coming from someone drunk from drinking the kool-aid. So be it.

I like the long-term building blocks and right now I don't care that Reiger's in charge. I hold no grudges, nor do I take anything personally when it comes to the team and how it's run.

The Sabres are on the right track. A slower track than anyone anticipated or desired, but the right one none the less.




http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/regier-is-the-right-man-for-sabres-for-now/article14900235/  Oct. 16, 2013

Quinn and Regier/Black and Regier--Same Sh*t, Different Owner...

and it's the last thing Sabres nation needed.

The boys at the Buffalo News' were ready to rumble at the end of year presser on Monday.

They couldn't wait to get at the two representatives of the Buffalo Sabres sitting in front of them--Team President Ted Black and GM Darcy Regier.

The News' Mike Harrington got the mike first and immediately dove into the organization.

When he asked Black to "end all speculation" concerning the status of Regier, his first question wasn't really a question, but a statement of disbelief.

Everyone knew that Regier was still on board. He was right there in front of them.

Was Regier still GM? "Yes," was Black's direct answer to the "question."

What Harrington was really trying to get at, as he asked the follow-up, was why, after six years of failure, and when the Sabres fired their longtime coach, is Regier still GM?

Black's answer started chronological, "the decision to extend [Regier] into next year was made before the lockout ended," then turned evasive, "the reality is...," he continued.

Let's stop right there.

The reality is, this team is a mess.

The reality is, this team has being mismanaged on the hockey side--Regier's side--and it seems to be severely affecting the business side--Black's side.

The reality is, Regier's team did not make the playoffs two years running and it's affecting Black's bottom line.

The reality is, owner Terry Pegula listened to his senior advisor, Ken Sawyer, as the latter called Regier a "hockey genius" and it's strained the relationship between owner and fans.

The reality is, the "hockey genius" is causing Black to lose tens of millions of his owners money, much more than anyone ever thought.

The reality is, Black's "Hockey Heaven" in Buffalo is now "Hockey Hell" and an owner who once said his main job is to be liked is now being vilified for what amounts to the incompetence of his two main charges.

Despite Pegula's lavish expenditures on everything from a newly refurbished dressing room to expensive free agent contracts, the present state of the Sabres seems to be nothing more than extension of the Tom Golisano regime.

Black's responses at the presser exposed a very troubling trait. His owner who once said "if I want to make money, I'll drill another well" has such a financial mess on his hands that the team is relying on league welfare for the second season in a row. Just like the previous regime did.

The multi-billionaire has a team president who said they had to raise ticket prices, not because of a league mandate like he initially intimated, but because the Sabres must show year over year revenue growth in order to be eligible for revenue sharing.

Said Black, "the entire process allows this franchise to still qualify unencumbered for revenue sharing. The 4% ticket price increase, is about an obligation [to the league] to raise money so you don't jeopardize that revenue stream."

With Sabres' ticket prices in the bottom quarter of the league, according to Black, they're losing bushels of money because they havent' made the playoffs.

Losses could be in the area of $10M per year outside of the playoffs. And that includes revenue sharing.

No owner, no matter how well off, should be expected to lose that amount of money year over year.

As Black said, "I can't get drunk off Terry's wealth and assume he's going to live forever and he's going to spend money forever."

Turns out we were all drunk on his wealth when he bought the team.

But none moreso than the GM.

With the financial chains off, Regier proceeded to:

• eat Ales Kotalik's $3M contract in the Robyn Regehr trade
• sign Christian Ehrhoff to a 10-yr./$40M contract, $18M of it in the first two years
• sign Ville Leino to a 6 yr./$27M contract
• bury Shoane Morrison's $2M contract in the minors
• re-sign Tyler Myers to a 7 yr./$38.5M contract with a $10M bonus paid out this year
• re-sign Andrej Sekera to a 4 yr./$11M contract with $7.5M paid out the first two years 

Also the team will be eating what's left on former coach Lindy Ruff's contract.

That sucking sound you hear is the sound of millions of dollars being thrown away on a team that failed to make the playoffs--again.

So why, after two years of futility on the ice and with a team hemorrhaging money, would they want to keep Regier on board?

Maybe it's about money--again.

It would make sense that they wouldn't want to eat Regier's contract and pay a new GM in the process.

Right now the Sabres have still have Regier in charge as they continue to dismantle his core. He's proven capable of moving players for a good return like he did when trading core players Paul Gaustad, Derek Roy and Jason Pominville over the last 18 months or so.

Two more of his core, who happen to be the two best players on the roster--Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek--look to be on the move as well, and the return will probably be mostly picks and prospects.

Financially, there isn't really much more damage Regier can do to the organization by trading high-priced veterans for picks and/or prospects.

What does all this mean?

One would expect that Regier's hand in the rebuild may be limited to the dismantling part. The Sabres will probably be heading into the 2013/14 as the youngest team in the NHL and will be relying on Head Amateur Scout/Assistant GM Kevin Devine to mold the future through draft picks and prospects.

Higher priced vets like Christian Ehrhoff, Steve Ott and Ville Leino, as well as underachieving Drew Stafford will probably remain for a variety of reasons. The Sabres still need to put a product on the ice, they'll still have the cap-floor to reach and they'll still need some veteran leadership.

We should not, however, expect any big splashes in free agency with high-priced players coming to Buffalo this off season.

And with the salary cap going down, the Sabres payroll going down, not paying for two GM's next season, and ticket prices increasing, Black should be able to keep the team finances in check for the upcoming season.

It should also be assumed that the team will retain interim head coach Ron Rolston for another year. As the team continues to pay Ruff's salary, it makes sound financial sense to keep a coach on the cheap.

This attention to the bottom line is what the team went through from 2007-2011 when Golisano owned the team and had his "just break even" mandate to then team president--and part-owner--Larry Quinn.

Same shit, different owner for Sabres fans which is the last thing Sabres-nation needed.

Sabres should feel pretty good about the 2012 draft

Sabres GM Darcy Regier should feel pretty good about the 2012 draft. The team had organizational needs--forward depth, size down the middle--and they were addressed aggressively.

There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the top two picks--C Mikhail Grigorenko and Zemgus Girgensons--who both, have a shot at making the team. Yet the rest of the draft has some upside as well.

On day two, their five picks were as a result of players who attended the 2nd Sabres Draft Combine. The combine, which started last season thanks to Terry Pegula's financial commitment to the scouting department, gave all parties involved a chance to get acquainted with each other. Unlike the NHL combine in Toronto, the Sabres brought in the prospects and put them through on-ice drills along with more interviews.

Last year they used the combine for two latter picks--D Alex Lepkowsi (6th round) and C Brad Navin (7th round.)

The Sabres went into round two with only one second rounder (#44, acquired from Calgary in the Robyn Regehr deal) and they used it on a defenseman--6'1", 200 lb. Jake McCabe.

Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com, in his comprehensive review of the 2012 draft, said that McCabe's total package was amongst the best in the draft and has him possibly reaching top-four in the NHL.

The McCabe pick had connections to Rochester Americans Coach Ron Rolston and the US National Team Development Program as he'd played for the Amerks bench boss in the USNTDP. Rolston, according to Devine, called McCabe a warrior.

There were plenty of eyes on McCabe as the Sabres also used their connections--this time with Wisconson Head Coach Mike Eaves, via cheif scout Al MacAdam--for plenty of insight into a player who, as WGR's Paul Hamilton gathered, was really mature for his age and a very sound all-around defensman.

The team continued to add down the middle by using their next two picks on centers.

In the third round (#73) they tapped into the Ontario Hockey League and selected 6'4" 210 lb. C Justin Kea, a player whom Kevin Devine called a "better skating Paul Gaustad."

Devine delved into the pick in his Day-2 draft recap on WGR by saying that Kea's stats weren't all that great, but a coaching change in mid season gave the Sabres some insight. The new coach, Greg Gilbert, according to Devine "thinks the kid will be a good third line center in the NHL." Both Devine and Regier played hockey with Gilbert.

Although Baker had Kea rated around #100, the Sabres had no 4th round pick. They liked enough of what they saw in him at their combine to take a minor reach for Kea.

With no 4th round pick (went to Nashville in the Gaustad trade) they headed to the fifth round and selected 6'2" 188 lb C/W Logan Nelson. Nelson is a USHL product that switched to the WHL and a player who Baker calls a strong, skilled forward who plays with an edge.

In another tip of the hat to Pegula's commitment to increased scouting, the Sabres went overseas to Sweden to select 6'3" 210 lb. MODO goaltender Linus Ullmark. The team had no goalies in the junior ranks with both Connor Knapp and Nathan Leiuwen being signed to their entry-level deals.

One of the things that Pegula mentioned at his press conference in February 2011 when he bought the team was that there's not a salary cap on scouting. Fredrik Andersson was hired by the Sabres this past January and the former goalie/goalie coach/GM had some specifics to his job.

The Sabres wanted him to scour Sweden and Finland, according to Devine, to focus upon finding latter-round goalie nuggets in the draft like Nashville goalie Pekke Rinne.

This is Andersson's first foray into scouting for an NHL organization, and it's an opportunity he's been wanting for a long time.

Using Andersson's intelligence on the Swedish goalie, they brought Ullmark in for the Sabres combine. Amongst those in attendance was new scout Toby O'Brien, another goalie scout who's focus is North America.

O'Brien had served as a Coach/GM in the ECHL and in the Eastern Junior Hockey League who's resume also includes a recent stint with the NY Islanders in the same capacity.

Everyone liked what they saw in Ullmark and it will be interesting to see how the 163rd pick of the 2012 NHL draft develops.

The team had two picks in the seventh round.

With the first pick in the 7th (#193) the team went big on defense with 6'4" 234 lb LHD Brady Austin.

Baker called him a "mammoth rearguard" with enough skills to be a "smart pick late in the draft." He also mentioned that Austin was the third player in a row picked by the Sabres in their second year of eligibility.

Finally, with the 204th pick of the draft, the team ended where they started, at the center position.

The seventh round pick, which was acquired from Chicago for Steve Montador's rights, brought the Sabres 6'0" 190 center Judd Peterson.

Peterson was another product of the Sabres combine and a player who was developing close to one of the teams' scouts up in Minnesota, Keith Hendrickson.

An interesting note from Baker, "Native Minnesotan Brian Burke was also said to be interested, but the Sabres acted before the Leafs final pick to snatch up the 2012 Mr. Hockey Finalist."

The team, although not trading up in the seventh round, went full-circle in drawing the ire of another GM. On the trade-up in the first rouned, Devine who gave props to his staff on the Grigorenko pick, also commended Regier for his trade with Calgary to land Girgensons, "A lot of General Managers came up to [Regier on day two] and they were kind of mad at him," he said, "because they were all ready to take [Girgensons.]"

Devine summed up the theme of his draft preparation saying the emphasis, using the Cup-champion LA Kings as an example, to get "bigger, faster, tougher."

The days of drafting smaller, highly skilled jitter-bugs, "the [Tyler] Ennis' and the [Derek] Roy's and [Nathan] Gerbe's" as Devine put it will be put on hold until "the outlook of [the Sabres] changes a little bit."

The Sabres are not only changing with size, but they're also changing philosophy with their forward ranks.

How many highly-skilled wingers have they drafted over the years as the best player available? Couple that with how they've tried to convert wingers to centers, and their subsequent failure, and you have the approach they took in this year's draft.

"If you look at a lot of the teams in the NHL they draft centers and a lot of them end up on the wings," said Regier as he talked to Hamilton on WGR. "If there's good wingers, you should draft good wingers but, if you can draft a centerman that's high quality, that's a good way to go and they can play the wings."

All-in-all the draft as a whole went as the team would have liked it to, especially in the first round, especially with Grigorenko dropping to them at #12. "We were fortunate in that there was a run on defensemen (a strength in the Sabres organization,)" said Regier, "we were looking for forwards, and it pushed [Grigorenko] down to us and it benefitted us."

Regier continues to show his savvy. He worked wonders last draft day by acquiring Robyn Regehr and an extra second round pick which enabled them to move up to grab Girgensons.

He worked the 2012 trade deadline masterfully by getting an extra first-rounder for Gaustad and trading with Vancouver for immediate center depth in Cody Hodgson while not mortgaging the future.

And he prepared his first round beautifully by having set up the trade with Flames GM Jay Feaster to move from #21 to #14 two days prior in anticipation of a possible player like Girgensons (or forward Teuvo Teravainen) being available with that pick.

"We looked at some teams who didn't have second round picks and Calgary was one of those teams," he said. "They wanted to see if they could stretch their first round pick into two picks."

Although they wouldn't gush over the draft, one would believe that the Sabres organization is brimming with confidence over their selections with the first three picks.

They had a potential top-five pick in Grigorekno drop to them at #12. They had a player they wanted in Girgensons, and aggressively went up from #21 to get him. Both of those players have a decent shot at making the team out of camp, with all parties benefiting if they spend another year in junior. Probably the only year they'll spend there before coming up. And they had a player that they rated as a low first-rounder drop to them at #44 in McCabe.

They eschewed the highly skilled jitterbugs for size and they opted for centers (five of them in all) who they'll switch to the wing if need be.

They used their new scouts overseas and in the US, as well as the second year of the Sabres combine, to increase the odds of the late-round crap-shoots making it to the pros.

And of note also, Head Scout Kevin Devine really seems to be having an impact on the organization. Not only that, his voice is being heard throughout Sabreland. It's a voice that sounds confident and always well-prepared. And he seems to be a rising star.

Plus, our good friend Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com who has done yeoman's work for years with little notice, is starting to become a more relied upon media voice as he's had multiple apperances on WGR including this morning's draft recap with Jeremy White and Paul Hamilton. He was been featured in the Buffalo News, Sabresedge pre-draft chat. His site has always been a labor of love with little recognition and now he's finally gettin' his "ice-cred" with the major Buffalo media outlets. Even Devine mentioned talking with him at Day-2 of the draft.

Add it all up and every fan in Sabreland should feel pretty good about this draft and how the organization is moving forward.

Dissecting words. Devine and Baker talk about the 2012 draft

Sabres Director of Amateur Scouting Kevin Devine and Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com were both on WGR's Howard Simon Show this past week talking about the Sabres and the upcoming draft.

Devine called this draft "the most challenging" of his tenure as Head Scout saying that "they're having a real tough time coming up with a top-five."

As he breaks it down he mentions a number of factors contributing to that challenge including the "Russian factor." The KHL is always on the minds of NHL GM's and scouting departments because of the possible lure of Russian players to the Russian league.

Of the consensus top-five, three--Nail Yakupov, Alex Galchenyuk and Mikhail Grigorenko--are of Russian descent. Devine in his interview called them "risky" a couple of times and said, "if there's not an [Alex] Ovechink or [Ilya] Kovalchuk in the draft we're very leery of taking a player there and possibly losing that pick to the KHL."

From his perspective, Devine see this year's crop as really balanced and deep but "not great" up-top. He also, like everyone else sees it as a defenseman-heavy, which happens to be an area of strength within the organization.

In breaking down the draft, Yakupov is the clear-cut, consensus #1 pick with a drop-off after that. Baker breaks it down into a top-five or six (including Yakupov) who he calls "clear-cut, top-tier" players before a drop to the next five or six "who could possibly be a top-pair defenseman or scoring line forward, but they might have question marks. That band probably expires at 12 [where the Sabres pick] or 13."

Both Devine and Baker agree that there may not be that much of a difference between #'s 12 and 21, with both leaving the possibility of the Sabres trading up in the draft. But, according to Devine, maybe not at the expense of both picks.

"Well, there's two views of [moving up,]" he said, "first of all what's the price to move up and get that. If it's going to be your pick at 21 and you feel you're going to get a good player at 21, it's going to be hard to do...and, with all the players not distinguishing themselves, is it the year to move up? That's the question we're still asking ourselves."

It would seem as if the Sabres are willing to move one of their first-rounders, but not both, to move up which would probably mean the top-three or four spots in the draft are unattainable. And for an organization with depth on defense and an aversion to drafting Russian players, jumping up into the top four, which, as Baker puts it, is a "risky proposition" to begin with, doesn't make a lot of sense.

Plus there remains plenty of question marks as to what could happen in front of them. Edmonton has the first pick, but are stocked at forward meaning foward Yakupov isn't a lock right now. Columbus has been burned by Russians before, and should Yakupov drop to them, would, they pull the trigger? Is Canadian defenseman Ryan Murray worthy of a top-two pick?

And then there's the Brian Burke factor. The Maple Leafs GM is never afraid to jump into the spotlight. He may be looking to move up, and there's always the possibility that he may be looking to move up twice to grab Yakupov and Galchenyuk, like he did in 1999 with Vancouver to select the Sedin twins at #2 and #3.

Add it all up and it doesn't look as if the Sabres will be jumping into the fray of the top-five due to high risk and questionable reward.

That's not to say that they want to stay put at #12 either.

Nearly every mock draft has Yakupov, Galchenyuk and Murray in the top-five, with no consensus after that. Grigorenko will probably be taken with one of the top-five picks while the other should be a d-man. In looking at the sixth through nine slots, what's left of the top forwards in the draft will probably be taken in this area.

Center Filip Forseberg could be in the top-five and is sure to be taken soon after and center Radek Faksa probably won't drop past seven or eight.

After that you have one forward, winger Teuvo Teravainen, buried in a group of five or six defensemen slated to be picked in the next group.

The only area of the draft that they would seem to be targeting to move up would be picks 6, 7 and 8 with Forsberg and Faksa being the two that combine the skill and upside to strengthen the organization's forward ranks.

Staying at #12 would yield them one possibility at forward--Teravainen and if he's not there, the team would probably invoke the "best player available" principle.

"There are some defenseman in this draft who could turn out to be a #1 or #2 [defenseman,]" Devine said. "If there's a defenseman like that at 12, versus maybe a top-six or third line forward, then we'll definitely take the defenseman."

If Devine thought that this was the most challenging draft in his tenure as Head Scout, this may end up being a defining moment for GM Darcy Regier.

Regier finagled an extra second-round pick last year in the Robyn Regehr trade and somehow got another first-rounder when he sent Paul Gaustad (and a fourth) to Nashville at the trade deadline.

He has the assets to make some noise at the draft whether to trade up for a prospect or go after an NHL'er who will likely be available, like Rick Nash, or those rumored to be available, like Jordan Staal.

Baker went on to say that Regier may need to move up in the draft in a "statement move, not only to improve his team, but also to protect his standing within the organization."

And he continues by saying that Regier doesn't necessarily need to move up to improve the team, he can do it by getting an NHL'er. "They have some, I don't want to say dead weight," he said, "but they certainly have the opportunity to exchange parts of their core.

They could get some 'now' players, maybe swapping some guys out who could use a change of scenery."

Baker seems to think that the Sabres will once again be relevant at the draft this year, "I truly believe something will happen to this roster."

He seems to think that a lot of the questions about Regier and whether he would be a "viable extension of Terry Pegula's free spending business mind" have already been answered with the Regehr trade.

Further evidence can be found in the Christian Ehrhoff trade as well as the Gaustad trade and the signing of Ville Leino.

Even so, Regier could be under the gun at this draft because of his "embarrassment of riches." He obviously had the money to work with and over the past year he's had more scouts at the rink as well plus he has four picks out of the top-44.

It's doubtful that Regier will stand pat with all the resources available to him next week.

He's already been doing things out of character since Pegula took over, like trading for a players' rights (Ehrhoff,) overpaying in the free agent market (Leino,) while also trading away one of his homegrown players (Chris Butler,) one of his top prospects (Zack Kassian) and one of his core players (Gaustad.)

For the next six days information will be coming forth with most of it vague.

But we may be able to glean something from the hours of interviews.

Let the 2012 off-season begin

The LA Kings won their first ever Stanley Cup as the 8th seed in the Western Conference. Darcy Regier had said around the trade deadline that a low seed has a good chance of winning it, and sure enough he was right. In fact he'd have been right in either case as the runner-up New Jersey Devils were the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference.

Some notes from the Stanley Cup Final:

The Kings started every series on the road and won both games each time, something that was unprecedented. They beat the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seeds in the conference with only one series going six games (New Jersey.)

Kings goalie Jonathan Quick had a 1.41 gaa and a .946 save percentage.

GM Dean Lombardi built the Kings through the draft (Dustin Brown-2003, Anze Kopitar and Quick-2005, Thomas Hickey-2007, Drew Doughty #2 overall-2008. He augmented the team--Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene-2008, Willie Mitchell-2010.

In 2009 he began bringing in Stanley Cup winners with the trade for winger Justin Williams CAR, 2006.) Lombardi also signed unrestricted free agent Rob Scuderi (PIT, 2009) that same season. He also picked up Colin Fraser (CHI, 2010) in 2011.

Last off-season Lombardi went all-in up-front by trading two talented youngsters to Philadelphia for Mike Richards on June 23. On July 2 he augmented his scoring by signing Philadelphia UFA Simon Gagne. He completed the Flyers triumvirate by acquiring Jeff Carter. Three top-six forwards added to the line-up.

A masterful job by Lombardi.

********** 

There are no former Sabres on the Kings roster, but there were three on the Devils--defenseman Henrik Tallinder, winger Dainius Zubrus and Steve Bernier.

Tallinder was out of the line up until Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. He played well on the second-pairing but was vicimtimized by a strong forecheck throughout Game 6.

Zubrus was a non-factor in the last two rounds of the playoffs with no goals and three assists in 12 games to go along with a minus-four plus/minus rating.

As for Bernier, former Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner's name is being frequently used with Bernier's.

Bernier was a part of the Brian Campbell trade at the deadline back in 2008. He came from San Jose' along with a 1st round pick (Tyler Ennis, #26 overall) for Campbell and a 7th rounder. After a ruckus first game with the Sabres he disappeared and eventually was traded to Vancouver in the 2008 off season for a 3rd rounder in 2009 (Brayden McNabb #66 overall) and a 2nd-rounder in 2010 (traded along with Nathan Paetsch to Columbus for Raffi Torres.)

Known more as an energy player than anything else, Bernier had a severe brain-cramp when he leveled Kings d-man Rob Scuderi from behind. He got a five minute major and a game misconduct.

“From my point of view, I don’t,” Bernier said when asked if the hit deserved a five-minute penalty. “I know he stayed down. It’s a fast game. There are hard hits all over the ice. You want to help your team win.”

The quote came from nj.com, in an article written to defend the player and direct the fans attention from rage to sympathy.

Rage may be a little strong. It's not like Boston in 1986 World Series when an 83 year Championship drought was on the line. The Devils having won three Cups in the last 18 years, took it all in stride as the champions they are.

No matter what anyone might say, though, it was a bone-headed move that cost the Devils the game and the ultimately the series. The Kings scored three goals on the power play which meant that the Devils needed four goals vs. Quick to win the game. They had scored seven goals total through the first five games.

And so it goes.

********** 

The Sabres are heading into the off season with four of the first 44 picks in the draft next weekend.

Director of Amateur Scouting, Kevin Devine, was on WGR yesterday saying that this is the most challenging draft he's had since becoming director.

Among the things he mentioned:  injuries to the top prospects, the "Russian factor," and no player breaking from the pack.

Devine considers it a deep, balanced draft going as far to say that there's not much of a difference between their #12 and #21 picks. He also labeled the top five picks as "risky" and used that "risky" when describing the Russian players in the top-five.

The draft is deep with defensemen, an area of strength for the organization, but Devine goes on to say that the team should get two really good players with their first round picks. He mentions that there are some centers up their that look good to the team.

There will be a ton of mock drafts coming out in the next ten days, but Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com had his draft preview up last week. Among the players he has the Sabres looking at with the 12th pick are LW Teuvo Teravainen, D Cody Ceci and LW Pontus Aberg.

It's a good Sabres-centric read and some outstanding work by Baker.

**********

The Sabres shook up the broadcast booth yesterday as well.

Rob Ray will be paired with play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret this season.

Make that Hall of Fame broadcaster, Rick Jeanneret . The long-time Sabres play-by-play man was awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for Broadcasting and will be recognized at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto this November.

Ray will be Jeanneret's partner on the road from the booth and at home from his customary spot between the benches for home games.

He'll be replacing Harry Neale who moves to the studio to join Mike Robitaille for pregame and intermission reports.

Brian Duff will join the Sabres full-time as host for Sabres broadcasts and Kevin Sylvester heads to the WGR studios for a two-hour segment from 10AM to 12 noon called Sabres Hockey Hotline.

Ted Black on the Howard Simon Show this morning discussed the moves also saying that Jeanneret mentioning that he may have taken a little too much time off last season. So it would seem as if there will be more "RJ" this season. Which is good for Sabres fans.

Black also touched upon the needs for the organization mentioning that "they want to be a tougher team to play against," that they want to find "a top forward or top defenseman either through a trade, free agency, development within [the] system or perhaps some of the guys that didn't have the years that they had last year."

No mention of the draft in that statement, specifically no mention of landing a top-three/five impact player to help immediately. Couple that with Devine's "risk" aversion with the top prospects in the draft and it may be safe to say the the Sabres won't be trading into the top-five next week.

On other thing worth mentioning, Black had high praise for what GM Darcy Regier did in the trade with Nashville. He mentioned (without verification, he says) that in the past 30 years there were only 20 trade deadline deals that netted a team a first round pick and Regier got a first-rounder for Paul Gaustad, a "third/fourth line center."

The principals of the Sabres organization, according to Devine, will be meeting at Terry Pegula's place on Wednesday to discuss their plan of attack for this off-season which officially began with the Kings win last night.

Should be an interesting off-season.

February 27, wasn't the only deadline for the organization

There's another deadline tomorrow at 3PM for the Amerks. But more on that in a bit.

We're nearly a week removed from the 2012 NHL trade deadline, and the Sabres are making some noise by stringing together three west coast victories putting them two points out of the 8th spot in the east.

It's a far cry from January when the team was in the midst of a franchise record 12-game losing streak and they had a 0.3% chance (according to sportsclubstats) of making the playoffs. It's a far cry from early February as well when the team went on a four-game winless streak and looked to be cooked once again.

Even last week, the moves that Darcy Regier made at the trade deadline, especially Paul Gaustad and a 2013 4th-rounder for a 2012 1st-round pick, had the look of a retool.

Safe to say that almost everyone was looking in that direction.

Kevin Oklobzija covers the Rochester Americans for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. And he was thinking the same thing when he wrote this about Regier, "The best part of what Regier did today," he wrote, "He made a very realistic assessment of the Sabres’ chances to earn a playoff berth and knows they’re probably done. He’d never say that, but the deals indicate that was his thinking."

Oklobzija breaks down the day along with "Regieran" attributes that happened to work, like holding out for a first round pick for Gaustad. The bottom line:  Regier, the "Texas Hold'em player," landed his "pair of Jacks" on the draw. He moved a 7th-round pick for a first rounder, landed a top-six center with skill, but lost grit and toughness, the latter a move that was necessary.

Unbeknownst to a lot of hockey fans (myself included) the AHL deadline is 3pm tomorrow. Oklobzija forsees the possibility of some moves for the Amerks, especially with the number of defensemen on the team.

According to Oklobzija, Regier will be on a conference call today with Amerks Head Coach Ron Rolston, Assistant to the General Manager, Mark Jakubowski and Head of Amateur Scouting, Kevin Devine.

Oklobzija says that "While Regier has the final say on all matters hockey within the organization, Devine oversees operations in Rochester. (Yes, he needs an amendment to his job title; his duties span well beyond just amateur scouting.")


It's not something that's official on the registrar, but Regier referred to Devine as "our Director of...Assistant General Manager who still oversees our scouting," on WGR two Friday's ago.

The Amerks are looking to bolster their team for the playoffs. After a win last night at Toronto, the Amreks are one point out of the final playoff spot. A mere two points separates the #6 seed and the #11 seed right now.

It will be interesting to see what Devine does at his first "trade deadline."

Another interesting note that came out of Oklobzija's article was that the Sabres put in a waiver-claim on the Minnesota Wild's Brad Staubitz. An undrafted free agent signing by the San Jose' Sharks back in 2005, Staubitz has got some size--6'1", 215lbs--and had some attitude ta boot. Montreal, who had the worse record, made the claim and received the services of Staubitz. He is a free agent at the end of the season.

All-in-all a great week for the Sabres organization with Regier wheeling-and-dealing, the team pulling off an improbable three-game west coast win-streak and the Amerks looking to bolster their roster for the stretch-run to the playoffs.

A few notes as deadline day approaches

***As of right now, the Sabres sit in 12th place in the Eastern Conference with 59 points on the season. They are seven points behind Florida for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Seven points is not a crazy amount of points to make up in the standings, except for the fact that they need to jump over three other teams to get there. And even that, although daunting, is not impossible, except for the fact that many of the teams battling for position--Winnipeg, Washington, Florida, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Buffalo and even Carolina, Montreal and the NY Islanders (who each have 58 points)--will be playing each other often during the home stretch.

The crux of the matter is the three point game. Many of the teams that Buffalo is in the race with will take their opponent to overtime with both teams "earning" points for their efforts. And that makes it difficult for the Sabres, if not almost impossible to make the playoffs this season.

***It's hard, if not nearly impossible, for some fans to root against the home team, but there seems to be a growing majority who hope that the Sabres miss the playoffs this year. Some of them hope that the team tanks and ends up with a lottery pick.

Fans in Buffalo have seen this team, constructed around Darcy Regier's "core," for nearly five years. We've seen the same weaknesses and generally the same results for the better part of those five years.

And there are many fans who are tired of the broken record. They're tired of Regier, their tired of Lindy Ruff and their tired of the core.

There's hope in Buffalo that if the team misses the playoffs, especially with the amount of money Terry Pegula has spent, that Regier and/or Ruff will see their 15 yr. tenure come to an end.

Methinks that would be a good thing.

***Darcy Regier was on the WGR's Schopp and the Bulldog last Friday, and it would seem as if the Sabres Director of Amateur Scouting, Kevin Devine, has moved up the ladder. Reiger mentions (1:25-mark) talking with Devine "our Director of...Assistant General Manager who still oversees our amateur scouting."

Good for Devine, he seems to have a real good eye for hockey players, and although not "official," it's a positive for the organization. Congrats.

***Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins took a shot at Buffalo, just like fellow New Englander, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Toronto Maple Leaves forward, Joffrey Lupul had done recently.

Calling Buffalo "the worst place in the NHL," Marchand is drawing the ire of Buffalonians.

He's in town tonight as the Bruins take on the Sabres and this was his follow up, "People have to learn how to have some fun and take a joke," Marchand said in First Niagara Center, where he and the Bruins will face the Sabres tonight. "It's always cold and usually rainy when we come here, and I was just playing around. I hope I didn't offend anyone."


He's right with the "take a joke" part.

Schopp and the Bulldog spent the first 45 minutes of their show talking about it, even though Schopp said repeatedly that it didn't bother him. They could have spent more time on the subject, but I couldn't listen to their blather anymore and turned them off.

Whatever.

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/sabres-nhl/article739359.ece

***Sabres President Ted Black was on the Howard Simon Show for his weekly appearance.

Early on they jumped right into the playoff picture, the Stanley Cup, and the fact that no team lower than a five-seed has won the Cup.

Roll Ted (1:35-mark):  "The good news is, maybe unlike other teams, we're not under a financial mandate that we must make the playoffs or we don't hit our number. We're capitalized with Terry's resources so at least we don't have that pressure.

That pressure can sometimes create the urge to go for the short-term, to squeak into the playoffs to get playoff revenue. We can still maintain what we want to do long-term."

Black sees the writing on the wall for this season, if fact the week prior he said, "It would take a monumental effort for us to even make the playoffs, that's just the math, and not any kind of false hope or lack of hope."

Put it all together and even if they somehow garner four points from the next two games, they could still find themselves six or seven points out of a playoff spot come Monday, the NHL trade deadline.

And then there's the problem of that pesky road trip coming up next month which will take them to the west coast.