Sabres draft-day makeover: Jack Eichel, Robin Lehner, Ryan O'Reilly

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


There was a time earlier this calendar year when Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray had three first round picks heading into the 2015 NHL draft and five total stretching from the second overall down to pick No. 51. Then came the blockbuster trade for Evander Kane on February 11th that saw one of those picks, the lower of the two not Buffalo's, head to Winnipeg.

Even so, he still landed in Fort Lauderdale armed with two first-rounders (Nos. 2 and 21) and two second-rounders (Nos. 31 and 51) in what's being considered as a very deep 2015 draft. Odds were slim that he wasn't going to use all those picks as the Sabres had accumulated many picks and prospects over the last few years. When he came on board 18 months ago, the Sabres had already been stocking their cupboard and he added to that with his moves around the 2014 trade deadline. He continued adding at the 2015 deadline saying, "our time is the future."

That future came pretty quick. After finishing in 30th place and finding out where they would be from the draft lottery the theme went from "our time is the future" to the future begins now.

Murray gave us a preview of what might happen on the draft floor during the first round. At a pre-draft press gathering held at First Niagara Center he said he was looking to do something with the 21st pick--either move up or use it for a young veteran. One of his ideal scenarios would have "a team call and they're having problems with one of their players, that are having problems with their cap situation," he would say that day, "and they offer us a 23- or 24-year-old top-six forward or top-three defenseman or No. 1 goalie, and they'd be willing to take [the 21st pick] for that."

Ramp-up to the 2015 NHL Draft Pt. 5--Centers of attention

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There's an old adage in baseball that ties strength up the middle to success. With the Chicago Blackhawks and the Golden State Warriors putting an end to the hockey and basketball seasons, respectively, perhaps it's fitting we use that analogy as the boys of summer are really all we have right now from a competition standpoint (no disrespect to the FIFA women.)

Strength behind the plate, at shortstop and second base and in center field is at the heart of the defense while in hockey goaltending, top-pairing defense and No. 1 center is an NHL comparable. It's a combination the Hawks were built upon and their success has the hockey world linking "dynasty" to this group. Winning three Stanley Cups in six years is about as dynastic as you can get in a salary-cap world.

Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville got the goaltending from Corey Crawford during their Cup run this year while he played his top defenseman, Conn Smythe winner Duncan Keith, a ridiculous 31 minutes per game during the playoffs. However, hockey being the team sport that it is, there were contributions up and down the lineup throughout their run from the likes of d-partner Brent Seabrook, and forwards Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Teuvo Teravainen and Andrew Shaw, to name a few.

Call of the desert wild. Two centers for a Yotes team that's weak down the middle

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Sportsnet's Elliott Friedman via his 30 Thoughts has the third and fourth overall picks of the NHL possibly in play this year. Arizona sits in the third spot while the Toronto Maple Leafs are right behind Coyotes at No. 4.

Friedman quotes Leafs co-GM (should they put "interim" in the title as well?) Kyle Dubas as saying (via the Toronto Star) "it's something we would definitely look at." Dubas then qualifies it by saying, “If someone else was adamant about a player, we’re pretty comfortable with the players in that (4-6) cluster," meaning they're probably not interested in going any lower than No. 6.

As it stands, the Leafs have two first-rounders (No. 24 from Nashville) but no second-round picks and according to Dubas, “We need to be acquiring as many draft pick assets as we can, as many prospects as we can. "If there was something that made sense, we’d be open to listening and having some thorough discussions on the fourth pick.”

Suffering be gone. The state of the Sabres transitions to build-mode.

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Back in early April, 2014 I was asked by hockeybuzz to do a "State of the Buffalo Sabres" piece as a guest writer. The theme I came up with was "Reset, Redefine, Rebuild." It's been a little over one year since that piece and the ride that we Sabres fans went on over the course of that time worthy of a full day at the "Rollercoaster capital of the world," Cedar Point.

Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray was at the controls and was forced to apply the brakes on a number of occasions last season when things began slipping out of control on the side of winning. True to his words when he took the reigns of the franchise in January of 2013, Murray kept the team focused on the long-term and in the end the Sabres, despite losing the lottery again, are set to bring Boston University center Jack Eichel into the fold with the second overall pick in this year's draft.

In any other year dating back to Sidney Crosby, it's arguable that Eichel would be the top-overall prospect. This year he'd have been the consensus No. 1 overall pick had it not been for the presence of some guy name Connor McDavid, who is roundly considered the best prospect, bar none, since Crosby. A consolation prize in Eichel? You could say that. But it's more like winning a Lexus instead of a trip to Hawaii.

Notes to chaw on as the end draws nearer

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To say it's been a strange season would be like saying Sidney Crosby is a pretty good hockey player. With five days to go in the 2014-15 regular season and the Buffalo Sabres off until Friday, there are many fans who are left to manically watch the scoreboard while squirming in "apocalyptic fear," as WGR's Howard Simon put it yesterday. As if the very essence of their existence and every strand of their being hangs in the balance of last place finish. Just the thought of a 30th place finish having that much weight in life is strange.

A colleague asked me if I'm on twitter, and I said no. Although a lack of a social media presence isn't helpful when it comes to professional exposure, I take in enough psychosis just browsing the comment sections throughout the interweb or listening to the reactions of Buffalo fans as well as personalities on GR. Twitter is in direct contrast the old adage, "Think before you speak," and often times tweets and comments, as well as calling in on talk radio, are end up being totally against a common refrain I'd been taught growing up, "If you can't say something nice, say nothing at all."

Of Ted Nolan, Mikhail Grigorenko and Tyler Ennis

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Buffalo Sabres head coach Ted Nolan has brought out the extremes in everybody during his various stints as head coach probably none moreso than over the course of the last season and a half. This season in Buffalo where fans seemed to have lost their minds (see Arizona vs. Buffalo, March 26, 2015,) he's done it again and those with a negative view of Nolan far outweigh those on the positive side.

Of the nasty generalizations thrown his way this season are things like, "He's ruining the tank by winning!" "He sucks because they're losing!" "They're not losing correctly!" "He's a trap coach!" "He's being too hard on his players!" "He's too soft on HIS players!" "He can't develop players!"

And on.

Nikita Zadorov and Mikhail Grigorenko at different stages of the developmental process

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There was a point in the season when Buffalo Sabres rookie defenseman Nikita Zadorov was logging games of 20-plus minutes in a top-four role while playing alongside fellow youngin, Rasmus Ristolainen. The "Twin Towers" on defense gave fans a starry-eyed glimpse into the future as they were in lock-down mode much of the time while helping propel the team to their best stretch of the season.

It's easy to forget, however, that Zadorov is only 19 years old and plays a position that takes most players years to figure out. Rare is the teenager that can walk into the National Hockey League and have the physical and mental maturity to log 20-plus minutes effectively over the course of an 82-game season. A player with that type of game is usually found at or near the top of the draft like Drew Doughty in 2008 (LAK, 2nd-overall,) Victor Hedman (TBL, 2009, 2nd-overall) and Aaron Ekblad (FLA, 2014, 1st overall.)

Zadorov was drafted 16th-overall in 2013.

Grigorenko loss is Larsson's gain

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Apparently forward Mikhail Grigorenko was a little too casual in his approach when opportunity knocked last Friday in Ottawa. To the casual observer Grigorenko, a third-year pro, had a fairly decent game with what looked like some nerves early on and some sparks later in the game.

That's not what head coach Ted Nolan witnessed as he dropped Grigorenko to the fourth line after only two shifts. "I didn’t like his play,” the coach said, rather bluntly, “I thought his play on certain pucks was really lackadaisical. He didn’t have any energy or urgency in his game whatsoever. Hopefully, he’ll catch that one day.”

In a few brief sentences, Nolan touched on Grigorenko's uneven career to this point and while leaving the door open for future opportunity with the club, that final part about "hopefully" figuring it out does not bode well for the soon to be restricted free agent.

Grigorenko, Makarov sent down, Hackett recalled, plus more on goalies

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Before anyone loses their minds upon hearing that the Sabres have sent F, Mikhail Grigorenko to Rochester, note that he was called up on an emergency basis because F, Zac Dalpe was tending to family matters. With Dalpe back, Grigorenko jumps back on I-90 and heads east to Rochester (hopefully not flat as a pancake.)

The Amerks, surprisingly, have more than held their own since the NHL's March 2nd trade deadline when Buffalo GM Tim Murray moved three forwards from the roster. Forwards Chris Stewart, Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn were replaced in the lineup by call-ups Tim Schaller and Jerry D'Amigo who joined recent Amerks call-ups Johan Larsson and Zac Dalpe. Rochester is 1-0-0-1 since despite Varone, Schaller and Larsson spending one or more games in Buffalo. Also of note, when Dalpe was out, he was leading the Amerks in scoring with 16 goals.

Grigorenko was called up with Schaller and D'Amigo but was more of a security blanket if F, Tyler Ennis wasn't able to go at Tampa Bay on Tuesday. He was in the press box with Ennis ready to go, then was sent back down. But with Dalpe out at Ottawa last night, Grigorenko was able to say that the trip did more than just put another stamp on his passport.

More changes are coming for tonight and you can add that Chad Johnson, who was acquired in a trade deadline deal from the Islanders in the Michal Neuvirth trade, to the list. He is in a walking boot and possibly out for the season after taking a puck to his foot. In his stead, Andrey Makarov was recalled for the Ottawa game to back up Anders Lindack who was acquired from Dallas in the Jhonas Enroth trade back on February 11th.

Now Makarov was sent down and goalie Matt Hackett recalled (more on him in a bit) for tonight's game at Washington.

Showtime for Mikhail Grigorenko. Plus a quick overview of his tumultuous, uneven career.

The pro career of Sabres forward has been pretty well documented, but for the uninitiated, a quick synopsis:

--12th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft. No one could get a handle on where he would be picked as the "experts" had him going anywhere from 3rd-overall (Central Scouting) to 17th (TSN's Craig Button.)

--On July 18, 2012 signed his three-year, entry-level contract.

--August, 2012, competes for Russia in the four-game Russia/Canada Challenge. Finished with 0 goals and one assist. "Wildly inconsistent" was the verdict on his play.

--2013 World Junior Championships. Ryan Kennedy writes that Grigorenko is the main man for Russia, not Nail Yakupov. Grigorenko has two goals and three assists in 6 games, Russia wins silver medal.

--January, 2013. NHL training camps open after lockout ends. Expectations for Grigorenko are high. In 33 games for the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL he has 30 goals and 24 assists.

--Grigorenko makes the Sabres squad, rumors that he will stick past the ninth game before his entry-level contract kicks in start emerging.

--January 29, 2013. Plays vs. Toronto, entry-level contract kicks in.

--Grigorenko struggles, sees fourth-line duty, has some time in the press box.

--March 17, 2013. Grigorenko sent back to the Remparts. Said GM Darcy Regier, "This is driven by what's best for Mikhail and best for his career." Finishes the season in the playoffs with Rochester. Plays in two games without hitting the scoresheet.

--Regier pretty much guarantees a roster spot for Grigorenko for 2013-14.

--Plays in 18 games for the Sabres in October and November registering two goals, one assist and a ton of time on the fourth-line or in the pressbox.

--November 13, 2013. Regier and head coach Ron Rolson are fired and replaced by President of Hockey Operations Pat LaFontaine and interim head coach, Ted Nolan.

--November 21, 2013. LaFontaine tries to slip Grigorenko down to Rochester. NHL rejects the "conditioning assignment." Grigorenko convinces LaFontaine and Nolan that he should stick with the big club and he does until December, 2014.

--Joins Team Russia for the 2014 World Juniors. Russia wins bronze. In seven games Grigorenko scores 5 goals and adds three assists.

--January 9, 2014. LaFontaine hires Tim Murray as new Sabres GM.

--January 11, 2014. Grigorenko sent to junior for the second time.

--After being informed he was being sent to junior, Grigorenko "was a little bit upset," said Nolan. Grigorenko refuses assignment.

--January 13, 2014. Grigorenko accepts junior assignment. Scores 15 goals and adds 24 assists in 23 games for Quebec. Has one goal and eight assists in nine in playoffs.

--Says goodbye to junior as he joins the Rochester Americans for their final nine regular season games. Has zero goals and four assists. Plays in five games for the Amerks in the playoffs without registering a point.

--Takes responsibility and comes into Sabres camp last summer fully committed and in the best shape of his career and has "impressive" training camp.

--October 7, 2014. Rookie Sam Reinhart (2014, 2nd-overall) sticks with Sabres, Grigorenko sent to Rochester.

--2014-15 season. In 39 games for Rochester has 11 goals and 21 assists. In 12 games for Buffalo, 1 goal, 1 assist.

--February 3, 2015. Suffers knee injury that keeps him nearly an entire month.

--February 27, 2015. Returns to action in a 4-3 OT loss against Toronto. Zero points, minus-2.

--March 2-3, 2015. Murray purges veterans, ices a host of Rochester call-ups including Grigorenko. Ends up as insurance if an injured Tyler Ennis is unable to play. Is a healthy scratch.

--March 4, 2015. Sent back to Rochester has a goal and registers a plus-2 while being blanked in the shootout in a 3-2 SO loss to Utica.

--March 5, 2015. Recalled by the Sabres.

--March 6, 2015. Has been centering Marcus Foligno and Brian Gionta on the second line.

After practice yesterday Grigorenko said that he's feeling much better, “I got stronger on my skates because of that injury,” he said. “I had to focus on my leg strength. I’ve been getting lower on battles in the corners. It helps protect my knee, but it helps my game and gives me better balance too.”

“Last night he said he felt much better, had a little bit more jump in his legs,” said coach Ted Nolan. “As far as practice is concerned today, I thought he skated as well as I’ve seen him skate.”

But can he bring it come game-time?

“Skill can only get you so far," said Nolan. "there’s a lot of guys with skill, but if you have no will with that skill, the skill’s no good, so he’s got to work, he’s got to compete and if you do that with that skill, you should have good results.”

Said Kris Baker of sabrespropects.com of Grigorenko (via HockeyHotline) when asked what he expects said "I just want him to compete hard. I want him to create offense and be in the right spots defensively. He needs to find his wingers and put the pucks on their sticks. I think that supporting
his d-men is key."

We'll see. He's got 18 games to prove he has made significant progress in all of those areas to latch on to an NHL roster spot.

Amerks in the balance. Don Stevens talks Rochester Americans

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


The Rochester Americans are a few games into the second half of their season and are still trying to pull themselves out of a muddy first half. They were the highest scoring team in the league and were rolling along to begin the season but since that strong 6-2 start they've gone 11-21-1-0. The Amerks went from the top of the conference all the way to the bottom now sit second to last with 35 points, seven points out of a playoff spot.

"It was a huge surprise," said long time Amerks broadcaster, Don Stevens. "In looking at the roster at the start of the season and with the way they started, I thought it was going to be an outstanding year.

"But the wheels fell off."

Particularly troublesome was that they played a good chunk of their home games already and have managed only four wins on the road thus far, two of them coming last week. Before that three-game trip, the Amerks were on a 10-game road losing streak. But, ironically, the road may be where things began to turn around.

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.

Sabres headed to Toronto with a little wind at their backs

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It could have been disasterous. Well. About as disasterous as a last place team could expect.

The victory at San Jose' was a welcome reprieve from the ineptitude of the first two west coast contests and it provided the team with some postitives as it heads to Toronto tomorrow night.

First off, they were able to come out of the San Jose' contest with a win in regulation, the first time they could make that claim this season. Second, they showed they could score two goals, and they could do it with players not named Tyler Ennis, Zemgus Girgensons, Marcus Foligno and Torrey Mitchell, the only four players to have scored through the first eight games. The Sabres were also able to head into the third period with the lead for only the second time all season, and unlike their game against Carolina, were able to hold on to the lead.

So that's good.

What's even better is that the Sabres have two winnable games in front of them.

Round-2 for Rochester and Buffalo

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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.

One more step for Mikhail Grigorenko

Buffalo Sabres forward Mikhail Grigorenko's struggles since making his NHL debut have been well documented. The 12th overall pick in the 2012 draft first hit the ice on January 20, 2013 in a 5-2 Buffalo win vs. Philadelphia. The NHL was beginning it's lockout-shortened season and for him it would be the beginning of a tumultuous journey that now has him on the precipice of making the Buffalo Sabres roster to start the 2014-15 season.

A quick re-cap of Grigorenko's Journey:

• On January 29, 2013, Grigorenko plays his sixth game for the club as the team decides to keep him in Buffalo instead of sending him back to his junior team, the Quebec Remparts. His three-year entry-level deal kicks in.
• Is a healthy scratch on February 10, for the second time in the season (the first was to prolong the decision on his staying with the team.) Up to that point he had played in 12 games scoring one goal and two assists while posting a minus-2 rating. The team was 5-7-1 at the time.
• He plays in two of the next four games, the team goes 1-3 and on February 20, 2013, long-time head coach Lindy Ruff is fired. Ron Rolston is named interim coach.
• On March 16, former Sabres GM Darcy Regier sends Grigorenko to Quebec for their playoff run in a move he says "Is driven by what is best for Mikhail and best for his career.”
• Grigorenko returns to Buffalo for three games after Quebec is eliminated from the Memorial Cup. He finishes the season with one goal and four assists in 25 games. He also played in two playoff games for the Rochester Americans. It was a lost year on his entry-level contract for the team to which Regier replied, "It was an experiment."
• Grigorenko starts the 2013-14 season with the Sabres under Regier and head coach Ron Rolston. He plays in 15 of the team's first 20 games before Regier and Rolston are fired on November 13, 2013. He had two goals, one assist and was a minus-3 to that point. The team was 4-15-1 at the time.
• Pat LaFontaine is hired as President of Hockey Ops and Ted Nolan becomes interim coach. Grigorenko plays in three games before the team tries to buy some time by sending the 19 yr. old to Rochester for a two week "conditioning assignment." The CHL cries foul, citing an agreement with the NHL and the team must make a choice--the NHL or the CHL.
• He plays three of the ensuing eight games for the Sabres.
• On December 5, 2013, Buffalo loans Grigorenko to Russia for the World Juniors, buying the team more time.
• Russia wins the bronze medal, Grigorenko leads the team with five goals and eight points in seven games.
• The Sabres decide to send him to Quebec on January 11, 2014. Grigorenko refuses to accept the assignment.
• The following day he apologizes and on January 13, 2014, he reports to Quebec. In 23 games he scores 15 goals and adds 24 assists for the Remparts.
• After Quebec is eliminated from the Memorial Cup, Grigorenko heads to Rochester. He plays in nine regular season games registering four assists as well as five playoff games where he was held off the scoresheet.
• Grigorenko arrives at Sabres Develpoment Camp in July bigger and stronger. He now weighs in at 219 lbs. The coaches and staff take notice.

Girgensons yawns on GR. Plus Reinhart and Grigorenko

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The WGR morning guys must have woken up Sabres center Zemgus Girgensons a tad early to day for a phone interview. At the 4:40 mark, Girgensons was answering a comment by Sal Capaccio about his strong command of the English language when a yawn emerged.

Being the tropper that he is, Girgensons never trudged on through and answered the question throughout the gaping yawn. Jeremy White, was at the helm as Howard Simon was off and tried to smooth things out by bringing the very short 5:30 interview to a respectable close.

Still not sure what caused the yawn, a late night, over exertion from training camp or a previous question (statement?) from White that lasted over 40 seconds.

If WGR is looking to have "Gus" on regularly, they may want to push his timeslot back an hour or two so that he may fully wake up before the call.

The Buffalo "Amerks" fall in Toronto in the shootout

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The Buffalo Sabres iced a large group of players who will be ticketed for Rochester, at least to start this season. Of the twenty players in the line-up, only three are sure to be on the Sabres--Cody Hodgson, Andrej Meszaros and Chris Stewart--while two other, defensemen Mike Weber and Rasmus Ristolainen will probably be with the team when they open the season October 9th vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Amerks open camp today, and many of those who played in last nights 3-2 SO loss at Toronto will be headed east to Rochester. The Sabres have only two more preseason games--Wednesday vs. the Capitals and Friday at Carolina--to get ready for the opener.

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

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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.

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.