The future of the Buffalo Sabres starts tonight with the drafting of Jack Eichel (assuming he signs with us and doesn't go back to college which I believe he won't). He's our franchise player and it will be awesome to have a forward/ No. 1 center be our franchise elite player. It's been way too long since what LaFontaine or maybe even Perrault? Sure even Briere and Drury were very good for the short time they were here but this is an 18-year-old kid who will be here for a good 15 years or so helping leading this team to the promised land. Who doesn't love it when Tim Murray doesn't do the BS of thanking everyone just goes "Buffalo selects Jack Eichel" like he did last year with Sam Reinhart?
Eichel is considered to be one of the best prospects in the last what 15-20 years? Since then Eichel has been considered the number one pick in every draft in that time except the Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and of course the Connor McDavid years. Ovechkin and Crosby helped turn their teams around from miserable failures to success and McDavid should do the same with Edmonton. I've heard Eichel compared to fellow American Mike Modano (1988 #1 overall pick) and current stars Steven Stamkos and Jeff Carter.
As of that wasn't enough, they traded for a goalie early in the day (http://buffalosportsbeat.blogspot.com/2015/06/sabres-acquire-goalie-robin-lehner-and.html) and right after selecting Eichel, the Sabres announced they traded for Ryan O'Reilly. They traded Nikita Zadorov, Mikhail Grigorenko, JT Compher, and the 31st pick in this year's draft for O'Reilly and forward Jamie McGinn. O'Reilly gives them a legitimate number two center behind Eichel and gives the Sabres one of the best center depth in the NHL with Zemgus Girgensons and Sam Reinhart also on the roster.
Now O'Reilly has one year left on his deal that carries a $6 million cap hit which the Avalanche matched an offer sheet signed two years ago by the Calgary Flames and that basically ruined the relationship between the Avs and O'Reilly. We have to sign O'Reilly and it appears he wants a deal in the $8 million range which might be steep but also kind of worth it given his offensive production and amazing two-way, possession game. He's the complete opposite of Cody Hodgson as a two-way player. Murray said they are preparing to offer him a big contract or else why did they trade so much for him?
Murray got a lot of flack for making this deal especially trading Zadorov. Zadorov can be a very good defenseman and showed flashes of brilliance last season. But he also really struggled at times and got benched and suspended and had an attitude of entitlement. That doesn't mean he should be gone yet he became expendable to make a big trade. Like I wrote the other day (http://buffalosportsbeat.blogspot.com/2015/06/i-would-trade-reinhart-for-oreilly-i.html), you have to be prepared to trade someone you might not want or be comfortable trading to improve your team and Zadorov (and maybe some who still had hope for Grigorenko) were the ones to go. Rasmus Ristolainen and Eichel are the only "untouchables" on this roster. We can fill another spot in free agency and one guy I'm very interested in is former Sabre Andrej Seker, who is a UFA. We don't have a guy on the defense for the power play and he's always been good at that and point producing even though a lot of people didn't like him here. I liked Sekera.
No surprise obviously McDavid went first overall with the Oilers. Arizona was not able to trade it's third overall pick (http://buffalosportsbeat.blogspot.com/2015/06/coyotes-looking-to-trade-pick-3-bruins.html) and instead took McDavid's Erie Otters' teammate Dylan Strome. Had the Sabres not picked in the top-2 for McDavid or Eichel, Strome would have been my top pick at number three. Toronto and Mike Babcock select center Mitch Marner, who finished a close second behind Strome for the OHL scoring title this past season which McDavid would have easily won had he not gotten hurt for six weeks of the season.
Carolina took Boston College defenseman Noah Hanifan and Carolina looks to get better on the blue line and they're a team I could see on the rise. Hanifan would make an excellent addition and partner for fellow defenseman Justin Faulk, who had a breakout season and franchise record-breaking season for most points by a defenseman. If they keep both Staals and maybe Jeff Skinner or get a great trade for him (http://buffalosportsbeat.blogspot.com/2015/06/jeff-skinner-might-be-available-id-go.html) they'll be on the rise no doubt. They're penalty kill (which dramatically) and possession numbers are both very great as first year head coach Bill Peters has done a great job and they finished the second half of the season really strong. They get a good goalie, they're a playoff team.
The team who hosted the draft, the Florida Panthers, took Lawson Crouse 11th overall. Crouse was talked as a possible top-5 pick as he was 5th in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings because of his size and scoring ability plus his play in the World Juniors this past season for Team Canada. He did not score a lot in juniors which is a red flag in my opinion as he was nowhere even close to the scoring leaders, but he did jump up significantly this past season from the season before as he went from 27 to 51 points. However, he still ranked 63rd in the OHL scoring race. 63rd!!! He just averaged under a point a game in a league where the best scorers averaged 2 points a game (or in McDavid's case close to 3 points a game). He has high bust potential but could be the next Milan Lucic or Todd Bertuzzi if it pans out, maybe even better. We shall see.
Ottawa took young American center prospect Colin White, who is considered one of the better prospects in this deep draft, 21st overall with the Sabres pick. White is considered to play for Boston College this upcoming season but who knows. The one and only goalie taken in the first round one pick after as the Washington Capitals took Ilya Samsonov 22nd overall as he was expected to go late in round one and if the Sabres still had pick 21, they'd probably take him.
One last thing is that the Boston Bruins continue to make mind numbing decision after decision. It didn't matter that Peter Chiarelli was fired for making mind numbing trades like Phil Kessel for two first round picks what turned out to be Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton then trading Seguin for garbage and put them in the place they're currently in. I didn't even mention Joe Thornton going for practically nothing before Chiarelli was GM but they get credit because they won the Cup. Yes they did get lucky trading Kessel, who even though he produces points, he doesn't always show up and puts in terrible efforts night in night out and is awful defensively. Seguin and Hamilton should have taken your team to the Cup for many years to come. I don't know what's in the water in Boston but whoever the GM is, makes dumb decisions enough said.
Reports were they were interested in trading top defenseman Dougie Hamilton to the Coyotes for the third pick in the draft to take Hanifan but instead, they trade him to Calgary for the 15th overall pick?!?! Huh? Don Sweeney is doing a great job let me tell you (smh). They also traded Milan Lucic to Los Angeles for the 13th overall pick and restricted free agent goalie Martin Jones combine the two picks with their own, they had the 13th, 14th, and 15th overall picks in the draft. Many thought they'd trade all 3 or 2 of the 3 along with either Jones or Tukka Rask to move up but did not.
Trading Lucic no big deal as he's on the decline. But trading Hamilton a #1 defenseman for many years to come for basically nothing is just pathetic and I will enjoy them being a bottom feeder for quite some time. They fired Chiarelli and should fired Sweeney as well along with President Cam Neely. They want to be a physical and tough team and I say fine, we'll just circle around you like we did 10 years ago after the lockout. I love how teams bring in former players to run their teams into the ground. I'll write more about that in the coming days.
Buffalo is a team on the rise and I for one can't wait for this season to start. Next year's draft will be held here in Buffalo even though more than likely next year's draft won't be as important as they should be on the way towards winning. Let's go Buffalo!!
Showing posts with label Connor McDavid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Connor McDavid. Show all posts
Friday, June 26, 2015
Happy Eichel Day!!! This Will Be Our Best (Non Goalie) Player Since LaFontaine? Perrault?
"Today is the Greatest Day Ever!" - Smashing Pumpkins
This is great!! Tonight in about 12 hours or so the Sabres make it official they're drafting Jack Eichel second overall!! This has to be the most excited anyone has ever been over the second overall pick in the NHL or any draft for that matter maybe ever?! We've been talking about Eichel for over a year more like a year and a half when we started hearing about how he was going to challenge Connor McDavid for the top spot in the 2015 NHL Draft.
It felt like June 26, 2015 would never come but it's here finally!!! All our patience and sacrifice and suffering have finally paid off. Waiting and watching the team lose and getting into arguments with each other about whether or not we want the Sabres to win or lose for "McEichel" are all done. Thank God!!
This is the best offensive player since what? LaFontaine or even Perrault? I wasn't old enough to see Gilbert Perrault as he retired when i was about 4 or 5 years old. I definitely don't know the feeling it was when the Sabres drafted him as their first ever draft pick as I am sure no one really knew as the information isn't like it was today. I'm sure most felt he was the best player in the draft and the Sabres thankfully won the spinning of the wheel to get him so there might be some excitement. But I am sure no one followed this guy's career and even life for about two years.
I was only about 10 years old when LaFontaine was traded here and I wasn't quite following hockey yet. A couple of years later is when I really started to follow hockey and the Sabres so LaFontaine (and Mogilny) were already here kicking ass. I'm sure most know he was a star with the Islanders when he was traded here and most were very excited to get him. But he wasn't a draft pick of ours and this isn't the same as it is today.
Both LaFontaine and Perrault are Hall of Famers and we should expect Jack Eichel to be in that group maybe even better (no pressure). I expect him to be the best player in franchise history not just forward but even better than Dominik Hasek. I definitely want the greatest player in franchise history to be a scoring forward and not a goalie. I'm sick and tired of our better players in recent history to be a goalie and constantly be bailed out by a goalie every night.
This is a new day and a new era!! The draft can't come soon enough.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Buffalo Sabres Met with Dan Bylsma Last Night and Are Meeting With Him Again Shortly
It appears that the Buffalo Sabres are about to hire former Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma as their head coach. The Sabres met with him last night and are in the process of meeting with him again. We are waiting for him to officially be hired by the Sabres. What's the hold up? The hold up is this stupid, idiotic rule that the NHL has in place which shows how the NHL is a dumb league sometimes, more like a lot of the time.
That rule is that the Sabres (or any team) would have to give up a 3rd round pick if they want to hire him. The stupid thing is that Bylsma was fired last year by the Penguins so he should be able to sign with anyone. Who has to negotiate with the team that fired a head coach? You don't need to give up compensation to sign an unrestricted free agent. This rule was designed to protect teams from allowing their AHL head coaches or top notch assistant coaches to up and leave for nothing. That I like a lot.
But there's this stupid loophole to allow a team to receive compensation despite having a head coach being fired. That's just stupid and again, the NHL looks like a joke. As long as Gary Bettman is in charge, these stupid things will continue to happen. He's a joke of a commissioner and he makes this a joke of a sports league. As for Pittsburgh, why not get your compensation you are entitled to? The Sabres are reportedly working with Pittsburgh negotiating terms of compensation.
I have zero problem with this hiring. Yeah I wanted Mike Babcock, but he wanted to go to Toronto and in this case, there is no shame in finishing a close second in the race for the best head coach. But Bylsma is no consolation prize in my opinion. If Babcock is the best, then Bylsma is a very close second. It's like trying to get Connor McDavid, but Jack Eichel is a very close second. The Sabres job is much more appealing and attractive now that we will have Eichel. Even without Eichel, the Sabres have the best group of prospects in the NHL. But Eichel makes it that much sweeter. Evander Kane makes it more appealing as well.
For those who constantly criticize or whine about how Bylsma only won one Stanley Cup with stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and how usually the Penguins underachieved in the playoffs losing in the 1st or 2nd round depsite having 100 point seasons, I will set the record straight. He did not have much else besides Crosby and Malkin. There were times where Crosby and/or Malkin were hurt and missed a bunch of a season. Regardless, Bylsma never had less than 101 points in an entire 82-game season and never finished lower than second in the division. In the lockout-shortened 48-game season, Bylsma still had 72 points which turns out to be a whopping 123 over an 82-game season.
Besides not getting anyone else besides Crosby and Malkin (Kris Letang is a very good defenseman and James Neal and Jordan Staal were also good) as well as having a very poor pool of prospects (which the Sabres don't have), the goaltending has been abysmal. Marc-Andre Fleury has had sub-.900 save percentages almost every playoff season under Byslma except one: the year they won the Cup in 09. I don't care who you are, you can't win in the playoffs with goalies with save percentages in the .800s. These are faults of the GM Ray Shero more than Bylsma. Bylsma won despite all this.
How come Babcock is considered the best coach in hockey while he only won one cup with at least 3 future hall of famers while Bylsma gets blasted for winning only one Cup with two future hall of famers? Babcock's regular season win % is .627 which is very good. Meanwhile, Bylsma's reg. season win % is an astounding .668. Babcock's postseason win % is .569 while Bylsma's is .551. So there's really not that much of a difference between the two except Babcock has been to two more Stanley Cup finals. By the way, Bylsma beat Babcock to win the Cup.
Did I mention Bylsma won the Cup his first year in the NHL? Because that's pretty important. In fact, he took over from Michel Therrien with 25 games left after the players tuned out Therrien one year after losing in the finals. Bylsma led the Pens to 40 points in those last 25 games and led them to winning the Cup. As for Bylsma winning only that one Cup, two things. 1.) how many Cups do the Sabres have (for now)? 2.) Only two teams since 2002 have won multiple Stanley Cups (Chicago and Los Angeles).
Point being, it's so hard to win the Stanley Cup and the days of winning 4-5 Cups in a decade or so are over with the salary cap era in place. Outside of Joel Quenneville and Darryl Sutter, no other coaches in the NHL right now (not even Babcock) have won more than one Stanley Cup. Quenneville and Sutter were fired at least once in their coaching careers as well so the whole Bylsma was fired thing is a joke.
The other things I love about this hire are that Bylsma coached the U.S. Olympic Hockey team and is a great puck possession coach who understands the way the game is played now. His teams were always very good in puck possession and Corsi for. He states that it's better for a player to carry the puck in through the neutral zone and into the opponent's end of the ice vs. dump and chase. I love that so much and it seems like he's not afraid to adapt to the current style of hockey of puck possession and advanced stats.
I believe it's a matter of time before Dan Bylsma will be the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres and I don't even feel like it's a consolation prize over Babcock.
That rule is that the Sabres (or any team) would have to give up a 3rd round pick if they want to hire him. The stupid thing is that Bylsma was fired last year by the Penguins so he should be able to sign with anyone. Who has to negotiate with the team that fired a head coach? You don't need to give up compensation to sign an unrestricted free agent. This rule was designed to protect teams from allowing their AHL head coaches or top notch assistant coaches to up and leave for nothing. That I like a lot.
But there's this stupid loophole to allow a team to receive compensation despite having a head coach being fired. That's just stupid and again, the NHL looks like a joke. As long as Gary Bettman is in charge, these stupid things will continue to happen. He's a joke of a commissioner and he makes this a joke of a sports league. As for Pittsburgh, why not get your compensation you are entitled to? The Sabres are reportedly working with Pittsburgh negotiating terms of compensation.
I have zero problem with this hiring. Yeah I wanted Mike Babcock, but he wanted to go to Toronto and in this case, there is no shame in finishing a close second in the race for the best head coach. But Bylsma is no consolation prize in my opinion. If Babcock is the best, then Bylsma is a very close second. It's like trying to get Connor McDavid, but Jack Eichel is a very close second. The Sabres job is much more appealing and attractive now that we will have Eichel. Even without Eichel, the Sabres have the best group of prospects in the NHL. But Eichel makes it that much sweeter. Evander Kane makes it more appealing as well.
For those who constantly criticize or whine about how Bylsma only won one Stanley Cup with stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and how usually the Penguins underachieved in the playoffs losing in the 1st or 2nd round depsite having 100 point seasons, I will set the record straight. He did not have much else besides Crosby and Malkin. There were times where Crosby and/or Malkin were hurt and missed a bunch of a season. Regardless, Bylsma never had less than 101 points in an entire 82-game season and never finished lower than second in the division. In the lockout-shortened 48-game season, Bylsma still had 72 points which turns out to be a whopping 123 over an 82-game season.
Besides not getting anyone else besides Crosby and Malkin (Kris Letang is a very good defenseman and James Neal and Jordan Staal were also good) as well as having a very poor pool of prospects (which the Sabres don't have), the goaltending has been abysmal. Marc-Andre Fleury has had sub-.900 save percentages almost every playoff season under Byslma except one: the year they won the Cup in 09. I don't care who you are, you can't win in the playoffs with goalies with save percentages in the .800s. These are faults of the GM Ray Shero more than Bylsma. Bylsma won despite all this.
How come Babcock is considered the best coach in hockey while he only won one cup with at least 3 future hall of famers while Bylsma gets blasted for winning only one Cup with two future hall of famers? Babcock's regular season win % is .627 which is very good. Meanwhile, Bylsma's reg. season win % is an astounding .668. Babcock's postseason win % is .569 while Bylsma's is .551. So there's really not that much of a difference between the two except Babcock has been to two more Stanley Cup finals. By the way, Bylsma beat Babcock to win the Cup.
Did I mention Bylsma won the Cup his first year in the NHL? Because that's pretty important. In fact, he took over from Michel Therrien with 25 games left after the players tuned out Therrien one year after losing in the finals. Bylsma led the Pens to 40 points in those last 25 games and led them to winning the Cup. As for Bylsma winning only that one Cup, two things. 1.) how many Cups do the Sabres have (for now)? 2.) Only two teams since 2002 have won multiple Stanley Cups (Chicago and Los Angeles).
Point being, it's so hard to win the Stanley Cup and the days of winning 4-5 Cups in a decade or so are over with the salary cap era in place. Outside of Joel Quenneville and Darryl Sutter, no other coaches in the NHL right now (not even Babcock) have won more than one Stanley Cup. Quenneville and Sutter were fired at least once in their coaching careers as well so the whole Bylsma was fired thing is a joke.
The other things I love about this hire are that Bylsma coached the U.S. Olympic Hockey team and is a great puck possession coach who understands the way the game is played now. His teams were always very good in puck possession and Corsi for. He states that it's better for a player to carry the puck in through the neutral zone and into the opponent's end of the ice vs. dump and chase. I love that so much and it seems like he's not afraid to adapt to the current style of hockey of puck possession and advanced stats.
I believe it's a matter of time before Dan Bylsma will be the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres and I don't even feel like it's a consolation prize over Babcock.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
I want the Islanders to Give the Sabres Their 2015 1st Round Pick
I've been thinking about the up-coming 2014 NHL Draft where it appears that the Sabres will more than likely be drafting either 1st or 2nd in the draft. They have a 99% chance according to sportsclubstats.com they be drafting 1st or 2nd with a 94% chance they finish with the worst record in the league. The Sabres have a 25% chance of winning the Draft Lottery (which is easily the best odds of winning) if they finish last. If they lose the lottery, they draft 2nd, still a great chance at a great pick and player. I'll write more in a different entry about how great it is to draft in the top-2-3 picks as the NHL Draft pretty much always produces really good to great players in the top-2 or 3 spots.
They traded unrestricted free agent-to-be, 30-40-goal scorer Thomas Vanek to the New York Islanders for forward and fellow 30-goal scorer Matt Moulson, a 2014 1st round pick, and a 2015 2nd round pick. Now the Islanders can keep the 1st round pick this year if they draft in top-10 and then they can defer it and give us their 1st round pick for next year. The Islanders have struggled badly as they are 22-30-8 with only 52 points. Right now they'd be drafting 5th if the season were to end, or 6th if a team behind them wins the lottery or they could be drafting 1st if they win the lottery. Barring a ridiculous post-Olympic run, the Islanders will be no doubt drafting in the top-10, maybe top-5.
So I know many of you want their 2014 1st round pick because the Sabres could have two top-5 picks in this year's NHL Draft. But if I had my choice, I'd want their 2015 1st round pick. I know many of you are like "why would you risk a sure top-5, 10 pick on what could very well be a lower pick?" Good question and yes it could be a risk drafting lower than the top-5. But they could remain the same next year or be even worse. Now I don't have a crystal ball to predict the future but I don't see the Islanders getting better next year, I see them being the same if not worse next year, especially with Thomas Vanek being gone and probably won't return next year. If they again miss the playoffs and especially draft in the top-5, hopefully 2 or 3 so it increases our chances at hopefully getting the #1 overall pick and the top prospect in the 2015 Draft in Connor McDavid.
Supposedly next year's draft, led by top prospect McDavid, who is supposedly the enxt Sidney Crosby, is better than this year's class. Of course we'll never know for sure until they play the game and of course its all speculation. This year's draft with top prospects Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and Leon Draisaitl aren't McDavid or Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin or Malkin or Kane or Stamkos; but they can be very good players as players drafted at the top of the NHL Draft usually are such as John Tavares, Matt Duchene, Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog or even Nathan MacKinnon. Who wouldn't want one of those?
I don't expect the Sabres to be good again next year so they'll be in the McDavid sweepstakes next year and hopefully with the Islanders pick will double their chances. Plus I heard Tim Murray wants mostly 2015 first round draft picks if he unloads Ryan Miller, Matt Moulson, and Steve Ott. The more the merrier for me!! You can't have enough great players and you get them at the top of the draft. Imagine we get one of the top-2 picks this year, McDavid and maybe even another top-5 pick next year? Who wouldn't get excited? Plus we might be able to get a big free agent or two such as Kane.
Like I said I don't think the Islanders will be better next year, I think they'll be the same or hopefully worse so we can get another pick towards the McDavid sweepstakes. The Islanders have a terrible defense and their goaltending is really bad as they allowed the most goals of any team. I don't see them fixing their defense/goaltending issues in one off season. I think GM Garth Snow is in win now mode and really can't afford to wait another bad year or else he'll be out of a job. He's been there for eight years and produced just two playoff appearances. If they are in the top-5 they might have to just take the pick and hope for the best even if the class isnt as good as next year's. Tim Murray has the luxury of waiting a draft or two to fix this mess.
The Islanders just came off a playoff appearance in which they gave the top-seeded Penguins all they could handle in six games last year and hopes were very high for this once downtrodden franchise. They started a mediocre 4-4-3 when they traded for Vanek. Unfortunately, the Vanek deal has not brought a ton of success as the losses began to pile up. They've lost 31 of their last 49 games (26 of the losses were in regulation). Their 22 wins and 52 points in 60 games are two fewer wins and three fewer points than they had all last season in just 48 lockout-shortened games when they made the playoffs. They are moving to Brooklyn after next season and will need some marquee players in addition to Vanek to show they belong in the big city instead of the island. So they would be wise to wait till 2015 for McDavid but it's hard to predict whether they'll be as bad or worse next year.
They only have one good line which is John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Vanek. Not much scoring outside of that line. Plus I think Vanek is gone, he'll probably be traded before the trade deadline as he recently turned down a 7-year, $50 million contract (which is the same contract he signed 7 years ago) extension from the Islanders as he wants to test the open market. Who can blame him? He's 30 years old, he will have maybe one big chance to make big money on the open market as he's averaged over 30 goals a season for his first 8 years in the league (which will bring big bucks to a team that needs goal scoring), and he's never had a chance to go to any or all teams to see what he's really worth and who really wants him. He's been in Buffalo all his career until last October when he was traded to the Islanders.
He's never had a chance to test the open market. 7 years ago when he was a restricted free agent, the Sabres matched the offer by the Edmonton Oilers which kept him here another 7 years. the Sabres just lost Briere and Drury for nothing and needed to keep a guy who just scored 43 goals and 84 points instead of taking Edmonton's 4 first round picks. Who knows, maybe Vanek wanted to leave and maybe he was upset that the sabres matched it and didn't allow him to leave for Edmonton or maybe somewhere else. Plus he was wondering if the Sabres really wanted him, why did they let him go to possibly be signed by another team and why didn't they give him an offer before? The Sabres, notable Darcy Regier really dropped the ball on that one.
So yea, I'm not only in 2014 NHL Draft mode, I'm also in 2015 NHL Draft mode because I expect the Sabres to be closer to the lottery than the playoffs for Connor McDavid. I hate to root for them to be bad, but I can't help but want a couple of high draft picks for potential great players. This franchise hasn't had generationally great superstars in a long time. Even for those of you who don't want to lose for the top pick in the 2015 Draft, that's why I want the Islanders to give us the 2015 pick and hope they are really bad so we get the top pick or win the lottery. Could you imagine being an Islanders fan and you give away what could be Connor McDavid? The fans would riot. But I hope the Sabres end up with him,
They traded unrestricted free agent-to-be, 30-40-goal scorer Thomas Vanek to the New York Islanders for forward and fellow 30-goal scorer Matt Moulson, a 2014 1st round pick, and a 2015 2nd round pick. Now the Islanders can keep the 1st round pick this year if they draft in top-10 and then they can defer it and give us their 1st round pick for next year. The Islanders have struggled badly as they are 22-30-8 with only 52 points. Right now they'd be drafting 5th if the season were to end, or 6th if a team behind them wins the lottery or they could be drafting 1st if they win the lottery. Barring a ridiculous post-Olympic run, the Islanders will be no doubt drafting in the top-10, maybe top-5.
So I know many of you want their 2014 1st round pick because the Sabres could have two top-5 picks in this year's NHL Draft. But if I had my choice, I'd want their 2015 1st round pick. I know many of you are like "why would you risk a sure top-5, 10 pick on what could very well be a lower pick?" Good question and yes it could be a risk drafting lower than the top-5. But they could remain the same next year or be even worse. Now I don't have a crystal ball to predict the future but I don't see the Islanders getting better next year, I see them being the same if not worse next year, especially with Thomas Vanek being gone and probably won't return next year. If they again miss the playoffs and especially draft in the top-5, hopefully 2 or 3 so it increases our chances at hopefully getting the #1 overall pick and the top prospect in the 2015 Draft in Connor McDavid.
Supposedly next year's draft, led by top prospect McDavid, who is supposedly the enxt Sidney Crosby, is better than this year's class. Of course we'll never know for sure until they play the game and of course its all speculation. This year's draft with top prospects Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and Leon Draisaitl aren't McDavid or Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin or Malkin or Kane or Stamkos; but they can be very good players as players drafted at the top of the NHL Draft usually are such as John Tavares, Matt Duchene, Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog or even Nathan MacKinnon. Who wouldn't want one of those?
I don't expect the Sabres to be good again next year so they'll be in the McDavid sweepstakes next year and hopefully with the Islanders pick will double their chances. Plus I heard Tim Murray wants mostly 2015 first round draft picks if he unloads Ryan Miller, Matt Moulson, and Steve Ott. The more the merrier for me!! You can't have enough great players and you get them at the top of the draft. Imagine we get one of the top-2 picks this year, McDavid and maybe even another top-5 pick next year? Who wouldn't get excited? Plus we might be able to get a big free agent or two such as Kane.
Like I said I don't think the Islanders will be better next year, I think they'll be the same or hopefully worse so we can get another pick towards the McDavid sweepstakes. The Islanders have a terrible defense and their goaltending is really bad as they allowed the most goals of any team. I don't see them fixing their defense/goaltending issues in one off season. I think GM Garth Snow is in win now mode and really can't afford to wait another bad year or else he'll be out of a job. He's been there for eight years and produced just two playoff appearances. If they are in the top-5 they might have to just take the pick and hope for the best even if the class isnt as good as next year's. Tim Murray has the luxury of waiting a draft or two to fix this mess.
The Islanders just came off a playoff appearance in which they gave the top-seeded Penguins all they could handle in six games last year and hopes were very high for this once downtrodden franchise. They started a mediocre 4-4-3 when they traded for Vanek. Unfortunately, the Vanek deal has not brought a ton of success as the losses began to pile up. They've lost 31 of their last 49 games (26 of the losses were in regulation). Their 22 wins and 52 points in 60 games are two fewer wins and three fewer points than they had all last season in just 48 lockout-shortened games when they made the playoffs. They are moving to Brooklyn after next season and will need some marquee players in addition to Vanek to show they belong in the big city instead of the island. So they would be wise to wait till 2015 for McDavid but it's hard to predict whether they'll be as bad or worse next year.
They only have one good line which is John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Vanek. Not much scoring outside of that line. Plus I think Vanek is gone, he'll probably be traded before the trade deadline as he recently turned down a 7-year, $50 million contract (which is the same contract he signed 7 years ago) extension from the Islanders as he wants to test the open market. Who can blame him? He's 30 years old, he will have maybe one big chance to make big money on the open market as he's averaged over 30 goals a season for his first 8 years in the league (which will bring big bucks to a team that needs goal scoring), and he's never had a chance to go to any or all teams to see what he's really worth and who really wants him. He's been in Buffalo all his career until last October when he was traded to the Islanders.
He's never had a chance to test the open market. 7 years ago when he was a restricted free agent, the Sabres matched the offer by the Edmonton Oilers which kept him here another 7 years. the Sabres just lost Briere and Drury for nothing and needed to keep a guy who just scored 43 goals and 84 points instead of taking Edmonton's 4 first round picks. Who knows, maybe Vanek wanted to leave and maybe he was upset that the sabres matched it and didn't allow him to leave for Edmonton or maybe somewhere else. Plus he was wondering if the Sabres really wanted him, why did they let him go to possibly be signed by another team and why didn't they give him an offer before? The Sabres, notable Darcy Regier really dropped the ball on that one.
So yea, I'm not only in 2014 NHL Draft mode, I'm also in 2015 NHL Draft mode because I expect the Sabres to be closer to the lottery than the playoffs for Connor McDavid. I hate to root for them to be bad, but I can't help but want a couple of high draft picks for potential great players. This franchise hasn't had generationally great superstars in a long time. Even for those of you who don't want to lose for the top pick in the 2015 Draft, that's why I want the Islanders to give us the 2015 pick and hope they are really bad so we get the top pick or win the lottery. Could you imagine being an Islanders fan and you give away what could be Connor McDavid? The fans would riot. But I hope the Sabres end up with him,
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