I understand hes the first overall pick and what the expectations are for those type of players, so that wont be my decision. The left-winger from Finland had a respectable rookie season, putting up five goals and 27 points in 30 games for the Remparts last season. Meet the Sabres 2021 Draft Class Owen Power. Before the draft, he was asked by TSN about the possibility of playing for the team. The club seems to be headed in the right direction aftera disastrous past few seasons in upstate New York. Russias invasion of Ukraine has added another layer of uncertainty to how easily teams can get Russian prospects to North America. It appears general manager (GM) Kevyn Adams prioritized skill and speed with his picks. What are Sabres draft picks in 2022 following Jack Eichel trade? If Jack Eichel is moved, there is still a question of who are the centers of the future, but that might need to be resolved in a future draft. Updated hourly, with analysis, commentary and features from hundreds writers worldwide, our articles are read over 5 million times every month. Owen Power is a projected all-star, the only one in the draft for me as of now, which by itself could make the Sabres the biggest beneficiaries of this draft. The Buffalo Sabres have added a little bit of defensive depth, acquiring Riley Stillman from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for prospect Josh Bloom. The LA Kings have bolstered the goaltending pipeline for the future, with the acquisition of the rights to goaltending prospect Erik Portillo from But here are a few noteworthy names still left on the market if the Sabres choose to make a bigger deal. Those are valuable assets not just for the way they could deepen the prospect pool but because they could be used as trade chips in the offseason. Sabres 2022 offseason outlook: Free agents, contracts, draft picks, roster entering this summer, NHL playoffs schedule 2022: Full bracket, dates, times, TV channels for every series. As weve seen with Stillman, sometimes its the less obvious, unheralded names the Sabres look into. They wanted the leadership on the team to develop organically. Two strong candidates emerged for captain as the season went along. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. An award-winning journalist, he has also covered minor-league hockey in Georgia, Auburn University football and taught copy editing at Buffalo State College. Outside of that top tier of prospects, the Sabres also have Isak Rosen and Noah Ostlund, first-round picks in 2021 and 2022, respectively. But if you just look at recent history withCale Makarand (Zach) Werenski andCharlie McAvoyandQuinn Hughes, all these players went back for their second year, dominated in college, and it made their transition to theNHLvery seamless. This is just a certain perspective, but it makes the pick more intriguing to watch.Welcome to the Sabres, Olivier! After signing Dylan Larkin to a massive extension Wednesday, the team signaled to fans that the rebuild is over. However, this offseason is different. The team also has a second, a third, a fourth, fifth, two sixths and a seventh. John Vogl is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres acquired a 2023 3rd-round pick for goaltender prospect Erik Portillo in a deal with the L.A. Kings on Wednesday. Read more here: Whenever the young guys prove theyre ready for the big leagues, spots will be available. Trading for a goalie of that caliber would require giving up assets, so the Sabres would want to make sure its a player who can fit for more than just a year. All three of the goalies on the Buffalo roster are free agents, leaving question marks not just at the starting position, but also the backup. The defense would have major continuity with the same seven for the second year in a row. Buffalo drafted Portillo in the third round of the 2019 draft. It would mark the first time that a first-overall pick didnt play in the NHL the following season since Erik Johnson in 2006-07. He will be higher up in the lineup when the league returns to action this fall.The picks are rollin in!Josh Bloom, welcome to the Sabres #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/GgLzFw2igi Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) July 24, 2021, The picks are rollin in!Josh Bloom, welcome to the Sabres #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/GgLzFw2igi, When describing the interview process with the team, Bloom mentioned, with the Sabres, I felt they were looking for somebody with good character. Theyll have likely signed Cozens, Asplund and others to multiyear deals prior to this summer, but well list them as RFAs in case they negotiated only one-year contracts. The Sabres will also have to sign the Finnish netminder since hell be an RFA. After multiple seasons of racing to the bottom of the standings to improve draft position, Murray thought the team was ready to contend and flipped picks for veterans. But Power projects as an important piece of the future, a true NHL star who together with Dahlin, Casey Mittelstadt, Jack Quinn and the return in a Jack Eichel trade are the core pieces for trying to turn the franchise around. That would put them out of the running for Arizona defenseman Jakob Chychrun unless the Coyotes decide to reduce their asking price. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. Draft picks touted as future Sabres during the past decade are toiling in the ECHL or out of hockey completely. Sure, the club ended the season with a record of 32-39-11,finishing fifthin the Atlantic Division, 11th in the Eastern Conference and didn't sniff the postseason. Try a week on us. I would love to be a part of it. He is now officially a part of the blueprint moving forward and can play for the team he grew up supporting. The Sabres own three second-round draft picks in the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville and while Adams is Hes not that big or quick, but he projects to play at higher levels because of how hard he works. Tim Murray used the first selection to take Eichel and then dealt the two late first-rounders as part of trades for Evander Kane and Robin Lehner. Sardarian played with Poltapov in the MHL last season, even playing on the same power-play unit. They should have the depth to overcome a miss or two. 8. WebFor Miller, the Sabres sent a second-round pick in 2021 which was originally acquired by Buffalo from St. Louis in the Ryan O'Reilly trade and a 2022 fifth-round selection to Novikov was the fourth Russian-born player drafted by the team in this draft. He needs to work on his speed if he wants to play at the professional level. Bacons model takes into account point production from various leagues and uses comparable seasons from past players. Rosen has impressive speed and is able to make a lot of his skilled plays through defenders and to teammates while on the move. Many draft experts were impressed with their selections in all seven rounds. Ville Husso will also be available. 1 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, has arrived and looked as advertised to end the season. Jack Quinn, the Sabres first-round pick in the 2020 draft (eight overall), comes in at No. The club seems to be headed in the right direction aftera disastrous past few seasons in upstate New York. It was the same thing with the summertime, and here we are as one of the top-scoring teams in the league and showing, continuing to show signs of growth. The Buffalo Sabres had a busy weekend that saw the team trade Rasmus Ristolainen to the Philadelphia Flyers and Sam Reinhart to the Florida Panthers. It was reported that the Sabres were very high on William Eklund, but they valued Power more as a player. But the Sabres have legitimately stocked their organization this time. He is a skilled playmaker who can see the ice at a high level off the flank and hit seams consistently. He is known as a power-play specialist, that plays a quick passing game rather than overhandling the puck. The Sabres have a ton of cap space to use in their future, but with so many young players coming through, eventually they will need to get paid. Theyll all have learned on the job. He is committed to playing for the University of New Hampshire starting in the 2022-23 season. Northeasterns Devon Levi and Michigans Erik Portillo present the organization with two promising players to develop, assuming they can ink them to entry-level deals. The Sabres made a lower level trade yesterday adding Riley Stillman from Vancouver for prospect Josh Bloom. Nadeau played for Shawinigan Cataractes in the QMJHL, scoring 13 goals and 45 points in 34 games. Devils There will obviously be growing pains, but the first steps forward arent far away. We didnt come out and play well enough in the first two periods to win a game. We know our foundation. His game has a lot of pace to it, which should translate to higher levels. So how will they spend it? Marjala can make plays through defenders but lacks the quickness to execute those kinds of plays on the move. The experience we can allow our young guys to immerse in right now, competing for a playoff spot, means these young guys will be better next week than they were this week because theyre playing more intense hockey than theyve ever experienced. We know our game. He made our top 10 in terms of best puck skills in the draft. Like Power, the Sabres are expected to sign Johnson at the end of this collegiate season, his third with the University of Minnesota. 188): Novikov didnt get a lot of responsibility as one of the youngest players on the MHLs best team, but he had good flashes. Bryan Murphy is an NHL content producer at The Sporting News. The downside of the Sabres overachieving this season is that their first-round pick isn't as high as anticipated. Especially this time of year and July 1st, everybodys talking about the big guys and the big moves, Granato said. That may lead you to think the Sabres are going to be cheap this offseason, but that would be premature. Odds & lines subject to change. Nobody in the NHL seems to have a firm grasp on exactly what will happen with Russian players in the upcoming NHL Draft. The Sabres may have to look outside the organization for extra help up front, though they hope secondary prospects Brett Murray, Linus Weissbach and Matej Pekar become NHL players. Without him, the defense is spread thin. Would the Ducks entertain trading John Gibson? Hell need a new deal as an RFA. Lets meet the Sabres draft class of 2021. Granato mentioned that last year Adams told the team he wasnt going to sell off pieces or make any major moves because he believed the group was coming together and ready for a strong stretch run. Predators Having multiple first-round picks can be a luxury if handled properly. That kind of reliability would help take the pressure off Luukkonen. Their 35 points from March 2 until the end of the season were good for 12th best in the NHL during that span. please report any problems or errors - comments welcome. As expected, Luukkonen is learning plenty as the Amerks workhorse. Adams filled the roster with short-term free agents last offseason. NHL Mock Draft 2022 2.0: Canadiens take Shane Wright with No. The amount of effort he puts forth to go with great hands, vision and speed will allow him to create offense versus men despite his size. The Russian left-handed defender played for MHK Dynamo Moskva of the MHL, putting up 14 points in 52 games. Scouts like his hockey sense and his two-way compete. The Panthers' pick will be at the bottom of the first round. The lineup could feature young players like Jack Quinn, Peyton Krebbs and JJ Peterka on their entry-level contracts. Parting with one would be palatable. In 12 games, he scored seven goals and five assists, and he played well during international competitions. Tuch looked and sounded like captain material from the moment he arrived in Western New York as part of the Eichel trade. However, this offseason is different. He and fellow 2021 second-rounder Aleksandr Kisakov may be ready to test their skills in the NHL by then. Vegas' pick is much higher than expected with the team missing the playoffs, so that's a bonus for Buffalo. The new RFAs for 2024-25 are scheduled to include Power, Quinn, Krebs, Peterka, Mittelstadt, Dahlin, Jokiharju and Johnson, so the Sabres better have plenty of cap space available. 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