thesportsbuff

Found this on WikiPedia. Lower half is relevant to your question, but the whole block is worth reading to get a better understanding of the process. So, in summary: Teams maintain the rights to their draft picks (on the reserve list) for two years, or until their major junior/NCAA eligibility is used up. Players who take the CHL route are only eligible to play in the CHL until age 20, at which point teams must give them an ELC or allow the player to become a free agent. Players who take the college route maintain eligibility for up to 5 years. Once a player has used up all 5 years of eligibility in college, the team must sign him or he becomes a free agent. I don't think there is an age limit on playing in college, but since most players go to college at 18, it is not uncommon for them to be 22 or 23 before being signed to a pro contract. Darcy (or was it Devine?) touched on this subject in one of his post-draft interviews. The Sabres drafted 11 players, several of which will be going to college in the fall. This gives them a few extra years to develop as opposed to guys they drafted out of Major Junior, which they'll likely have to make a decision on within 2 years. This also helps with the 50-contract limit, as instead of having to sign all 11 players at once, they'll only have to sign a few each year.

I don't think having Tallinder hurst the younger guys that much. I'd rather have some our young D playing Top 2/4 minutes in Rochester than playing third pairing minutes in Buffalo. Especially Risto who would likely benefit from playing 25 minutes a night on North American ice before trying to climb into the NHL. Tallinder and perhaps Sulzer are good depth guys to fill those holes.

whoa whoa whoa let's not confuse "reports" with Eklund posts lol

Just because a player maxes out at 20-25 goals a season doesn't make him "Drew Stafford." I honestly doubt that either of us have sat down and watched enough Minnesota Wild games in the last two years to conjure up an accurate comparison, but similar on-ice production doesn't automatically mean he carries the rest of the baggage that Stafford does. There are lots of 20 goal scorers in the NHL, not all of them are lazy or unfocused or whatever else people say about Stafford. I'll admit I know nothing about his off-ice personality, work ethic, etc, but I'd pay a draft pick for a year of Setoguchi and give him a chance to prove himself. If nothing else it adds some much needed scoring depth. As for Horcoff, who cares about his contract? 5.5 mil for two years, & by all accounts a good, hard-nosed leader & locker room guy. IDK about you but I don't see the Sabres spending near the cap the next two years, so money is really a non-factor. I think he'd be a good fit to bring in to mentor the young guys during this transition period... for a 7th round pick and nobody prospect. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going all gloom & doom because we didn't trade for these two guys, I'm not losing any sleep over it. But IMO these guys, and more specifically Neiderreiter (as mentioned in previous post), would have been some decent guys to target on the trade market -- instead other teams get them for dirt cheap.

And that's not even including the Seguin trade, which I know we couldn't really compete with Dallas's offer, but it still sucks to see everyone getting better in some ways or another except Buffalo. I would have welcomed a Horcoff trade.

I'm not really concerned about not signing the big names. I think most of us expected as much. I was a little bummed that Briere passed on us, but I've acknowledged how little sense it would make for him to return given the state of the team. It is a little disappointing to see someone like Nino Niederrieter traded for a bottom 6 grit player, or even a relatively young guy like Setoguchi moved for a draft pick. It seems like these are the kind of players we'd be going after, and yet, nothing.

People keep talking about how dumb the Horton signing is. I don't see the big deal, to be honest. 5.3 isn't a that terrible of a cap hit -- frankly I expected him to get more. I get that 7 years is a big risk for the Blue Jackets due to his injury history, but less term is a risk for Horton. Even though he seemed intent on signing in Columbus right from the get-go, he could have easily decided to go elsewhere if Columbus wasn't prepared to give him a comfortable term. Just like Buffalo, the Blue Jackets still have to go above and beyond to attract free agents... even ones openly seeking a smaller market. I think it's a good, smart signing for CBJ, especially with Gaborik's contract set to expire next season. Before the draft, I suggested the Blue Jackets as a potential target to trade Vanek to based on the 3 first round picks CBJ possessed. Obviously that didn't happen, and now they're up against the cap so a Vanek trade would be tricky -- but what would you want from CBJ for Vanek? I would start with Nick Foligno and a 1st rounder, but I'm not sure if they would part with any top prospects. Certainly not Atkinson (who is no longer a prospect really) or Ryan Murray, and I doubt they'd consider Boone Jenner-- at least not without an extension negotiated with Vanek first. We would have to eat salary from Vanek's contract this season, but next season CBJ could afford to extend him if Gaborik moves on.

Lol, it seems like the Sabres are just awful at timing these sort of things.

Hahaha the guys had Jamie McBain on the show today. They asked if he knew anyone on the Sabres roster. His answer? Gerbe.

It makes me real confident in this "Sports Insider" guy's abilities when I visit his page and see him tweeting other fake rumor twitters asking what they think the Sabres will do this summer. Lol.

Canadiens just confirmed they've signed Briere.

^ Probably the most important thing to remember when talking about Russian players.

I had a question about Eric Locke. I fell asleep during the 6th & 7th rounds (woke up just in time to see Brodeur draft Brodeur) and missed this selection, I didn't realize until reading the recap e-mail from Sabres.com that he scored 44 goals and and 97 points in the OHL. How does a guy like that go in the 7th round -- it has to be his size, right? He's listed at 5'10", 184 lbs. But still, you'd think the third leading point scorer in the OHL would go earlier.

Haha well I just asked out of curiosity, I didn't mean it as a diss on the organization or anything. But with Ristolainen the only guy expected to really compete for a spot next season, I'm not expecting a whole lot of difference this season.

I'm not worried about them not taking a center, but they could really use some winger prospects with top 6 potential. Nichuskin could've been a nice addition to play on Grigorenko's wing, but meh. Darcy prioritized defense and who am I to disagree with scouts who travel the world to watch these guys play? Does anyone know anything about next year's draft class? The fact that everyone is talking about Connor McDavid two years from now makes me question how many "franchise players" will be drafted next year, but there's a good chance we'll have a high pick so it would be nice if there are 5-10 A-level forward prospects!

My opinion is that he'll compete for a spot in camp, based solely on his play in the regular season. In comparison, Pysyk for example, did not look half as comfortable as Chad. Chad was loose, no nerves, & made smart, safe, NHL plays. But that's my opinion-- I'm not going out of my way to "correct" people who feel otherwise as if it's written in stone that Ruhwedel will never play another NHL game. I'm just curious what about him turns you off so much that you're willing to label him as a scrub 7 games into his professional career, because even if it is only 7 games, all I saw were good things.

True, but not as easy to play 15 min a night on an awful team as a rookie and still come out looking pretty solid. He wasn't a real difference maker but after watching the squad cough up puck after puck in our own zone all season, it was a breath of fresh air having someone who was able to consistently execute a breakout.

I don't know about that. He's a rookie who jumped into the fray and outperformed the vast majority of the Sabres defense. Very small sample size, sure, but it does say something for someone to be able to go directly from college to the NHL without really losing a step. I just don't see what you have against him to label him as a depth d-man with a low ceiling after a very limited window to watch him play. Did you follow him in college? Did he have a bad reputation? All I have to base my judgement on is the handful of games he played with the team, which he played very well in. I'm not saying he's an immediate top pair can't-miss guy, but just don't see why you feel so strongly that him making the team is out of the question. I guess i'm just optimistic until he shows me a reason not to be.

Lol, absolutely no faith in Ruhwedel. I think you'll be surprised in the fall. Yep.

I'm not sure either of them qualify as "goal scoring forwards." Grigorenko probably has a good case but Larsson is more of a two-way guy, no? So Ruhwedel absolutely cannot unseat any of those guys, but Pysyk, McNabb, and two journeyman AHL-talent d-men are locked-in above him on the depth chart? Lol. On an unrelated note, I'm not completely upset about the Sekera/McBain trade but it kind of seems odd that Buffalo was so close to acquiring #5 & McBain for Sekera & #8, but since that didn't work, they trade the same player to the same team for their same player and #35.

Valid point on MAG, I suppose. I have no rebuttal other than that Ruhwedel impressed me. I think he competes for a starting role. Thank you for your input, "drunken idiot." :doh:

I don't think I heard that. Perhaps you're confusing where he said he chose Buffalo because they gave him an opportunity to play in the NHL immediately (last season)?

I've more or less been a "Darcy supporter" as of late -- loved the Hodgson/Kassian swap and I'm not really too concerned with he and Pegula throwing money at Ehrhoff and Leino. Goose for a first was a no brainer. But today was a buzzkill. I'm sure both of the guys we drafted will be good NHL defensemen, but I'm just not sure how it fills our needs-- yeah we added two big strong defensemen, but who's gonna score goals? Behind Armia is there a single "goal scoring forward" prospect in the entire system?

How do you come to that conclusion on Ruhwedel? IMO he was our best defensemen since the day he joined the team. Hard to imagine he doesn't push for a spot in camp, looked much better than Pysyk to me.

You could be on to something there, but I believe my Mission's are also "hockey skates" so I would assume they would do something similar. I do use soccer shinpads when we're playing competitive, but when I just go shoot around I've had no problem with mine even when I don't use shin pads. A buddy of mine got a pair of Tour skates and had similar complaints, that they felt too loose up top. Must just depend on the brand.