VansTheMans Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 2009 Draft Selections: 1 (13) Zack Kassian RW Peterborough Petes 3 (66) Brayden McNabb D Kootenay Ice 4 (104) Marcus Foligno LW Sudbury Wolves 5 (134) Mark Adams D Malden Catholic High School 6 (164) Connor Knapp G Miami University 7 (194) Maxime Legault RW Shawingan Cataractes Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the Sabres in this draft. They addressed the needs of the team by drafting several strong, gritty players. Brayden McNabb was a steal in the 3rd round. He is a 6' 4" 195LB Dman, and has played with both Tyler Myers and Zack Kassian before. He played with Myers on the Notre Dame Hounds in 2005-06, while McNabb played with Kassian in the 2009 U-18 World Junior Championships for Team Canada. Foligno was a good hometown pick; hopefully he can translate his game and skating to the NHL. The only knock I have on the Sabres is failing to draft any centers, as our skill down the middle is severely lacking. Overall, I'd give Darcy a solid B. A very good draft. I look forward to Zack Kassian in a year or two. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Ask me in 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROC Sabres Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Ask me in 5 years. Agreed but judging from the spots they had and the players available I gave them a solid B (I'll change it to an A if any of them end up on the sabres before they are due). The first two players they got were A's in my book since I didn't expect either to be on the table, especially McNabb. Nice tip of the hat to Foligno by drafting his kid and the other guys remain to be seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Ask me in 5 years. Thank you. How would drafting a center have addressed THIS team's glaring need for one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawerchuk Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Buffalo needs immediate Center help and stock some in the farm as well. I liked this draft though. Some big boys on wing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two or less Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Loved this draft by the Sabres. They continued what they started last year in terms of adding size. I liked and wanted Kassian and Foligno in the 4th for months now and have said so on this board many times and i really like this Braydon McNabb kid. The more i read about him the more excited about him i get. It seems like he doesn't have too many weaknesses except for skating, which he does get torn up apart on. I guess his skating is bad. On a message board where fans from each team post on, in the prospect area from months ago somebody started a thread on McNabb and fans who see him nightly and opponent fans commented on him and only had great things to say. Best part is, he is a team first guy. He has always stuck up for teammates and never lets anyone get bullied. How many times have we complained about Ryan Miller getting run at with no response? In a few years when McNabb is up, we won't have to worry. He'll be right there each time. I also like the selection of the goaltender. Connor Knapp is a very talented goalie. As a freshman he played ALOT for Miami. He has lived in Rochester and had played for the AAA Buffalo Saints so he's somewhat of a local kid. I think Sabres decided to go with a goalie because Ramo left Tampa Bay to sign with KHL and said it was mainly because he wasn't guaranteed to be the #1.... i wonder if the Sabres are somewhat worried that Enroth gets bored playing in Portland or realizes he's going to be sitting a lot when he gets promoted from Portland and bolts for Europe? It's a nice insurance to have with Brad Eidsness and Knapp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FogBat Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Ask me in 5 years. Yep. And the Sabres - provided that they're still in Buffalo in 2014 - will still prove to me that they're nothing more than a developmental farm team for the rest of the NHL's powerhouses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Yep. And the Sabres - provided that they're still in Buffalo in 2014 - will still prove to me that they're nothing more than a developmental farm team for the rest of the NHL's powerhouses. quick....which players have the Sabres developed from the draft that are now with other teams. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabresFan526 Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 quick....which players have the Sabres developed from the draft that are now with other teams. :rolleyes: Brian Campbell, Jay McKee (although the pick came from Vancouver in the Mogilny trade), and Martin Biron are the only ones I can name. Dumont was acquired from Chicago. Drury was acquired in a trade. Briere was acquired in a trade. Grier was acquired in a trade. Aside from Max about to leave and Kotalik being traded (no huge losses there anyway), the Sabres generally have done a good job of keeping the players that they have drafted and developed. At a macrolevel, I liked the Sabres draft. They did a good job of drafting size, grit, and skill. However, we have no idea whether this was a good draft or not for at least another 3-4 years. I love the Kassian pick, and I hope he makes it to the NHL early. I love the Foligno pick as well. But, we have no idea how this draft turns out for Buffalo for a while, but if we've got some guys who make it up to Buffalo sooner than later, this could be a big draft for them in the future. I'd give them a B with A potential in 4 years. However, as PA points out, this draft did nothing to fill the immediate needs of the team, but frankly no NHL draft ever really does except if it's a top 3 pick. Darcy has some work to do with the Sabres free agents, outside free agents, and in the trade market to really address the needs of this team for the 2009-2010 season. The draft does not do that and never will do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderbread Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Thank you. How would drafting a center have addressed THIS team's glaring need for one? Thank you. The 2009-2010 team can only be improved thru trades and FA. There are few players in the draft after 10th that will make an on ice impact this year. As we all should know the NHL draft is a crap shoot at best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Brian Campbell, Jay McKee (although the pick came from Vancouver in the Mogilny trade), and Martin Biron are the only ones I can name. Dumont was acquired from Chicago. Drury was acquired in a trade. Briere was acquired in a trade. Grier was acquired in a trade. Aside from Max about to leave and Kotalik being traded (no huge losses there anyway), the Sabres generally have done a good job of keeping the players that they have drafted and developed. Thank you. :thumbsup: Kalinin is in there too.....so the if they are the development system for the league they are doing a lousy job at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deluca67 Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Thank you. :thumbsup: Kalinin is in there too.....so the if they are the development system for the league they are doing a lousy job at it. Sarich (name on the Cup)? Ballard? Boucher & Zigomanis will be on the Cup. Scot Nichol? There are former Sabres out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Sarich (name on the Cup)? Ballard? Boucher & Zigomanis will be on the Cup. Scot Nichol? There are former Sabres out there. Sarich and Boucher...good ones. Ballard was never developed by Buffalo, nor was Zigomanis. Nichols was an Amerk....though I'm not really sure what skills he came away with. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 I also like the selection of the goaltender. Connor Knapp is a very talented goalie. As a freshman he played ALOT for Miami. He has lived in Rochester and had played for the AAA Buffalo Saints so he's somewhat of a local kid. I think Sabres decided to go with a goalie because Ramo left Tampa Bay to sign with KHL and said it was mainly because he wasn't guaranteed to be the #1.... i wonder if the Sabres are somewhat worried that Enroth gets bored playing in Portland or realizes he's going to be sitting a lot when he gets promoted from Portland and bolts for Europe? It's a nice insurance to have with Brad Eidsness and Knapp. They take one every year. They didn't need to last year since they took Eidsness and Eno the previous year. They'll keep on taking shots at late round goalies regardless of what the system looks like. Hell, they used a late round pick on Miller when Hasek, Biron, and Noronen were all around. That was hardly a time of need at goalie. It has to be the biggest crap shoot position in the entire draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Sarich and Boucher...good ones. Ballard was never developed by Buffalo, nor was Zigomanis. Nichols was an Amerk....though I'm not really sure what skills he came away with. :lol: And Sarich and Boucher were both traded away while very young in moves made to improve the team. Both were just kids at that point, so they hardly fit into that "Buffalo is just a minor league team" mentality. The deal Boucher was in was a bit of a salary dump, but he doesn't fall under that label at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabresFan526 Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 And Sarich and Boucher were both traded away while very young in moves made to improve the team. Both were just kids at that point, so they hardly fit into that "Buffalo is just a minor league team" mentality. The deal Boucher was in was a bit of a salary dump, but he doesn't fall under that label at all. I didn't include Boucher as that trade was not during the Darcy Regier era. I missed the Sarich one, though. Zigomanis will technically not have his name on the Stanley Cup even though Pittsburgh won. That is because I don't think he played the requisite number of games nor did he play a single game in the Stanley Cup Finals to qualify to have his name on the Stanley Cup. I'm okay with losing Ballard as he was part of the trade that got Drury in the first place, that's okay in my book. That's like losing Jakub Klepish for Mike Grier, that's okay too. I would argue that losing guys for nothing via free agency is more akin to farm system than trading guys that help you build the team into a playoff contender before losing the acquired guys. Even in that regard, Sarich wouldn't count as he was traded in the horrible Chris Gratton fiasco which later turned into Daniel Briere. I also missed Dmitri Kalinin, which again is not a big loss at all. Another Stanley Cup Winner not included would also be Satan, but he was acquired in a trade with Edmonton and not Buffalo developed. Generally, the Sabres have been decent at keeping their guys around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 I'm okay with losing Ballard as he was part of the trade that got Drury in the first place, that's okay in my book. That's like losing Jakub Klepish for Mike Grier, that's okay too. Klepis played 66 games in the NHL (and was acquired via trade), so he doesn't belong in the same sentence as Keith Ballard. Really though, while we're on the subject of Ballard, he definitely doesn't belong in this conversation. He was traded before he even left the Gophers. Other than maybe a prospect camp or two, he did not develop with the Sabres at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Dance Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Generally, the Sabres have been decent at keeping their guys around. Yep, and that has worked out so well... :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbossy Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 They take one every year. They didn't need to last year since they took Eidsness and Eno the previous year. They'll keep on taking shots at late round goalies regardless of what the system looks like. Hell, they used a late round pick on Miller when Hasek, Biron, and Noronen were all around. That was hardly a time of need at goalie. It has to be the biggest crap shoot position in the entire draft. Kinda like taking a kicker last in fantasy football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjag Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 I graded them an 'A'. I do share the concerns of others that the lack of Center remains a glaring weakness. Let's hope that the 2nd of July brings us some new talent. I say the 2nd, cause you know nothing will happen in Sabres land on the 1st. Oh, and a Center who can will 60%+ of his draws too.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R_Dudley Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 I graded them an 'A'. I do share the concerns of others that the lack of Center remains a glaring weakness. Let's hope that the 2nd of July brings us some new talent. I say the 2nd, cause you know nothing will happen in Sabres land on the 1st. Oh, and a Center who can will 60%+ of his draws too.. Agree with this so I took the lazy way out copied it . But I will add the L word to the recipe here as in Leadership and the last thing I would add that is implied in the "cut dead weight / get grit and jam " mantra but not always stated is to change some of these the players because the "chemistry" is just not there with this group... Too many comfortable not accountable acquaintances.... Thats my Xmas in July wish Santa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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