3 QUESTIONS FOR THE SABRES HEADING INTO THE 2022 NHL DRAFT
Jul 6, 2022From Chris Ryndak on Sabres.com.
The NHL Draft is this week and the Buffalo Sabres are set to pick 11 times. They currently have three picks in the first round, more than any other team.
General manager Kevyn Adams is looking at all ways to improve his team with an eye on both next season and the future.
Sabres.com will be on site for the draft starting today so stay tuned for full coverage from Montreal.
Round 1 of the 2022 NHL Draft is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday from Bell Centre on ESPN and ESPN+. Rounds 2-7 will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday NHL Network and ESPN+.
Until then, here are some burning draft questions heading into the weekend:
Will Buffalo use all of its picks?
Before we can answer that, let's look at where Buffalo is slated to pick in each round:
- 1st Round - 3 times (9th overall, 16th overall, 28th overall)
- 2nd Round - 1 time (41st overall)
- 3rd Round - 1 time (74th overall)
- 4th Round - 1 time (106th overall)
- 5th Round - 1 time (134th overall)
- 6th Round - 2 times (170th overall, 187th overall)
- 7th Round - 2 times (202nd overall, 211th overall)
Last year, the Sabres had 10 picks going into Draft Weekend and added another first when they traded Rasmus Ristolainen to the Philadelphia Flyers. Buffalo selected forward Isak Rosen (14th overall) with the pick. Rosen recently signed his entry-level contract.
Adams has made it a priority to stock the organization with top prospects and if Buffalo makes all 11 picks this week, the Sabres will have drafted 27 players during his tenure, including 10 in the first two rounds.
"What's exciting for us going into a draft with having the capital we do, having conversations with the teams ahead of us, what are they looking to do, having conversations with the teams behind us," Adams said last week. "We've been doing that. We're open to both."
Who will Montreal select first overall?
The Montreal Canadiens are the first club since 1985 to host the draft and hold the first-overall pick in the same year. As of now, they'll look to use that top pick, but anything can happen between now and Thursday night.
Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes confirmed that the three top prospects are being considered: forwards Shane Wright, Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley. Montreal is selecting No. 1 for the first time since 1980, when it chose forward Doug Wickenheiser.
"It's probably almost harder to be the first overall pick in Montreal," Hughes said on Monday. "So as part of our evaluation, we're not just evaluating hockey players, we're evaluating character. We're trying to evaluate their ability to deal with that type of pressure on a consistent basis."
NHL Central Scouting has Wright ranked as their top-ranked prospect based in North America. Slafkovsky is their No. 1 skater playing in Europe.
The Habs have also not ruled out trading the top pick if the right offer comes along. They're also slated to pick 14 times, more than any other team.
The New Jersey Devils have the second-overall pick and the Arizona Coyotes currently round out the Top 3.
Who could the Sabres take with their top pick?
We explored some of the options in our Draft Preview series earlier this month. In case you missed it, here's the rundown of nine players who could be available at 9 (in alphabetical order):
- Cutter Gauthier - LW, USA U-18 (NTDP)
- David Jiricek - RHD, HC Plzen (Czechia)
- Marco Kasper - C, Rogle (SHL)
- Joakim Kemell, RW - JYP (Liiga)
- Brad Lambert - C, Pelicans (Liiga)
- Jonathan Lekkerimaki - RW, Djurgardens (SHL)
- Frank Nazar - C, USA U-18 (NTDP)
- Matthew Savoie - C, Winnipeg (WHL)
- Danila Yurov - RW, Magnitogorsk (KHL)
Sabres director of amateur scouting Jerry Forton expects there to be a consensus top six or seven players among NHL teams.
"But I do think there's a group right after that there's a chance you're getting just as good a player at nine as you're getting at four or five," he said during a press conference last week.
"So, we're really excited about a group of players in that range. If you even get higher in the draft, that's a great thing to do from my perspective. It takes some of the risk out of it, I guess. But I think it's pretty deep right down to 20, 25, 30 on our list. I think it's a really good list."
In their final mock drafts, NHL.com writers Mike G. Morreale and Adam Kimelman both have Buffalo selecting Savoie ninth overall.