Disappointing is the only way to sum up the season for the Buffalo Sabres, no need to sugar coat anything here. To fall from cup champs to lottery team will leave a bad taste in the mouths of fans, which was evident when GM Mitchell came out to boos from the teams season ticket holders. His address was simple and short but the he did promise the fans Buffalo will be back in the playoffs next season. With that in mind, lets see what we can expect between now and training camp next year.

 

We'll start with the draft, where the Sabres have 2 first rounders and 2 second rounders to go with their 4th, 5th, & 7th round picks. The first pick on the board for them is at 12th overall, we are being told by an unnamed source that the team has a short list of 5 players who they are targeting there. The rest of the draft order has yet to be announced but the 2nd first round pick should be in a good position to snag a future impact player. "Once the draft order is finalized we'll have some meetings with our scouting staff and come up with a short list at each pick." Said the veteran GM. "We've already had preliminary talks about 12 overall, and while we have a short list already, there is one player we've got our eye on."

 

It's nice to see the pipeline filling up again, we can expect a few to graduate from the prospect list next year, those players are C Jack Roslovic, C Daniel O'Regan, LW Kevin Roy, and D Ian McCoshen. None of these players are expected to grab a spot on the pro roster but look for them to make debuts in pre-season.

 

So since the rookies aren't expected to make the team, lets take a look at the depth chart and see what glaring holes need to be filled via free agency or trade:

 

        LW                              C                              RW

Ondrej Palat                Sidney Crosby              Alexander Radulov

Gustav Nyqvist             Vernon Fiddler             Jason Pominville

Michael Raffl                Ivan Barbashev             Jack Skille

Benoit Pouliot               Ryan Strome                Joel Vermin

Dwight King                 Jack Roslovic                 Riley Barber

William Carrier             Daniel O'Regan             Stefan Fournier

Kevin Roy                     Nick Cousins

 

        LD                           RD                            G

Nikita Zadorov         Rasmus Ristolainen          Petr Mrazek

Alec Martinez           Alex Pietrangelo              Jon Gillies

Brooks Orpik             Dylan DeMelo                Spencer Martin

Jake Chelios              Nate Schmidt

Matt Bartkowski        Ian McCoshen

Ben Harpur              Garrett Noonan

Chris Breen

 

After reviewing the depth chart we can see a few glaring needs. The first is a pivot to anchor the 2nd line. Last season the Sabres had upcoming UFA Ryan Kesler but moved him for future assets before the deadline. He's out there to be re-signed but will certainly be expensive after putting up a Selke type performance in the NHL this season. The next glaring need is between the pipes in the back-up role. Gillies & Martin should be splitting starts on the farm team so look for the Sabres to target a cheap veteran there.

 

We'll see you all on the draft floor in June!