Today's article will look at all the moving pieces in this off-season for th Buffalo Sabres. We will look at the teams top 10 prospects, who's coming in via free agency, and what the depth chart looks like ahead of training camp in the fall.

 

The Buffalo Sabres held 7 picks in this years draft, 4 of those 7 were in the first two rounds. This should give the prospect pool a little boost. Let's look at the Sabres current top 10 prospects since the draft:

 

1) Thomas Chabot LD 6'2" 190 lbs - Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL) - 34GP - 10G - 35A - 45A - 43PIM - +29

Chabot is one of hockey's top prospects at the moment and he will likely showcase his talents for Ottawa in the NHL next season.

 

2) Michael McLeod C 6'2" 194 lbs - Mississauga Steelheads (OHL) - 57GP - 27G - 46A - 73P - 49PIM - +28

The speedy two-way center has an outside shot at making the Devils out of camp this year. Critics question his offense at the next level.

 

3) Jack Roslovic C 6'1" 192 lbs - Manitoba Moose (AHL) - 65GP - 13G - 35A - 48P - 22PIM - -17

He had a good year on a terrible Moose team. Could be a better fit at #3 C than Lowry in Winnipeg but will have to earn it in camp.

 

4) Ivan Barbashev C/LW 6'0" 181 lbs - St. Louis Blues (NHL) - 30GP - 5G - 7A - 12P - 14PIM - 0

Pretty much a lock to make the Blues opening roster, he proved himself in his late season call-up and played pretty well in the playoffs even though he was held off the scoresheet.

 

5) Dennis Cholowski LD 6'0" 170 lbs - St. Cloud State U (NCAA) - 36GP - 1G - 11A - 12P - 14PIM - -9

GM Mitchell took some heat for this pick from stat watchers. Don't let his stats fool you, he had a pretty good year and played in all situations. Will turn pro next season.

 

6) Kale Clague LD 6'0" 176 lbs - Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) - 48GP - 5G - 35A - 40P - 41PIM - -8

The offensive defenceman had a big year and really shined at the WJC when Myers went down to injury.

 

7) Filip Chlapik C 6'1" 196 lbs - Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL) - 57GP - 34G - 57A - 91P - 98PIM - +24

Faltured last year but really stepped up his game this year and in the playoffs. Turning pro this year.

 

8) Daniel O'Regan C/W 5'10" 176 lbs - San Jose Barracuda (AHL) - 63GP - 23G - 35A - 58P - 10PIM - +6

Earned a call-up this year with the Sharks but may need to play wing at the next level to be more effective.

 

9) Blake Speers C/RW 6'0" 185 lbs - Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) - 30GP - 15G - 19A - 34P - 16PIM - +14

Speers was close to earning a spot with the Devils last year due to his versatility but was injured and returned to junior.

 

10) Ryan Gropp LW 6'2" 187 lbs - Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) - 66GP - 35G - 49A - 84P - 26PIM - +25

Gropp proved he could score away from Barzal this year. He'll be turning pro in the BRHL next year.

 

HM) Jon Gillies G 6'6" 223 lbs

 

Next up was the start of free agency for the Sabres. They had targeted a second line center, a starting goalie, and depth to fill out the farm. The team had roughly 10 million to spend on these assets. Lets see how they've done so far:

 

#2 Center - The Sabres were outpriced on the few centers they targeted and ended up with nothing here. It could be a long year with Fiddler or Strome as the #2.

 

Starting Goalie - Prices are going up and up but the team hasn't been outpriced here just yet. We'll see if they can manage to snag one of the last remaining starters.

 

Farm Depth - John Gilmour, Cody McLeod, John Mitchell, Cal Heeter, Yann Danis, Teddy Purcell to name a few. Nothing blockbuster here but enough to fill out the farm for next year.

 

Other - The team brought in veteran Shane Doan as a 3rd line RW @ $2mil over two years.

 

With these signings, lets take a look and see how the depth chart looks:

 

Ondrej Palat - Sidney Crosby - Alexander Radulov

Gustav Nyqvist - Ryan Strome - Jason Pominville

Benoit Pouliot - Vernon Fiddler - Shane Doan

Dwight King/Michael Raffl - Ivan Barbashev - William Carrier

 

Brooks Orpik - Alex Pietrangelo

Nikita Zadorov - Rasmus Ristolainen

Alec Martinez - Nate Schmidt

Dylan DeMelo

 

Petr Mrazek

Jon Gillies

Spencer Martin

 

Wow, very weak at #2 C. If the team can manage to sign a goalie they should be competitive next year.