NHL Draft: Five Moves Worth Watching For

The Buffalo Sabres will make only one first round pick. 

Jun 27, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA;

puts on a team cap after being selected as the number two overall pick to the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Sabres are on the other end of the league when compared to Pittsburgh.  The Sabres roster finished with less talent than Pittsburgh but more young promising players ready to play now.

The offense will improve with Evander Kane and likely Jack Eichel taking the ice with Zemgus Girgensons, Tyler Ennis, Matt Moulson and perhaps Sam Reinhart.  There is another promising crop of young forwards coming and the Sabres have a ton of picks in this NHL Draft as well as next year.  They aren’t going to make them all.

This pick won’t be traded for a defenseman, either.  Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorov, Mark Pysyk, Josh Georges and Zach Bogosian are going to make the Buffalo Sabres very hard to play against, many of them for years to come.  But perhaps not all of them.

The 21st pick and one of the young defensemen could be packaged, in part, to the Colorado Avalanche to possibly end one of the more drawn out rumors in the league.  The Avalanche and Sabres have spoken several times about Ryan O’Reilly, who hasn’t had the best relationship with the team.

That pick could also be moved for a goaltender.  Cam Talbot and Eddie Lack are both on the trade block.  While Talbot keeps coming up with the Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo could be a destination for Lack at the NHL Draft.  The Sabres and Canucks have been trade partners before, most recently with Cody Hodgson.  Talks can certainly heat up again, though GM Tim Murray would likely expect more back (picks?) with Lack for a first-round pick in a very deep NHL Draft.