Long term I still think that defense was a big need for buffalo. Realistically, Scandella will only be here two more years, and McCabe doesn’t really fit what Buffalo wants to do.
What the Sabres did today (and later in the draft last year) was roll the dice on some higher skilled, good skating defensemen. If Buffalo hits on 2-3 of the 6 or 7 defensemen they drafted the last two years then they would be in really good shape (outside of dahlin ofc).
Botterill is taking the Pittsburgh plug and play approach for wing, to a certain extent. My belief is that he thinks he can rely on picking up cheaper UFAs, UDFAs, and lower round picks to fill in the wings with high energy, speedy wingers.
A few weeks back I said that I wouldn’t care if Buffalo used every pick on defensemen... they came damn close. Not picking a goalie was a bit surprising, though, considering it’s Ullmark, Johansson and UPL in the system. That’s pretty bare. Am I missing someone?
Either way, Buffalo has gone HEAVY forwards in the previous three or four drafts. We have a ton of young and prospect forwards coming up the ranks. Botterill has seemed pretty intent on bringing in younger depth guys + UDFAs at forward.
This draft allows Buffalo to move a guy like McCabe (who I thought was expendable before). Not only did Buffalo shore up their defensive prospect pool (outside of Dahlin) by sheer force (numbers), I believe this allows Botterill to not be forced to trade ROR for strictly a defenseman / defensive prospects.
If ROR does get moved Buffalo can now bring in an elite winger prospect rather than being pigeon holed into raking in a defenseman.
Again, I’d like to have seen a goalie picked because of the numbers game, but overall it seems we picked up a number of high skill players. Botterill stated he picked all euro players and the winger (going to NCAA) because the team retains rights for 4 years rather than 2 (major junior). That was never really a thought that crossed my mind, but it definitely allows the team to retain more talent at the AHL level (and long-playing development) because the team doesn’t need to toss a contract after one or two years in juniors. That’s great thinking.