WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Calder Cup Playoffs Edition
Kevyn Adams is excited for his third NHL Draft as general manager. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – A year ago, the Sabres saw value in Russian prospects, so they drafted four of them, including three straight in the second and third rounds.
Taking a single Russian would’ve been notable; the Sabres hadn’t selected one in five years. Grabbing so many, especially early, indicated general manager Kevyn Adams would operate differently than his predecessors.
The world, of course, has changed a lot over the past year. Russia’s invasion of the ... Read the full article
Rutger McGroarty could be available to Buffalo in the first round. ©2022, Rena Laverty, USA Hockey
BUFFALO – One team, reportedly the Montreal Canadiens, asked NHL Draft prospects it interviewed at the Scouting Combine what kind of animal they would be.
Rutger McGroarty, a high-scoring winger with the U.S. National Team Development Program, put some deep thought into his reply. Instead of simply saying he’d be some sort of ferocious beast, he offered two answers based on his off- and on-ice demeanor.
“I said that I was a father gorilla off ... Read the full article
NHL Draft prospects Matthew Savoie (left) and Conor Geekie talk Friday in LECOM Harborcenter. ©2022
BUFFALO – Center Conor Geekie, an NHL Draft prospect the Sabres could be interested in taking ninth or 16th overall, hails from the tiny prairie town of Strathclair, Manitoba, population 709.
Well, that number from the 2016 Canadian Census is a little misleading. It includes the population of the surrounding area. Strathclair proper is much smaller.
“Um, 137, I think,” Geekie replied Friday when asked how many people live in his hometown. “Just in the ... Read the full article
Jimmy Snuggerud could be available to Buffalo in the first round. ©2022, Rena Laverty
For the 10th straight year, the Buffalo Sabres will have a top-10 pick in the NHL Draft.
The Sabres stayed put in Tuesday’s NHL Draft Lottery, receiving the ninth and 16th overall selections.
After finishing 24th overall, the Sabres had just 5 percent odds – the ninth-highest in the lottery – for the top pick.... Read the full article
Shane Wright began playing in the OHL when he was just 15. ©2022, Robert John Boucher, Kingston Frontenacs
Right now, there’s no consensus first overall pick for the 2022 NHL Draft.
NHL Central Scouting recently ranked Shane Wright, a youngster so talented the Ontario Hockey League granted him exceptional status to play as a 15-year-old, No. 1 in its final evaluation of North American skaters for the draft.
Wright, a center for the Kingston Frontenacs, has thrived under intense pressure for three years, securing his place among the most dynamic prospects on the ... Read the full article
Jerry Forton ran his first NHL Draft as Buffalo’s director of amateur scouting. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – You had to go back five years and 34 picks to find the last time the Sabres drafted a Russian.
Before they selected winger Prokhor Poltapov 33rd overall Saturday, they hadn’t drafted a Russian since winger Vasily Glotov in the seventh round in 2016.
Poltapov’s selection was harbinger. The Sabres used three straight picks on Russians and took four overall Saturday.
Later in the second round, the Sabres drafted winger Aleksandr Kisakov with ... Read the full article
Jack Eichel hasn’t played since March 7. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – As expected, general manager Kevyn Adams began overhauling the Sabres around the NHL Draft, trading center Sam Reinhart and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. For now, disgruntled captain Jack Eichel is still on the team.
Eichel, of course, is expected to be dealt this summer. But what if a trade doesn’t materialize? Dealing him is extremely complicated. The ultra-talented center has a herniated disc in his neck, five years left on his contract and ... Read the full article
The Sabres have nine picks today. ©2021, NHL
BUFFALO – The Sabres drafted Russian winger Prokhor Poltapov with the first pick of the second round, 33rd overall, this morning at the NHL Draft.
The 5-foot-11, 174-pound Poltapov, 18, recorded 25 goals and 52 points in 61 games last season with Krasnaya Armiya Moskva, a junior team in the MHL. Poltapov also registered two goals and seven points in seven contests for Team Russia at the World Under-18 Hockey Championship.
He also played one ... Read the full article
Sam Reinhart was the second overall pick in 2014. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – After trading Rasmus Ristolainen and making the first and 14th overall selections at the NHL Draft on Friday, general manager Kevyn Adams apparently wasn’t done overhauling the Sabres.
Late Friday, shortly after the first round ended, the Sabres dealt center Sam Reinhart to the Florida Panthers, pending a trade call, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun also reported Reinhart was being moved. The return was unclear.
But when Adams walked ... Read the full article
Owen Power talks to the media Friday. ©2021
BUFFALO – On Friday night, 60 family members and friends gathered in the backyard at Owen Power’s aunt’s house in Burlington, Ontario, to celebrate and support the 18-year-old.
Since the Sabres won the draft lottery seven weeks ago, it was assumed they would select Power first overall at Friday’s NHL Draft.
Still, Power, a Michigan defenseman, said he did not know the Sabres would take him until general manager Kevyn Adams announced the pick from ... Read the full article
