The Buffalo Sabres are prepping for another rebuild. The seeds have been planted and unless the kids shock the world and turn into a powerhouse overnight, Kevyn Adams has his sights set on building towards the future.
While the Sabres are seemingly projected to finish at the bottom of the standings and acquire a top-5 draft pick, this season is not going to be a repeat of the 2013-15 tank seasons. This team is not built to lose, it is built to develop and compete. Adams and Granato fully intend on putting a team on the ice that focuses on youth development, and while they may be inexperienced, it'll hopefully be fun to watch.
We had been holding off on releasing this for awhile waiting for the Eichel situation to finally be resolved, but saying that didn't happen would be a bit of an understatement. So, let's stick with what we've got and see how Adams did to try and prep the young Sabres squad for the 2021-22 season.
Don Granato
Let's start with Donny Meatballs himself. Following the Ralph Krueger Sabres, Don Granato came in as seemingly a placeholder coach until the offseason, where Adams would focus on signing a coach from the loaded free agent market.
That was until Granato exceeded everyone's expectations and injected the entire lineup with a refreshing amount of energy and confidence. While his record as interim head coach may not seem that much better than Krueger's time as coach this season (9-16-3 vs. 6-18-4), it doesn't tell the whole story.
Granato's lineup was missing plenty of key contributors such as Jake McCabe, Will Borgen, Linus Ullmark (at various points), and most notably Jack Eichel, who didn't play a single game under Donny, and likely never will. Not to mention Eric Staal, Brandon Montour, and Taylor Hall were all traded at the deadline in the midst of his stretch. He was left with the scraps of the youthful core and put out an enjoyable product on the ice for remainder of the season.
One of the best parts about Granato was the small, but very simple changes he made that many had been clamoring for. Playing Sam Reinhart at center, letting Rasmus Dahlin freewheel, and just playing an overall much more offensive-oriented game instead of the defensive-minded system Krueger attempted to implement.
Couple all of this with the players that were thriving under Granato during this time (Dyaln Cozens, Anders Bjork, Casey Mittelstadt, Rasmus Asplund, Arttu Ruotsalainen, Rasmus Dahlin, Henri Jokiharju, etc.) and you've got yourself a pretty impressive dry run for the future. All of this was what gave Kevyn Adams the confidence to finally name Granato as head coach and sign him to a 3-year contract.
I don't know if Granato is going to be the coach that will lead this team to the promised land in the future, but what I do know is that based off of what he's shown, he is absolutely the right guy to lead this team through a rebuild and help develop the young guys. So let's hope that he can continue to work his Italian magic on the kids.
The Rasmus Ristolainen Trade
In the afternoon of draft day, Elliotte Friedman tweeted out that Flyers were in deep talks with the Sabres about Rasmus Ristolainen. Not too long after, these talks were followed through on, and the first of the Sabres' 3-headed monster had been dealt.
Philadelphia Receives: Rasmus Ristolainen
Buffalo Receives: Robert Hagg + 2021 1st Round Pick + 2023 2nd Round Pick
The day of reckoning had finally come. After years of rumors, Rasmus Ristolainen had finally been traded and was no longer a Buffalo Sabre.
Frankly, this move could actually really benefit Ristolainen. With the additions of Keith Yandle and Ryan Ellis by the Flyers, along with proven players like Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim part of the defensive core, Ristolainen won't be looked at to be fed the big minutes anymore. He can now fully establish himself as the big, physical defensemen that is tough to play against.
However, that won't stop myself and others from what they think about this move. This was absolute highway robbery from Kevyn Adams; no doubt his best trade as Sabres GM so far. Just out of context, Adams was able to get a roster player, a 1st rounder, and a 2nd rounder for a $5.4 million player who's contract expires after this season without retaining any salary.
That isn't a knock on Ristolainen personally, but it isn't a secret that his impacts on the team over the last few years has been less than stellar. Sure, he's been one of the only Sabres players over the years to consistently use his physicality, but that's about all you're getting from him at this point. Not to mention chances are you've replaced Ristolainen's physicality with the addition of Hagg.
Ristolainen could suddenly turn into a Norris-level defensemen and make us all look stupid, but based off of right now this trade seems like a steal.
The acquired 1st round pick was used to select Isak Rosén (who we'll get into later) and the 2nd rounder obviously won't be seen for 2 more years.
Now for Hagg. He's not going to blow you away by any means necessary, as he is essentially below-average defensemen.
However, as we said earlier, the Sabres essentially getting the same type of player as Ristolainen, but with a contract that is worth $4.8 million less. You aren't getting much apart from the physicality, but the difference here is that you aren't supposed to. Hagg isn't going to be getting more than bottom-pair minutes this season, and might even be the Sabres' 7th defensemen, so he's never going to be relied on for anything another guy can't already do.
All in all, a great move by Adams that can only get better if Isak Rosén develops into an impactful player, and if the 2nd rounder can amount to something.
The 2021 NHL Draft
After the Risto move, trade talks only continued to swirl as the draft neared. Mostly with Jack Eichel, as it was widely thought that he would be used to attain another top draft pick in the 1st round. More than likely it would've been Anaheim, who held the 3rd overall pick. However, as we know, none of these talks would amount to anything.
Gary Bettman commenced the draft and Buffalo was now on the clock. Kevyn Adams wasted little time and found his way to the Sabres' podium to change the future of the franchise.
1st Overall - Owen Power, D, Michigan (NCAA)
While there had been tons of pre-draft talk of the Sabres really liking prospect William Eklund, Adams decided to go with the consensus pick (and that's not a bad thing). Despite what many doubters have said, Owen Power is a great prospect and still has the most potential of any player in the draft. He has all the tools to become a superstar in the league, Buffalo just needs to be very careful with his development.
Shortly after the draft, Power announced he was heading back to Michigan. This is 100% the right move for both Buffalo and Power. Chances are the Sabres won't be very good and Power could use another year of college to hone his skills and dominate his competition. Not to mention he has the chance to win a national championship on possibly one of the most loaded NCAA teams ever.
Overall, a great start to the night for the organization. However, the Sabres weren't done in the first round. Thanks to Ristolainen trade, the Sabres now held another 1st round pick.
13th Overall - Isak Rosén, RW, Leksands (SHL)
A bit of an off the board move, since many had him going later in the 1st and even potentially 2nd, Rosén is a high-upside, speedy skater who has a excellent release. His biggest hurdle right now is actually finding ice-time in the SHL. It's what made him drop so far in the draft-rankings in the first place. For whatever reason, he is just not being given much ice time right now, even though when he is given a chance, he's often scoring highlight reel goals.
Hopefully, he's able to find some consistent ice-time in the future so his growth isn't stunted.
33rd Overall - Prokhor Poltapov, RW, (VHL)
Now for the picks outside of the 1st round. Poltapov might be the player that most excites me. He is so quick and skilled, with so much creativity in his game. Top all off with a high hockey IQ, and he's gonna be so much fun to follow the this season in the VHL and in the future.
53rd Overall - Alexander Kisakov, LW, (MHL)
Kisakov is also very skilled himself. His hands are super smooth and his release is top notch. If he can put on some weight to add to his 5' 10'', 150lbs. frame, then he's going to be a very impactful player in the future.
What I takeaway most from these two picks (and Rosén to a lesser extent) and what gets me most excited is an overall change in philosophy for the Sabres. Prior to this draft, the last Russian they had taken who had been currently playing in Russia was Vasily Glotov in 2016, and prior to that it was Marek Zagrapan in 2005. Now, all of a sudden, they take 3 Russians in a row (Stiven Sardaryan was taken after Kisakov) and even add a Russian scout to their organization.
Not limiting yourself to picking in certain regions is essential to diversifying your draft portfolio and having a better chance of getting good players.
Most exciting of all is, when you include Adams' pick of Peterka last season, everyone of these players are high-upside, skilled forwards that could give the Sabres tremendous value if they pan out. It's a welcome change when compared to past mid-round picks in past regimes where they went the safe route (i.e. Johnson, Samuelsson, Davidsson). Not at all bad players, just not the very high-risk, high-reward.
Some of the other Sabres picks looking very promising as well. Josh Bloom (95th Overall), Oliver Nadeau (97th Overall), and Viljami Marjala (159th Overall) all played very solid at the Sabres Prospect Challenge.
Overall I'd say that Kevyn Adams had a very successful draft and gave fans great reason to believe in their scouting for the future.
The Sam Reinhart Trade
Just as the minutes were ticking down on a relatively successful draft day for the Sabres, Elliotte Friedman dropped a midnight bomb. The Florida Panthers were trading for Sam Reinhart. Buffalo fans would eagerly wait to hear what was coming back, but unfortunately, we would have to wait until the next day. It felt like a forever wait, but when morning came we were finally given the return:
Florida Receives: Sam Reinhart
Buffalo Receives: Devon Levi + 2022 Conditional 1st Round Pick
Suffice to say, the reaction from the fanbase was a bit less jubilating than the Ristolainen trade, and deservedly so. If Rasmus Ristolainen was able to fetch a 1st, 2nd, and a roster player, how can Reinhart only net you a 1st and a goalie prospect?
It's obviously a step down from the return of the Ristolainen trade, but I think you have to look at the bigger picture for this one. Reinhart was still an RFA at this point and needed a contract. Unfortunately, that was the one and only factor that tanked his value.
Just look at a trade that was made not too long before this one, Pavel Buchnevich was traded to the St. Louis Blues for Sammy Blais and a 2022 2nd Round Pick. A player such as Buchnevich should be fetching a lot more than just a middle-six forward and a 2nd round pick, but because he was an RFA like Reinhart, his value was way down.
I don't think it would be a surprise if the deciding factor in this deal getting done was Florida offering their 1st. Other teams just don't want to shell out their own 1st's for RFAs. It doesn't make a lot of sense, especially when trading for a player of Reinhart's caliber, but at least you can say that the Sabres seemingly came out on top of the RFA market compared to the Buchnevich trade.
The pick received is conditional, with the condition being that if the pick is in the top ten this year, it will be moved to 2023. However, chances are Florida is going to be nowhere near the top 10, as they are looking like contenders. So it's likely that we will end up picking in the 20s. Having another another 1st rounder in a loaded 2022 draft class is still something to be excited about.
Now for the prospect in return: Devon Levi. Coming into this season he was largely an unknown. Drafted in the 7th round in 2020, he wasn't talked about as the type to blow you away. However, that would change immediately in January of this year when he nearly backstopped Canada to a gold medal in the World Juniors.
Levi was sensational the entire tournament, going 6-1 with a .964 save percentage, a 0.75 goals against average, and three shutouts in total, only the 2nd ever goalie to accomplish such a feat. Oh yeah, and all of this was done while playing with a fractured rib. He was named Best Goaltender and would probably have won Tournament MVP if it weren't for Trevor Zegras' unreal run for the US.
Unluckily for Levi, this is all that we would see of him this year due to his season at Northeastern University being canceled due to COVID-19. He'll be returning to play for them this upcoming season, and will likely take up the starting job at the World Juniors once again, so he should be a fun follow.
Overall, a relatively nice addition to a young goalie pipeline that already includes UPL and Erik Portillo. Hopefully, one of the three can turn into impactful starters in the league one day.
Trading Sam was a hard one to swallow. When it was shown on the most recent Sabres Embedded episode that Sam called Kevyn Adams back and wished the organization the absolute best in the future, it definitely hurt bad in the feels. Sam has always been a fan-favorite and one of the most consistent Sabres for the last 6 years. Seeing him emerge this season as a leader when Eichel went down was something so great to see, we all knew he had it in him.
He'll be a phenomenal addition to a Panthers squad that is already looking to contend for the cup. I hope he absolutely tears it up and gets the recognition he deserves as an elite player in the league. Best wishes Samson, we're all gonna miss you.
Be sure to check out Part II of our recap on Friday where we go over Free Agency & RFA's!
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