Sabres Edge

All the talk for months has been that the New York Islanders have to take John Tavares, nephew of Mr. Bandit by the same name, with the No. 1 pick tonight in Montreal. But as the days go by, you keep hearing more and more chatter about Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman or even Brampton center Matt Duchene.

Go here for TSN's capsules on the top prospects.

So you play Garth Snow for a minute and be the Isles GM. (I didn't say be Matthew Barnaby or Steve Shields and pound Garth Snow --- classic Sabres brawls at those links).

Think as Snow for a minute: Who do you pick?

Do you risk the PR disaster of not taking Tavares? Do you risk not taking Hedman, a Lidstrom type on defense? Tough call.

Make your choice below and then be sure to vote in our poll on who should be the Sabres' No. 1 pick.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Hold me back from the excitement surrounding the NHL's annual gathering of guys who won't play for your team next season. It starts tonight at 7 in Montreal with Round 1 on Versus and the NHL Network, then continues Saturday morning at 10.

As I wrote this morning, Darcy Regier needs to start taking some bold moves and maybe he'll surprise us all and do something. Or maybe it will be more of the same for the Sabres, which is just about nothing. John Vogl is on hand in Montreal, and writes about how prospect Evander Kane knew he was NHL-ready thanks to his battles with future Sabre Tyler Myers.

Vogl also heard from Lindy Ruff for the first time since the end of the season, as Ruff spoke on his appointment as an associate coach for Team Canada's Olympic team and the disappointment of missing the playoffs for a second straight year.

Thoughts on Regier? Thoughts on Ruff's comments? This is the place for them. We'll have full coverage of the draft this evening with Vogl on hand in the Bell Centre and yours truly filling the blog from One News Plaza.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Darcy Regier has a spotty record in the first round of the NHL draft but does well overall, as reporter John Vogl points out in a story in Wednesday's Buffalo News.

His drafts are short on star power but a look at the NHL All-Star teams from the past decade shows most of the top players were either drafted before Darcy came to the Sabres or they were taken with premium picks (early in the first round). Thomas Vanek has been Regier's only premium pick and he made the second All-Star team in 2006-07. Brian Campbell, a sixth-round pick of Regier's in 1997, is the only other Sabre to be named a first- or second-team All-Star in that time.

By comparison, the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins stocked their roster with a slew of premium picks.

TSN has a couple of interesting pieces on the draft, including one on the value of first-round picks and another on the value of draft picks overall.

Take a look at all this and let us know how you feel Darcy did.

Lindy Ruff is getting his shot at Olympic glory.

The Buffalo Sabres coach will be named as an assistant for Canada's 2010 Olympic team Thursday, CTVOlympics.ca has reported. Ruff will help head coach Mike Babcock along with Ken Hitchcock and Jacques Lemaire.

Ruff's first chance at international competition came this spring as the head coach for Canada's world championships team. Ruff earned a silver medal in Switzerland.

The coaching announcements will be made at 10 a.m. in Montreal near McGill University, where Babcock played. The 2010 Olympics will be held in February in Vancouver.

---John Vogl

Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier resurfaced Monday after going under cover since the end of the NHL's regular season. In a press conference called only a few hours before the news conference, Regier  said the Sabres were trying to sign Jaroslav Spacek, their top-scoring defenseman from last season, before he became a free agent July 1.

He also said South Buffalo's Tim Kennedy and defenseman Tyler Myers, last year's No. 1 draft pick, might be ready for full-time duty in the NHL.

The Sabres have the 13th pick in the first round Friday in the NHL draft. Should they try to trade up to get one of the top two or three picks to get an NHL-ready player to add to their stable of prospects? Should they use the pick on a forward and if so, should they draft specifically for size? Is bringing back Spacek a good idea or should they try to spend the money on an upgrade in the free-agent market?

What are your priorities and how do they differ from GM for a Day Bucky Gleason's priorities?

Baseball writer Rob Neyer once did a book that collected a variety of lists about each franchise -- best all-time players, best rookies, best players acquired in trades, and so forth.

With the Sabres' draft coming up soon, it got me to thinking what Buffalo's all-time team of draft choices might look like, roughly grouped by position. So here it is, at least my version of it. Remember -- this includes a player's performance after leaving town, when applicable:

F - Gil Perreault
F - Pierre Turgeon
F - Peter McNab
F - Derek Roy

F - Rick Martin
F - Dave Andreychuk
F - Craig Ramsay
F - Thomas Vanek

F - Alexander Mogilny
F - Danny Gare
F - Donald Audette
F - Jason Pominville

D - Mike Ramsey
D - Phil Housley
D - Jim Schoenfeld
D - Brian Campbell
D - Jay McKee
D - Bill Hajt

G - Tom Barrasso
G - Ryan Miller

I did struggle with the goaltenders, as you probably could make a case for Bob Sauve and Don Edwards somewhere. Calle Johansson and Larry Playfair were tough to leave out on defense, and Roy won out over such centers as Derek Plante and Curtis Brown.

--- Budd Bailey

Big news from north of the border: Both of the Sabres' first-round picks last June have been selected to play for Team Canada in the upcoming World Championships that begin Dec. 26 in Ottawa (the 2010-11 tourney, remember, will be at HSBC Arena and Niagara University).

Tyler Myers, the 6-foot-6 defenseman who was selected 12th overall, and center Tyler Ennis, taken 26th with the pick acquired from San Jose in the Brian Campbell trade, were both named to the roster Monday.

"That's great they both made it," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said when told the news after practice. "It just tells you we've got a couple good players coming down the pipeline."

Ennis and Myers both attended the Sabres' prospect camp over the summer at Niagara University and were at training camp in September before being returned to their junior teams in the Western Hockey League. Ennis has 36 points (15-21) in 31 games this season for Medicine Hat while Myers has four goals, 16 assists and is plus-9 through 26 games at Kelowna.

The Canadian team also includes Oshawa winger John Tavares, the consensus top North American prospect in next year's draft and the nephew of the Bandits star of the same name, and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo of the Niagara Ice Dogs, the fourth overall choice last year by the St. Louis Blues. Pietrangelo played eight games for St. Louis this season before being returned to junior and his final NHL appearance saw him log 19 1/2 minutes of ice time Nov. 12 against the Sabres in HSBC Arena.

---Mike Harrington

OTTAWA -- To no writer's surprise, we walked into Scotiabank Place and the Internet still wasn't working. Still gotta love the NHL.

Well, the Sabres went for size with their second-round pick, taking 6-foot-2, 203-pound forward Luke Adam of St. John's of the Quebec league. He's a Newfoundlander, and he's a friendly kid.

"I’m a big guy, I use my size to my advantage, try to create my offense from down low, using my size and my reach," Adam said. "That’s how I create my offense, and I have a passion to score goals, and that’s how I do it."

The Sabres traded down in the third round and picked up two selections, getting rid of No. 74 and picking up Nos. 81 and 101 from Los Angeles. They picked a high school kid at 81, defenseman Cory Fienhage, who was born in Kansas and schooled in Minnesota. He is 6-2, 190 and is expected to attend the University of North Dakota in 2009.

Will get more updates as the Internet allows. This is the first time today (and maybe the only) I've had it.

11:55 a.m.: There are timeouts in the draft. Who knew? The Sabres just took one at the 101st pick.

The next pick is another high schooler, Justin Jokinen. The Minnesota winger is 6-2, 165. He's athletic but needs to fill out, obviously. A short while later, at 104, the Sabres selected 6-2, 185-pound defenseman Jordon Southorn from the Quebec league.

12:41 p.m.: The Sabres select Jacob Lagace in the fifth round. He's here, and his family is hugging away.

"I’m happy for them because they are happy to see me get drafted," Lagace said.

1:20 p.m.: The Sabres pick Nick Crawford of the OHL's Saginaw Spirit in the sixth round. He's a little off the board -- literally. The league doesn't have a name plate for him to put on the draft board. He had four goals and 16 assists in 68 games this season.

Unless they make a trade, that's it for the Sabres in the 2008 entry draft.

2:51 p.m.: The floor is clear, the interviews are over, and so is the draft for another year. The Sabres ended up with four defenseman and four forwards. From the Sabres' standpoint, the draft was a success.

"I'm excited about this group," Sabres GM Darcy Regier said.

---John Vogl

With their second pick in the first round (No. 26 overall from San Jose in the Brian Campbell trade), the Sabres went for Medicine Hat forward Tyler Ennis, who is 5-8 and says he patterns his game after Daniel Briere and Martin St. Louis. Here's a good note: His favorite food to cook is chicken wings. Here's his draft profile.

Goaltender Thomas McCollum, the Sanborn native, was still on the board when the Sabres picked. But with Jhonas Enroth signed, it didn't seem to be too logical a choice to go with a goaltender. And what kind of message would a choice like that have sent about upcoming negotiations with Ryan Miller?

10:55 p.m. update: McCollum just got chosen by Detroit with the final pick of the first round. The Wings are grooming hot prospect Jimmy Howard to play with Chris Osgood so McCollum will have plenty of time to develop in junior and the minors.

Here's Ennis' draft video.

---Mike Harrington

The Sabres moved up one spot in the first round, flipping with Los Angeles. The Sabres thus get the No. 12 pick while the Kings get No. 13 -- and the Sabres' third-round pick in 2009.

The Sabres have taken 6-foot-7 defenseman Tyler Myers of Kelowna in the Western Hockey League, the tallest of the 305 players rated by NHL Central Scouting. Myers is a Houston native who lists the Dallas Stars as his favorite team even though he moved to Calgary at age 10.

Here's Myers' official NHL Entry Draft bio and another story from last fall looking ahead to the draft.

And here's his scouting video.

---Mike Harrington

OTTAWA --- Gotta love the NHL. Nothing ever goes smooth. Internet isn't working in Scotiabank Place, so live blogging is out for now. This is only time I've ever been able to get on.

Follow the first round here at the TSN draft tracker.

---John Vogl

OTTAWA -- OK, so the folks at the Ottawa Tourism department hosted a draft welcome party Thursday night at the legendary Heart & Crown, where the beer flowed like wine. Which, of course, led to a few interesting moments.

One of the party favors was a chance to get your picture taken with "Lord Stanley." It was a big painting of the Stanley Cup next to a guy's body with his face cut out. Three girls would walk around with the picture and ask the writers if they wanted to put their face in the hole. They'd take a photo and people would laugh. Ha, ha, look at the goofy dudes.

So, two writers whose names you would recognize but shall remain nameless at the moment because the NHL is in a foul mood (see League versus New York Rangers owners), had a Eureka! moment. Standing 5 feet away was Commissioner Gary Bettman, and the writers' faces lit up at the exact same time.

"Hey ladies. See that guy over there? Ask him to pose with Lord Stanley."

"Really?" one of the women said. "He looks kind of important."

"Nah, he loves that sort of thing. Just go ask him if he wants to stick his face in that hole."

The lovely, lager-sipping ladies tapped Bettman on the shoulder. "Would you like your picture taken with Lord Stanley?"

The Commish politely declined, after giving an incredulous "Are you kidding me?! Don't you know who I am?!" look. Rumor has it he was none too pleased with the exchange.

But the writers and tourism gals sure were. Or so I hear.

---John Vogl

We're two days away from the Sabres taking the podium in Ottawa and making two first-round selections in the annual NHL Entry Draft (barring any trades of course).

Go to this link to see the Sabres' past draft classes. You can really see how this franchise was built with great drafts in the '70s and how it fell apart with plenty of lousy ones in the '80s and '90s. Some of the best ones I see:

1971: (Rick Martin, Craig Ramsay, Bill Hajt)

1972: (Jim Schoenfeld, Larry Carriere, Peter McNab)

1974: (Lee Fogolin, Danny Gare, Derek Smith and the unforgettable Taro Tsujimoto)

1975: (Bob Sauve, Ken Breitenbach, Terry Martin, Gary McAdam, Don Edwards)

1979: (Mike Ramsey, Lindy Ruff, Jacques Cloutier, Gilles Hamel, Alan Haworth)

1982: (Phil Housley, Paul Cyr, Dave Andreychuk)

1983: (Tom Barrasso, Adam Creighton, John Tucker, Daren Puppa, Christian Ruuttu, Uwe Krupp)

1997: (Mika Noronen, Henrik Tallinder, Maxim Afinogenov, Brian Campbell),

You see the potential from drafts in this decade like 2006 (including Dennis Persson, Jhonas Enroth, Mike Weber and Felix Schutz), 2005 (Phillippe Gogulla, Chris Butler, Nathan Gerbe) and 2004 (Drew Stafford, Michael Funk, Andrej Sekera, Patrick Kaleta). So there's certainly hope for this weekend with the Sabres owning three of the top 44 picks.

What classes do you like? In the name of Morris Titanic and Jiri Dudacek, what years on the list make you cringe?

---Mike Harrington

The Sabres officially kicked off draft week Monday in HSBC Arena with GM Darcy Regier and amateur scouting director Kevin Devine staying pretty generic about the team's thoughts on the NHL draft Friday night and Saturday in Ottawa.

The Sabres have a chance to get three pretty decent players with the 13th, 26th and 44th picks (No. 26 is San Jose's in the Brian Campbell trade). Recent choices at No. 13 include Toronto's Jiri Tlusty (2006), Buffalo's own Drew Stafford (2004), Los Angeles' Dustin Brown (2003) and Washington's Alexander Semin (2002).

In addition to 13-26-44, the Sabres are also choosing at No. 74 in the third round, 104 (4th round), 134 (5) and  164 (6). San Jose has Buffalo's seventh-rounder in the Campbell deal. Here's the first-round order:

     1. Tampa Bay
     2. Los Angeles
     3. Atlanta
     4.  St. Louis
     5.  NY Islanders
     6.  Columbus
     7.  Toronto
     8.  Phoenix
    9.  Nashville (from Florida)
    10. Vancouver
     11. Chicago
     12. Anaheim (from Edmonton)
     13. Buffalo
     14. Carolina
     15. Nashville
     16. Boston
     17. Calgary
     18. Ottawa
     19. Columbus (from Colorado)
     20. NY Rangers
     21. New Jersey
     22. Edmonton (from Anaheim)
     23. Washington
     24. Minnesota
     25. Montreal
     26. Buffalo (from San Jose)
     27. Philadelphia
     28. Los Angeles (from Dallas)
     29. Atlanta (from Pittsburgh)
     30. Detroit

---Mike Harrington