In the opening of the Sabres: Embedded 2020 video about the NHL Draft where the Buffalo Sabres drafted Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka, there was a definition shown of the Sabres philosophy and a definition of "What Is A Sabre." As we head into a very important off season for GM Kevyn Adams and the Buffalo Sabres, I think it is a good time to take a look at this definition, the types of players that Adams has targeted as GM, and help form a better idea of what Adams could do both at the draft and in the prime roster forming season through the first two weeks of the new league year.
Over two drafts, here are the picks that Kevyn Adams and his team have drafted:
Of those 15 picks, they have selected 9 players that are listed as either LW or RW, 4 centers, 2 LHD, 1 RHD, and no goalies. They have also picks 6 Canadians, 4 Russians, 3 Swedes, 1 Finn, 1 German, and 1 Czech. With this year's first round having a lot of US National Team Development players in it, we may see a change in direction from the Sabres when it comes to not drafting Americans.
Although, there are plenty of Canadian, Swedish, and Russians that will be in the mix at all three of their draft slots.
Some of the challenges with taking this information and trying to predict what the Sabres will look for both at the draft and in trades and free agency is that a lot of the traits of the prototypical Buffalo Sabre are not things that you can really see watching video of games or even read about in all the articles that will be out there.
We have seen that the Sabres put a priority this past year on guys that fit in the locker room and are good teammates. And having a growth mindset and a strong off ice work ethic are traits that are not as easy for fans to identify as being a fast skater or having a hard shot.
Some draft trends that I expect to change will be a move to add centers, RHD, and hopefully adding a goalie. With reports that Kevyn Adams was following a group of the top US National Team Development players during the workout portion of the NHL Draft Scouting Combine, I would be mildly surprised if Adams does not take the first American during his time as GM.
And when it comes to building out the NHL roster, I do expect that we will see a focus on character more than pure hockey talent. There are rumors that the Sabres do have a desire to sign Jack Campbell and PK Subban as free agents. Both Campbell and Subban are known to be good teammates. So, along with addressing needs in goal and at RHD on the NHL roster, one would expect that they would add to the already strong culture of vibes that we saw from the Sabres this past season.
While plenty of fans will be focused on adding hockey talent through the draft, trades, and free agency, we can see that there are other factors that Adams takes into consideration before making a player a Buffalo Sabre.
