Buffalo Sabres

A Tale of Two Tylers - Sabres 2008 Draft

I wish I could say I find the NHL Draft interesting to watch…but I can’t. Unless you were a Pheonix Coyotes fan, there wasn’t much to get excited about. Those that hoped the Sabres would trade away some-one (*Cough*MAX*cough*) on draft day were disappointed.

The Sabres held two first-round draft picks thanks to San Jose, which made things a little more interesting. (Note to Sharks: How’s that Campbell deal goin’?) In an odd move, the Sabres traded up ONE position to get the guy they wanted. I wonder how that conversation went:

Lombardi (Kings GM): So, uh, Darcy, who do you want at #13?
Reiger (Sabres GM): Well Dean, we really like that Meyers kid…what about you guys?
Lombardi: Oh….we’re looking at Teub…uh…I mean…hey…we like that Meyers kid too!
Reiger: Oh…well, gosh…hmmmm….I guess we’ll have to go get someone else.
Lombardi: yeah…too bad huh? (Pause) Hey…here’s an idea….ya know, if you’d be willing to give us something, maybe we could, ya know, trade spots?
Reiger: Really? Sure!

OK, seriously, from what I heard Darcy Reiger and Kevin Devine (Head of Amateur Scouting) had there eyes on three guys they wanted to have a choice from, and the first two were already taken. LA was in talks with another team to trade the 12th spot, but made the deal with the Sabres instead. (My guess is this led to the later trade by LA for the Sabres 74th spot as well.)

The Sabres picked Tyler Myers - who at 6′7″ towered over the rest of the guys on stage. (Holy cow - is Bettman short or what? - he can’t be 5′4″!) I really like this pick - a guy with some size on the D who can also really skate….

NHL Director of Central Scouting, E.J. McGuire
Strengths: “His height differentiates him from the rest of the draft-eligible defensemen – he towers above all the other players. He is not often burned by the small, quick players and because of the emphasis in today’s NHL on a lack of restraining type of play, I think Tyler has adjusted well to that and is more ready to play in the new NHL than a lot of the other smaller players.”

Areas to improve: “Improvements can be made with his continued maturity. I don’t know that he needs to work on anything other than continuing to work on foot speed, continuing to work on coordination. He’s got a rocket shot from the point on the power-play and that is never going to leave him.”

The Sabres love of fast-skaters has done them pretty well in recent years, and the addition of some serious size on the blue line is great. The guys a bean-pole just now, but at 18 years old still has time to bulk-up. I wouldn’t be surprise if he doesn’t spend another year in the WHL before moving to the Sabres minor-league affiliate in 2009, and hopefully ready for the big club by 2010. A rare draft pick that has me a little bit excited.

At #26, the Sabres went more typical with their second Tyler of the round - Tyler Ennis - a fast, small, offensive-minded forward.

NHL Director of Central Scouting, E.J. McGuire
Strengths: “Tyler is a quick, ‘water-bug’-type player. He scoots up and down the ice and can turn on a dime. He can drive wide on a defenseman who is unaware or a little slow. Tyler may be one of the best pure offensive players in the entire draft.”

Outlook: “Getting bigger is not something within his control, he’s done everything as far as his quickness and offensive development and now I think that it is just ready for him to show it at the next level.”

Some would say this is a stretch, but I am sure Reiger and Devine are thinking that it worked out with Danny Briere, Derek Roy, and Jason Pomminville. It appears to be working with Nathan Gerbe, why not try again? Scoring 91 points in 70 games in the WHL might mean he is even ready to move to the AHL level, though I still wouldn’t expect him in Buffalo this year. The good news is he could the the next Max Afinogenov, the bad news is….he could be the next Max Afinogenov.

The lone 2nd round selection is Luke Adam - a big 6′2″ center who is showing some skill in Juniors - but still appears to need some work to reach his full potential.

Beyond that…I start to lose interest…players at this point are 3-4 years away from the big-club, if they ever make it at all. The Sabres next picked Cory Fienhage, a Minnesota high-schooler, at 81st. Here are the last 5 players drafted with the 81st pick: Ryan Thang, Micheal Carman, Danny Syvret, Vclav Meidl, Stefan Ruzicka. Need I say more - only 2 of them (Syvret and Ruzicka) have played at all in the NHL, with Ruzicka’s 55 games being the most. In fact, my quest to find a solid NHLer drafted at 81st went back through the mists of time to 1991 - 17 years - where I found…Alexei Zhitnik, who co-incidentally played with the Sabres for 9 seasons, though was not drafted by them. So, good luck Cory - you’re going to need it.

Interestingly, the Sabres are holding a rookie camp at Niagara University, not 20 minutes from my house, June 25th through July 1st. I’m tempted to stop in…if just to get a picture of Tyler Myers and Nathan Gerbe standing next to each other.