To be honest, I wasn’t able to be as into the draft this year as I wanted to, thanks to family obligations and time constraints. The players the Sabres drafted are here. Some things haven’t changed from the past few years. Most of them are big, over 6 feet tall. Most are North American, though they finally broke out of that by drafting Joel Armia from Finland with their first pick (at 16). From the report by Kris Baker on Armia, sounds like a guy to watch a couple of years down the road.
The Sabres also got their man in Robyn Regehr, acquired in a trade from the Calgary Flames. We also got Ales Kotalik back, who might play (he DID have his best years here) or who might go to Portlan–er, Rochester, or who could always go play in Europe. Buffalo also nets a 2nd round pick next year, while giving up Chris Butler, who showed promise at times but could never seem to get past Sekera on the depth chart, and Paul Byron. Regehr is big and tough and migh just settle in as a partner for Tyler Myers. It’s one of those spots people thought needed to be addressed this offseason (a veteran D, a top-flight C), and it didn’t cost the Sabres too much. There are plenty of good prospects still stacked up, and there’s room for more deals to be done.