Moving down

Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams did the opposite Thursday afternoon when he traded back from the 11th pick to No. 14 with the San Jose Sharks in exchange for another second-round selection to be made this Saturday.

The Sharks will already be taking coveted top prospect and Hobey Baker Award winner Macklin Celebrini out of Boston University with the first pick tonight. Moving up to No. 11 provides a lot of excitement for those in San Jose this year.

However, for much of the 2024 draft there is not as much to get excited about, which is why Sabres fans need not worry about moving away from the top of the draft. As in every year, there are plenty of options in this first round that could turn into something really special, but the road to stardom is not as easy of a path.

While last year Buffalo landed Zach Benson at No. 13, there will not be a player of his caliber with so few flaws available when the Sabres pick at No. 14 this year.

Michigan State’s Artyom Levshunov is likely to be taken second.
AP Photo

This is not a bad thing since the Adams Era in Buffalo has moved past the phase of accruing prospects and it is now time for players selected in his first three seasons at the helm to begin earning roles on the roster and pushing the team to the playoffs. Yes, it would be nice if Buffalo drafted another superstar at any point in the draft, but right now these selections can take their time to be that or develop into role players for the future roster.

The weakest point of the Sabres’ prospect pool is the defense and there are still some interesting players waiting for their chance like Nikita Novikov, Vsevolod Komarov and Maxim Strbak. Despite defense being least stocked in the prospect cupboard, arguably, the defense is the greatest strength of the main roster with Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Bowen Byram, Ryan Johnson and Mattias Samuelsson.

After elite forwards at the top of the draft in Celebrini, Ivan Demidov, Cayden Lindstrom, Berkly Catton and Tij Iginla, there are several defenders that scouts have raved about. The best fit for Buffalo, needing a right-handed defenseman, is Artyom Levshunov, but he and many other defenders might get drafted higher than they deserve tonight in Las Vegas.

With how frequently very good defenders can be found in the later parts of the draft, I would never select a defenseman that does not have Norris Trophy potential in the top 10. This year when the Blackhawks draft Levshunov at No. 2 instead of Demidov they will be selecting on roster need and not best available. In my final rankings there are 10 defenders in the first round and only half of them do I see as Norris-caliber players.

Anton Silayev is a unicorn defenseman coming in at 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds, while also breaking scoring records as a teenage defender in the Kontinental Hockey League. Silayev plays a violent game and scored a lot very early in the year before going ice cold, which worries some scouts about his potential.

Then there is Zeev Buium, who won the national championship with the University of Denver this year and scored 50 points in 42 games in the NCAA. He is a mature defender that makes all the right decisions moving the puck and has won all you can as a prospect.

Zayne Parekh is the prospect I have struggled the most with in the draft since he has unbelievable numbers at 96 points in 66 games with 33 goals as a defender. However, watching him play a full game and not just highlights tells a slightly different story of a player that does not play with a ton of intensity and can be a liability in his own end against tougher opponents.

While Parekh lit up the scoreboard in the Ontario Hockey League, the 6-foot-3, 194-pound Carter Yakemchuk torched the Western Hockey League with 30 goals and 71 points in 66 games from the back end. There was no structure for Yakemchuk playing with the Calgary Hitmen, but he made it work for himself as he managed to drive the offense and be skilled defensively, too. A fear scouts have is that Yakemchuk is very much a wild card and could go the route of Rasmus Ristolainen if not put down the right path.

The last defenseman I could see as a top scorer in the NHL someday is the undersized Cole Hutson from the US National Team Development Program. Hutson is the younger brother of Montreal prospect Lane Hutson and I see a lot of similarities with their brains offensively, and while Lane might be the better skater his brother is following in his footsteps.

After trading for Byram and already having Dahlin and Power, the Sabres are not drafting to replace them but rather help them flourish. Several of the top defenders will be gone by No. 14 and that was the case for No. 11, so falling back does no harm if addressing defense is the goal.

I view Levshunov as a defender that would be perfect slotting next to Dahlin, Power or Byram, but Chicago will likely have him at No. 2 which is a crazy reach for my money. Silayev has the capabilities to shine defensively early into his career, but he will be gone before the top 10 is over and it’s likely to Anaheim at No. 3.

From picks six to nine, Utah, Ottawa, Seattle and Calgary could easily go for a defender, and I project Buium and Parekh to be in the mix there. Buium personally is my favorite defender in the class, but I do not think Buffalo is a good fit for him considering what the Sabres already have. Then, with Parekh, if Buffalo needed any more offense I think he would thrive next to Dahlin, but something more defensive is the likely choice.

Yakemchuk is a defender that many people have publicly mocked to the Sabres when they were selecting at No. 11 and I think he could still be there at No. 14. While there are fears of the unpredictable nature in which Yakemchuk plays, he is such a raw prospect at a valued position making him a good pick if Buffalo were to do so.

It is deja vu all over again for the Hutson family. Younger brother Cole will fall to the second day of the draft so it would be irresponsible to take him at No. 14 even if he’s worthy of a top-20 pick. Hutson also is best suited to get drafted somewhere his offensive game is valued and in Buffalo with the top three defenders he doesn’t fit.

While I think it would be too early to select the final three defenders in my top 10, I could understand if Buffalo went with either Norwegian Stian Solberg, American EJ Emery or the Czech Adam Jiricek. Solberg and Emery project to be very reliable defensive defenseman with not much offensive upside, but Jiricek is more of a question mark since he was injured most of the year. Jiricek was the top defender at the Ivan Hlinka and is younger brother of David Jiricek who was the sixth pick by Columbus in 2022. He possesses some of the same qualities as his brother, but he is not nearly as capable offensively while he is a slightly more skilled skater at his current age.

My top picks for Buffalo at defense, if sticking with No. 14, are Yakemchuck, Sam Dickinson from the London Knights, or a long-shot for Parekh or Emery. Yakemchuck and Parekh both have the game-breaking goal scoring ability and are right-handed, Dickinson is a very mature two-way defender that I feel very reminiscent of Aaron Ekblad when he was coming out of the Barrie Colts a decade ago. Emery is a sizable defender with the physical tools to play a supportive role in the top four.

At No. 14 the best option could very well be a forward if the coveted defenders in this class are already gone and there are several good options I could see added to the Buffalo prospect pool.

You can already rule out Celebrini, Demidov, Catton, Lindstrom, Iginla and Konsta Helenius when Buffalo picks. Celebrini, Demidov and Lindstrom could all go in the top five and probably should, Catton is a dynamic undersized scorer from the WHL like Matthew Savoie and Benson in the years before him. Iginla is a lights-out shooter just like his dad, 21-year pro Jarome, and Helenius showed maturity to his game on both sides of the ice this year.

Watch for Catton and Helenius to fall, but still before No. 14, and a player like Beckett Sennecke could find himself surging into the top 10 or even higher. If looking to add more skill and points, I would target players like Liam Greentree of the Windsor Spitfires who reminds me of a bigger Jack Quinn, or take a swing on Michael Hage, who is a dynamic center from the Chicago Steel in the United States Hockey League.

It would be safe to stay away from a player like Cole Eiserman, who is knocked as a one-dimensional threat, but is probably the best shooter in the draft. Then there is the divisive Trevor Connelly. While there is not doubt the skill of a top-five prospect in Connelly, the forward has been in trouble numerous times throughout his junior career in which he has been punished for posting a swastika to his snapchat story and was even kicked off Bishop Kearney Selects in Rochester for urinating on a teammate’s hockey bag.

While Connelly has claimed to have matured past those actions, I would not reward those actions with a first-round pick.

A large part of why Benson made the Buffalo roster so quickly last year was due to the maturity in his game on the defensive side of the puck and there are a few options for that in this draft. My favorite is the 6-foot-3 centerman Cole Beaudoin from the Barrie Colts in the OHL, the speedy Jett Luchanko of the Guelph Storm in the OHL, and finally the Norwegian winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard playing in Sweden’s Allsvenskan.

Beaudoin plays with a lot of physicality and a nose for the net, Luchanko is a very capable center on the penalty kill as he is relentless in his forecheck and Brandsegg-Nygard is a very well-rounded winger that has the best offensive upside of the trio.

I would not rule out Buffalo moving the 14th pick in a bigger trade as it is likely a make-or-break year for Adams, but if he keeps the pick those are my thoughts on what could be done.

As far as keeping both second-round selections, a handful of prospects are viable options as projects in the latter parts of the draft. Looking for a long shot at offense there are Justin Poirier, Luke Misa, Terik Parascak or Dean Letourneau. Interesting forwards who I think could become exciting NHL players are Alexander Zetterberg, Yegor Surin and Mac Swanson.

On the defensive side, Henry Mews, Aron Kiviharju, Luca Marrelli, Tomas Galvas, Noel Fransen and Alfons Freij could break out as offensive defensemen. Then guys that lean toward two-way or defensive defensemen are Charlie Elick, Dominik Badinka, Leo Sahlin Wallenius, Ben Danford, Matvei Shuravin and Harrison Brunicke.

I have very limited knowledge of goaltending, but Ilya Nabokov is my top guy in what is regarded as a weak class after a special group last year. Nabokov is an overage player at 21, but took home the Rookie of the Year honors in the KHL and was the league’s playoff MVP after taking home the Gagarin Cup.