The Buffalo Sabres are host to the NHL Scouting Combine this year and also have the second overall pick in the upcoming draft. They could've blown off the interview process when it came to prospect Jack Eichel as it's all but 100% certain that they'll take him with their second-overall pick. Some would say, why bother?
They did have a chat Eichel but passed on interviewing consensus 1st-overall pick, Connor McDavid. Perhaps they talked to him enough during the 2014-15 season (something which director of amateur scouting Greg Royce said) as he played 90 minutes away in Erie, PA and even played in an OHL game at First Niagara Center, home to the Buffalo Sabres. But GM Tim Murray told Mike Schopp and the Bulldog on WGR550 earlier this evening that they hadn't interviewed McDavid and that it wasn't in their plans.
He also said that Eichel "would have been fine" with a lone Sabres interview, but other teams were interested in sitting down with him and "out of respect for [those] teams," he ended up doing some eight to 10 of them. The Combine interview process is that it wouldn't be the players choice as to who they would interview with, it would be the teams.
We Sabres fans, of course, don't care who he interviewed with or what was asked. We're interested how his interview with the Sabres went.
"He was great," Murray told Schopp and the Bulldog. "He came into our interview and I think he knew it was an important interview. He was ready, he was prepared. He was quick. He was sharp.
"He was impressive."
That's good to know. Just as the Sabres could've blown this off, so too could Eichel have just taken the whole thing for granted. It's impressive that he took the interview seriously enough to come in prepared.
But there was more to it than just questions about his game and what he thought of Buffalo and/or chicken wings. We found out something about Eichel that not only told us he's ready to go, but that he also has a little chip on his shoulder.
Schopp brought up an article
in today's Boston Globe by Fluto Shinzawa concerning Eichel who comes from North Chelmsford, MA, which is a suburb of Boston. Shinzawa writes about the city of Buffalo and its bad-luck, bridesmaid sports teams while mentioning that Eichel had a taste of second place after his Boston University Terriers lost to Providence for the NCAA Hockey Championship this year. It's a good piece. Shinzawa is objective in his observations of Buffalo's history while sharing in the optimism that emanates from the Canal Side area of downtown Buffalo.
He noted that Eichel "got a preview of his future workplace" and during the interview process with the Sabres Shinzawa said that, "Eichel told his questioners, in a respectful but confident manner, that he would be better than Connor McDavid, his Canadian foil."
Schopp forwarded that tidbit to Murray to which the GM responded, "He said that. I think he should say that. Why not say that?
"I think he believes it. The way he played this season, we called it a two-horse race (otherwise known as McEichel) all year. So why should he not believe [he's better than McDavid]? Why should he not believe in his skill-set--the whole package, size, skating ability, puck skills, hockey sense--the whole package as I said. He's confident in it and he backed up that confidence with his play this year and had a tremendous year. So, I don't know why he wouldn't believe he's the best player in the draft."
Like Chris "Bulldog" Parker said, a statement like that usually doesn't come from someone who will be playing anywhere other than in the NHL next season, to which Murray replied, "No, I can't imagine. If you believe you're the best guy in the draft and you can't wait to prove it, the NHL is where you go to prove it."
Man.
Can't wait for the season to begin.
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