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Team USA Wisely Hires Drury |
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My good friends at ISS Hockey have released their monthly rankings of the top prospects eligible for the 2016 NHL Draft.
This month’s rankings include the top 200 skaters, along with the top 15 goaltenders, as evaluated and ranked by ISS Hockey’s worldwide network of scouts.
I'm featuring the ISS Top 15 because I'm am asked all the time by Buffalo Sabres fans to handicap positions 4-9 in the upcoming draft which will be held in Buffalo in late June.
The Sabres are 7-2-2 in their past nine games and are committed to winning their two remaining games. Last season, the tanking Sabres set a franchise-worst record with their 54 point season. For their failures and futilities, GM Tim Murray drafted super center Jack Eichel second overall in the 2015 NHL Draft. Murray snagged prestigious pivot Samson Reinhart with the second pverall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.
This time around, with new lottery rules in place and the Sabres turning a corner on their rebuild, Murray won't be talking home a top four pick in the June 2016 NHL Draft. Sabres fans wn't be getting a Matthews, Puljujarvi, Laine, nor Nylander at the 2016 NHL Draft, however, they will be selecting a difference maker who will make an immediate impact on their current killer core.
When it's all said and done, Dan Bylsma's Sabres will finish this season with between 79-83 points in the NHL standings. With a 25-29 point differential year over year, the Sabres are trending upwards with a sky rocket.
Today, the Sabres find themselves with 79 points and presently occupy the 25th place in the NHL standings. Buffalo has two games remaining in their "Next Chapter" season and have made great strides in the construction and cohesion of their team. Beginning in July, Murray will also have $35 million in available salary cap space to go shopping for a sniper and a left D.
Adding a high impact, scoring power winger or a complete left D to their young core will be priorities for GM Tim Murray.
At this juncture, drafting power winger Matt Tkachuk is not a far fetched notion. Nor is selecting left D senation Jakub Chychryn.
1 Matthews, Auston: Center
2 Puljujarvi, Jesse: RW
3 Laine, Patrik: LW
4 Nylander, Alexander: RW
5 Dubois, Pierre-Luc LW (NHL level talent: great hands, fast feet, smart, compete).
6 Tkachuk, Matthew: LW (Big, strong, tough, mobile, agile, hostile. NHL level scorer)
7 Chychrun, Jakob: LD ( Bomb, great skater, excellent vision, great puck mover, NHL ready)
8 Sergachev, Mikhail: LD (Smart, tough, fast, two-way D-man; NHL ready)
9 McLeod, Michael: C (6'2 power center, playmaker, skates well. competes hard)
10 Juolevi, Olli: LD (Imagine a bigger version of Anaheim D Sami Vatanen; Fast, skilled)
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11 Brown, Logan: C
12 Keller, Clayton: C
13 Jones, Max: LW
14 Rubtsov, German: C
15 Bean, Jake: LD
Whichever player Murray drafts in the first round will be skating into one of the best opportunities in the NHL today.
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Former Buffalo Sabres captain Chris Drury has the chops to be a great team builder in the NHL. Winners win. Drury is the ultimate winner.
As a younster, Drury won the Little League Baseball World Series Championship with his hometown team from Trumbull, Connecticut.
Seemingly, his road to success has been paved with gold since that magical summer that defined him as a dogged, determined competitor.
Today, Drury has been named to the management and leadership group that will guide Team USA at the 2016 IIHF World Championships
As a player, Drury, 39, represented Team USA at three Olympic games and three World Championships. His American squad won the silver medal at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, and the 2010 games in Vancouver.
As a rookie, Drury won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001. In 1997-98, Drury won the Hobey Baker Award at Boston University. He won the NHL Rookie Of The Year in 1998-99.
In 892 NHL games, Drury scored 255 goals and added 360 assists. In 135 career playoff games, Drury scored 47 goals and chipped in 42 assists.
His teammates nicknamed him "Captain Clutch" in Buffalo because he always raised his game to the next level in the pressure packed moments inside of games. Drury was not easily rattled nor intimidated by the pressure of competition.
Drury played for the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres and NY Rangers. Drury was captain of his Sabres and Flanes teams.
How much do you wanna bet that Team USA management wants Drury to break off a call and a visit to fellow BU alum and Buffalo Sabres star Jack Eichel to reconsider skipping The Worlds?
Eichel will decline an invite to play for Team USA in Russia so that he can rest, recover and prepare his mind and body to play for the "Young Stars" U23 team at the World Cup of Hockey in September.
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