The Buffalo Sabres have invited 51 players to their main training camp which begins on Thursday.
Rasmus Dahlin, come on down! You are the next 18-year old phenom to play in the NHL as a rookie!
Dahlin will become the ninth defensemen in NHL history to be selected first overall pick and start his career in the NHL.
There will be high stakes competition among the 29 forwards, 16 defensemen and 5 goalies.
Sabres GM Jason Botterill did not offer any professional try out contracts to NHL veterans looking to latch on to an NHL club.
No dress rehearsal, this is our life.
This is the training camp that diehard Sabres fans have been waiting for for the past seven seasons. For the first time in a long time, youngsters are going to have the opportunity to earn roster spots. There is internal competition at all positions and the battles for roster spots will be tense and dramatic. No more free lunches nor living off your freputation. No more tanking.
It's playoffs of bust for Eichel, Dahlin and the Sabres. There is no reason why the Sabres can't be the 2018-19 equivalent of the 2017-18 New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche who dug themselves out of the cellar and earned playoff berths respectively.
Last weekend, I saw the future of the Sabres at the Prospect Challenge. The kids played fantastic hockey against the best of the best prospects from Pittsburgh, Boston and New Jersey. The Sabres have the NHL's best collection of young talent in their organizational pipeline today. As many as five of the blue chip prospects will be earning roster spots with teh Sabres out of training camp. Those player who don't stick and stay in Buffalo will be in the on deck circle for call ups if injures or inconsistent play occurs. The Rochester Amerks will be as stacked as the Sabres will be this season.
That is how great NHL organizations like Pittsburgh, Washington, San Jose, Anaheim, and Tampa have managed to remain competitive for the past decade.
Unlike the vintages of the past four seasons, the 2018-19 Sabres training camp will feature a veritable plethora of highly skilled, super fast, high IQ, young hockey players.
The future is now for Jack Eichel and his Buffalo Sabres.
New veteran faces include forwards Jeff Skinner, Conor Sheary, Carter Hutton, Patrik Berglund and Vlad Sobotka.
Fresh faced youngsters Dahlin (draft choice), Brendan Guhle (draft choice), Casey Mittelstadt (draft coice), Alex Nylander (draft choice), Rasmus Asplund (draft choice), Victor Olofsson (draft choice), Tage Thompson (acquired in Ryan O'Reilly trade to St. Louis), Lawrence Pilut (Swedish Elite League free agent signee), Linus Ullmark (draft choice)highlight the new wave of Sabres players.
Yes, forward Samson Reinhart is on the camp invitee list.
The question now is:
Will the pending restricted free agent be signed in the next two days to facilitate the player participating in on ice activities and exhibition games? Reinhart has been skating shinny with his teammates since Labor Day. His new contract has been a six-set tennis match between his agent and Botterill, who said Monday that Reinhart "is a part of teh rebuild in Buffalo".
It's long past due for you to show the kid the money, Botts. Be it short term, high aanual average value. Or, multiple years at lower AAV. Get it done.
Here is the complete list of training camp invitees:
Off ice testing begins on Thursday.
Beginning Friday, practice sessions will be held at Harborcenter, which will be open to the public, with practices broken down into multiple sessions throughout each day.
The Sabres will then open their preseason slate of games on Monday when the team takes on the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m. in Columbus. Buffalo then returns home the following night for a 7 p.m. faceoff at KeyBank Center against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The schedule for the first four days of training camp is below. All practice times are subject to change.
Schedule for first week of camp:
Thursday
Players report for testing and physicals.
Friday:
Session one: 9:45 – 10:20 a.m. (New Wave Energy Rink) / 10:25 – 11:15 a.m. (KeyBank Rink)
Session two: 11:45 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. (New Wave Energy Rink) / 12:25 – 1:15 p.m. (KeyBank Rink)
Saturday:
Session one: 9:45 – 10:20 a.m. (New Wave Energy Rink) / 10:25 – 11:15 a.m. (KeyBank Rink)
Session two: 11:45 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. (New Wave Energy Rink) / 12:25 – 1:15 p.m. (KeyBank Rink)
Sunday:
Practice: 9:45 – 10:15 a.m. (Both rinks)
Scrimmage: 10:30 – 11:15 a.m. (KeyBank Rink)
Th first exhibition game is in Columbus on Monday night. Then, the sabres return home to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.
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