Latest On Sabres’ Pursuit Of Viktor Antipin
The Buffalo Sabres are one step closer to signing Viktor Antipin as according to Igor Eronko of Sport-Express, the 24-year old defenseman has indeed terminated his contract with Magnitogorsk and is now a free agent. Antipin had been contracted through next season, but has been rumored for months to be a target of the Sabres. With Dmitry Kulikov, Cody Franson and Taylor Fedun all set to become free agents, the Sabres could use a puck moving defender like Antipin immediately on the back-end.
Antipin is one of the most decorated young players in the KHL, already with two Gagain Cup victories, two World Championship medals and a World Juniors silver under his belt. He’s also been a KHL all-star and won the league’s “Gentleman” award. After 24 points in 59 games this season, Antipin played a huge part in taking Magnitogorsk to the Cup final once again, scoring seven goals in 18 playoff games. Buffalo will likely get him under contract as soon as possible.
Earlier updates…
- Last week, the two sides were linked by multiple sources with Brayton Wilson of WGR 550 in Buffalo noting that any deal would likely include a clause which would send Antipin back should the Sabres think he’s not ready for the NHL. There will be no AHL time for the young defender, as his goal is to play in the NHL right away. Nikita Tryamkin had a similar clause put into his deal, before heading back to Russia this year.
- Back in early March, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was one of the first to mention Antipin’s name in connection with Buffalo, while also speaking about his teammate Alexei Bereglazov’s interest in the New York Rangers. Bereglazov signed with the Rangers on April 21st, mainly because he did not have the added obstacle of negotiating a termination of a full year on his KHL deal. If Antipin does sign with the Sabres, it will be interesting to see the two develop for cross-state teams here in the NHL.
Snapshots: Las Vegas Lottery, Buffalo’s GM Search
Yesterday’s NHL draft lottery was a disaster for most of the worst teams in the NHL as three teams, not in the bottom three, ended up winning the lottery, pushing the teams that most need talent back three slots. With New Jersey (fourth-worst record), Philadelphia (13th worst record) and Dallas (seventh-worst record) winning the top three spots in the 2017 NHL Draft this year, teams like Colorado and Vancouver end up with their worst-case scenarios. The Avalanche will draft fourth and the Canucks fifth.
The new team, the expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights got no luck either. The team, which had an 88 percent chance of a top-five pick, ended up sixth. The team had hopes of drafting the face of their franchise if they could get high enough. The hope was the team could snag either Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier. Instead the team will now need to look at the second-tier of options, according to Las Vegas Sun’s Jesse Granger.
While Las Vegas will look at multiple players at No. 6, it is believed the Golden Knights will focus on forwards in the first-round of the draft as they are expected to collect lots of defense and goaltending in the expansion draft and be desperate for scoring.
They will look at several prospects in that second tier, including Windsor Spitfire’s center Gabriel Vilardi from the OHL, Mississauga Steelheads wing Owen Tippett of the OHL, Eden Prairie (Minn.) High School’s Casey Mittelstadt and Tri-City Americans center Michael Rasmussen of the WHL. Vilardi is a 6-foot-3, 200-pound center who uses his size advantage to dominate. He is coming off a season in which he had 29 goals and 32 assists in just 49 contests this season. His lack of penalty minutes signal that he knows how to use his size to his advantage. Tippett is coming off a big year in which he scored 44 goals in 62 games and is known to be exceptionally quick. However, defense is an issue. Mittelstadt won Mr. Hockey in Minnesota, but is tough to judge after playing against lower-level competition. Rasmussen is the biggest of the four as he is 6-foot-5 and tallied 32 goals in the WHL.
- The Buffalo Sabres interviewed Columbus Blue Jackets’ assistant general manager Bill Zito Saturday, as reported by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun. Zito has been the Blue Jackets’ AGM since August of 2013. According to the team’s website, Zito helps manage contract negotiations, scouting and player evaluation and salary cap management and is also the general manager of the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters. The team has also shown interest in Los Angeles Kings’ assistant GM Mike Futa.
NHL Draft Lottery Notes: Odds, History, Viewing
For the fourteen teams that missed the playoffs and the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, they have one thing in common: they’re hoping Bill Daly is holding a card with their logo on it, announcing that they have the first overall pick.
At 7pm central, NBC, CBC, and Sportsnet will show the NHL Draft Lottery as the Colorado Avalanche lead all teams in terms of percentage for receiving the #1 pick. Below are the odds:
Colorado Avalanche — 18.0%
Vancouver Canucks — 12.1%
Vegas Golden Knights — 10.3%
Arizona Coyotes — 10.3%
New Jersey Devils — 8.5%
Buffalo Sabres — 7.6%
Detroit Red Wings — 6.7%
Dallas Stars — 5.8%
Florida Panthers — 5.4%
Los Angeles Kings — 4.5%
Carolina Hurricanes — 3.2%
Winnipeg Jets — 2.7%
Philadelphia Flyers — 2.2%
Tampa Bay Lightning 1.8%
New York Islanders — 0.9%
TSN has a lengthy writeup on the history of the lottery and how the current format differs from other versions. The biggest change for the draft is that instead of the worst team being guaranteed, at worst, a second overall pick, they are only promised a top four pick. This was placed to discourage teams from “tanking” to draft top-end talent, which hasn’t completely negated the idea of tanking as Toronto won the right to draft Auston Matthews last season with the #1 pick while securing the worst record in the NHL.
What’s new to 2017? From Sportsnet:
For just the second time in NHL draft lottery history, the top three picks are in play. This rule was implemented by the league in 2016 to dull incentive for any team to finish lower in the standings (i.e., tanking).
The odds of winning the second and third draws increases on a proportional basis depending on which team claimed the previous draw.
The addition of a 15th lottery team, Vegas, into the mix also affects the winning percentages.
This draft is different too, since the top two picks for the first time in three seasons are not considered the “generational talent” that Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Matthews or Patrik Laine were when looking back at the one and two overall picks respectively.
This isn’t to besmirch the top two candidates, Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier. After all, “can’t miss” prospects have fooled scouts and analysts before while prospects that scouts didn’t think were as good sometimes exceeded expectations.
But before the talent can be chosen, there needs to be an order. Tonight will determine that.
Specifics:
Time: 7pm CST
Where to watch: CBC, Sportsnet, NBC
Snapshots: Futa, Fiala, Vesalainen
The Buffalo Sabres have a confirmed interest in Mike Futa of the Los Angeles Kings as a candidate for their next GM, and were granted permission to talk to him about the position. John Vogl of the Buffalo News clarifies the situation, reporting that they have not asked for any discussion with Dean Lombardi. Futa was just promoted to assistant GM a few weeks ago after working as the team’s director of player personnel under Lombardi. He also was a finalist for the Buffalo job that eventually went to Murray back in 2014, along with Jason Botterill who was also confirmed in the running this time around.
Futa has been rumored to be in the mix for GM openings around the league for the past few years, but had been previously unsuccessful and deemed too important in Los Angeles. While the new regime—Rob Blake and Luc Robitaille—clearly value his position in the front office, they likely wouldn’t stop him from taking the step up to be “the man” in Buffalo.
- Kevin Fiala is on his way home from the hospital according to Cassie Campbell of Hockey Night in Canada. The Predators forward is actually walking already on the advice of doctors, and will now face a four to six month recovery time after fracturing his left femur. That injury is extremely dangerous, and Fiala was rushed into surgery immediately after sustaining it on Wednesday. He’ll be lucky to be ready for the start of training camp, but the Predators will have him back in the lineup next year.
- Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News reports that Kristian Vesalainen, a top prospect in the upcoming entry draft, has signed a one-year contract with HPK of the Finnish Liiga. The last few seasons Vesalainen had been playing in Sweden for Frolunda, but spent some time with HPK on loan near the end of the year. The Finnish winger recently was awarded MVP honors at the U18 Worlds, scoring 13 points in 7 games and leading Finland to a silver medal. He was ranked seventh among European skaters in the latest list from NHL Central Scouting, but may rise as high as the top-10 by draft day. He’ll stay in Finland next season before discussing with whichever team drafts him where he should continue his development.
Jason Botterill Latest To Be Linked To Sabres GM Search
The Buffalo Sabres are deep into a search for the next GM of their franchise, and Pierre LeBrun of TSN believes that Jason Botterill has already interviewed for the job. Botterill is currently the associate GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and has been with the team since 2007. While the New York Rangers denied access to Chris Drury, the Penguins would have had to allow Buffalo to contact Botterill for a chance at the job.
Sabres owner Terry Pegula made it clear in his earlier press conference that the team would be after someone with experience, and though Botterill has never had a full-time general manager job, he did serve as the interim GM for the Penguins between the Ray Shero and Jim Rutherford leadership, and has now worked under both of them. Botterill also previously worked for the NHL and Dallas Stars in a scouting capacity.
For the Sabres, interviewing top assistants seems to be the first path of evaluation as they apparently have not approached the Los Angeles Kings for permission to interview Dean Lombardi. The team has already interviewed Bill Guerin (another Pittsburgh AGM) while Botterill, Drury, Norm Maciver (Chicago), and Julien BriseBois (Tampa) all represent long-standing assistants that are expected to get a chance heading an NHL franchise eventually. Toronto whiz-kid Kyle Dubas, Calgary alum Craig Conroy and others have also been linked, though just through speculation.
When Rutherford decided to keep Botterill on as associate GM in 2014, he had this to say about him:
Jason is one of the top young executives in the NHL, and I’m pleased to promote him to the role of Associate General Manager. Jason knows our organization top to bottom, including all players, prospects and staff, and his detailed understanding of the CBA and salary cap make him a major asset to the Penguins. I look forward to working with him closely.
That kind of high praise is exactly why the Sabres are after him, but it will be interesting to see if he would leave the Penguins for the job. Rutherford turned 68 this year, and likely won’t be wanting to keep up the grind of an NHL GM for very much longer. If that’s true, Botterill—and likely Guerin—would likely be a candidate to take over one of the NHL’s most successful franchises.
Morning Notes: Vegas-Buffalo, Chicago, New York
John Vogl of the Buffalo News reports that the firing of Tim Murray has already affected the Sabres expansion draft plans, as the outgoing GM was in talks with Vegas about a deal to have them select a certain player, or at least not select a certain player. Vogl writes that he will now have to wait to reach out to Murray’s replacement to see if the deal is still in the works.
The Sabres aren’t in terrible shape for the draft, though will likely have to expose one of Johan Larsson or William Carrier up front. The deal could have easily been something like Vegas agreeing to take Matt Moulson off their hands, but we perhaps will never know what Murray had tried to accomplish before being jettisoned earlier this month.
- Scott Powers of The Athletic details the trouble the Blackhawks will find themselves in due to the various no-movement/trade clauses that have been handed out in Chicago. While everyone expects players like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to receive them, Artem Anisimov was given one this year while a partial NTC kicks in for Marcus Kruger next season. For a team that needs to free up some cap space this summer, the clauses will be another sticking point.
- The New York Islanders have announced that they will have a new ECHL affiliate next season called the Worcester Railers HC. The Railers are the first ever ECHL team based in Massachusetts, as Worcester is about 50 miles west of Boston. That city of course had the Worcester Sharks in the AHL for many years before they moved to San Jose and became the Barracuda two years ago.
Chris Drury Rejects Sabres Interview
The Buffalo Sabres are apparently still struggling to woo a capable general manager, according to Elliotte Friedman. The New York Rangers Assistant GM – and former Sabre co-captain – Chris Drury, rejected the franchise’s attempts to interview him for the position. Drury had been in charge of player development prior to promotion to AGM, and continuing acting as a liaison for prospects and younger players. His efforts have been widely praised league-wide, as the Rangers acquired and developed wonderful college players over the years, such as Jimmy Vesey and Kevin Hayes. Bill Guerin has already been interviewed by the Sabres, and other candidates will certainly be willing to sit down with Buffalo ownership, considering that only 31 head management positions exist in the league. But this rejection cannot be perceived as a positive sign for an organization that has struggled to find strong, capable leadership. After the Jack Eichel end-of-season presser, rumors surfaced that the phenom did not want to play next season for head coach Dan Bylsma (an allegation which was adamantly denied by his agent). The rumor was lent some credibility when both the coaching and general manager were quickly dismissed thereafter.
Owner Terry Pegula will now be hunting for his 5th different coach since taking ownership of the franchise in 2011 – coincidentally, the same year that Buffalo last made the playoffs. Buffalo has struggled to attract high end talent, whether it be players or staff. The organization had been rejected by Mike Babcock in favor of Toronto when they offered the legendary coach an opportunity. Bylsma was in essence a consolation prize, and his poor overall record in Bufffalo did nothing to alleviate the memory of the faulty hiring process in the minds of fans. With regards to the GM search, we’ve heard very little chatter around the recently fired Kings’ GM Dean Lombardi in connection to Buffalo, which might be cause for concern. Especially in light of Pegula’s re-assurances that any hires would bring a wealth of experience, it seems as though Pegula is content looking to recently retired NHLers to guide the ship. Although Guerin and Drury have both undoubtedly helped their franchises in different respects (both the Penguins and Rangers are consistent playoff contenders), it seems possible that again Pegula is having to settle for second and third choices.
Whichever GM takes over for the Sabres, they will have their work cut out for them. Although the forward corps is stocked with Eichel, Ryan O’Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Sam Reinhart, and Evander Kane, they still have a need for depth that plays up to capability. Goaltending was no longer at fault this season, and coaches have been swapped out like air filters. If success doesn’t come soon, scrutiny will start to fall more heavily upon ownership. Fans can only endure a rebuild for so long before they expect results.
Snapshots: Bruins, Chayka, Canadiens
The Boston Bruins’ GM Don Sweeney met with the media today, and Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe reported on many of his answers. The executive put the pressure on himself to improve the Bruins after their first-round exit, saying that their middle-six needs the most work.
Sweeney also said that he’ll likely go with the 7-3-1 expansion draft option and that he won’t reveal what’s next for Ryan Spooner, the latter of which is especially interesting. Spooner didn’t play in the elimination game for the Bruins, and is a restricted free agent this summer. Many teams would have interest in the 25-year old should Boston feel his time is up as a Bruin.
- Though John Chayka has been linked to the Buffalo Sabres GM search, Craig Morgan of AZ Sports is here to quash any thoughts of him leaving the desert. Morgan reports that the Coyotes would deny any request of permission to talk to Chayka about a job, though he makes it clear that that doesn’t mean Buffalo has yet. It would have been shocking for the Coyotes to allow Chayka to leave so soon after giving him the reins, even if it was to an Eastern Conference team near his hometown. Chayka has a lot of work still left to do in Arizona if he’s to turn that team around and establish them in the city.
- Count the Montreal Canadiens as the latest suitor for John Tavares, despite his repeated intention to stay with the New York Islanders. Eric Engels of Sportsnet writes that the Canadiens should do whatever it takes to acquire the superstar center should he become available. Though the Tavares-sweepstakes aren’t real just yet, the bigger point of the Engels piece is that the Canadiens still need that #1 center they’ve been after for so long. With the clear message that Alex Galchenyuk isn’t considered the future of that position any longer, the Canadiens will be on the hunt all summer.
Morning Notes: Guerin, CTE, Fiala
The Buffalo Sabres at down with another big name yesterday, bringing in Penguins’ assistant GM Bill Guerin for an interview according to Pierre LeBrun of TSN. Pittsburgh is Guerin’s first job in management since his retirement in 2010, but he has a ton of experience to fall back on; the 1263 NHL games in which he scored 856 points give him a built-in respect.
Guerin was first hired to work in the Penguins’ development team, and he has still had his hands in the recruitment and development of many NCAA players such as Conor Sheary and Zach Aston-Reese. He himself went to Boston College before entering the NHL, so can relate to the journey college players go on.
- The NHL has lost its latest court battle in the war over brain injuries and CTE, reports TSN’s Rick Westhead. The last we heard the league had issued a subpoena to try and get Boston University to hand over all documents and communication related to their research—an ask that would certainly bury the study in paperwork for years. Now, as Westhead writes, a federal judge in Minneapolis has denied the subpoena agreeing that it would be a “staggering” task for the university. This hopefully will allow BU to continue their research unimpeded, which will now include the brain of recently-deceased former NFL football player Aaron Hernandez as well as more than 400 others.
- Kevin Fiala was taken to hospital last night after crashing hard into the boards and being removed by stretcher. The team provided just the update that he was stable but had suffered a leg injury. Fiala’s legs went first into the boards and it looked as though the injury was extremely serious, likely taking him out for the remainder of the playoffs. If that’s true, it’s a big blow to the Predators who had come to rely on Fiala as a part of their top-six. Colin Wilson moved up in his absence, and will likely be asked to do so again on Friday night.
Buffalo Sabres Sign Devante Stephens To Three-Year ELC
The Buffalo Sabres continue to work even without a GM, signing Devante Stephens to a three-year entry-level contract. The Kelowna Rockets defenseman was drafted by the Sabres in the fifth round in 2015 but found success this season with 35 points in 67 games. Somewhat of a late bloomer, Stephens was on the list of draft picks that would have become free agents if not signed by June 1st.
Ironically it was Greg Royce, the recently fired director of amateur scouting for the Sabres who spoke so highly of Stephens after the 2015 draft, telling Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat “I really firmly believe he will be a top-six defenseman in the NHL.” Even though Royce is now gone, the Sabres are still getting that possible steal who was also a favorite of the outgoing Dan Bylsma. The talented two-way defenseman won’t dazzle with flash, but gets the job done—something that Buffalo desperately needs in their system.
Because Stephens is already 20, he’ll likely head to the Rochester Americans of the AHL next season where he can continue to develop his game as his body matures. Still only listed at 172-lbs, he’ll need to fill out his 6’1″ frame a bit to make a real impact in the defensive zone of an NHL game.