The Sabres haven’t drafted particularly well over the last 13 seasons, selecting Mikhail Grigorenko, Zemgus Girgensons, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Nikita Zadorov in the first round in the two ensuing drafts after their previous postseason bid. Of all the missed draft picks in that span, Alex Nylander in 2016 was the biggest.
Nylander managed to work his way into only 19 games for the Sabres, before being traded for defenseman Henri Jokiharju. It was a huge letdown from the eighth overall selection, whose father played 15 seasons in the NHL and whose brother is thriving up north in Toronto.
Freshly inking an AHL contract, Nylander’s future NHL prospects seem like a longshot. If he never plays in the NHL again, he will have ended his career with 25 goals and 49 points in 121 games.
# Not Signing Brandon Hagel
If we were ranking the most egregious follies of the drought, not signing Brandon Hagel to an entry-level deal after selecting him in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL draft would be number one. It was perhaps the easiest mistake to avoid, justifying the ranking. Hagel ran into some injury concerns prior to the 2017-2018 season, which was enough to scare former general manager Jason Botterill away.
Botterill was not the GM who selected Hagel, which cleared him of all ties to the hard-nosed forward. As it turns out, Tim Murray, the GM who drafted Hagel, was correct. The Chicago Blackhawks eventually signed the former Sabres pick, to the chagrin of the Buffalo organization.
Hagel recorded 75 points in 82 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2023-2024. That is 14 points more than Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin, who led the Sabres in scoring last season.
# Not Trading Rasmus Ristolainen Sooner
# Handling of Jack Eichel
Speaking of Eichel, the final biggest blunder of the drought revolved around the Sabres’ mishandling of their superstar. The Sabres stockpiled top draft picks and futures in hopes of a complete teardown and rebuild, and Eichel was the prized possession of the operation.
Years of losing to begin his career took its toll on both Eichel and the organization, and a dispute over potential neck surgeries to alleviate the star center’s herniated disc in his neck put general manager Kevyn Adams in a tough spot. The dispute lingered throughout the 2021 offseason before Eichel was traded in early November of the 2021-2022 season.
The Sabres received Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a 2022 first-round draft pick, and a 2023 second-round pick from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Eichel and a 2023 third-round pick. Buffalo drafted Noah Ostlund with the first-round selection and traded the second-rounder to acquire Jordan Greenway. Vegas used the third-rounder on forward Mathieu Cataford.
Eichel, of course, was the leading scorer on the Stanley Cup-winning Golden Knights team the following season. The Sabres missed the playoffs by one point that season and undoubtedly could’ve used the former captain’s production to get them over the hump.
The Eichel discussion gets more complicated with locker room dynamics and leadership questions, but it’s fair to say the Sabres organization didn’t do him any favors. He dealt with lackluster talent and was prematurely thrust into the spotlight. Had they cleaned up some of the other mistakes along the way, we could be talking about the Sabres’ playoff experiences with Eichel instead of his legacy within the drought.
Ok-Fish-346
Trading ROR for scraps didn’t make the list? I’d have put that at #1
serious_man_13
The biggest blunder was tearing the organization down for the sole purpose of tanking for McDavid and not adjusting when they lost the lottery and got Eichel instead.
Murray should’ve slowly built the team up instead of rushing the rebuilding expecting Eichel to be the savior of the franchise. Guess what Murray, Eichel ain’t McDavid.
kenfury
Some of those I understand but taking Nylander over a D still bothers me.
Roguemutantbrain
I believe they’re talking about drafting in the playoff drought when they mention 13 years. That’s wrong. The issue is that we drafted poorly from 2005-2016. Regier and Murray were terrible at the draft and the org lost a lot of implicit capital this way. Since 2017, we’ve made out with at least 1 or 2 really nice pieces in each draft, making us, at worst, above average in the last 8 drafts.
Harry_Mantilope
ROR trade should absolutely be on here. I get that Tage has turned into an elite player, but we traded our 2C who was our 2nd best player for next to nothing for three years until Tage broke out in 2021-22. Obviously Tage is the better player now, but that trade kept us at the bottom for years and we’re still there.
Still_Consequence_60
They shipped off McNabb for nothing just to further tank. Organization gutted it’s culture and sold off any asset for a lottery ticket. So short sighted.
I also can’t see how some of the coaching hires don’t make the top 5 blunders. Rehiring Nolan is a far bigger blunder than not signing Hagel.
BuffaloBronco96
Lehner trade and then letting him walk was dumb. Not signing Brandon Hagel is another good one. I really hope the Mitts trade won’t fall in the same category
8 Comments
# Signing Ville Leino
# Drafting Alex Nylander
The Sabres haven’t drafted particularly well over the last 13 seasons, selecting Mikhail Grigorenko, Zemgus Girgensons, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Nikita Zadorov in the first round in the two ensuing drafts after their previous postseason bid. Of all the missed draft picks in that span, Alex Nylander in 2016 was the biggest.
Nylander managed to work his way into only 19 games for the Sabres, before being traded for defenseman Henri Jokiharju. It was a huge letdown from the eighth overall selection, whose father played 15 seasons in the NHL and whose brother is thriving up north in Toronto.
Freshly inking an AHL contract, Nylander’s future NHL prospects seem like a longshot. If he never plays in the NHL again, he will have ended his career with 25 goals and 49 points in 121 games.
# Not Signing Brandon Hagel
If we were ranking the most egregious follies of the drought, not signing Brandon Hagel to an entry-level deal after selecting him in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL draft would be number one. It was perhaps the easiest mistake to avoid, justifying the ranking. Hagel ran into some injury concerns prior to the 2017-2018 season, which was enough to scare former general manager Jason Botterill away.
Botterill was not the GM who selected Hagel, which cleared him of all ties to the hard-nosed forward. As it turns out, Tim Murray, the GM who drafted Hagel, was correct. The Chicago Blackhawks eventually signed the former Sabres pick, to the chagrin of the Buffalo organization.
Hagel recorded 75 points in 82 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2023-2024. That is 14 points more than Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin, who led the Sabres in scoring last season.
# Not Trading Rasmus Ristolainen Sooner
# Handling of Jack Eichel
Speaking of Eichel, the final biggest blunder of the drought revolved around the Sabres’ mishandling of their superstar. The Sabres stockpiled top draft picks and futures in hopes of a complete teardown and rebuild, and Eichel was the prized possession of the operation.
Years of losing to begin his career took its toll on both Eichel and the organization, and a dispute over potential neck surgeries to alleviate the star center’s herniated disc in his neck put general manager Kevyn Adams in a tough spot. The dispute lingered throughout the 2021 offseason before Eichel was traded in early November of the 2021-2022 season.
The Sabres received Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a 2022 first-round draft pick, and a 2023 second-round pick from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Eichel and a 2023 third-round pick. Buffalo drafted Noah Ostlund with the first-round selection and traded the second-rounder to acquire Jordan Greenway. Vegas used the third-rounder on forward Mathieu Cataford.
Eichel, of course, was the leading scorer on the Stanley Cup-winning Golden Knights team the following season. The Sabres missed the playoffs by one point that season and undoubtedly could’ve used the former captain’s production to get them over the hump.
The Eichel discussion gets more complicated with locker room dynamics and leadership questions, but it’s fair to say the Sabres organization didn’t do him any favors. He dealt with lackluster talent and was prematurely thrust into the spotlight. Had they cleaned up some of the other mistakes along the way, we could be talking about the Sabres’ playoff experiences with Eichel instead of his legacy within the drought.
Trading ROR for scraps didn’t make the list? I’d have put that at #1
The biggest blunder was tearing the organization down for the sole purpose of tanking for McDavid and not adjusting when they lost the lottery and got Eichel instead.
Murray should’ve slowly built the team up instead of rushing the rebuilding expecting Eichel to be the savior of the franchise. Guess what Murray, Eichel ain’t McDavid.
Some of those I understand but taking Nylander over a D still bothers me.
I believe they’re talking about drafting in the playoff drought when they mention 13 years. That’s wrong. The issue is that we drafted poorly from 2005-2016. Regier and Murray were terrible at the draft and the org lost a lot of implicit capital this way. Since 2017, we’ve made out with at least 1 or 2 really nice pieces in each draft, making us, at worst, above average in the last 8 drafts.
ROR trade should absolutely be on here. I get that Tage has turned into an elite player, but we traded our 2C who was our 2nd best player for next to nothing for three years until Tage broke out in 2021-22. Obviously Tage is the better player now, but that trade kept us at the bottom for years and we’re still there.
They shipped off McNabb for nothing just to further tank. Organization gutted it’s culture and sold off any asset for a lottery ticket. So short sighted.
I also can’t see how some of the coaching hires don’t make the top 5 blunders. Rehiring Nolan is a far bigger blunder than not signing Hagel.
Lehner trade and then letting him walk was dumb. Not signing Brandon Hagel is another good one. I really hope the Mitts trade won’t fall in the same category