Breaking down Sabres’ trade with San Jose ahead of NHL Draft

Who could be available in 14th place in the general classification?

When we covered our lists of seven players who could be available to the Sabres with the 11th overall pick on both offense and defense, we wrote about the high level of variance among media rankings of what is considered a deep group of about 15 players at the top of this year’s draft.

Sabres assistant general manager Jerry Forton, who oversees amateur scouting for the organization, said at a news conference last week that he expects a similar divergence in opinion among NHL clubs.

“I think this draft might be a little unique after this point, when you get to 6 to 15 players,” Forton said. “I think there’s a very wide range of players and probably a lot of differences of opinion across the league on this group of players. »

All of which is to say that the list of players we put together as options for the Sabres at 11 is still relevant now that they’ve moved back to 14.

In the frontThat list includes a capable two-way center in Konsta Helenius; a tall and talented winger in Beckett Sennecke; a power forward in Michael Brandsegg-Nygard; and two players with eye-catching offensive numbers in Berkly Catton and Cole Eiserman, among others.

The defense list features an offensive defense trio with Carter Yakemchuk, Zayne Parekh and Zeev Buium; a straight shooter with high upside in Adam Jiricek; and a late riser in Stian Solberg who Corey Pronman of “The Athletic” called “the most physical player in this year’s draft.”

By trading with the Sharks, the Sabers still have the option to draft one of the aforementioned players (or another name on their roster) while also adding a second pick in the second round.