12th.... I'm sooooooo excited

I'm not really thrilled about choosing 12th either when we were sitting top 5 for awhile. But I'm not really thrilled that two of the top players are Russian either. I think this draft has a lot of guys with almost all the same qualities. I know people want to bunch up picks or players to move up or trade for an established player,but this team needs to start focusing on drafting skilled offensive players that are over 6 feet tall and have the drive and commitment to improve every year.

Two top guys who can score and play big BUT FUCK THEM THEY'RE RUSSIAN!

What the fuck dude?

I think it may have been the worst off-season FOR Regier, not BY Regier. I liked Drury and Briere while they were here. Of course we'll never know what really happened in the negotiations, but they weren't worth what they got, and I'm glad we didn't put so many eggs in just 2 baskets. It sucked at the time to lose them, but under the circumstances, I think Darcy did the right thing. I know that probably puts me in the minority.

With the benefit of hindsight, I wish Darcy would have taken the Vanek deal. That's easy for me to say, but at the time Sabres fans were going absolutely berserk about 23 & 48 leaving. If we'd also lost Vanek that same summer, there may have been riots! This was the Golisano era, and my completely unprovable opinion is that TG made the decision for Darcy to keep Vanek, so as not to upset the apple cart any more. We all knew all along that TG wasn't in it for the long haul (but he's still very appreciated and rightly so). Yeah we would have sucked pretty bad for a few seasons, but that would have elevated our own 1st round picks, and we would have gotten all those Oilers 1st rounders in addition.

I'm not impressed by guys that have talent that can't bring it on a nightly basis. See Semin and many others. Plus when watching world junior championship the Russian that was drafted by Washington was by far the best player on the ice and his status is in limbo because of the KHL and him wanting to stay in Russia.

Maybe 12 is a lucky number for Buffalo. Tyler Myers was our 12th overall in the 2008 draft.

So Edmonton wins the 1st pick over Columbus. They get another 1st overall pick, and yet I wonder how they still stink with three recent 1st rd picks all playing well.

Craig Button offered his mock draft. Like most mock drafts, it shows that the analyst apparently doesn't pay attention to the Sabres, predicting a pick of Swedish D-man Hampus Lindholm. Not only is Buffalo likely not to pick a d-man considering their current depth, they probably wouldn't chance another 1st rd bust on a Swedish D-man, a la Dennis Persson.

Anyway, Buffalo stays at 12th overall, with center prospects like Faksa, Gaunce, and Hertl within reach. I still hope for a trade up to nab Grigorenko or Galchenyuk. Problem is Toronto picks 5th and probably wants a center, and Burke will never arrange a trade with Regier. That means Regier has to move up to 4th by a trade with NYI to ensure one of those players (assuming Yakupov and Murray are drafted in the top four).

Keeping Vanek is not something Regier should be criticized for. Losing your 3 best players in one off-season would leave the next few seasons a wreck.

Hey, wasn't there two decent sized centers around pick 12, considering the draft goes in order?

I know Faksa might be there, not sure who the other guy is.