SABRES DRAFT PRIVIEW
By Daniel Salfin, Sabres Prospects Editor-In-Chief
Sunday, May 30, 1999

Detroit tried to purchase a Stanley Cup with the deals which they made before the March 23rd trading deadline. Colorado and Dallas, the two teams who are fighting for a Stanley Cup berth in the West are big-market teams with a lot of their star players coming through major trades and free-agent signings. The Buffalo Sabres on the other hand are also fighting their way to their first Stanley Cup appearance in 25 years with a much more limited budget, with home-grown talent predominant in the 1998-99 Buffalo Sabres roster.

Home grown talent, something which is now almost non-existent in the National Hockey League with robber-barons such as Detroit, Colorado and the New York Rangers consuming salaries which skyrocket up to around $50 million, looking to sign every unrestricted free agent on the market and trading for superstar players who cannot be compensated for by the small-market teams whom they play for, still exists in the Buffalo Sabres organization. Their successful drafting history plays a big part in their success on the ice.

With a prospect system loaded with depth on defence and goaltending, the Sabres' needs are for some size up front on offence.

With Wayne Primeau possibly being exposed in the expansion draft to be obtained by the Atlanta Thrashers, the Buffalo Sabres could be looking to draft a centre who has a great deal of size. The answer for this dilemma could be a 6'3, 229 centre named Charlie Stevens out of Guelph of the OHL who the Central Scouting Bureau projects will be drafted late in the first round or early in the second.

Stevens was selected #1 in the OHL Entry Draft by the St. Michael's Majors out of Toronto a few years back and the scouts made quick comparisons from Stevens to Eric Lindros. In his first year playing in the OHL, disappointment set in as he played no where near up to his potential and his effort wasn't there either. He was then traded to Guelph of the OHL and he started to re-gain his form. His numbers improved and so did his play. In the games which I saw Stevens play here in London, he was a major factor and he was hitting everything in sight. He also scored a few goals against the Knights and he also had a fight to add to his name which took place after the second period in a game earlier this year. While Stevens' 58 points is nothing exceptional, it is a vast improvement from his numbers in previous years in the OHL and more importantly his determination and effort have substantially improved as well. Many scouts are writing Stevens off, but I can see Stevens being a steal for whichever team drafts him and with our prospect system already having an unsurmountable amount of depth, I feel Stevens is worth taking a chance on for being our future first-line centre, especially if Primeau is going to end up in Atlanta next season.

We also have three picks in the second round, including the 8th selection in the second round which was acquired through trade. With our second selection in the draft, we should take Chris Kelly if he is still available. Being a Knights season ticket holder, I can attest to what a hard worker Kelly is and would be in our best interest for a future left winger. He's got soft hands, was a huge factor on special teams for the Knights this season, is a good passer, can bring the puck up ice efficiently, played much more physically this season and also has a great sence of defencive awareness. From what I have seen out of Kelly, he looks like he is ready to take his game to the next level and will be a major factor in the Knights' success next season, bringing leadership to the team with the departure of Fata, Barch, Scherban, along with other NHL draftees looking to pursue a career in professional leagues. Believe it or not, I have often made comparisons from Kelly to who else but the devil himself, Miroslav Satan. Both players can accelerate down the ice with blazing speed, both Miro and Kels have soft hands and great stick-handling skills, but both players have only one drawback: their physical presence. When Satan was with Edmonton, he had the skills to become a prolific scorer but was afraid to take or give a hit. Then after coming to Buffalo, Satan played much more physical and because he wasn't afraid of being hit, he was able to play his game and his numbers have gone up as a result as we have seen this season. The same goes with Kelly. After last season, I was beginning to write Kelly off as another player who could not make it in the NHL with his lack of physical play but this season Kelly proved that he can play a physical game and is no longer afraid of being hit along with Satan. Lately, we have seen Satan make a few stand-out hits and because of adapting to the physical North American game well, he has been able to use his assets (speed, stick-handling) to the best of his ability and you have seen the result and I feel the same can go for Kelly who already has shown signs of physical growth for the Knights this season.

Another left winger who should be considered is Mihail Kuleshov out of Russia. I have not seen him play so what I am saying is from the experts who have seen him play and not from myself, but what the experts are saying is that Kuleshov at 6'2, 205 has a great deal of size, works well with the puck in his possession and also can skate fast as well. Another player whom the Sabres may be looking at is Konstantin Koltsov who experts have said is an electrofying Russian as well. These are two options for the Sabres in the draft especially if Maxim Afinogenov doesn't have intent for playing with the Sabres in the future and we do not come to terms with him.

The Sabres are sound at defence and in goal so in this years' draft, we will be looking to draft more offencive talent and players with tenacity up front.