Buffalo’s tank job officially comes to an end with Jack Eichel draft selection
SUNRISE, Fla. – There were audible sounds of relief amongst some staffers wearing Buffalo Sabres gear after the team selected Jack Eichel No. 2 overall at the 2015 NHL Draft.
“Thank goodness that’s over, I’m so happy,” one said.
“This is fun,” another said after Eichel finished his first news conference as a Sabre.
Within one day, Buffalo transformed. Not only does it have Eichel, it has Ryan O’Reilly – another center – and its starting goaltender in Robin Lehner. Those pearly gates at Hockey Heaven sure sound nice now.
“Buffalo wants success and it wants success soon and I think that’s what’s going to happen,” Eichel said.
This doesn’t seem to be in doubt in the way the team has suddenly changed in one day.
If there was any disappointment in the fact the Sabres lost the draft lottery, it wasn’t visible Friday. Not in the slightest. Just look at the celebratory shots from the area.
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There was also general manager Tim Murray’s “Buffalo selects Jack Eichel” moment which was tremendously funny.
“In terms of the guys they acquired, obviously they’ve acquired a lot of great players. Guys who have had success, guys who have been in the league,” Eichel said.
Eichel didn’t say if he’s going to return to Boston University for next season. Here’s a hint – that’s probably not going to happen, not if there’s money involved with going pro.
He also seems to have a sense of Buffalo’s long-suffering fanbase in multiple sports – one this writer became well-acquainted with earlier in the year. Don’t worry, we made peace … I think.
“The fans in Buffalo, the people there are so welcoming and they’re so passionate about hockey and that means a lot to me to go to a hockey community like that where everyone cares about you and wants to see you do well,” Eichel said.
Well, they don’t ALL want to see you do well. Like that time when the fans cheered for the Arizona Coyotes in the end-of-season tank wars. Oh whatever, that’s all in the past now.
So here’s how it stacks up for the Sabres … if center is the most important position in hockey, the Sabres suddenly have two good ones between O’Reilly and Eichel.
Throw in David Legwand in the Lehner deal – another American No. 2 pick in an NHL Draft to try to play Crash Davis to Eichel’s Nuke LaLoosh. Well, Legwand never did really reach the massive Mike Modano-like potential heaped upon him in the 1998 NHL Draft. But he still is Nashville’s all-time leading scorer.
They have Lehner in goal. They have a solid defenseman in Zach Bogosian. Those are all some pretty good building blocks for the long-suffering franchise. Was this year of tankage all worth it?
As of Friday, it seemed like it never happened.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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