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As we all know last year GMTM said "The Buffalo Sabres select Sam Reinhart" and he was done. 4 words and then Sammy boy. There was no pandering to the host city or thanking the league or any of that. Murray got straight to the point. So with the draft a mere 5 days away, how many words will Murray say prior to saying Jack Eichel's name. I am going say "With the 2nd overall selection, the Buffalo Sabres select Jack Eichel" So 9 words. Murray will have a draft under his belt and be slightly more polished but I don't think he will waste a ton of time. So how long and what does Murray say prior to selecting Jack Eichel? Be fun, be creative, make us laugh, or take it seriously. "What up !? The Buffalo Sabres will take the Stanley Cup and Jack, the hockey player not the drink... we have a half bottle left over at the draft table of Jack. PS. Toronto still sucks."

I got an early start this year on looking at the combine film for the draft. I approach the draft the exact same way I do with a horse sale. I don't care how a guy played in college, where he is projected, his numbers on their own, or intangibles....UNTIL...I go through their drills and find guys based on build/conformation, fluidity/rigidity, efficiency of motion in all directions, physical technique, efficiency of strength, and confidence and alertness. My goal is to find the most balanced individuals, regardless of pure talent. Those are the guys that will have the best chance of making a roster or an impact in my opinion. If there is no film on a guy, I did not search anything down, so there could be viable options in guys who didn't participate. There are some guys that are ok that I won't profile, and a lot that are ranked in the top few rounds that I don't care for and will not include. You can assume if it is someone ranked in the 1st - 3rd round and I don't have them here, they would be off my draft board. I will give *** rankings to guys I would love to target and who I feel are great value at where they are being projected, and + to guys who you might look at a little before average projections. It's not a foolproof method, but it works very well for me and I feel given my eye, is probably 85% of what goes into finding an athlete. I don't have medical reports, police reports, and haven't traveled the country watching them or talking to acquaintances. I would also rather whiff by not taking a guy I don't believe in...like I did with Luke Kuechly. OK...... first position....Offensive Line. My round projection is based on a standard to the position, not necessarily this specific draft. Last year was so weak in general for the entire draft, guys I was projecting 3rd and 4th round were going late 1st and 2nd. I think this draft is much deeper at quality for the OL. Greg Robinson - T - Auburn - This guy is built perfectly for a mauling tackle. He is simply overpowering and has technique to go with that power. He covers ground smoothly on the move. While not perfectly fluid, for his size he is a mover. At worst you have a Pro Bowl right tackle who can blow guys away in the run game. I'd assume he is a top 5 guy. ** Taylor Lewan - T - Michigan - I was blown away by his balance and fluidity. He has a very athletic build and carries himself like a skill player. He can change direction on a dime. While not overpowering, he is so balanced and well built that to me, he is the best all-around tackle. While Robinson may be elite if he can get his hands on guys, Lewan should be able to keep up with any rusher at LT. He is an obvious target at #9 if there. X - I wouldn't think about taking Jake Matthews in the top 10. He is rigid, not as balanced as either of the other 2, and lacks fluidity. Cameron Fleming - T/G - Stanford - He is tall and played tackle, but is built like a guard with beef and stockiness. There looks to be untapped power because of his wide footing in his drive. He is very fluid at the hip though and one of the best lateral movers. Smart kid. Don't love him, but would be an ok depth guy who could swing. 3rd or 4th round. Gabe Jackson - G - Miss St. - He is a bowling ball type of guard. He has good lateral movement and stays square to his man. Very confident and aware. While he looks more powerful, his technique probably saps some power potential as he gets off his heels. Would be ok in the 3rd, but no value and not enough upside. *** Ryan Groy - G - Wisconsin - I just love this guy, especially compared to where he is being projected by most. He is an oak tree, big and wide, and is very nimble for his build. He is solid laterally, and fluid on the move. He projects confidence. The only downside I see is wide legs in his drive. While he is projected later in the draft, I would scoop him up all day in the 4th and even think about the 3rd. I get the feeling he is a bigger, more athletic Jerry Ostroski. Could probably start. * Weston Richburg - C - Col St. - Stalky, but conformed well. Fluid in open space and good lateral. Doesn't seem overpowering but aware and focused. Probably not a target for the Bills given Wood, but quality. 3rd ** John Urschel - G - Penn St. - Love the way this guy is built for scrappy guard. Great balance in his push and ok lateral. Smarts off the charts and sportsmanship. Another who is projected low, but I would have no problem in the 4th round and even a reach. Just seems to be lock for a roster spot at least. Jonotthan Harrison - C - Florida - A little undersized, but very athletic build. The thing that stands out is his forward push and great technique in driving. He is average otherwise. His build gives him a shot to put on a few pounds of fat with no problem and could be a good project for C/G. 5th or 6th round. Justin Britt - T - Missouri - Tall but a little rigid up top. He has good fluid movement however. Doesn't power through but has natural strength. Would be a good project that could move up with coaching. 5th or 6th round. Overall: While there are about 8-10 guys in the first 3 rounds I didn't see value in, this is a deep position. Lewan is a target at #9 to me and would allow Glenn to go to RT. I think you can draft your starting guard in the 3rd or 4th round, and would bet dollars to donuts Groy could be the perfect fit. Edit: I like Zack Martin - T - Notre Dame....a poor man's Lewan. Wouldn't take him in the top half of the 1st, but 20-30 is fine.

SabreSpace: So rakish, why your own thread? rakish: Well, there's a few reasons, but mostly, trying to data porn the draft makes people angry, so I'm trying to stay out of the way. SabreSpace: Why post at all? rakish: In the end, I need stuff dated. This process might work, or it might be a disaster, but if it works, I need a date on it. SabreSpace: So what nonsense do we have today? rakish: Total nonsense. What you are looking for in the draft is increase in productivity. So I'm trying to see who is good next Summer by how much better they are in the Spring related to their Fall. SabreSpace: So these are the 10 players you don't want? rakish: Absolutely, not yet anyway. SabreSpace: Any qualifications? rakish: Well, I don't have many NLA players in the database, and Matthews has been injured, so his score is more meaningless. Chychrun doesn't score enough, so he'll never get the model's love. I'm thinking the smalls are overvalued, because there's so many of them. SabreSpace: How does this compare to last year? rakish: Well Eichel and McDavid were over a 1000, Marner was at 850, Strome was about 625. So as an early look, expecting the Matthews rating to be way off, then replacing Matthews with Eichel or McDavid, pretty much the same, except for one star instead of two. SabreSpace: So one less McDavid, and two more Marners? rakish: yep Keller: 891 Matthews: 853 Bitten: 710 Tkachuk: 676 DeBrincat: 662 Nylander: 553 Dube: 537 Burke: 527 Mascherin: 497 Rubtsov: 473 Pethrus: 471

Reddit found McKenzie's list leaked a couple days ago, and I got some paying work coming up, so I decided to get this done today. Since I couldn't drum up any interest from Sabres' pundits, I considered moving to Las Vegas, those 5,6 or 8 top 40 picks would've been fun, but, I'm no fun. If Botterill trades pick 8 before draft day, I will re-reconsider. Unless we have a (very welcome) late entry, these are our six contestants. I'm going to do something new with Bob's list. His 100 runs out after the first 5 rounds, so I'm going to tack on the CSS NA list so he gets all his picks. Bob's list is stronger than I expected as many of the weaker picks have slid past 8. Also from reddit comes Corey Pronman. From TSN comes Craig Button. If you haven't be following Mom's, Craig had a very good 2014, but 2015 and 2016, as yet, not so much. Botterill gets his picks. He has the biggest advantage since I might choose someone in the 2nd round that he picks in the 3rd, but if he chooses someone in the 2nd, they come off the board, I don't get to pick him in the 3rd. That, and he has a staff, and gets to interview the kids, and gets all the exercise data. Canucksarmy has a list similar in technique to mine. I don't see a complete list link at canucks army, but here's the first 8. #1 - Nolen Patrick #2 - Nico Hischier #3 – Cody Glass #4 – Gabriel Vilardi #5 – Elias Pettersson #6 – Timothy Liljegren #7 – Casey Mittelstadt #8 – Nick Suzuki My list will reshuffle a bit if Botterill trades #8 and I move to Vegas (basically Boqvist moves down, as I hope to get him with the 30th pick instead of the 15th pick), but this is it as it stands now. I obviously don't list everyone, for instance Rasmussen will be long gone by the time my list would get to him. I'll be back after the draft to list who each contestant chose. Nolan Patrick TIMOTHY LILJEGREN ELIAS PETTERSSON NICHOLAS SUZUKI NICO HISCHIER GABRIEL VILARDI JESPER BOQVIST CALLAN FOOTE JUUSO VÄLIMÄKI ERIK BRÄNNSTRÖM LIAS ANDERSSON KAILER YAMAMOTO URHO VAAKANAINEN Connor Timmins Mason Shaw JASON ROBERTSON Joshua Brook Mikey Anderson MARCUS DAVIDSSON KOLE LIND Nicolas Hague Robin Salo ARTYOM MINULIN HENRI JOKIHARJU DAVID FARRANCE Cale Fleury IGOR SHVYRYOV BRINSON PASICHNUK DENIS SMIRNOV KRISTAPS ZILE DYLAN COGHLAN ANDREI ALTYBARMAKYAN PETRUS PALMU JERRY TURKULAINEN or ARTYOM MANUKYAN or ZACH SOLOW GUSTAV LINDSTRÖM NICHOLAS CAMPOLI KLIM KOSTIN BRYCE MISLEY ROBERT THOMAS ROMAN IVASHOV JOHNNY KOVACEVIC JOSEPH DUSZAK Phillipe Myers WILL REILLY KRIS MYLLARI BRENNAN MENELL PAVEL YELSHANSKY MATTHEW BRASSARD IVAN KOVALYOV Matt Timms KEVIN HANCOCK William Pethrus DMITRI RODIONYCHEV MAX GILDON Scooter Brickley BEN MIRAGEAS Ivan Lodnia PAVEL SHEN FABIAN ZETTERLUND FILIP CHYTIL MAXIM MIZYURIN JERRY TURKULAINEN or ARTYOM MANUKYAN or ZACH SOLOW JERRY TURKULAINEN or ARTYOM MANUKYAN or ZACH SOLOW Dominik Lakatos