INTRO
Welcome to the 3rd edition of The Charging Buffalo Draft Guide! In this edition, the TCB crew covers the 2022 NHL Draft complete with rankings, in-depth analysis on the Top 32, potential targets for the Sabres, a mock draft, a 2023 Draft Preview, and updates on all of the Sabres Prospects. The Sabres' prospect pool is the strongest it has been in quite some time, and the 2021-22 season saw many of these players develop into promising assets for the organization. Kevyn Adams will look to add to this stable of prospects with (11) draft picks, three of which are in the 1st round. With such a high volume of picks, especially at the top of the draft, Adams is afforded the ability to take a few swings on high risk/high reward players. Shane Wright was the consensus 1st overall pick headed into the season and while he didn't do much to separate himself from the rest of the cla ss, the talent and potential he has is too much for anyone else to go at the top. This class is very deep with defensemen, especially of the right handed variety. Simon Nemec and David Jiricek are the headlines for this group, but a trio of lefties in Mateychuk, Mintyukov, and Korchinski all have the potential to come out as the best D from this class years from now. Unlike prior years, there are no star goaltender prospects who are likely to crack the 1st round. It will be interesting to see if the Sabres do take a swing on a goalie at some point given the uncertainty surrounding Erik Portillo and his future in Buffalo. There's a ton of volatility in player ranks this year, so going in with the mindset to expect the unexpected is a recommended a pproa ch. What this draft lacks in elite talent at the top, it makes up for with its depth. This depth is going to leave a wide range of outcomes for many of the draft eligibles. The Russians are the true wild cards in this draft as the current geopolitical situation will cause some of them to slide much further down boards than they would in a normal yea r. This will present a tremendous opportunity for teams who have a lot of draft capital (like the Sabres) to take a chance on some of them. Things are certainly looking brighter for the Sabres future and the addition of a few high-end prospects from the 2022 draft class will further strengthen the organization's pipeline. It's going to be an exciting draft from a Sabres perspective, so dig deep in this years' version of The Charging Buffalo's Draft Guide for all of your 2022 NHL Draft needs.