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Vegas Golden Knights Expansion Outlook: Buffalo Sabres

By Richard Cardinale |
BUFFALO, NY - MARCH 04: Marcus Foligno #82 of the Buffalo Sabres fires a first period shot against the Tampa Bay Lightning during an NHL game at the KeyBank Center on March 4, 2017 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY - MARCH 04: Marcus Foligno #82 of the Buffalo Sabres fires a first period shot against the Tampa Bay Lightning during an NHL game at the KeyBank Center on March 4, 2017 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)

Vegas Golden Knights don’t have a great selection to choose from in Buffalo.

Lets face it, the Vegas Golden Knights don’t have a ton of great rosters to choose from and Buffalo is one of them. The Buffalo Sabres are sitting on the outside of the playoff structure at 7th place in the Atlantic Division with 66 points in 65 games. This team should be playoff bound real soon once young talent like Alex Nylander and Brendan Guhle enter the lineup.

This team has nice pieces on their roster like Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart. Luckily for Sabres fans their both exempt from the expansion draft. However, when you look at the rest of the NHL roster you have to think “boy is this bad.”

Buffalo needs to use the four Forwards, four Defensemen and one goaltender scheme. The reasoning behind this is to protect Buffalo’s identity on defense in the near future. As you know, players like Nylander, Guhle, Hudson Fasching are also exempt from the expansion draft.

In goal, Lehner will be the guy going forward for the Buffalo Sabres. His stats may not show it, but he’s been one of the better goaltenders in the league despite being on a bad team. Lehner is 18-18-8 with a 2.59 GAA and a save percentage of .922 and two shutouts. This means Anders Nillson and Linus Ullmark will have to be exposed, but I don’t expect Vegas going after one of these two goalies.

The blue line will be a strength for the Buffalo Sabres for years to come, but not just now. The team will need to protect Rasmus Ristolainen, Dmitry Kulikov, Jake McCabe and Zach Bogosian. All of these players are currently 26 or younger and to let one of them walk for free would be a mistake for Sabres General Manager Tim Murray.

Surprisingly, this is a no brainer list at forward for the Sabres. The obvious keeps are Evander Kane, Ryan O’ Reilly, Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons. One player that’s having a standout year for the Sabres is Kane with 23 Goals, 11 Assists and 34 points. The 25-year old hasn’t reached 23 Goals since 2011-2012 with the Jets when he scored 30.

So what do the Vegas Golden Knights have left to choose from? Honestly not too much. I would stay far away from players with big contracts like Josh Gorges, Tyler Ennis and Matt Moulson. No way George McPhee should take on any of those contracts for those kinds of players.

The player that McPhee looks like he could pick is Power Forward Marcus Foligno. Foligno is a restricted free agent at the end of the season meaning the Golden Knights could draft him but they would have to sign him themselves. The Buffalo native has 12 Goals, 7 Assists, 19 Points and 60 PIM. In my opinion, Foligno is one of the best fighters in the game today.

Scoring isn’t his strong suit, however he’s a good penalty killer, a physical threat on the ice at 6’3 226 Lbs and fights whenever he gets the chance. There’s obviously room to grow in his offensive game and he also needs to add another dimension to his game.

Next: Something Bruin' In Vegas?

Foligno is a fan favorite in Buffalo and the fans would hate to see him leave. But this might be the way it goes if Buffalo protects their four defensemen. The Vegas Golden Knights would get a hard-working physical force on their 4th line. McPhee would have no problem picking Foligno. Foligno’s father Mike is also a pro scout for the Golden Knights and he might be in George’s ear on this one.

Golden Knights Prediction: Marcus Foligno

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