Dah-lightful Day @ Dah-velopment Camp (Sabres penguins)

Sabres penguins

Dah-lightful Day @ Dah-velopment Camp

By GARTH'S CORNER

Jun 27, 2018 • 8:47 pm

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Updated:

Wednesday was Day 1 of Buffalo Sabres Development Camp.

A packed house of 4,000+ fans filled up HARBORCenter to watch first overall draft choice Rasmus Dahlin in his first official on-ice session with his fellow Sabres prospects.

Per usual, Dahlin did not disappoint.

The Super Swede provided sunshine on a cloudy day in Buffalo.

The 18 year old puck wizard inspired "oooos" and "ahhhs" from fans as he toe-dragged, deked, and sniped goalies and threaded tape to tape passes to his linemates.

Dahlin was dialed in and at full attention for the coaches on the ice. He was an active listener and performed each drill at a high pace. One of the on-ice coaches was former Sabres captain Brian Gionta.

Dahlin's god-given gifts were on full display for his adoring public to appreciate. He is big, strong, smart and highly skilled. His skating, vision, passing and processing of his surroundings is world class.

Dahlin admitted that he hasn't scored a lot of goals prior to Wednesday. He said the fans in the building pumped him up and made him feel like sniping more. here was a lot of juice in the building and righty so. The fans wanted to see Dahlin put on a show and he did. It worked as the generational talent beat country man goalie Jonas Johnasson and free agent tendy Hunter Sheppard several times.

"Today, finally I get on the ice with all the guys," Dahlin said. "I get to the real hockey ... to get back to the hockey thoughts and back on the ice."

Dahlin is rooming this week with Sabres D-man Brendan Guhle.

**

Botterill said he and his staff are continuing to speak with pending UFAs as July 1 draws near. Botterill has many UFA irons in the fire.

Botterill was asked to comment on the deluge of daily Ryan O'Reilly trade rumors that just don't seem to want to go away.

"You have a ton of rumors right now on Ryan and I think a lot of them are very creative. I would just say, from Day 1, we've been very happy with Ryan being a part of our group and we've said before that it's no surprise that teams are calling (for) him," Botterill said emphatically.

"He has a great reputation throughout the National Hockey Leauge and especially [with] what he's accomplished in international hockey. So I understand why people call on it, but the validity of a lot of the rumors are simply untrue."

Is there validity to the O'Reilly to Montreal for teh third overall pick rumors valid? How about the ROR to St. Louis or Carolina rumors? Botterill isn't lending any legitimacy to the chatter and buzz. Which will only fuel more rumors, right?

O'Reilly is due a $7.5 million roster bonus on July 1.

Botterill's stance hasn't changed. O'Reilly is not on the trade market. Teams are calling to inquire about his availability. He is not being actively shopped around the NHL by Botterill. Is the GM listening to offers? Of course he is. My sense is that there are a lot of bad offers that are being made to Botterill for O'Reilly. Thus, there is nothing to see here. What is the asking price for O'Reilly? Botterill wants a first round pick, a top organizational prospect, a top six center or top six scoring winger and a goalie prospect, there is nothing to talk about regarding O'Reilly being traded.

**

Botterill had great things to say about forward Conor Sheary. Botterill is thrilled to have Sheary, a two-time Stanley Cup champion in a Sabres sweater.

"He knows how to play in pressure situations against other teams' top defenders, top players," Botterill, who worked in the Penguins front office for 10 seasons, said. "We've talked a lot about here, bringing in players who have playoff experience. It's why we were interested in bringing in Scandella and Pominville last year. Bringing in both Hunwick and Conor, who have played in playoff games, is very key for our group."

Botterill said that Sheary can add even strength scoring pop to an offense that can use an infusion of 5v5 goal scoring.

"We were looking to improve our even-strength scoring and we had to try to get a little bit in scoring from our wingers," Botterill said. "Especially at even strength, he creates a lot of chances out there. We've very excited about bringing him into the organization."

Botterill said Sheary may play with Eichel. Or, he may get moved around. Sheary played with Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh, however, he moved around when needed.

"Whether it's Jack, Ryan, Casey, can play with one of our offensive centermen, finish off chances from them, but also get in on the forecheck, get pucks to our centermen," Botterill said. "To me, until players get out on the ice, you're never going to know that for sure. We're always looking to add to our group, especially on the wing, to add more skill."

Thanks, Matt Bove

_________________________________________________________________________

I’ve been telling you in the space for quite some time that Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill covets Conor Sheary. Botterill was GM of the Wilkes Barre Scranton Penguins when Sheary performed his apprenticeship there.

A day after signing veteran forward Bryan Rust to a four year contract extension, The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded left winger Sheary and veteran rear guard Matt Hunwick to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a conditional-fourth round draft choice in 2019.

Say hello to Jack Eichel’s new left winger.

Pittsburgh does not retain any salary in the swap.

Sheary, 26, is a two-time Stanley Cup champion. He will count as a $3M AAV against Jason Botterill’s salary cap this and next season. The UMass Amherst grad scored 18 goals and 12 assists last season. He scored 23 goals and 30 assists in 2016-17.

In 184 career games, Sheary has scored 48 goals and 45 assists for 93 points.

Sheary scored 10 game winning goals in three seasons in Pittsburgh.

Hunwick, 33, is a $2.25M AAV for the next two seasons.

Former Sabres And Rochester Amerks D Chad Ruhwedel replaced Hunwick as the sixth D in the Pittsburgh rotation last season.

The Penguins are linked to Columbus D Jack Johnson as a UFA Target.

Jim Rutherford now has $5.25M in salary cap space to invest in Johnson or another free agent.

More to come...

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