With the NHL Draft set to go in a couple of days at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, it only seems fitting that the Sabres are willing to make a splash in their home rink. Looking to improve his team sooner rather than later, it looks as though Tim Murray isn’t closing out the idea of trading the eighth overall pick in this year’s draft.
“If we can trade a couple picks and improve our team, we’ll continue to do that,” Murray explained to John Vogl of The Buffalo News. “If somebody offers us a top-end, young, left-shot defenceman and they demand our eighth overall pick and we feel it makes us better, we’ll do the trade.”
Murray has demonstrated his willingness to make big moves since joining the Sabres including acquiring Evander Kane and Robin Lehner and signing Ryan O’Reilly to a long-term deal.
According to Vogl, Murray has three players targeted with the eighth overall pick, including two defencemen.
The Sabres currently have only three options when it comes to left-handed defencemen – two of which remained unsigned. Josh Gorges remains the only one under contract with the team, with restricted free agent Jake McCabe and unrestricted free agent Carlo Colaiacovo remaining seemingly viable options this offseason.
Either way, it seems that Murray is ready to commit to a defenceman. How he gets his hands on one – via trade or drafting them with the eighth pick – remains to be seen.