Revisiting The Sabres’ Failed 2015 Draft Class

Of the numerous reasons for the decade of futility that was the 2010s for the Buffalo Sabres, their constant inability to cultivate their own talent was perhaps the biggest. With three separate general managers (GMs) at the helm at various points from 2010 to 2019, the team either drafted well but failed to develop players, or just drafted badly altogether. With that being said, their biggest debacle of the decade doesn’t get talked about nearly enough.

Heading into the 2015 NHL Draft, the Sabres had the opportunity of a lifetime on their hands but somehow managed to waste it. It was a day that could have rejuvenated the franchise and set it back on the road to greatness, but instead became one of its all-time biggest blunders. With the 2023 NHL Draft upon us, let’s take a look back at the 2015 Draft and how it proved to be a disaster for the Sabres.

The 2015 NHL Draft Class Was STACKED

The 2003 Draft class is often held up as the greatest of all time, but its counterpart 12 years later may go on to claim that title one day. Like 2003, it’s truly baffling in hindsight how much talent was available in the 2015 Draft. Most classes have a clear-cut leader that gets projected as the top pick, but this draft had two. Hailed as generational talents, the duo of Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel were the talk of hockey throughout the 2014-15 NHL season and were all but guaranteed to go first and second, respectively. But what makes this class truly remarkable is that they weren’t even the tip of the iceberg.

Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen, Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, Thomas Chabot and Brock Boeser were just a few of the other names that had teams with lower first-round picks chomping at the bit. Of the 30 players selected in the first round of that draft, two have already won a Stanley Cup championship and 12 have become NHL All-Stars. It’s only been eight years but the class of 2015 is already considered one of the best ever and it’s easy to see why.

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And thanks to their rebuilding efforts that had begun a few years previous, the Sabres entered that year’s draft sitting in the catbird seat.

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